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EarthQuake

Does this look good?

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I've been plotting one of my upcoming deathmatch wads and I've run into quite a few lighting problems. Somehow, I seem to get past each of these but yet, I don't seem satisfied.

I know this is only a test level, and the detail is very low, but do you think the lighting in this cave looks natural/real?

http://www.realsimpsons.com/doomvault/images/nyctophobia.png

I had to set the top portion of the cast so that it appears dark because if you notice, the actually light is close to the ground and wouldn't cast light immediately above it.

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Er, I can't see anything... I mean, I know it's a cave and everything, but... Way too dark, in my opinion. Of course, lighting has never been one of my strong points, so you probably shouldn't listen to me.

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Well it supposed to be dark, and well any screenshot will appear darker than it normally would be.

I want to draw everyone's attention to the ceiling. Compare the ceiling to the floor. Does this look right?

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Maybe you could post a pic with some gamma correction, because I can't see jack.

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The picture is indeed quite dark, for all I can really see is the little dee-lee in the bottom left hand corner. Given its a cave it needs to be dark but perhaps you can light it up just for the screen shot and give the dark and light pictures posted, so we could see them as dark and light, just a thought. :D

However, I can see a bit of jazz near the top of the screen, the lighting looks quite realistic, but it depends on the type of cave I suppose. :D

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Wow, that's a...dark cave. And the ceiling is just as dark as the floor, which is quite dark. I do see a nukefall over in the corner, and I see the Doomguy clutching his pistol, but that's all I see.
Did I mention this pic is dark?

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add a little more lighting gradient in there... draw a few more sectors between the dark and the light, soften the edges. Generally I would put an extra (buffer) sector in for every 16-32 difference in brightness, this may not be significant but the results are more naturally lit sectors.

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I see what you're trying to do, and I think the effect works quite well. There's a little opening in the left (not just a nukefall) of the cave, acting as a light source spreading different levels of light onto the cave ceiling and floor.

Adding some sectors to make softer lighting might make it look better, but I'm not sure if it's necessary. Plus if you're using vanilla doom (and using the old raise the ceiling without adding an upper texture trick to make the light on the ceiling darker than the floor) I don't think you'll be able to have soft lighting all the way round. You could do it using boom transfer lights linedefs though if that's what you're using.

I would generally make it all brighter if you want people to see where they're going though :P Or is it just the pic?

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It's the picture. Sorry, I'll try to brighten the level up so you can actually see whats going on. This map is nothing but a flat room (0, 128) with a small light near the left towards the ground.

I can soften the lights around the casting, but since I'm using that "old raise the ceiling without adding an upper texture trick to make the light on the ceiling darker than the floor" trick, that makes it even harder, but I'll do it anyway, just for the sake of realism.
The edges of everything in this "test" level are not rounded as of yet, I'm just getting everyone's opinion about the lighting.

EDIT:

Here are some new screenshots:

realsimpsons.com/doomvault/images/np1.png
realsimpsons.com/doomvault/images/np2.png
realsimpsons.com/doomvault/images/np3.png

And here is what the level looks like:

realsimpsons.com/doomvault/images/npmap.bmp
Sector A is (0, 512) with a lighting of 140.
Sector B is (-512, 128) with a lighting of 70.
Sector C is (0, 128) with a lighting of 140.
The surrounding sector is (0, 128) with a lighting of 70.

This level is supposed to be dark, hence the name "nyctophobia".
When playing the wad, it appears much less dark than the first screenshot. I will soften the lights up once I get this project under way. I should probably add that this is for vanilla Doom (as are all my wads). Thanks for all your guys' input.

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In light of what you just showed (no pun intended), I suggest some height variations. Maybe some rock formations, etc. That's half the fun of messing with cave levels. But what I can tell is that what you're making is a level that's been...modernized for the use of either the demons or the human military. Neat idea.
-Funk Factor-

EDIT: For those in the know, that kind of idea reminds me of the scenario at the Mines of Moria.

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Job said:

In light of what you just showed (no pun intended), I suggest some height variations. Maybe some rock formations, etc. That's half the fun of messing with cave levels. But what I can tell is that what you're making is a level that's been...modernized for the use of either the demons or the human military. Neat idea.

EDIT: For those in the know, that kind of idea reminds me of the scenario at the Mines of Moria.


I clearly stated that this was a test level.
This level is no where near refined, and has absolutely no detail. I just wanted to make sure if I should go on with this, which I am, and to make sure that these lighting effects would please the crowd.

EDIT:

Since this is a deathmatch level, I need to keep things a bit flat and not too claustrophobic. I don't want players getting lost and stuck on things jutting outward. I'm trying to make this a relatively linear level with small pathways interconnecting to the main cave.
This doesn't severly limit me as I can concentrate on scenery and such, and hopefully I can make this into a joyful experience for everyone who plays. I love those feelings of nostalgia... makes ya all warm and fuzzy inside.

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Heh, I thought you were doing an SP level. In which case, I can see where you're coming from.
-Funk Factor-

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