Alpha Readme

[Phillip]

Updated 7/20/09

Documentation
New map editor community wiki! - http://wiki.wolfire.com/index.php/Portal:Overgrowth
Map editor controls - http://blog.wolfire.com/2009/03/map-editor-controls/
Fighting prototype controls - http://blog.wolfire.com/2009/06/fightin ... ond-draft/
Omni tool diagram: http://cdn.wolfire.com/blog/MapEditor1.jpg (modeled off viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4295 from Silverfish!)

Video tutorials
Basic map editor - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taX4h3UajBc
Hotspots - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc5L9sBF7D0
Decals - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vnRV-1S65I
Paintbrush - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nJhY4Nx2pE
Groups versus selections - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLB-cmrNa0U
Subgroup selections - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpr4dtevDyg
Object mirroring - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reqKnN3OVOc
Sky editor - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kksmifosh0w
Live texture and shader update - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7Q3fmXu4r8

Edit by David:
You can also change the graphics and control settings by editing the config.txt file in the Data folder. On Windows you can find the Data folder in "Program Files/Wolfire/Overgrowth", and on Mac you can find it by looking in the Overgrowth package (ctrl-click the program and select 'show package contents')

[Derakon]

Awesome! Thanks, Phillip.

One thing I'd like to request is keys for moving up and down. As it is, right now to move up/down you have to look up or down and then move forward.

[Vrav]

Excellent, didn't know that about the tools using arrow keys - very helpful.

I'd personally prefer a mouse-controlled camera with pan and orbiting rotation, but since that's such a normal thing in editors I suppose it's bound to happen eventually.

I've been having some issues with the normalmap shader on an object; is it okay to ask you about that, Phillip? My object renders fine in every other previewer I've used, normal map all working functionally (even with Y inverted as in the engine). Once it's in the engine, it only displays correct lighting on one side - if I turn it 180 degrees along the up axis, everything that should be lit is now black.

I fiddled with my maps a bit, but I think it's either a problem in the engine or the shader I'm trying to use—as if it's designed to work on spherical objects only, like the boulder. But I don't know any shader languages to tell.

Additional request, since I'm here: point light objects or ambient light control? It's a bit difficult to preview an asset when everything is lit solely by a single directional light. This isn't paramount, since I can preview assets in other applications, but the engine is preferable, for its live updating and resemblance to (if not actually) the final visual product.

[David]

Most of the normal maps in the game are using object-space normal maps. If you are using tangent-space normal maps they should display correctly if you use "cubemap" instead of "cubemapobj" in your object xml.

[Vrav]

That's the thing, it' is object space. I'll try converting it to tangent space and using cubemap to see if the issue is still present.

Edit: Yeah, tangent space displays correctly, but it's not really what I want to use. Not sure what the issue with my OS normal map is.

[Phillip]

Hey Vrav,

Yep, I'm happy to have your questions, though in this case I think David will be able to help more.

A pan and orbiting camera is definitely something I plan to try out in the map editor, and maybe some nifty views like isometric and birds eye view. Light placement and light editing would also be very cool. I'll add that to my list of things to do. Thanks for your suggestions.

[Chainsaw man]

You can also change the graphics and control settings by editing the config.txt file in the Data folder. On Windows you can find the Data folder in "Program Files/Wolfire/Overgrowth", and on Mac you can find it by looking in the Overgrowth package (ctrl-click the program and select 'show package contents')

Speaking of The Config.txt, I tryed changing some things in that, how ever, on vista its been a nightmare to change these as it wont save to the directory, I end up having to save the File to the Desk top, and Replace it in the apropriate file by draging and droping. For Vista Users, I think the Offical game should include an exturnal UI means of changing the Configuration.

Just my 2 cents.

[Jeff]

Good idea

[Chainsaw man]

Thank you

[David]

That's the thing, it' is object space. I'll try converting it to tangent space and using cubemap to see if the issue is still present.

Edit: Yeah, tangent space displays correctly, but it's not really what I want to use. Not sure what the issue with my OS normal map is.

In the object space normal map it could be that some of the channels are inverted; you could try inverting some of them to see if that helps. For example, inverting just the blue channel.

[Vrav]

That's the thing, it' is object space. I'll try converting it to tangent space and using cubemap to see if the issue is still present.

Edit: Yeah, tangent space displays correctly, but it's not really what I want to use. Not sure what the issue with my OS normal map is.

In the object space normal map it could be that some of the channels are inverted; you could try inverting some of them to see if that helps. For example, inverting just the blue channel.

Have tried that, but none provided a universal fix. I also re-baked the entire normal map, to ensure that everything was the same. I'm still not sure what the reason is - if it's some stupid thing I've overlooked, or what. Inverting the green channel has the greater effect, but still provides no solution. Maybe it's an issue with my model, I don't know.

The light is fine on the one half of the model, the positive Z side, but if I flip it around in the editor so the side that is facing negative on the Z axis, lighting on the entire model is coming from the opposite direction it should be - instead of from the sky, the light is from the ground.

Which... if I think about it... would mean that it's calculating Z as Y (the lighting swerves from top to bottom instead of back to front). This suddenly makes sense. In the applications I use to bake my normal map, Y is up. I'll try swapping the blue and green channels now...

... Yep. From the normal map I'd baked I had to swap blue and green and invert them both. Now it renders perfectly! Ha, now, that wasn't so hard. If this is how the engine is going to read normal maps, I'll create an action to set them up like this in Photoshop - simple.

Thanks David and Phillip, I'll try to think of other suggestions if I have any as the alpha versions progress. As for my qualms with the lighting, it's much less bothersome now that I've got the normal map working correctly. Very happy to have that settled.

[Chainsaw man]

I have come to report that the Program has dificulty Making objects the size you want, and can sezure a bit, making Blocks and Rocks VERY destorted shapes, there needs to be a set speed on how quickly these objects can change size.

I also found if you Alter the Models TOO much, the game Crashs with the Typical Windows vista Pop up that says:
Lugaru2 has stoped working, wrighting a report to Microsoft to fix the problem.

I have also Noticed The mouses camra functions stop working when you use the Arrow keys to perform a funcion like rotate etc. Some times It recovers, one way to force it ro recover is to click the select button and do your best to deselect an object, The mouse will still how ever works with the GUI when the cameras frozen, allowing me to change stuff during this, so this is a camra freeze.

[Phillip]

Yep, the scaling tool definitely needs some work. For now, you can just use the up and down arrow keys, if you want to avoid crazy scaling.

As for the arrow key focus bug, thanks for pointing this out. I've fixed it for the next version of the alpha.

[Chainsaw man]

Sweet, what is being done about the crashing?

[Derakon]

It sounds to me like the scaling crash is simply a matter of the engine not handling negative scales properly; that's pretty straightforward to fix (if nothing else, you can just have the object "bounce" off of scale = 0 and start increasing again).