It might seem like I'm here to ask silly questions, but I've got no where else to get these answers, sooo....
Why is the Quake 3 lighting so glitchy? You shoot a rocket into a dark corner, and it doesn't light up like it would in Quake 1, or 2. I really don't get that.
Map lighting, lighting effects.
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urgrund777
- Posts: 153
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Sure, with modern hardware. With what Quake 3 had to run on in 1999, it was way too slow to transform/project/upload that many lightmaps to the videocard and still maintain a reasonable framerate.
All other tech (normalmaps, specular highlighting, etc) aside, you could do it pretty easily with a two-texture pass with a 3D texture for attenuation and the shader's primary diffuse texture.
All other tech (normalmaps, specular highlighting, etc) aside, you could do it pretty easily with a two-texture pass with a 3D texture for attenuation and the shader's primary diffuse texture.
Hold the boat ...
I know this is an old topic, but has anyone heard of a solution being developed to counter this annoying engine weakness in recent game mod's or stand-alone q3 projects ?? Just for the sake of killing my curiosity...It would be an extremely important benefit no doubt to the dynamics of realistic lighting effects ingame without stepping over the per-pixel lighting barrier.
--== Every Path Leads Must Lead Somewhere ==--
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^misantropia^
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Trouble is, its not really a great idea to "mod it in", because then you need the mod to play it, making the map worthless to the masses 
Just one of those things you have to deal with. We all wish Quake 3 had different things sometimes...
Hell if you want some major fun, trying coding for the original Quake 2 engine and keeping mod support. EVERYTHING is tied to the damn mods/network code, even the HUD, making it the biggest pain in the arse I've ever worked on...
Just one of those things you have to deal with. We all wish Quake 3 had different things sometimes...
Hell if you want some major fun, trying coding for the original Quake 2 engine and keeping mod support. EVERYTHING is tied to the damn mods/network code, even the HUD, making it the biggest pain in the arse I've ever worked on...
I see. At first glance the OP's question seemed a bit off to me. I though "Wait, it does light up! All the way down the path the rocket follows!" Not enough coffee yet I guess. 
I would say as ydnar was suggesting the Devs were depending on the rocket boom animation that is set to be well visible even in dark places to give the illusion of an area being lit up.
This would at the time saved precious system resources.
Though it is not the most visualy stunning method, why use up additional resources to make a RL boom and light up the area when you can just let the RL boom give the illusion of a light up effect?
I would say it was not a glitch, but rather a good idea when Q3A was a "over the internet" focused game at a time that hardware was so limited.
I would say as ydnar was suggesting the Devs were depending on the rocket boom animation that is set to be well visible even in dark places to give the illusion of an area being lit up.
This would at the time saved precious system resources.
Though it is not the most visualy stunning method, why use up additional resources to make a RL boom and light up the area when you can just let the RL boom give the illusion of a light up effect?
I would say it was not a glitch, but rather a good idea when Q3A was a "over the internet" focused game at a time that hardware was so limited.
Last edited by Magnus on Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Uh, well....good luck with that. :shrug:
[img]http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g228/Magnus3204/forumheader.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g228/Magnus3204/forumheader.jpg[/img]
^Misantropia^ You are now the figure of a glowing virtual angel (echo chorus)...:icon25: That's pretty cool you actually had code started towards this, definitely am interested to see when you make more progress on it !! :icon14:
Something I did notice though, is that very deep shadows will be permanently dark, but even if you have a slightly ambient lighting theme in your map, with a bit of light touching the brushes, then a dynamic light will light them up fine. It's just, being able to cut through those shadows with a dynamic moving light, how much it would give a completely new edge to the visual play.
O'dium - What do you mean ? It wouldn't be a map parameter, but an engine modification...Any q3 map would technically still be compatible. Honestly, I think it would be an awesome asset to many many q3 mod teams out there...Plus could be added into ioquake3 for the mainstream audiences. Who runs the regular quake3.exe nowadays ? Ioquake3, xreal and evolution are pretty much the standard.
Something I did notice though, is that very deep shadows will be permanently dark, but even if you have a slightly ambient lighting theme in your map, with a bit of light touching the brushes, then a dynamic light will light them up fine. It's just, being able to cut through those shadows with a dynamic moving light, how much it would give a completely new edge to the visual play.
O'dium - What do you mean ? It wouldn't be a map parameter, but an engine modification...Any q3 map would technically still be compatible. Honestly, I think it would be an awesome asset to many many q3 mod teams out there...Plus could be added into ioquake3 for the mainstream audiences. Who runs the regular quake3.exe nowadays ? Ioquake3, xreal and evolution are pretty much the standard.
--== Every Path Leads Must Lead Somewhere ==--
Making it a mod means people are going to have to stop using the engine of choice and use your engine... Why would they want to? What does it offer? Many people play pro mods now instead of VQ3, is it going to be the exact same mod?
The point is, when you make a mod, you split the user base. People will either play A, or B. At this stage in its life, who honestly would ditch Q3 to play a mod that just enables projectile lighting? Nobody really.
Now of course other mods could and have added it, but thats those mods.
It just seems a waste of time to me. You will also split the userbase because its a gameplay change too. You may not think it, but its giving an advantage. Firing plasma bolts or rockets into a black space to light it up would be more useful than in VQ3, and people may not like that change.
Its the same as the shoot through thin floors bug, or the crouch slide... Some like it, some dont. Its only when its forced that you have to make do with the change.
The point is, when you make a mod, you split the user base. People will either play A, or B. At this stage in its life, who honestly would ditch Q3 to play a mod that just enables projectile lighting? Nobody really.
Now of course other mods could and have added it, but thats those mods.
It just seems a waste of time to me. You will also split the userbase because its a gameplay change too. You may not think it, but its giving an advantage. Firing plasma bolts or rockets into a black space to light it up would be more useful than in VQ3, and people may not like that change.
Its the same as the shoot through thin floors bug, or the crouch slide... Some like it, some dont. Its only when its forced that you have to make do with the change.
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^misantropia^
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You are saying it's a waste of time from q3's perspective. But what of the standalones based on the q3-engine? Their look could benefit from it and they don't suffer anything of what you stated. That's what I meant. The bastard addendum is today's special since i'm feeling a bit down and it helps lift me from this depressing mood.
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^misantropia^
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- Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2005 6:24 pm