Search

[wallworm]

I've made a new series on working with your 3D skybox and 2D sky renders in 3ds Max and Wall Worm. Enjoy:

Introduction/Table of Contents

Getting Started With Your Sky

Making Your 3D Skybox

Your 2D Sky and Sky Writer

[svtshep]

Thanks for this! If we're talking about blocking off the entire playable area, is it possible to use transparent geometry (walls, blocks, etc) to wall off? Sort of like being outside and having transparent walls seal in the playable outside area so you can see out into the horizon with no leaks? Not sure if it should be done like this.

This is an inside area I've been working on and want to expand the playable area into an outside environment. Still working on getting the mapping/textures right.

[wallworm]

I'm not 100% certain that I understand the question, but if I do, then here is the answer: you want to apply a material to any such boundary brush that has the material name "tools/toolsskybox". This material must be applied to all faces of such objects. And you need to add a light_environment (which you can do with native Max lights) and is detailed in the Lighting and Layout section of http://dev.wallworm.com/document/143/getting_started_with_your_sky.html .

[svtshep]

Sort of like this:



The house in the foreground is obviously playable as well as some of the outside area. I'm assuming that the house in the background would be an area of the Skybox as well as some of the trees with the anything beyond that being the sky. I just don't know what walls off the playable area before the Skybox since there's no definite 'wall' or 'box'.

However, the one you made has a definite wall between the playable area and Skybox.

[wallworm]

I see.

Well the wall in the sample file was just thrown in arbitrarily. I could have just used the sky material on it as well.

Generally speaking, many people feel like you should not present an invisible wall for the player, so a boundary like a wall is common.

In the case of the above screen shot, the boundary is probably the brushes behind the outer displacements and/or at the top of the displacements. Where that boundary is, exactly, is completely arbitrary and up to the designer.

Hopefully this helps a little. I have another sample sky scene I'm working on releasing next week. It will utilize CorVex, however, so only owners of CorVex will be able to fully appreciate the setup. There will likely be a video on this as well. I will cover the transitional sections of which you are asking.