Lighting question

[Bastion]

Hey guys, Im use to using the UT ediitor and it was able to see the lighting as im building a map but with hammer the editor seems kinda old school with 1/10th the tools. The question is can I see the lighting in hammer as im making a map?

 

[The Dark Elf]

Hey guys, Im use to using the UT ediitor and it was able to see the lighting as im building a map but with hammer the editor seems kinda old school with 1/10th the tools. The question is can I see the lighting in hammer as im making a map?

In a word, no. Yeah its annoying (I'm used to realtime light/shadow/radiosity feedback in the tools I use) so yeah its a shame Hammer hasn't got some kind of representation, but you do eventually get used to it.

 

[MrMan]

Really woulda thought Hammer wouldve sorted it out by now...

 

[The Dark Elf]

Really woulda thought Hammer wouldve sorted it out by now...

One erm.. "version" did sorta have it.. but IIRC it didn't do very well and is missing from the final one.. But who knows they might put it back at some stage.

 

[Bastion]

thanks Dark, Ill just have to compile like 4000000000000 times, to me lighting is the KEY to a good map. I looked at some maps and to be honest the lighting was total poo. Ill try my best to make them its just going to take me longer then I thought it would.

 

[MrMan]

Same as me, and im the kind of person who compiles the map every time i add something

 

[batchetska]

me too anyway I'm glad it's possible to seal of areas you don't want to compile

 

[The Dark Elf]

thanks Dark, Ill just have to compile like 4000000000000 times, to me lighting is the KEY to a good map. I looked at some maps and to be honest the lighting was total poo. Ill try my best to make them its just going to take me longer then I thought it would.

Agreed, lighting is incredibly important.. And its annoying not having realtime feedback, but meh when I were a lad we didn't even have realtime solid 3D objects, just wireframes, no texture previews neither.. So you've still got it good in hammer

In time you'll begin to pick it up and the good mappers out there know instinctively how certain lighting will effect the area. Just takes time to pick up.

 

[StardogChampion]

I really hope they're working on adding some sort of preview. I doubt i'll ever finish a large map if they don't. Compiling for 30 mins everytime I want to check if a light is the correct brightness/radius doesn't sound like fun. Hammer hasn't really advanced much with each version...

 

[Mr Neutron]

You can, though, run hl2 and hammer at the same time so you can switchl back and forth between them. Making changes and checking them in a map should only take as long as recompiling and reloading the map. I'm told that after a while doing this, HL2 starts displaying some errors.

See my post:
http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=59135

 

[The Dark Elf]

I really hope they're working on adding some sort of preview. I doubt i'll ever finish a large map if they don't. Compiling for 30 mins everytime I want to check if a light is the correct brightness/radius doesn't sound like fun. Hammer hasn't really advanced much with each version...

cordon off a section your working on and compile just that (not always a workable solution though.. eg larger outdoor area's sorta defeat the purpose)

 

[Bastion]

Hey Dark, have you ever use the UT editor? I love that editor it can do much advanced stuff. plus you had a joystick icon when you click it and join in the map your working on which really made it awsome for making good maps fast. I do agree once I get the lighting down I will have a feel for what settings will do where and when in any place on a map. They guys that made the HL2DM & Sp maps must have like awsome memory for lighting settings. It just takes a while to get it all setup and remembering with tons of hand notes.