Forum posts

Posted 14 years ago2010-06-08 01:51:51 UTC
in lighting big area in source Post #281639
Don't forget the "Constant"/"Linear"/"Quadratic" settings, or the 50/0% falloff settings, alternatively. They can be pretty handy; you can make a single spotlight illuminate a huge hall or open space without getting nasty over-brightening on the surfaces near the light.
Posted 14 years ago2010-05-31 15:10:41 UTC
in Post your screenshots! WIP thread Post #281483
Could you post a rendering of the high-poly version of the egg (if you used one to bake the normal map; it looks like it to me, at least)? Creating the little surface detail bits on high-poly models, like the little veins running through the egg, has always been difficult for me.
Posted 14 years ago2010-05-13 19:32:07 UTC
in Desktops of May Post #281244
Reminds me a little of Rivendell, but less brown... and less western.
Posted 14 years ago2010-05-11 15:01:40 UTC
in Post your screenshots! WIP thread Post #281166
Fair enough. Looks great thus far; I've always been a lousy texture artist (I always just leave my models that flat grey - yuck), so I'd be interested in seeing what you could accomplish in that regard.
Posted 14 years ago2010-05-10 22:56:26 UTC
in Post your screenshots! WIP thread Post #281144
Sexy work, dude.

My only recommendations would include upping the number of polygons used in the wheels so the edges aren't as visible, and defining some more hard edges along the body, like in the grill and bumper areas, so that it isn't quite as amorphous looking. It's pretty amazing what results you can get with just a handful of polygons, especially if hard edges are involved (no smoothing necessary!).

Keep posting more! I need to get back in the habit of modeling; blasted university studies are getting in the way.
Posted 14 years ago2010-05-09 17:14:17 UTC
in Desktops of May Post #281114
I had that wallpaper for some time, Strider. Pretty.
Posted 14 years ago2010-04-07 22:53:36 UTC
in Some Modelling WIPs Post #280348
Mighty fine work there, sir!

I guess my only "complaint" is the fact that I can see the individual polygons that went into making the fenders that cover the front set of tires; maybe it's just the angle of the render causing that, though, and it isn't that noticeable otherwise... either way, it's some great, sharp modeling. Make moar, pl0x.
Posted 14 years ago2010-02-02 01:57:53 UTC
in Desktops of February Post #278623
Photobucket automatically resized the image; I forgot it would do that. I shall re-upload, using Imageshack.
User posted image
Posted 14 years ago2010-02-01 21:55:14 UTC
in Desktops of February Post #278618
:o I like yours, Rim. Where'd you get it?
User posted image
Interfacelift.com. Most of them are over-exposed HDR shots, but every once in a while, you come across a neat one.
Posted 14 years ago2010-02-01 03:35:00 UTC
in Can anyone explain this problem? Post #278596
I was having similar issues as well. I just went through some major hardware upgrades, so I'm not suffering from the issue anymore myself, but a crowd of my friends and I experienced the same exact issue that you're dealing with, all starting near the same time. We suspect it may have been some changes Valve made to TF2's engine through a Steam update, which would explain our issues seeming to occur at the same time, but I haven't seen anything in the update news that would point to that as an answer.

Enable showbudget and post some screenshots of its readout when you're experiencing the hitches. It looks a lot like the issues I was suffering from in this thread (and disabling multicore rendering didn't help): http://twhl.co.za/forums.php?thread=16773
Posted 14 years ago2010-01-23 22:19:22 UTC
in Post your screenshots! WIP thread Post #278340
I used the water shader on an unanimated normal map, then made a 1-unit-thick brush just above that, turned it into a func_brush, and lowered the opacity to let the reflection through. There needs to be a barrier between the water and the player/bullets/grenades/etc.; otherwise splashing occurs.
Posted 14 years ago2010-01-23 22:13:25 UTC
in Post your screenshots! WIP thread Post #278338
User posted image
Real-time reflections!!

EDIT:

Shitty lighting in that picture; I'm going to illuminate it better and get some better screenshots
Posted 14 years ago2010-01-22 01:44:26 UTC
in Post your screenshots! WIP thread Post #278282
Nah, I've never done any depth map work, but I never knew that you could do this sort of stuff in purely in Photoshop. My process involves rendering from two cameras that are right next to eachother, tinting the results red and cyan, and multiplying them together in Photoshop.

