AngelModder

Ase's should honestly be used sparringly. like most models in JKA you need to stay within the normal poly limit allowed by the engine or else it starts to really bog down your compile and may even make it unplayable for some players, causing crashes low fps etc. The trick if you wanted to properly convert a brushed ship to a model is not only a solid design (clean), but to use patches for about 90% of it removing the extra verticies in the process as you build it. Brushes are fine but only if you really know what you're doing and 45 every angle and can visualize it in a triangular poly sense. I see most make ase's with thousands of poly's. the second trick is to split it up into multiple ase's JKA doesn't mind generating thousands of poly's so much as long as it's not one item. The difference is visible when a map using this method and design in the R_speeds and FPS as well as the user's gameplay. Either way Large complex object ase's are honestly not worth the hassle and possible failure of the overall project that may ensue. Ase's are quiet good for smaller objects (or objects with the model poly limit kept in mind) such as pillars and other misc objects. Keep in mind however that like any work, just because it's an ase and that your are compensaiting the Q3map2's surface meta compile with your own physics (clip) work having to many or too much of an ase designed structure (even in multiple pieces) can result in q3map2 giving you the middle finger as well as other potential problems mentioned thus far. In other words. I would not make such a large object an ase in a max already this complex. No offense intended etc, just stating why it's not that simple.

LOL It's just the system/slick texture from GTK. LOL But I always thought the picture was kind of funny. XD

Space chess !!!!!!!! And new carpet texture.... Early render of the slot machines! Now it just needs textured... >.> There goes 5 more hours HAHA!

Seriously your dealers number or it didn't happen! O_O

So taking your advice all around I've given the walls and structure a seamed paneled feel. I wanted it to have some detail, but to not distract from the other details and view of the area. However the walls really did need atleast THIS detail as flat seamless metal didn't make much sense. However during its construction it like the glass were really just temporary idea's of what I had in mind. Also I did convert the framed structure of the ceiling to an ase and took it into blender and removed some useless verts. Good idea on that one @@Langerd ! I am in the process of creating a better carpet texture however I do seem to like the red tone used in the image below, most of my time this morning was spent creating the Pazaak table however XD. It's interesting to see the effect the red carpet has on the walls and ceiling thanks to the bounce effect during light compile, honestly I don't think I'm going to fight that, it's some thing (a realism) you don't often see due to the color tones used normally in maps being darker. You rarely see this touch of realism. I did make sure the ceiling and floors were a func group and sharpened the lighting on them as much as I dare push it. Generally through out the worlspawn I drop my light map scaling down to a blurry 4 in order to give more power to area's like this. Using the filter switch during the lighting compile to pretty up the blurriness created by lightmapscale 4. Any ways my rambling aside, here is a wip shot of the pazaak tables.

Alright so it's been a week and we have a tie! Otana and Outrider! I'm going to give them 24 more hours! Cast your vote NOW Remember second place gets a map of it's own (sort of like SJC's Falcon) and will ofcourse be given open source to allow others to use it in there maps as they desire (credit given of course please).

LOL Ok this was funny XD

OK so it worked perfectly this time. I guess an important note is that it works with Normans Q3map2GUI as well for those interested in checking this out. Higher limitations and I have to admit a MUCH faster compile, who can gripe?

Sorry man Im in Europe so I was asleep not ignoring you. XD Will check the WZMap out in a sec and get back to you.

BUT wait there IS more! The Lucky Shot Casino's primary build is complete! Now it's time for details and lighting! Gotto say I love the view!

Juust a starting point on the idea of what the Casino will be like. A similar concept may be used for the Council Chambers.

Gf is passed out next to me in the recliner and we don't have a head set atm. XD Other wise I'd be on there atm. It's all going great until any of the maps hit fixbrushfaces then a windows "window" pops up Meh fuck it... here is what is shows SCREENSHOT Ftw?

A early early early wip shot of the Luck Shot Casino for JH3. This will be a classy casino/bar that is truely unique in many ways. A full panoramic view of the city around you will you drink, eat, and play!

So a small update on this situation. I managed to use Normans Q3map2GUI and your WZmap.exe together to compile and get past the missing shaders and textures etc however WzMap.exe crashes when it gets to fix brush faces stage no matter which map I compile. Bassically I'm sure this works swimmingly, just need some help trouble shooting it a bit.

