patch mesh problems

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M&M
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patch mesh problems

Post by M&M »

problem1
well,since my previous post on patch mesh problem disappeared from the 1st page of this forum i decided 2 make a new one,
here is what i want 2 do (for those who didnt c my 1st post)i want 2 make a simple S-curve type road.so i made the road from 4 simple patch meshs with 2 containing half of the S curve and the other 2 are staight.the problem that appeared was that my road had z fighting all over it like this
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after doing wackos idea by making a patch mesh like this
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it still didnt work,it looked different but still its not fixed .
here is how it looks from a tower in the map which the 1st screenshot was taken
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this is other one is a bit higher from the tower but directly on top of the road.
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i hope some1 can find a solution 2 my problem

problem 2:
i want 2 make a tent,so usually tents usually look a little curved,so i decided 2 make a patch mesh.but it isnt solid(my experience with patch meshes is 0)so how do i make it solid?,and how do i make it appear from both sides ,instead of just one(do i make another inverted one?)and does any1 know of a texture that might fit a tent cause im not really content with the one i have now
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bdbodger
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Post by bdbodger »

If you want to see it from both sides you need a texture that has cull none in it's shader that means it is drawn on both side . You can make a custom shader for the texture you are useing to make it like that . To stop z fighting try to put the road 1 unit above the terrain or make the terain two pieces and have it meet the road but not overlap it . To make meshes solid with a texture that is solid increase it's complexity .
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wacko
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Post by wacko »

these roads look strange indeed. In the recycling bin, there's a map by tltrude with some patch mesh roads, called mp_m4l0.pk3. Could u download and compile it to see whether they look the same?!

edit: there are server errors at the moment... hope i can fix (let fix) them soon. sorry
direct link though is http://www.decalattack.com/recyclebin/files/mp_m4l0.pk3
Last edited by wacko on Mon Feb 16, 2004 11:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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hogleg
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Post by hogleg »

Heres a solution: Download a map with curved roads out of the Recycling bend, I think theres one called TTs map with curved roads.
Open that in Radient, highlight the curved road then go to file open your map, radiant will say "copy the selected" click yes.

Wollaaaaa, u have a curved road in your map, now just place it where u want it. :wink:
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wacko
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Post by wacko »

HogLeg wrote:Heres a solution: Download a map with curved roads out of the Recycling bend, I think theres one called TTs map with curved roads...
errrm, yes, just as I said. But at the moment, plz take the link in my last post. :oops: TT's map is http://www.decalattack.com/recyclebin/files/ttmap.zip
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Post by Axion »

Wacko wrote:
HogLeg wrote:Heres a solution: Download a map with curved roads out of the Recycling bend, I think theres one called TTs map with curved roads...
errrm, yes, just as I said. But at the moment, plz take the link in my last post. :oops: TT's map is http://www.decalattack.com/recyclebin/files/ttmap.zip
What he said wasn't exactly what you said.
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wacko
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Post by wacko »

Axion wrote:What he said wasn't exactly what you said.
oki :wink:
i think it might be rather a problem of his graphic card than of setting up a patch mesh, so I first wanted to know what other roads look like and then - if they were fine - trying to find out the differences between the roads
M&M
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Post by M&M »

well,i did dload that map earlier and saw the roads .but i also saw a huge map and i thought compiling something like this would take a long time.i have a geforce 4 mx 440 64MBs ,thats a pretty decent card imo,its not the best but its a good card .(runs alot of games at high quality)i will try 2 compile it later today (b4 i sleep)but i hope u can find the compiled version.anyways,i didnt want 2 just copy the road from any map i wanna do it myself,cause everytime i need a road i just open the map and copy it!!!? :shock: .i studied how the roads were made however and they looked the same ,but i elevated the middle vertex more(i think its more than 8 units) and put the whole patch 1 unit (grid 1)above the ground.but i dont like how the road looks (very ugly),i have the whole terrain around it flat as u c so having a high road (almost flying )is not really attractive if u know what i mean.im compiling my map with a leak(the upper sky is not there :wink: )and everything else is put 2 fast,could that be the problem?

and could some1 help me with the 2nd problem i posted about plz?

i wrote:problem 2:
i want 2 make a tent,so tents usually look a little curved,so i decided 2 make a patch mesh.but it isnt solid(my experience with patch meshes is 0)so how do i make it solid?,and how do i make it appear from both sides ,instead of just one(do i make another inverted one?)and does any1 know of a texture that might fit a tent cause im not really content with the one i have now
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tltrude
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1 unit

Post by tltrude »

We keep telling you that one unit is not high enough off the ground. Let the edges sit on the ground, so the center is 8 units above the ground, or 4. You can select verticies by draging a box around them. It is easier to do the lifting while the patch is still streight and then bend it around for corners.

