Getting patches to line up

[goldenboy]

Hello guys. I've been mapping using q3bsp for a while now, but patches still seem to be hit and miss for me.

Here is my current problem - is there any trick to make sure the patches line up ingame?

In Radiant everything looks perfect

[lvlshot]http://spawnhost.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/skc3a6rmbillede-fra-2012-10-03-212042.png[/lvlshot]

Ingame, there are suddenly gaps:

[lvlshot]http://spawnhost.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/fte00016.png[/lvlshot]

Help, guys. Do I have to do stuff like this as a static mesh to get around these problems? I'm using Netradiant and q3map2 2.5.17n.

I would also like to know how I can avoid the lighting problems there.

Edit: Compiling with -patchmeta solved the problem with the cracks. However the lighting problems worsened:

[lvlshot]http://spawnhost.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/fte00017.png[/lvlshot]

The outer walls are patch meshes, surrounded by a simple caulk box. What on earth causes these weird vertical shadows?

[lvlshot]http://spawnhost.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/fte00018.png[/lvlshot]

At this point I'm starting to think that patches are just bad hacks, and that I should use static meshes for anything more complex than a simple bevel. I just get too many problems like this from patches.

[obsidian]

No guarantees here, but the walls look like it's made of a giant tube. If that's the case, there might be some questions as to which control points the patch surfaces are trying to weld.

Try building the outer walls with separate curved patches matching the rings, four patches for each level.

I'm not sure what changes they made to Q3Map2 for NetRadiant, but you can also try compiling with one of the more "official" versions of Q3Map2, 2.5.16 or the one included with GtkRadiant 1.6.2.

[goldenboy]

Thanks, I'll try that. The outer wall is 4 segments, just like the spiral, but going all the way from top to bottom.

I know that's pretty ugly anyway, but I'm just blocking out this section right now

The light is actually coming from _floodlight.

[obsidian]

Maybe try a more traditional type of light. IIRC, _floodlight is exclusive to that branch of Q3Map2 and may not be tested properly.

[goldenboy]

Using many smaller patches seems to have fixed the problem.

[lvlshot]http://spawnhost.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/skc3a6rmbillede-fra-2012-10-04-004445.png[/lvlshot]

[lvlshot]http://spawnhost.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/fte00019.png[/lvlshot]

Thanks for your help, Obsidian. I'll continue blocking out until I get the proportions right, and then I'll turn the entire room into a number of static meshes and detail those. I guess the difference between using all patches inside a large caulk box and using static meshes inside the same caulk box woudn't be too big.

I might ditch floodlighting once I have enough actual light sources.

[obsidian]

NP.

If you're going to use a model, try converting the map to .ase (Q3Map2's -convert switch) and recompile. I suspect you might run into other lighting issues if using models so I think you should do a quick test before you start detailing. Also think about how you intend to do collisions with models.

P.S. Use [ lvlshot ] tag instead of [ img ] on large screenshots.

[goldenboy]

Thanks again. I will be using [ lvlshot ] in the future.

[Theftbot]

I remember a "goldenboy" that makes q1 maps

[goldenboy]

@ Theftbot: I used to make q1 maps, but have moved on.