Underwater base?

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Blue552

L3: Member
Sep 16, 2009
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So basically I had this idea for a map where it is based over a lagoon or pond - on top of the water there is a fairly shabby dock and underneath the water is a high-tech secret base.

So basically the base is surrounded by water, However to really 'complete' the idea I wanted the underwater base to have windows and even glass hallways where you could see out into the water - like an aquarium.

Unfortunetly simply carving the water blocks out of the window areas does not allow for this affect as everything goes all weird and see through.

Anyone have any suggetions?
 
absurdistof

absurdistof

aa
Aug 10, 2009
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I will say this once. Don't ever, ever, EVER EVER

Carve. Ever.

Just cut it yourself, but I don't see why you would cut water, just make it one solid block? Btw, if its a water base, something to remember is that some weapons (sandman, huntsman...) don't work under water and drowning is always an option.
 
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Blue552

L3: Member
Sep 16, 2009
137
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Sorry if I mislead you, The base is underwater but there is air within the base - so rather it is surrounded by water.
 
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Stormcaller3801

L5: Dapper Member
Jul 5, 2009
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If I understand water properly, your best bet would be to simply build the base with a predetermined water level marked by, say, a nodraw brush. Don't fill it in, just use it as a benchmark. Once you get the entire base assembled, proceed to add water brushes- or even perhaps a single water brush, if you feel like getting fancy with verticies. I think that could work.
 
gamemaster1996

gamemaster1996

L13: Stunning Member
Sep 30, 2009
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I beleive this has been done before in a map kinda like the eden project.

I think you want it something like this
blackpool-anna022.JPG


(only pic i could find)

To do this you'd have to hollow out the tunnels so that no water is in it although im not sure what bad effects this could have
 
Pseudo

Pseudo

L6: Sharp Member
Jan 26, 2008
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Blue552 said:
So basically the base is surrounded by water, However to really 'complete' the idea I wanted the underwater base to have windows and even glass hallways where you could see out into the water - like an aquarium.
Click to expand...
This would not be possible as water can only be viewed from the top. It is a limitation of the Source engine.
 
Trotim

Trotim

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Jul 14, 2009
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You could make a fake water texture (maybe some overlapping func_illusionary's too), but that's probably not worth the effort.
 
Zwiffle

Zwiffle

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Jun 24, 2008
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Yeah I tried various ways of doing this in a Bioshock-inspired map of mine before, you would need to do some custom material thing if you wanted to achieve that effect. Otherwise I don't think it's possible (at least all the different ways I've tried.)
 
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Stormcaller3801

L5: Dapper Member
Jul 5, 2009
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Pseudo said:
This would not be possible as water can only be viewed from the top. It is a limitation of the Source engine.
Click to expand...

I've seen it done, though I can't recall the name of the map. However, the end result proved that it was better not to have bothered: the areas enclosed in glass had wave effects against them, even though the entire thing was supposed to be submerged. It's rather disturbing to see waves at right-angles to the way they should be, to say nothing of looking up.

It had the desired effect that you could tell it was completely enclosed in water, but at the same time it was horribly wrong.
 
Terr

Terr

Cranky Coder
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Jul 31, 2009
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Like cp_aqua?

An underwater base is certainly possible, but there are graphical limitations. Making the water look "real" requires a lot of careful tinting on glass, and even then you can tell it looks weird if you see through two pieces of glass at a corner, because instead of having less tinted blur (as you'd expect seeing through only a smaller distance of water) you'd see the same as any other distance, since it's all about the glass layers.
 
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grazr

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
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Mar 4, 2008
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In order to get the underwater effect the player has to be submerged in the water. But the water is presumably outside so the desired particle effects and on screen fog overlay will not be apparent to the client.

Pseudo is 100% correct in that the source engine was not designed for this and to attempt it will cause serious resource demands on the clients computer to get anything close to what you would want to achieve. You would probably have to code your own entity for this to work, but then it would be a TF2 mod.
 
strangemodule

strangemodule

L5: Dapper Member
Sep 10, 2009
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Yeah, like Terr said, you can study CP_Aqua, and use a bunch of fake water effects, overlays, etc to create the illusion of being underwater. It's possible, but just be careful.
 
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Blue552

L3: Member
Sep 16, 2009
137
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Well using default water when looking out at it it just appears to be nodraw. When you're in the water inside the base appears to be nodraw. Oh well, would have been cool.
 
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