Weather the patch is solid or not depends on the texture you use. Most of the see-textures (like the tent texture) are non soild and you would need to make a copy of the tent with clip texture to make it solid.

To make the inside show up, make another copy of the tent and go to curve > invert--hot key Ctrl + I. Then place them both in the same spot.

Also, patch mesh with a lot of triangles will hurt the fps of your map. So, reduce the complexity of the patches to a point where they still look good, but have less triangles--hot keys Shift + L&R brackets.
Tom Trude,

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M&M
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Post by M&M »

i dont think ur understanding what im saying,i elevated the center vertices 8 units (more i think).and all the edges 1 unit above the ground so the middle vertices are now 9 units above the ground while the whole patch is 1 unit.another way 2 explain it is i elevated the middle vertices 8 units then lowered th eground by 1 unit.i hope u understood :wink: ,or maybe im not understanding!1 :? :?:
anyways tnx 4 the info about patch meshes,however i have only a few meshes (4 for the road,and until now 2 for the tent),and the fps isnt bad as u can c (without any manvis or areaprotals until now),but doesnt reducing the complexity affect the looks?
and i didnt get this part very well
tltrude wrote:make a copy of the tent with clip texture to make it solid
do u mean i make a brush with clip texture or i make a patch mesh with a clip texture?
tnx 4 ur reply

EDIT:
turns out that the map i dloaded has its bsp as weel as its .map file,so i took a few screenshots
this one is from very high,i just kept pressing space in order 2 c the effect in my map but i didnt :cry:
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this one is of an intersection that looks bad but not from so far Image
this is another one that isnt from very far Image
there is still z fighting near the edges but its doesnt really stick its finger in ur eye like in my map :wink:.i hope some1 can help me on this and tell me how 2 make a patch solid,by making another patch then texturing it with clip or making a brush ?
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tltrude
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black spot

Post by tltrude »

Your road edges should not be 1 unit off the gorund. You may see black spots (until you do a final light compile), but it is ok to overlap the ground a little with the edge verticies.

You can use regular brushes for the clip but, it is easier to just copy the patch mesh and apply clip to that.
Tom Trude,

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wacko
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Post by wacko »

this is what I get in similar position:
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Image
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these shots where taken with GeForceFX5900U, Detonator 45.32, 1600x1280 and best settings, but even with lowest settings in 640x480 I don't get those black triangles, no z-fighting.

So it ought to be caused by your graphics card...
Please check your quality settings in MOHAA and try a new detonator?!
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tltrude
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LOD

Post by tltrude »

How the ground looks depends on what you have set for "Level of Detail" in the game options.

Mappers should aways check their maps on the lowest settings. You can force players to see "Max detail" of the lod terrain around roads or buildings--so gap don't open up on low settings. To do that you would use the facet editor (Shift F).
Tom Trude,

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Post by M&M »

well,i guess it ought 2 be the drivers cause i havent updated them in a looong while :oops:,the problem is those drivers are sometimes a bit large and im on a 56kbs :cry: .these screenshots i took were on low details in mohaa(i set everything 2 low or lowest) ,when i try high details i can c the road clearly ,but i dont want some1 with low details getting triangles instead of a road :wink: .not every1 has a super graphics card like urs (where is that emoticon 4 envy?) so ppl with medium or low cards can appreciate my map.maybe i should post the bsp and u can tell me how u c it with ur eyes (on ur high grafix card ofcourse),if u are free?

and tltrude i dont have any lod terrain in my map,its so small that i dont need lod(i might still use it later 4 scenery around the map).under that road is just a normal brush (its actually a small number of brushes which are not overlapping).do i have 2 have lod terrain 2 use it?and just out of curiosity but what is the use of this map (mp4l0)?i cant c how it would be played ,it is sooo big and almost nothin 2 hide behind ,is it a tut map?or it was a project that never got completed :( ?

EDIT:,i dloaded the new drivers and just as i expected .....they did nothing :shock: :x :evil: .any other ideas :idea: would really be appreaciated :wink:
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