I was inspired by Avatar. :crowbar:
Posted 14 years ago2010-01-21 17:48:39 UTC
in Post your screenshots! WIP thread Post #278244
Posted 14 years ago2010-01-17 04:43:53 UTC
in Post your screenshots! WIP thread Post #278047
Looks nice. The wind generators are a nice touch. That wall texture seems a little flat to me, though, unless that's the look you're going for. Are you basing this off a photograph (I haven't been browsing the forums much until recently)? I don't think lots of cubemaps will have much of an effect in terms of performance, but it might be worth your while to toggle mat_specular on and off a few times and check if there's any noticable change in your framerate.
Posted 14 years ago2010-01-16 05:16:34 UTC
in Sourcey Rooms Post #278014
Likewise
Posted 14 years ago2010-01-15 04:04:31 UTC
in Post your screenshots! WIP thread Post #277961
Source, of course! It's running in Episode Two after an HDR compile. My goal was realism.. so cartoony wasn't the response I was expecting, but I did, however, like the result in the second screenshot, too. The texture looks 10 times better when you can look at it in the game instead of from just a static screenshot, but I guess that's true about a lot of things. :heartbreak:
Posted 14 years ago2010-01-15 02:01:53 UTC
in Post your screenshots! WIP thread Post #277954
I've been playing a little Mirror's Edge recently; there are some gorgeous textures in that game. So gorgeous, in fact, that I was inspired to make my own painted cinder block texture from scratch, a lot like the one you see in that game everywhere. Exciting, I know.
User posted image
User posted image
I started work on it by beginning with the height map I would make the normal map from, then creating the diffuse texture from there. I never used any photographic references for this texture, which is a first for me. The reflections are a little strong in these shots because the room is relatively dark, but I may dial them back anyway. I also haven't added any grunge to the texture, and I'm debating whether I want to and, if I did, how I would go about adding it.

What do y'all think?
Posted 14 years ago2010-01-12 18:39:11 UTC
in Performance Issues under Windows 7 Post #277811
The fix in the patches folder doesn't work (I'm guessing it's because I'm running 64-bit 7), but I made the manual edit in the registry and nothing improved.
Posted 14 years ago2010-01-12 01:13:11 UTC
in Performance Issues under Windows 7 Post #277768
Way ahead of you. I remember finding that thread as I was googling the issue, but disabling multicore rendering didn't help, nor did setting the game's affinity to either one CPU or the other. I also removed my graphics card and dusted it as best I could; the problem wasn't reduced by any qualitative amount, so I don't think I'm running into any overheating issues. I forgot to mention that the issue is present at any resolution, so I'm thinking it isn't related to how hefty graphics hardware is.
Posted 14 years ago2010-01-11 23:21:49 UTC
in Performance Issues under Windows 7 Post #277759
Yeah, they're all up-to-date and working fine.
Posted 14 years ago2010-01-11 17:03:29 UTC
in Performance Issues under Windows 7 Post #277713
'Ello,

I recently sprung for Windows 7 and installed it on my desktop. Everything is running well, but I have some pretty nasty performance issues in most Source games (particularly TF2), but the problems are also moderately present in other engines (Borderlands/Mirror's Edge, etc.). The issue is that periodically, roughly every 3 to 4 seconds, my framerate will drop to a noticable 10-20 FPS for a split second, then return to normal.

During the "normal" moments of gameplay, my framerate hovers along a nice 60 FPS (unless I'm in some major combat). I have tried lowering my resolution to 640 x 480, making sure background programs and services are off (Like Opera, and I've screwed with msconfig a few times), running CCleaner, disabling my second monitor so that Windows isn't being drawn while TF2 is running, and disabling multicore rendering. None of these attempts have done anything to help.

