SM plugin: Themes v0.8 -[dynamic environmental switching]

[Boylee]

SM plugin: Themes v0.8 -[change environmental theme on map load]

Just found this SourceMod plugin over at alliedmods.net and I thought I should share it here.

Basically it allows admins to change some of the environmental effects of a map on map load, including particle effects for rain, snow, leaves, etc. Note that it doesn't change any lighting settings, so you can't test skybox lighting with this, only fog colours textures and particles.

It could be a really useful plugin for a map test server as it allows you to rapidly test basic environmental settings, saving on tiresome recompiles. Apparently it has over 14 themes now. See screenies below for a few examples.

Themes v0.8 (Bug Fixes + 1 New Theme)
Lets' you change the weather and environmental lighting settings dynamically. Useful for themed nights maybe? Would certainly be useful on the maplab as people could test a bunch of themes without recompiling several times.

Duskbowl anyone? How about mudbowl, or even snowbowl?

 

[sniprpenguin]

Only changes skybox textures and fog coloring (and density). One of the most important things about the skyboxes is, in my opinion, the lighting values, which your screenshot shows does not change.

 

[Penguin]

Neat.

 

[lana]

Only changes skybox textures and fog coloring (and density). One of the most important things about the skyboxes is, in my opinion, the lighting values, which your screenshot shows does not change.

That's impossible to change.

 

[sniprpenguin]

Exactly, hence my dislike of this as

a really useful plugin for a map test server as it allows you to rapidly test weather and environmental settings on the fly, saving on tiresome recompiles

 

[Boylee]

Well, if you don't like it you don't have to use it, I just thought some people might find it handy.

It does all it can without requiring a recompile, which is in my opinion still pretty neat. It's more for fun or for rapid prototyping really. However, I agree that lighting effects are absolutely crucial to a good environmental set up, so I've updated the initial post to reflect the fact that it can't change those.

 

[Grim Tuesday]

This looks so weird it might be cool, especialy the rainy one. Now I need to go play around with weird skyboxes/settings on my maps.

 

[Dr. Spud]

Only changes skybox textures and fog coloring (and density). One of the most important things about the skyboxes is, in my opinion, the lighting values, which your screenshot shows does not change.

It looks like it's faking it with color correction, and actually doing a decent job of it.

It looks neat, I wouldn't mind trying it.

 

[Jack Riguel]

Was planning on running this on our server (I first heard about it on Manta Engie) but apparently since a recent update it's been broken. Also it requires a lot of strain on a server.

EDIT: FYI There are a few servers running it still (it's been out since last year), If I can find the IP i'll post it.

 

[Boylee]

Yeah I'd be interested to try a server out that uses it, I've never even seen it running. From reading the thread over at alliedmods it does seem to be fubar, and it's author seems to have forgotten all about it. Shame, as it looked like it could be a cool little plugin. That said there's a few people post ing that they have no problems at all. How odd.

Here's the IP address of a server that claims to have it running: 8.6.15.132:27015
I can't connect now because I'm at work.

 

[Jack Riguel]

If enough of the community wants it I'll put it on my 18 slot server for you folks to run around in, maybe even see if I can get it running with a few select custom maps.

EDIT

I can't figure out how to replicate this with normal skybox textures, and light settings. Is it color correction i'm missing?

Colour correction changes more then you think. It's a brilliant tool.


EDIT #2: Just fully read the full OP. You're actually wrong on one thing, it doesn't dynamically change the theme, it sets it for the nextmap.


EDIT: #3: Looking through the files it seems that anything post-Classless hasn't been updated yet and would need to be done manually. I went ahead and added everything to the server and fastdownloads host so it should be ready to go.

 

[Boylee]

Tried to change the thread title by editing the initial post. It didn't work.

 

[Jack Riguel]

So I have this up and running on my server as of now.

IP: 75.102.38.243:27015

There is quite a huge variety in the themes and most of which look amazing on any map. I especially liked seeing maps like ctf_sawmill in the daylight or dustbowl at night without having to create a re-compiled version of it. It even changes the soundscapes to help fit the theme.

Problem right now is that the particles don't always work or they are sometimes limited to a very small area. I'll see if I can fix this manually or if it's just a client issue that needs to be resolved with a TF patch.

 

[Boylee]

Legendary effort, cheers Jack.

 

[Jayden]

Usin this on my server, fireflies on sawmill is epic

edit: how hard would it be to whip this thing into the sm_admin menu?