Editor questions

[Malox]

Well considering it's been driven home that the editor won't be getting released , may I ask some questions about it .......

1. Looking at the maps that are available right now , the terrain looks to be hand painted ........ is that correct ???

2. Does the editor support such programs as World Machine regarding the addition of height fields and alpha layers for terrain generation ???

3. From what I can see , the editor is only supplying light from 1 point of the map ........ does the editor support any additional lighting effects as to spruse up darker areas or at least highlight a key point on the map ???

4. No water or fluid volumes , does the editor support this type of addition volume ???

PS - I'm not fluent with the Torque engine hence the silly questions.

Thanks

Mal-

 

[SeymourGore]

If you're curious about what the Torque engine is capable of, there's no better place than the Torque site itself.

Check out their site here.

 

[moronval]

I'll try to answer with what I know, but there's a good chance I'm wrong since I'm relying on what I knew from a year+ ago when I had access to the editor.

1: Hand painted yes, also supports procedural generation.

2: That one's beyond me, I only vaguely remember discussion about it from years ago - never a clear answer about it.

3: Vaguely yes but I'm unsure of the specifics.

4: Water was never properly implemented in the version of the editor being used for legions. And by fluid volumes are you referring to volumetric clouds or fog?

 

[Daphinicus]

I'm still re-learning the editor myself, but I can provide you with some answers.

1. Looking at the maps that are available right now , the terrain looks to be hand painted ........ is that correct ???

Yes and no. There's usually some procedural generation to help start a map off and give it some basic hills and valleys, but those are then heavily modified with a lot of hand-painted sculpting, which is in turn followed up with painted textures, placement of interiors, and so forth.

2. Does the editor support such programs as World Machine regarding the addition of height fields and alpha layers for terrain generation ???

You can use bitmaps to generate height fields, though I haven't personally tested the editor's limits in that particular capacity.

3. From what I can see , the editor is only supplying light from 1 point of the map ........ does the editor support any additional lighting effects as to spruse up darker areas or at least highlight a key point on the map ???

Absolutely, and you can actually see it in use in a couple maps. Take Frostbyte, for instance: the small platforms on the base towers where the ammo stations are placed are each lit with additional point lights to help highlight the areas and frame players there. On the old IA map Quarry, there were tons of colored lights happily transforming the map into a garish eyesore.

The reason why you see so little additional lighting is because the editor's a royal pain in the rear, and likes to crash whenever you start playing with lighting in any way. But lighting's actually a big concern for a Legions mapper, because it's the primary means by which a player can distinguish slopes and accurately navigate hills during skiing. Those shadows are important!

4. No water or fluid volumes , does the editor support this type of addition volume ???

As Morna pointed out, it's sort of there, but not really in usable form. Water's a hellish beast to integrate into an engine, because there are all sorts of shader concerns connected to the look of the water, and all sorts of physics concerns connected to the feel of the water. While not completely outside the realm of possibility, it's something that won't be showing up for some time, if at all.

And as far as volumetric fog is concerned, I'm interested in that myself, but haven't really explored it yet. DeadGuy might have more answers for ya.

 

[Malox]

Thanks to all who responded , I know I could have nipped past the Torque site and asked questions but hearing these sorts of responses from you guys who are actually playing with the editor it is what I wanted to see.

You've answered all my questions and some guys , thanks again.

I'm hoping the volumetric fogging doesn't come with the square culling that T:V has , not a big issue gameplay wise ........ more of an overall experience thing really.

Being able to see further out the left and right instead of straight ahead just doesn't sit right logically.

Cheers

Mal-