I've noticed that the problem becomes increasingly present from the time I've launched the game to several minutes into gameplay. The issue also seems more present in network gameplay than single-player games (but then again, Episode Two has always out-performed TF2 for some reason). +Showbudget, as you can see below, is reporting a bunch of resource-hogs, but the culprits tend to be somewhat random in their appearance. The only recurring performance-killers, according to +showbudget, are Game and Mat_threadedendframe, whatever that last one has to do with.
User posted image
User posted image
Any help is much appreciated! I haven't been able to find much useful information online, so I'm thinking of going to Steam Support with this one if I can't get it resolved soon.
Posted 14 years ago2010-01-06 17:42:08 UTC
in collision Post #277418
What modeling app. are you using? If it's XSI, you need to make sure you freeze all your transformations (Transform > Freeze all Transforms) before you rig the model to your bones, and that goes for both the model itself and its collision model(s). If you don't, the exporter simply enters the default values for Transform, Rotate, and Scale for every object in the model, screwing everything up. I've never been able to figure out why they set the program up that way.. it's just the way things are, I'm afraid!
Posted 14 years ago2010-01-01 15:30:35 UTC
in Accomplishments 2009 Post #277161
-Got my license. Yay driving.
-Like Luke, ended my high school career and went to college; Music major. Yay music.
-Dropped my phone in coke and am now phoneless. Yay coke.
-Saw Avatar twice. Yay 3D glasses.
-Made a bunch of friends at college. Yay college folks.

A stellar year!
Posted 14 years ago2009-09-16 14:58:59 UTC
in TWHL Regulars Post #273407
I used to post regularly, but I don't map anymore, and since college rolled around, I don't model or even game that much anymore either. I do check often, though, and I idle in the IRC all the time.
Posted 14 years ago2009-08-19 00:56:36 UTC
in Wireless Card Woes; Help! Post #272188
Heya Folks.

Just before the summer began, I bought myself an HP HDX 16t. All has been dandy, but about a week ago, a bizarre issue has appeared. At random intervals, the wireless card will simply turn itself off. Completely. Like, the little icon on the keyboard will turn red, telling me the card has been disabled, and I'll have to press it to turn the card back on. It won't be an issue for 30 minutes at a time; then it will decide to turn it self off 6 or 7 times in a 5-minute period.

As I'm sure you can understand, this is aggravating.

From the research I've done on the issue, a potential cause for the problem is when Windows (Vista/7) detects too many incoming connections, and turns off the wireless card for 'safety.' I have ensured my wireless card's drivers are fully updated, and have opened its settings in the Device Manager, making sure that the card won't be turned off to conserve power. Other than that, I have no idea what I can do to prevent this issue. HP support has been completely useless in resolving the issue, and although the card 'works,' losing my connection when I'm playing TF2 or voice-chatting with friends sucks. A lot.

Can anyone offer some other troubleshooting steps?

Thank yah.
Posted 14 years ago2009-07-04 17:23:34 UTC
in Korean PC Game Rips-Off Team Fortress 2 Post #269416
Yeah, I was waiting for the sniper to get stabbed or strangled or something.
Posted 15 years ago2009-06-25 10:23:20 UTC
in Windows 7 Opinions Post #268844
I've been running the release candidate for Windows 7 for about a month and I've been pretty happy with it (save for the occasional but wholy understandable compatibility issue). I wondered if anyone else had been using it at all and what they thought.

So... discuss!
Posted 15 years ago2009-06-22 21:28:00 UTC
in Freaky optical illusion Post #268700
I saw Darth Vader for a second, actually.

The illusion ChickenFist posted is pretty neat. It takes a little doing, but if you look at how the shadows are cast as the window becomes parallel with the camera's line of view, you can see through the illusion
Posted 15 years ago2009-05-31 02:13:42 UTC
in Terminator Stuff Post #267680
"I'll be back." < "Get your ass to Mars." < "Drop that rectum."
Posted 15 years ago2009-05-29 14:48:48 UTC
in Natural Selection 2 Teaser Post #267636
"Very nice." - Gabe Newell

Heheheh
Posted 15 years ago2009-05-25 21:38:01 UTC
in Issues with XP install on lappy; Help! Post #267496
Okay, so the reason I wanted to install XP was because of all the incompatibility issues I was having in 7, but I fixed all that by running the problematic programs in XP compatibility mode. So that's a non-issue now; I'll just keep 7 around.

7 is doing some strange things regarding downloads, though. It seems dependent on the file size, but if I download to a folder located in C:\Program Files, it will transfer all the necessary information, but simply wont appear. No biggie; I can just download to the Desktop and move it, but does anyone have a clue why this is the case?
Posted 15 years ago2009-05-24 12:18:10 UTC
in Issues with XP install on lappy; Help! Post #267399
G'day, folks.

