Sun Light missing using q3map2 vs q3map

(ThinMan) #1

Here’s my problem.

I did a few maps for Urban Terror a few years ago but never got around to releasing them.
Recently I decide to go back and finish them.
Previous compiles of the maps were done with q3map and they always looked fine.
When I started to update the maps I decided I would compile them with q3map2.

It’s an outdoor map made of the usual mix of structural and detail brushes.
The thing is my sun light disappears during the compile with q3map2 vs. q3map.
It’s as though all the light from my sky shader is being ignored.
No light on the ground, outside walls or shining through any windows.

None of the other lights in the map are effected.
All the rest are normal though darker but I was expecting that.

I’m sorry I don’t have any screenshots to show you but I don’t think they’re needed.
Just imagine a well sun lit area for the first pic and a completely dark one for the other.

It’s just a very simple sky shader that works great using q3map.



textures/ut_thin02/thinsky
{
    qer_editorimage textures/ut_thin01/sky/thinsky_ft.tga
    q3map_globaltexture
    q3map_sun .3 .3 .5 30 263 28
    q3map_surfacelight 20
    surfaceparm noimpact
    surfaceparm nolightmap
    surfaceparm sky
    skyparms textures/ut_thin01/sky/thinsky 512 -
}

So when it didn’t work with q3map2 I tried to update it a bit and used this one instead.



textures/ut_thin02/thinsky2
{
    skyParms textures/ut_thin01/sky/thinsky 512 -
    
    q3map_lightImage textures/ut_thin01/thinsky_light.tga
    q3map_sun .3 .3 .5 100 263 28
    q3map_skylight 150 3
    q3map_globalTexture

    surfaceparm sky
    surfaceparm noimpact
    surfaceparm nolightmap
    surfaceparm nodlight

    qer_editorimage textures/ut_thin01/sky/thinsky_ft.tga
}

But I got the same results.

I have the feeling I missing something really simple but I’ve done a million (or so) searches and not found my answer.
Someone please enLIGHTen me.

(ratty redemption) #2

your original sky shader would definitely be too dark, but your 2nd one should of been bright enough.

although this may not fix your problem, try doing a search in this forum for penumbra q3map_sunext which is more even lighting then the old q3map_sun.

and here`s my wolf sky shader for a bright sunny outdoor map.

textures/_water_test/day_sky
{
	q3map_lightimage textures/_water_test/shader_images/light_orange.tga
	qer_editorimage textures/_water_test/shader_images/sky.tga
	q3map_sunext 1 0.8 0.6 50 140 45 2 16
	q3map_lightmapfilterradius 0 64
	q3map_skylight 50 3
	q3map_globaltexture
	q3map_nolightmap
	q3map_backsplash -1 -1

	fogvars ( 0.02 0.02 0.02 ) 0.000001
	surfaceparm noimpact
	surfaceparm nodlight
	skyparms - 192 -
	{
		map textures/skies/newclouds.tga
		tcmod scroll -0.001 -0.003
		tcmod scale 6 6
	}
	{
		map textures/skies/assa_clouds1.tga
		tcmod scroll 0.0005 0.00
		tcmod scale 2 1
		blendfunc blend
	}
}
(ydnar) #3

Make sure your sky shader is listed in shaderlist.txt.

(ThinMan) #4

Thanks for the quick replies.

ratty:
I’ll try your shader changes and see if that helps.

The light is actually supposed to be bright moon light that’s why it was set kinda low originally.
In the second shader I tried to crank it up just to get the map lit but there was no change.
I’ve actually tried much higher levels of intensity but it made no difference either.

ydnar:
It’s in the shaderlist.txt for sure, radiant sees it fine.
All my other shaders in the same .shader file work right.
The sky texture is correct in the compiled map.
I recompiled with q3map, just to check, and it came out with the sun (moon) light normal again.

Here are some screenshots I just made.

This is a section of the map compiled with q3map:

This is the same area of the map compiled with q3map2:

Don’t know if this helps but here are the switches I used.

q3map:
-vis -light -extra

q3map2:
-meta -vis -light -super 2

I originally used q3map2 V2.5.6 then tried V2.5.12 with no change.

I keep all versions of q3map2 in their own seperate dirctories and I’m using W98 if it makes any difference.

Let me know if there is any other info I can provide you with that would be helpful.

(obsidian) #5

Not sure why Q3Map2 won’t compile your shaders correctly, it shouldn’t have a problem with either old sky shaders or new - there’s just a difference in compile time (less) and quality (better).

You might want to try seeing this thread, an experiment comparing different shader directives in sky shaders.

http://www.quake3world.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/027331.html

(ratty redemption) #6

Im still using win98se so that shouldnt be a problem, and I`m using q3map2.5.12

edit: if you have any sameple .map`s from other people with skies, you could try compiling them with q3map2 and see they turn out.

also Im guessing it might be some shader conflict, so you could try moving any custom .pk3s out of your base folder and recompiling.

(smurkin) #7

Could it be that you have a second version of your shader file somewhere, in for example a pk3 (I guess this is rattys suggestion) - I had this problem - I added new shaders to my baseq3/scripts shader file during map development…but had forgotten an old version of my shader file existed in a pk3 version of my map used for beta testing…the game ignored the newer file in favour of the one in the pak3…hence, none of the new shaders functioned

(ThinMan) #8

Ahh… some good ideas.

I’ll start checking to see if any of those might be it.
Though I did rewrite the shader and rename it once to check for this but I’ll go back double check anyway.

Thx Again

(ratty redemption) #9

good luck and if you manage to fix this, please tell us what it was, even if it was a simple error, it still helps us if we run into similar problems.

(WadeV1589) #10

Do you have any light entities in your map at all? If not add just one light entity, no matter how dim.

(ThinMan) #11

Thanks for all the input guys, it seems I’ve solved it.

Wade:
I had several light entities in there, I think you can see them from the screenshots so I don’t think that was it but thanks anyway.

I had tried all of your suggestions one at a time but nothing changed.

So, what I did was a bit drastic but I was really frustrated over this.

I removed any 3rd party maps to a holding directory.
Un-installed any and all versions of GTK and q3map2.
Re-installed GTK and the latest version of q3map2.
Kept the 3rd party maps where they were. (i.e. somewhere not in my q3 directory)
Cleaned out any extra shaders that I wasn’t using from my old shaderlist.txt and added that back in.

I started GTK and got it all set up again, everything was fine.
I compiled my map with q3map2, loaded it up in UrT and it was fully lit.

OK, I’m really not sure what fixed it, to be honest.
My directories look the same as before the re-installation.
I even went back and put my 3rd party maps where they were and it made no difference.
The darn map compiles like a dream now with q3map2.

So in a way, I really don’t care what fixed it as long as it works.
Now I can use q3map2 and I’m one happy mapper.

obsidian:
I found your sky shader thread very helpful, even if it didn’t directly help my problem.

If I need any more help I know where to ask, thanks again guys.

(ratty redemption) #12

@ThinMan, cool :slight_smile:

@obsidian, your sky shader thread is an excellent resource :slight_smile:

I have one question though, how come you used a deviance of 3 on the q3map_sunext and not 2? …did it make any noticeable difference as ydnar seems to think 2 is enough?

but then you also showed its still worth using lightmapfilterradius on our final compiles... Im just curious.