[Help] map lighting

maiten52

Hi all, i need help about map lighting,i wanna get lighting like as the ns_nothing
it is my actual lighting.
i use this commands hlrad.exe -chop 32 -dscale 4 -gamma 1 -texchop 16 -chart -estimate
<a href="http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/1840/hiveobs1.png" target="_blank">http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/1840/hiveobs1.png</a>
i wanna get more distribute and without light points lighting

BlackHawk

wait, your talking about making a new NS1 map? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/confused-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="???" border="0" alt="confused-fix.gif" />

maiten52

is an old map that I have decided to compile

BlackHawk

well to be honest I think your too late, most of the mappers have left long ago from what I hear.

Try to design for NS2

MrRadicalEd

Well, based off your screenshot, it doesn't look that bad, but you could add more contrast

if you are using batch compiler(which you should) go in to RAD and add some bounce, up your gamma a little bit higher, and try lowering the fade value. This will cause the light to drop off sooner; adding a dramatic feel, but this could work against you depending on your theme.... and use Extra for your final compile. I suggest making a mock up with some proposed geometry and try out some settings.

pSyk0mAn

What do you mean with "like ns_nothing"?
Can you post a screenshot of a scene in ns_nothing to show what you want to accomplish?!
Do you just want more exact lighting and shadows like in ns_nothing with those white lights behind bars?
In this case you probably have to try -texchop 8 and -chop 16 , but this might be too much for either your pc or the compilers.

Anyway, I wouldn't recommend upping -bounce and -gamma, but you should use -bounce 1 at least!
This means lighting is reflected once and thus rooms brighten up a little. Higher bounce values blur shadows and remove some darker areas, so it's not recommendable for ns maps.
You are already using -dscale 4, which is good; the radiosity lighting caused by -bounce will blur less, because the direct lighting from your light sources is way more intense without shining for far.
If you miss some dark spots or think the map might be a little to bright, when using -bounce 1, try -gamma 0.9 and maybe increase brightness of some (tex-)lights.

MrRadicalEd

more bounce does brighten up rooms, but if you fiddle with fade and gamma you will counter act this. I did this with stormsiege and got very natural results.

Thaldarin

NS1 is a great base for beginning mapping if a little complex for Half-Life 1 mappers, the more people learning any sort of level editing the better; it will help you get a platform for NS2.

The majority of ns_nothing is lit by what I can see is white light split by brushes and I used this technique in one of my maps too. Basically you just put a white texture which is lit by the lights.rad (don't make it that bright) on the ceiling and place block brushes in front of it evenly spaced. You then place multiple (I think I used 6) 'light' entities with white light, pretty bright (say 1500-2000?). The result is the light splits and it's pretty atmospheric, although heavy on the RAD compile time.

You can just about see the lights on the ceiling in my old map shot with how the effect looks in a pretty open area below:

<img src="http://www.clorf.com/images/ns1/glory1.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

Insane

I'm pretty certain Ken used light_spot entities pointing in different directions, which is how he achieved the different colours in the "Painted Corridor" section.