player clipping
player clipping
i am having trouble making player clipping surfaces. i'm using gmax and the material editor is a bit different, and i'm not sure whether it's required that the player clip material have it's own multi-material or not. i'm also unsure about what i should do with the player clip geometry; should it be attached to the main level, or a completely seperate object just linked to the frame? i did read the hek tutorial but it's hard to tell because they don't ever show a hierarchy of the elements in the level
It should have a separate multi-material, and as for creating the the the player clipping surface here is a quote from the official hek tutorial
7) Select the level object.
Select the 2 faces that form the top of the sky. Delete these faces.
The third image further explains the above procedures.
9) Select Edge mode.
10) Select all the edges that comprise the front edges of the surrounding hills.
The fourth image further explains the above procedures.
11) While still in Edge mode, extrude these edges up to create new faces by holding down Shift while moving up in the Z-Axis.
The fifth image further explains the above procedures.
12) Make the new vertices and edges even with the sky box vertices and edges. Follow the below procedures:
a) Select Vertex mode and select the top most vertices of the newly created polygons.
b) Click on the Top view. Under Edit Geometry click on View Align, this will make the vertices even in the XY plane.
c) Now move the vertices to be even with the vertices at the top of the sky box.
The sixth image further explains the above procedures and shows the final results of the above operations.
13) Remove any extra faces that may have resulted from extruding the edges. Once this is complete, create polygons (using the existing vertices) to seal the top of the world again so that it satisfies the Sealed World Rules. All of these faces should be made the +sky material by setting their Material ID to 1.
This technique may seem cumbersome or wasteful but for the type of level that the tutorial level represents it is necessary in order to get the clipping planes to work properly, the level to export and compile properly, and to satisfy the Sealed World Rules.
Remember that the number of faces used to construct the sky does not matter since the sky model gets rendered to these faces and the triangle count from the sky model is what will count in this instance.
There are many ways to construct a game environment and its surrounding terrain and sky box surfaces. It is quite common for all the sky box faces to have their top vertices pulled to a single vertex in the center of the level at a very high distance in the Z-Axis. Sometimes, the sky faces are not set back as they are in the tutorial level, instead the sky box faces are used as the boundaries for the level and serve to keep the player from accessing any areas where the player's presence is not desired.
It is recommended that for outdoor levels that have vehicles that there be quite a bit of space left in the Z-Axis. This allows weapons that have a long range and that can fire in an arc (such as the Fuel Rod Gun) to have room to fire without colliding with the ceiling or sky. It is also nice to allow the Halo physics to have room to work so that when vehicles get hit with explosions they have room to do flips and other spectacular vehicular acrobatics.
The seventh image further explains the above procedures and shows the final results of the above operations.
14) Hide the newly created top faces of the level. Now, select all the faces that will compose the player clipping surfaces.
15) Under Edit Geometry, click on Detach. The Detach dialog window will appear.
16) Enter the name "player_clip_01" in the Detach as: field.
17) Click on OK.
The eighth image further explains the above procedures and shows the final results of the above operations.
18) Apply the player clip material to the object and assign the Sub-Material to the faces.
a) Select the newly created player_clip_01 object and apply the player clip Multi\Sub-Object material group.
b) Select the faces and clear any Smoothing Groups and apply Material ID 1 to the faces.
In the example picture the faces also had a simple box map projection applied to them (UVW Map), but this is not necessary, it just makes the faces easier to work with visually.
The player_clip object was then attached to the player_clip_01 object to keep all the player_clip surfaces under one object.
The player_clip object was then linked to the reference frame (frame object).
The ninth image or final image further explains the above procedures and shows the final results of the above operations.
Well I hope that helps
7) Select the level object.
Select the 2 faces that form the top of the sky. Delete these faces.The third image further explains the above procedures.
9) Select Edge mode.
10) Select all the edges that comprise the front edges of the surrounding hills.
The fourth image further explains the above procedures.
11) While still in Edge mode, extrude these edges up to create new faces by holding down Shift while moving up in the Z-Axis.
The fifth image further explains the above procedures.
12) Make the new vertices and edges even with the sky box vertices and edges. Follow the below procedures:
a) Select Vertex mode and select the top most vertices of the newly created polygons.
b) Click on the Top view. Under Edit Geometry click on View Align, this will make the vertices even in the XY plane.
c) Now move the vertices to be even with the vertices at the top of the sky box.
The sixth image further explains the above procedures and shows the final results of the above operations.
13) Remove any extra faces that may have resulted from extruding the edges. Once this is complete, create polygons (using the existing vertices) to seal the top of the world again so that it satisfies the Sealed World Rules. All of these faces should be made the +sky material by setting their Material ID to 1.
This technique may seem cumbersome or wasteful but for the type of level that the tutorial level represents it is necessary in order to get the clipping planes to work properly, the level to export and compile properly, and to satisfy the Sealed World Rules.
Remember that the number of faces used to construct the sky does not matter since the sky model gets rendered to these faces and the triangle count from the sky model is what will count in this instance.
There are many ways to construct a game environment and its surrounding terrain and sky box surfaces. It is quite common for all the sky box faces to have their top vertices pulled to a single vertex in the center of the level at a very high distance in the Z-Axis. Sometimes, the sky faces are not set back as they are in the tutorial level, instead the sky box faces are used as the boundaries for the level and serve to keep the player from accessing any areas where the player's presence is not desired.
It is recommended that for outdoor levels that have vehicles that there be quite a bit of space left in the Z-Axis. This allows weapons that have a long range and that can fire in an arc (such as the Fuel Rod Gun) to have room to fire without colliding with the ceiling or sky. It is also nice to allow the Halo physics to have room to work so that when vehicles get hit with explosions they have room to do flips and other spectacular vehicular acrobatics.
The seventh image further explains the above procedures and shows the final results of the above operations.
14) Hide the newly created top faces of the level. Now, select all the faces that will compose the player clipping surfaces.
15) Under Edit Geometry, click on Detach. The Detach dialog window will appear.
16) Enter the name "player_clip_01" in the Detach as: field.
17) Click on OK.
The eighth image further explains the above procedures and shows the final results of the above operations.
18) Apply the player clip material to the object and assign the Sub-Material to the faces.
a) Select the newly created player_clip_01 object and apply the player clip Multi\Sub-Object material group.
b) Select the faces and clear any Smoothing Groups and apply Material ID 1 to the faces.
In the example picture the faces also had a simple box map projection applied to them (UVW Map), but this is not necessary, it just makes the faces easier to work with visually.
The player_clip object was then attached to the player_clip_01 object to keep all the player_clip surfaces under one object.
The player_clip object was then linked to the reference frame (frame object).
The ninth image or final image further explains the above procedures and shows the final results of the above operations.
Well I hope that helps