GTKRadiant

Discussion for Level editing, modeling, programming, or any of the other technical aspects of Quake
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Dyne
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Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2005 3:44 pm

GTKRadiant

Post by Dyne »

Hey, I'm in the process of making a map using GTKRadiant and I'm trying to create a cylindrical platform with a hollowed out center as I have illustrated here using PhotoShop:


Image




However I can't seem to find any shapes or settings or tools that would allow that. Anyone know where to find what I'm looking for?
Grenader
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Post by Grenader »

Use a cylinder and then use the "Thicken" button
Dyne
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Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2005 3:44 pm

Post by Dyne »

Sorry... I know I may seem dumb but I can't find the "Thicken" button.... >.>
corsair
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Post by corsair »

You wouldn't want to use that method anyway, quake's 'cylinders' are far from a circle.

I've been experimenting on something and came up with a way to make a better circle.

First off, create a triangular brush (I used a 256:224 ratio for the base and its height)
Use this brush to create a hexagon shape, shown below (1)
Then make patch caps, and place them like shown at (2)
Copy and scale the bunch (3)
Flip surface and move verticle of the patches, and create new brushwork to fit (4)

Image

That should give you the shape you wanted, gl :)
obsidian
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Post by obsidian »

Thicken:
* Create square brush
* With brush selected, Curve > Cylinder
* With cylinder patch selected, Curve > Thicken
* Type in thicken value, OK

Here's a screenshot. The one on the left is the basic result, but it's not a perfect circle. So if you're not picky this should do.

If you want better results, try manipulating 12 square patch meshes manually into the configuration shown on the right (make a quarter of the circle and clone & rotate). You can see how the vertexes are arranged in the selected bits.

Image
[size=85][url=http://gtkradiant.com]GtkRadiant[/url] | [url=http://q3map2.robotrenegade.com]Q3Map2[/url] | [url=http://q3map2.robotrenegade.com/docs/shader_manual/]Shader Manual[/url][/size]
pjw
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Post by pjw »

^^^Damn you!!! Beaten by seconds!!! Image
corsair wrote:You wouldn't want to use that method anyway, quake's 'cylinders' are far from a circle.
True, but they're generally close enough, if someone's not striving for geometric perfection. :)

Dyne, if you don't care about it being perfectly circular, you should be able to get something very close to what you want pretty easily by simply making two (very short) cylinders, one nested inside the other, and then making the flat parts of the disc with simple patch meshes that have been vertex manipulated. I made the following in about a minute (exploded version on the bottom/left).

Image

If you want it to look closer to a circle, you might move the corner verts in just a touch...
obsidian
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Post by obsidian »

@corsair: not sure, but it looks like you have to create an additional split down the middle of each triangle brush to prevent t-junctions with those patches. If you want to be picky...


@pjw: my... isn't everyone being so helpful today! We need more young Padawans to train. I need someone to carry me on their back though the jungle canopies of Dagobah while I play with flashlights and eat all your candy bars.
[size=85][url=http://gtkradiant.com]GtkRadiant[/url] | [url=http://q3map2.robotrenegade.com]Q3Map2[/url] | [url=http://q3map2.robotrenegade.com/docs/shader_manual/]Shader Manual[/url][/size]
corsair
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Post by corsair »

The triangle ratio makes the circle not 100% perfect, but it actualy prevents any of such nasty errors - at least I didn't encounter problems with it so far :)
Dyne
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Post by Dyne »

Curve>Thicken?




Image



I tried Corsairs way but I was having problems getting the octagon shape.....
obsidian
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Post by obsidian »

I guess they removed it in 1.5.0.

Try creating it manually from patch meshes as shown by myself and pjw.
[size=85][url=http://gtkradiant.com]GtkRadiant[/url] | [url=http://q3map2.robotrenegade.com]Q3Map2[/url] | [url=http://q3map2.robotrenegade.com/docs/shader_manual/]Shader Manual[/url][/size]
Dyne
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Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2005 3:44 pm

Post by Dyne »

I pretty much have the shape I'm looking for with this

Image


(I'm not experienced enough to figure out how to do it like pjw and obsidian) If possible I want to just be able to cut a hole in the middle now.
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Foo
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Post by Foo »

Not possible. The method described above (manually creating the shape from several patch meshes) is the reliable method of creating the shape you want.

Work with a basic tutorial on patch mesh editing and you'll quickly get the hang of crafting complex meshes by manually altering a patches control points.

Once that clicks, you'll realise why there's no good shortcut method for doing the same thing... because manually editing is very intuitive once you get your head round it.
Dyne
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Post by Dyne »

Where could I find one of these tutorials? The GTKRadiant Manual doesn't help, and I don't see a tutorials section on the forums. Just wondering before I have to go randomly googling.
pjw
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Post by pjw »

It's really not too hard; I'm pretty sure you could get it with just a little screwing around.

1. Make your two cylinders (for the inner and outer ring). You can make them bigger/smaller by dragging outside the edge.

2. Make a brush, then (with it selected) go to your patch menu and choose "simple patch mesh". This will make a flat, square, patch mesh.

3. Hit "V" to turn on vertex mode, and then move the vertexes to be similar to the ones shown in obsidian's post to get a quarter-circle that fits inside the two cylinders you made. Dupe this and rotate as necessary to make the rest of the "O" shape (both sides). Use Curve-->Invert Matrix as necessary to "flip" the textured side of the patches.
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seremtan
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Post by seremtan »

make it in gmax/blender then import it in as md3 with spawnflags 6 for solidity and lightmapping, unless it's bigger than 1024^3

or make it in hammer then open the map file in notepad and chop some of the values off the ends of the lines and import it as a prefab

or build it out of brushes and apply a phong shader to the 'curved' surfaces
pjw
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Post by pjw »

seremtan wrote:stuff
If he could do any of that, he probably wouldn't be currently consulting the radiant manual.

Why do people suggest relatively complex/arcane stuff when someone posts a newbie question? It is a mystery. :shrug:
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seremtan
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Post by seremtan »

just making sure all the bases are covered :icon31:
Dyne
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Post by Dyne »

Awesome, thanks for all your help.
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