What is your way of making displacements Created 6 years ago2017-05-21 17:55:34 UTC by EsprimoP EsprimoP

Created 6 years ago2017-05-21 17:55:34 UTC by EsprimoP EsprimoP

Posted 6 years ago2017-05-21 17:55:34 UTC Post #334992
Hello, haven't been here for a while.

I'm talking about making realistic non-flat ground and rocky walls like deserts in mesas. Here, make a simple short, long and wide brush that will be your ground where you're supposed to walk on then surround it with walls, limit them because we're talking about open environment, then pick a nice sand texture and put it on the brush that is supposed to be the ground and red rock texture that goes on the walls.
You really haven't done much, it just looks too flat... looks really ugly. Luckily, there's the vertex manipulation tool that can help you mold your terrain and any object making it more realistic. Really gives beautiful results.

Here's something I'm working on
User posted image
Looks really nice? It's still WIP, but the world brushes are important on this topic.

Here is how I manipulate them into what you're seeing above.
  • Create a ground block then 2 walls one across the other
  • Select one wall, clip it horizontally right in the center
  • Clip it vertically right in the center, then when it "duplicates", I clip them vertically a few times until they're all cubes even on side facing player.
  • Clip each cube diagonally making two triangles on each cube (Most make 4 triangles, but I prefer 2 because manipulating one side still won't give you errors.
  • Use the vertex manipulation tool and distort the wall (Idk how to explain this detailed, you can tell from the result in the picture.
  • Same goes for the other wall
  • As for the ground, really can't explain it lol, sorry, I clip a few squares in it but try not to make it in contact with the walls and do the same thing like I did with the walls except making the ground wavy, duh.
I avoid making objects inside others, therefore I don't make ground edges on rocks lifted or lowered.

Ugh... for how long was I writing this, dang.
EsprimoP EsprimoPwEight
Posted 6 years ago2017-05-21 19:23:33 UTC Post #334995
This is nice
Rocks look great, but the sand looks too jagged. making terrain like this is unnatural especially if its sand. Your triangles might be too big, you should make them at least 4x smaller.
Posted 6 years ago2017-05-21 20:15:43 UTC Post #334998
Ok, here's how I make terrain.

First I create a brush with a size of the area I want to create and texture it with BEVEL to decrease the amount of clipnodes:
User posted image
Then I clip it into multiple triangular prisms:
User posted image
After that I enter VM and start dragging verticies vertically:
User posted image
When I'm fine with the results I start to texture it. First I apply the texture I need to the ground:
User posted image
Then I select the face I applied the texture to and press Shift+F6:
User posted image
And I start left-clicking on the ground faces applying the texture to them:
User posted image
After that I do the same with the cliffs:
User posted image
I scale up the cliff texture a bit to get better results:
User posted image
Then I again use Shift+F6 to apply the cliff texture:
User posted image
There's a screenie of what you can make using this method:
User posted image
Posted 6 years ago2017-05-21 21:16:35 UTC Post #335000
@Cd5ssmffan
Thanks for the opinion!

I'm looking forward to start working with Windawz' method!!
Before that, yeah, the ground depressing should've been less blockier, but I don't focus on making things ultra realistic (Like pillars or pipes with 10 faces), I still like the same old 6 face cylinder objects, you get my point. It's still Half Life 1 everyone loves ^_^

@Windawz
Wow, thanks for sharing, really useful and will cover up loads of things with your method! Much better than mine.

Also, forgot to mention. I use BEVEL and NULL textures, BEVEL on back and uncovered sides of a cliff and NULL inside (Sides of the triangles) because players would be able to go through them and climb in an unrealistic way.
EsprimoP EsprimoPwEight
Posted 6 years ago2017-05-21 22:07:16 UTC Post #335001
@EsprimoP

Thank you. There are some tricks I didn't mention:
You actually can move vertices horizontally, but only at the top view:
User posted image
And you can also rotate a segment at the top view to smooth the corners if you need to:
User posted image
Also, I once compiled what I made with this method and didn't encounter any problems with BEVELed terrain. So I suggest you use it most of the time, just retexture it a bit to look not as annoying as it does in zhlt.wad.
You also should thank Admer for that method. He gave me the idea and I would never think of that texturing method if not him.
Posted 6 years ago2017-05-22 11:22:23 UTC Post #335006
Yeah, Shift+F6 was my idea. :)
I just had to find a way how to copy the projection of one face to another. J.A.C.K. had this option, though I'm not sure whether Hammer 3.x.x supports it. :/

I also always use Null for my untextured faces, and I've rarely used Bevel. No clipnode problems whatsoever. Maybe it's my compiling tools, lol. Or should I have used "-cliptype precise"? I don't know...
Admer456 Admer456If it ain't broken, don't fox it!
Posted 6 years ago2017-05-22 12:10:22 UTC Post #335008
I use BEVEL just to make sure everything works right. "-cliptype precise" really helps btw.
Posted 6 years ago2017-05-23 14:27:43 UTC Post #335017
Thanks, guys :)

I'm using JACK btw. Much much better than VHE. My terrain creations look a lot better now.
EsprimoP EsprimoPwEight
Posted 6 years ago2017-05-23 14:33:52 UTC Post #335019
Yeah, never use VHE anymore. When I first tried to map for Sven Co-op I had to use VHE because I didn't want to create a separate profile for Jackhammer. Getting back to VHE was very hard.
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