So, I’ve done fairly minor tinkering with forge prior. Mostly just messing around. I decided I wanted to try and make my first real map, a remake of hang 'em high from halo:ce. So I used the blank space map for a blank slate without existing geography and built up a pretty close recreation of the layout (which is mostly completed structurally, but still needs alot of tweaking and cosmetic work. The problem I ran into with an open roof is that the areas that were lit were well lit, but there was SIGNIFICANT darkening that made anywhere with shadows almost too dark and unplayable. Experimenting with lighting and the variables, I could not light those darker areas in a way that looked good. Only jarring. I tried invisible lights in spot and point, different distances, brightness, fall off ratios, colors etc… The results were always either still too dark or looking like individual lights rather than just a kind of natural even lighting if you can picture something like the original map. Everything is lit pretty much evenly, but the light source isn’t noticeable. So, I figured I’d try a different route and put a ceiling in. The thinking being that the absence of such extremes of brightness and dark would make it easier to light. Same issue but on a bigger scale now. I had hoped I could kind of try doing a low fall off ratio/diffuse type of lighting from the top with multiple lights to achieve the goal, but the result is next to no visible added lighting, or standing out as a distinct light source in a bad way. I’m certain there is a way to do this that is simple, and this is just my inexperience. However, if anybody is willing to give me a hand to get that worked out, I would appreciate it. Ideally, if someone is willing to friend me ( XBL: Loweredcorpse) and /or join me for a forge session, I’m sure results will be much easier. I’m on in the map currently and often. Just send me a message or join me. If you DLL the map from my file share, just know I have purposefully over lit one corner for visibility. Anybody? This is a labour of love for me due to all the countless hours of insanity and memories I have for the map. File name is HANG EM HIGH FOR H5.
ps: in retrospect, using a different base map would have been easier, but there is no way I want to start from scratch with the time put in unless someone knows a way to transpose the construction to a different base map without individually selecting each piece
Seriously? 70 replies to the thesaurus of shame thread but nobody has any advice.?
It’s hard to say without seeing what you’re doing, but it sounds as if you have this idea that the lighting should have a flat and even look is it did in the old Halos. That, of course, is a legitimate vision of how your map could look, but it’s ignoring the entire concept of dynamic lighting. If spot/point lighting isn’t getting you where you want to go, even after tweaking all the different parameters, then maybe you just haven’t used enough of them? And yes, you will have fall off issues with this type of lighting appearing from a distance to be completely off and only coming on as you get in to proximity.
As for your canvas, I’m assuming that you’re on Parallax. Switch the background over to “Ascendance,” do a light bake, and then see what changes. May be just the thing.
Best of luck.
Edit: I just ransacked your fileshare (or whatever they’re calling it these days) but could only find an Ascension re-make (unfinished, but nice). Mark Hang 'Em as searchable and we’ll have a look.
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> It’s hard to say without seeing what you’re doing, but it sounds as if you have this idea that the lighting should have a flat and even look is it did in the old Halos. That, of course, is a legitimate vision of how your map could look, but it’s ignoring the entire concept of dynamic lighting. If spot/point lighting isn’t getting you where you want to go, even after tweaking all the different parameters, then maybe you just haven’t used enough of them? And yes, you will have fall off issues with this type of lighting appearing from a distance to be completely off and only coming on as you get in to proximity.
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> As for your canvas, I’m assuming that you’re on Parallax. Switch the background over to “Ascendance,” do a light bake, and then see what changes. May be just the thing.
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> Best of luck.
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> Edit: I just ransacked your fileshare (or whatever they’re calling it these days) but could only find an Ascension re-make (unfinished, but nice). Mark Hang 'Em as searchable and we’ll have a look.
I have to apologize… This issue is still very much on my mind, but for some reason, I never noticed your reply. Although this is quite an old thread now, could you let me know if you are still active here? Or anybody else active willing to give two cents? Obviously, going backwards multiple generations to get full flat even lighting isn’t ideal. It’s also not my goal. Dynamic lighting is obviously much better. My issue was that with the map enclosed, no external light from outside the structure was helping. I kept trying different kinds of lights in different quantities, and the results I found were that either the light was too localized, or the number needed was going to exceed what the map could handle by a large amount. Having said that, the fact that even an old school original xbox was able to have the whole thing fully lit, stands to reason my rookie-Ness is causing me to do it incorrectly or I’m missing something. Also, because this issue was perplexing me so much, rather than have to delete a whole bunch of work on one approach, I kept duplicating it so I could go back a generation without having to delete a bunch of stuff. I get the feeling I will be face-palming when you guys have a look, but it’s worth it :=). I’ll set the files to share. I don’t usually give out email, but I can be contacted at nickberg99@gmail.com as well.