Thanks. But yea I'd love to help once this is done. Alright so a quick question, maybe I'm just an idiot and have been spoiled by the old q3map2gui by norman, but uhm when I run my .bat file to compile using wzmap.exe it runs fine except it all ends up timing out because it can't find any of my textures or shaders. I never was an expert at .bat files... But here is what mine is... "C:\Users\Lil One\Documents\WZMap\wzmap.exe" -meta -v "C:\Program Files (x86)\LucasArts\Star Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Academy\GameData\base\maps\JH3-TE.map" "C:\Users\Lil One\Documents\WZMap\wzmap.exe" -vis -v "C:\Program Files (x86)\LucasArts\Star Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Academy\GameData\base\maps\JH3-TE.map" "C:\Users\Lil One\Documents\WZMap\wzmap.exe" -light -fast -patchshadows -samples 3 -bounce 8 -v "C:\Program Files (x86)\LucasArts\Star Wars Jedi Knight Jedi Academy\GameData\base\maps\JH3-TE.map" Bassicaly as I fail at bats how do I tell it "hey dipshit here is his base folder so you can read the textures and shaders"... XD

Id say your cloud city story maps were pretty damn well designed... I mean I dnk how they look in gtk ofcourse but in game the quality was great and a lot of fun!

I'm not exactly fimiliar with WZ. Untill this I'd never even heard of it to be honest. Got nothing against the idea but I need to finish JH3 first.

Thanks mate, tbh I never liked SJC. His map's were very pretty, but technically speaking were not well designed. Any who that's just my opinion on him. I don't consider myself one of the greats, I still see others like Szico etc and go "wow". I know I can do that quality given the right theme, but I still find myself learning new things. Any ways i will do my best to keep you all involved with the actual creation process. I have a member who is willing to do a sneak peak video shortly before the maps release. However I wonder would you all like maybe a video of my own going over the design process?

Just a nightly update. Some work being done on the swimming pool. Anoek worked her ass off too tonight. She's working on the training sections and trial sections of the map. She's learning allot as she goes along. At times I feel bad as I expect her quality to match up to mine and she sufferes the stress of it. But she is progressing amazingly. I really hope that by the time she is ready to show you all her section that you will all show her some love! She works her ass off to learn everything much quicker then most of us did. Any ways here is a pic... Gonna do some caustics and other cool effects. Public Swimming Pool!

Thanks mate! It is a brilliant step for some of us larger map makers !

So ran a few test, atleast as far as the q3map2 64 bit version that comes with gtk 1.6 is concerned Func groups and lights count as entities. I mean duh a light is an entity but apprently the coders removed the bit that use to make them not count against your overall count limit. The fix is sadly shader lighting. They don't get counted up etc untill Light compile. Func groups apparently are considered entities to it, however I am unsure if they will make you break the limit or are just ignored.

I always thought the same, however perhaps it's a problem with the latest q3map2? It seems that the newest 64 bit one DOES count them against you... :/ The proof is in the pudding, I removed a bunch of lights and the max entity error stopped and let me continue compiling.

I had WAY to many light entities and func groups, about 4000 lights and 1300 func groups because of the same thing as your self. I solved by replacing a lot of my repetitive lighting such as the swoop track's blue side lighting with shaders. Turns out light entities do count, however shader lighting doesn't as they are not added up and inserted into the entity list until the 3rd stage "lighting". So while you will always have some uses for entity lights, they sadly do add to your count and you're better off to use shader lighting.

Small update - The map is back on track after having to rework to overcome some different compiler errors. Nothing to worry about. Any who here is a couple shot of the public sector of the map. Just so I don't get a few folks saying this doesn't look like JH at all, please read some of the prior posts. The idea has been expanded on using a tram station to take you to a more public side of this cloud city like structure. This section is the public area's including a Casino, Swimming Pool and intense training! Most of those smaller doors are just fake aesthetics's but some one does scream at you and tell you to go away if you try to go in! XD I've never been a fan of fake doors but in spots like this it's a nice detail and a bit of fun interactivity. It's still a little rough lighting wise. The final product will clean this up.

Alright so I went to compile tonight and hit the max map entities error. So ok i've got a lot of func groups, I ungrouped them all, still hit the error, ok next largest group was the lights... erased them all it goes away... O_O... now for those of you REALLY familiar with this engine, lights are not suppose to count against you during compile... So, wtf? Basically through all of my many years of experience I am truly for once stumped.... Why the fuck are my light entities counting against overall entity count during my meta compile. Yet every source says they don't, that they are filtered out as a separate thing. I've tried the Wzmap.exe, that pos just crashes constantly since I don't have the compatible cpu socket apparently... I wont even try to hide it, by most favored project and possibly my crown jewel hinges on figuring this out... The sense of desperation is high, every moment of my free time I've given up into this project (which is day and night atm literally I sleep 3 hours and get up and keep going between work) is falling apart in front of me because of some random wtf situation...