Lesson 8

The Lathe Tool and Placing Objects

For this lesson you will need the completed level file from Lesson 7.

Open D3Edit and open up your level (thelevel.d3l)

We left off in the previous lesson with a dark and empty third room. In this lesson we will use the Lathe tool to make a "reactor" in the center of room 3 (the barn). This reactor will also provide some light for our room. After that, we'll add another player starting point. Alright then...

If our newest room isn't current and open in an editing window already, make it so. Zoom out all the 2D panes so you can see the room by using the S key while a pane is selected. We'll make a raised platform for our reactor to sit on.

Combining Faces
To begin, we will combine a few of the floor faces into a single face - we will then extrude this face inward to make a small platform. To combine 2 faces, the faces must be lying on the same plane, and the edges where they meet must be the same size. If a concave face were to result from combining 2 faces, then D3Edit will tell you and will not allow the faces to be combined.

One of the 2 faces must be marked, the other current. In ex. b, the 2 faces that we want to combine are shown. The face that is current is not marked. When you have the faces set up, then open the Geometry toolbar and click the Combine Faces button ex. b.

The 2 faces have become one long face. Now we'll join this face with the next one down. Make current the face below the one we just created (below when viewed in the Top pane). The combined face is marked already so all we need to do is click the button again and we get ex. c.

ex. c                                           ex. d 
    

Now extrude this face up 5 units (Y axis) and you get ex. d. Use the Delete base face... option since the original face will be hidden after we extrude and we won't need it. Remember, the less faces that D3 needs to draw in a game, the faster the game will run. Go to World View and save your level.

ex. a

ex. b

The lathe takes a set of placed verts and "wraps" them around an axis at a specified radius, creating faces as it goes. Huh? It works similar to a lathe in a woodshop. The best way to learn this is to just do it!

Go to vert mode and make sure all verts are unmarked. We should move our reference frame. In ex. e, it is outside and to the right of our room. I like to build things outside of the room, then move them in place when it's finished. This helps avoid confusion by keeping the view less cluttered. Use ctrl-click in the 3D panes to move the reference frame where you would like it.

Place the verts as in ex. e from top to bottom in order! Look at the contour of the finished shape in ex. f if you're unsure on the placement order. The top view in ex. e shows how the lathe will rotate the verts around the Y axis at the reference frame.

Hit the Lathe button now and you'll see what I mean!

A little about texturing and UV's
One important texturing function is the Align function on the Texture toolbar. Textures, once placed on faces can be slid around and stretched to suit your needs. The default size and shape of the texture can also be restored by using the Default UV button ex. i. UV corresponds to the axes of the texture/face, much like X,Y, and Z correspond to our rooms - U being horizontal and V being vertical. With the buttons you can slide the texture in any direction. The texture can also be stretched, according to the scale setting. A setting of 1.01 will stretch the texture in small increments. Leaving it at 1.00 won't stretch it at all. If a new texture is applied over a face on which a texture has been previously stretched, the new texture will be stretched or moved as well. The UV settings apply to the face, not the texture.

ex. i

Ex. j shows my textured room with the reactor inside. Notice where I put light textures on the reactor. You need to do the same...find a light texture that you like (I used the LightCrossing03x texture) and place it on the same faces as in the example. The only way you'll really know if the color and brightness are suitable is to fly in your mine and see. Picking a light color that will compliment the general color of your room is something to consider. I also applied a dim red light texture to the top of the reactor (not seen in ex. j).

You may need to use all 3 panes to maneuver the reactor onto the platform. Use the gridlines as a guide to get it near the center of the room. When you have it where you want, save your level.

At this point you may wish to test fly the level and check the color and brightness of the lights you added. You may need to change the light textures until you find one you like. Don't forget to calculate the BOA and lighting before running it in D3 or your changes will not be visible!!!

To move the X, you can click on the grid and then use ctrl with the cursor keys to move the X where you want the player start to be. Use all 3 panes to make sure the X is inside the room. When you've found a good spot (not too close to the walls or floor) click the Insert start button. A green dot will appear...your new player start.

Objects can be moved using the 8, 4, 6, and 2 keys, and rotated using the 7 and 9 keys on the numeric keypad. My ship in ex. l is facing the wall. If I select the Top view 2D pane I can use these keys to turn it around.

Test The Level
Run the BOA and the lighting on your mine. Set the Lightmap spacing to 4 this time (in the Lighting window) and the Ignore limit to 0.000500. Also select Volume lighting - if you play with another person, the other ship will be affected by the lighting. This will give you more detailed and accurate lighting, but will take longer to compute. When you start the lighting it may take a minute or so to begin counting the iterations, depending on the speed of your computer...just be patient. When the radiosity is complete, save it.

Make a .mn3, or use D3Quicktest, and check out your work. If you need to adjust the lights or anything else, go back to the editor, make the changes, and test it again. You will do this MANY times throughout a level build, so get used to it! Notice how the shadows are created from your light textures. Strategic lighting ca add dramatic effects to your level.

We're getting into some fairly advanced stuff now. If you've made it this far, congratulations! Go to PXO with a buddy and kick a little butt! If you feel brave, add some weapons to it and a few rooms maybe. Just make sure and save a copy first for the next lesson! In future lessons we will build tunnels and bend them, put in doors, use another method or two to connect rooms, and much more. We will make wind tunnels, add fog and CTF bases as well.