My new HP HDX 16t laptop cam in the mail a few days ago with Vista installed, so naturally I wiped it clean and began installing XP. To my dismay, though, after all the needed installation files are loaded from the CD, I get a BSOD just after the bar at the bottom reads, "Starting Windows." I have the Windows 7 release candidate installed currently, but I would be much happier with XP.

From what I've managed to research, this BSOD issue occurs when the hard drive is running in AHCI mode instead of IDE compatibility mode, but I can't find any option in my bios to make that change. Does anyone know what I can do to resolve this?

Thank yah.
Posted 15 years ago2009-05-19 21:29:16 UTC
in TF2: The Sniper Update Post #267253
This might be overpowered. I think we'll see.
The regular revolver's damage is scaled based on distance, though. I would have to imagine that the same would apply to this gun as well; otherwise, there would be little purpose to actually spy.
Posted 15 years ago2009-05-17 15:14:54 UTC
in TF2: The Sniper Update Post #267148
In the Meet the Spy video, when he gets into hand-to-hand combat with the Medic and disguises as him, I jizzed in my pants.
Posted 15 years ago2009-05-09 19:13:41 UTC
in 3D Post #266755
Is it possible to play with your balls, like in Deus Ex?
I'm going to ignore the obvious double entendre in that statement by saying that you can't really 'play' pool, but the balls are physically simulated. You can drop a grenade next to them or shoot them and send them flying. :D
That looks realistic :D
I hope that's not sarcasm :D . I'm not too happy with the holes, but making them pitch-black like that was the easiest way I could think of to deal with them.
Posted 15 years ago2009-05-09 17:17:43 UTC
in 3D Post #266751
User posted image
Pool table! Yay!
Posted 15 years ago2009-05-06 14:33:01 UTC
in L4D props Post #266552
Huntey to the rescue! =D =D
Posted 15 years ago2009-04-29 21:26:23 UTC
in TWHL's death? Post #266183
Disagree with whom? Jeff or Grim?
Posted 15 years ago2009-04-28 20:57:04 UTC
in Fraps Alternative? Post #266134
Source's built-in recorder is top-notch and doesn't require piracy. All you need is something like VirtualDub (which is free) to encode all the frames and audio into a video file, and you have complete control over quality.

That said, Source Recorder only works in, surprise, Source, so Fraps is a convenient program to keep around anyway.
Posted 15 years ago2009-04-27 02:08:02 UTC
in Describe the person above you Post #266034
Just clarified himself.
This post was made on a thread that has been deleted.
Posted 15 years ago2009-04-23 01:09:44 UTC
in Post your screenshots! WIP thread Post #265899
User posted image
Self-shadowed bump maps!
User posted image
I has them!
Posted 15 years ago2009-04-16 20:37:33 UTC
in God Post #265661
There's actually an injury to the lips called "Satchmo's Syndrome," caused by too much trumpet playing. It was named after him because he suffered from it and had to take a year off to recover. I've got it too; it bites. :D
Posted 15 years ago2009-04-11 01:48:19 UTC
in Describe the person above you Post #265378
Has played L4D with me.
Posted 15 years ago2009-04-10 14:28:59 UTC
in Describe the person above you Post #265324
Has the Joker as his avatar. Frequently logs on while drunk. Lives in Scotland and has a thick accent. Calls me... Paul? I think? Is working on a L4D campaign in Glasgow. Is 'up in this bitch,' yo.

EDIT: Luke beat me to it. =/

Likes the movie "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"
Posted 15 years ago2009-04-10 00:40:06 UTC
in Describe the person above you Post #265280
Used to be known as "World Craft Dude" or something similar.
Posted 15 years ago2009-04-02 15:08:33 UTC
in Some quetions for HL2DM Post #264934
About the sprites: Make sure you pick an appropriate sprite texture and set the render mode to "WorldSpaceGlow."
Posted 15 years ago2009-03-25 22:44:32 UTC
in Post your screenshots! WIP thread Post #264584
Posted 15 years ago2009-03-13 17:35:50 UTC
in realistic spotlight source Post #264121
Have you given using a light_spot instead of a texlight a try? Spotlights are wayyy more versitile and look a hell of a lot better, so if you can learn to use them, you'll have a lot more flexibility. Plus, to my knowledge, they don't cause this problem.