Spark Editor : Few Questions

J.D.

Hey guys, just a few questions to get me going. My knowledge for level design lies solely in Unreal so bare with me. If Ive overlooked it somewhere, please point me into the right direction, thanks.

1 - 3D Space : Additive or Subtractive? Does the level need to be fully encompassed by geometry? (aka Huge cube with everything inside)

2 - Moving and Snapping : Any way to move by local normals for Edges and Verts as well as edge/vert snapping instead of just the grid?

3 - Pivot : Are you able to change the pivot position of meshes in the editor? Some statics pivots are just way out there.

4 - Panning! : Control the pan speed in the editor? I just tap the middle mouse and my screen flys all over. Very Frustrating.

5 - Grid : A way to have the grid on at all times?

6 - Creating Geometry : You can only create geometry in the perspective view? Rectangle and Circle Tools will only create in perspective for me unless im on top of existing geometry.

7 - Ambient Lights : What are these light types for? Sunlight or Dynamic lighting such as flickering etc..?

Thanks in advance!

JD

Zuriki

1. No.
2. Yes, hold ALT.
3. Yes, "," and "." changes pivot point
4. Uh, never had a problem, I use WASD.
5. No.
6. No idea.
7. Ambiance. I think of it as a "glow", the way a room is a lit; even if not every surface is touched by light.

Oh and, ambient lights are a bit buggy I heard, don't let them overlap (one of them disappears in-game).

J.D.

Thanks for the input, much appreciated :)

Quick Edit: Seems I can now create geometry in the 2d viewports and the pan is much better. When I setup everything I set it up like I have 3ds max setup and Im guessing because I moved a bunch of things around it threw everything off? Idk works ok now though after defaulting. The WASD viewport moving I'll never get used too :/ I think thats from Source as well not sure.

Zuriki

<!--quoteo(post=1853631:date=Jun 16 2011, 08:38 PM:name=J.D.)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (J.D. @ Jun 16 2011, 08:38 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1853631"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Thanks for the input, much appreciated :)

Quick Edit: Seems I can now create geometry in the 2d viewports and the pan is much better. When I setup everything I set it up like I have 3ds max setup and Im guessing because I moved a bunch of things around it threw everything off? Idk works ok now though after defaulting. The WASD viewport moving I'll never get used too :/ I think thats from Source as well not sure.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yeah, the edit feels a lot like Hammer, I think they wanted to ease the mappers in to NS2 from NS1 and let them feel at home with the tools as much as they are.

J.D.

Quick bump.

Is there a way to import custom geometry and use it as a brush? Id like to make more of the complex geometry in 3ds max then import it into the editor to use as a brush and apply NS2 textures to it to keep the NS2 theme.

Does the weld vertices option in the editor work? I have it bound to a key but doesnt seem to do anything.

Thanks!

JD

Zuriki

No, other than building props from 3DS then export to DAE and use the builder to create models (the DAE model must be textured before building model).

I don't think the weld vertices option works yet.

Insane

The editor reads .obj files, so you could try exporting that from 3dsMax.

marks

You're saying the editor can read in .obj files as brush/poly geometry ?

Magneto

Why does the editor seem to have such poor performance compared to the game now, doesn't it get the same optimizations?

Mendasp

<!--quoteo(post=1856072:date=Jun 24 2011, 05:39 PM:name=Magneto)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Magneto @ Jun 24 2011, 05:39 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1856072"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Why does the editor seem to have such poor performance compared to the game now, doesn't it get the same optimizations?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Nope. It doesn't even have any kind of occlusion, so it renders the whole map, all the time (well, unless you hide the geometry). It will eventually get those optimizations, but the game goes first, obviously.

Tig

<!--quoteo(post=1856078:date=Jun 24 2011, 11:02 AM:name=Mendasp)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Mendasp @ Jun 24 2011, 11:02 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1856078"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Nope. It doesn't even have any kind of occlusion, so it renders the whole map, all the time (<b>well, unless you hide the geometry</b>). It will eventually get those optimizations, but the game goes first, obviously.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

protip: organize your rooms into layers and color code them.

Magneto

I thought it would be part of the same engine, that would make more sense?

Thaldarin

No.

J.D.

<!--quoteo(post=1855730:date=Jun 23 2011, 06:47 AM:name=Zuriki)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Zuriki @ Jun 23 2011, 06:47 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1855730"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->No, other than building props from 3DS then export to DAE and use the builder to create models (the DAE model must be textured before building model).

I don't think the weld vertices option works yet.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Ah thx. So if I created a custom model or texture, when the map is finished, are the textures and models baked into the map itself or would you need to include them in a download? In Unreal you have the option for both.

<!--quoteo(post=1855773:date=Jun 23 2011, 09:28 AM:name=Insane)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Insane @ Jun 23 2011, 09:28 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1855773"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The editor reads .obj files, so you could try exporting that from 3dsMax.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

How would I import the .obj to the editor? Or would I have to use the builder to compile it into a .model file (same as DAE)?

Thx for the input guys :).

Zuriki

You have to include the models and textures too, they're not compiled into the map (as maps aren't compiled at all).

Not sure about the .obj files (it appears undocumented).

J.D.

Thanks Zuriki for all the helpful replies. (: