Landscaping Q&A

Anything to do with Drakan level editing and modifications, post it here! Also this is the place to tell us about your new levels and get player feedback.
Post Reply
User avatar
shoprat
Dragon
Posts: 150
Joined: Thu Jun 07, 2012 8:52 pm
Location: USA

Landscaping Q&A

Post by shoprat »

Landscaping Q&A

These posts are the work of unknown persons asking questions at (I think) the Surreal site. I hope the information will help make level creation a bit easier for new people. (Like me)



#1 If i put layer upon my underground layer, how do i go back and view my underground layer?

#2 How do i create the walls and ceilings in my underground layer?

#3 Anything about underground layers would help me out.


you can "turn off" layers while you work in the editor. Hit "L" and open up your instance properties screen.....select the layer that is blocking your view and uncheck the "Visable" box

To make tunnels you have to use 2 or more layers (1 a ceiling 1 as a floor) you have to craft the actual shape using the sculpt tool (don't remember the hotkey off the top of my head) Just make sure you invert the direction of the ceiling else you get less of a cave and more of a sandwitch

Undergroung layers are just like surface ones....they are just below your main layer.....if you're making a vast underground complex though I would advise that you build the lowest floor first and add your main surface layer last. That way all the objects don't become cluttered and unrecognizable.

------------------------------


as i see it (and have done it) a cave is 3 layers, floor, ceiling, and another floor.
the first floor is the one inside the mountain cave that will be walked on, the ceiling is above the floor (at least like 12-1500 units above) that can be textured and only seen when looked at from below it, the third floor is the mountain top that either can or cannot be walked on (whatever you like) the trick part is where the edges of the floor have to raise up or the edges of the ceiling have to be lowered so that the floor meets the ceiling. also where the cave entrance is, the ceiling must meet the the edges of the the topmost floor layer so there aren't holes in in the layer seams. hope that's not too confusing, good luck


-----------------------------


The best way to make hill like terrain is to use the Smooth Slope brush when using the sculpt tool. Once selected set the Offset to three or four ticks from the bottom and width slider a couple ticks from the Thin setting. Then select a layer hold down and paint a ridge. It should turn somewhat like a hill.


------------------------------


I can't seem to add hills (everything is flat, and it looks rather ridiculous). If there is a simple way to do this, I would love to know how. I've already messed around with the sculpting tool ( I end up creating skyrise pillars and not mounds in the earth), and I can't seem to figure out the square tool (the vertices?). Thank you for your time and patience.


Ben (who is not Sageous) said:

Well, the reason you are getting skyscrapers is you have the offset too high. Look in the tool options window when you have the sculpt tool selected and turn the offset bar way down, until it's something you are comfortable with. To use the square tool, either left or right click (left for up, right for down) and drag over the vertices of the squares. All vertices caught wihin the box will be raised/lowered by the amount the offset is set to. Make sure show vertices is on in the view options so you can see where the vertices are.


------------------------------


I had been wondering about something for a while, and I finally figured it out! In the Drakan editor, if you hold down the A key, it shows all the walkable slopes. They appear as blue on my screen so I guess they show up as the below-view range color. First you have to mark the walkable elements, and it marks them for all polygons with textures, and then you can see every triangle the monsters can walk on if you press A!

Now, if only I could figure out the walkable slope limit for Rynn, I would be all set. That is, I want to know at what angle Rynn stops being able to walk on a slope and starts sliding down it. I've done some tests and it seems that if you have a ramp going east / west or north / south, and the height difference in the vertices is 1340, you can walk on the slope, but if it's 1342 (no odd values allowed), you can't. The equation arctan(1341/2048) indicates that the limit is approximately 33.2 degrees. That's just for landscape; the walkability slope limit on REO objects seems to be exactly 45 degrees. If there are more accurate values for these limits that the developers know of, I would really like to know them!

As an added bonus, now I have an easy way to determine slope steepness without looking in the 3D view, so I can determine a consistent cutoff point for landscape textures! No more pan-and-stripe for me!

End of post

Post Reply