3 Stage Strife

BigBros

L3: Member
Aug 20, 2014
147
31
I am making a three stage payload map, with each part transitioning from the last, like dustbowl.

Should I have three separate scenes, each with their own skyboxes, or it or joined together...
 

Freyja

aa
Jul 31, 2009
2,994
5,813
Are you asking for opinions? or if it's possible?

Because you can only have one skybox per map. Unless you do some really complicated trickery, and even then you can't really have seperate env_lightings.
 

RubbishyUser

L7: Fancy Member
Feb 17, 2013
414
488
I think he's asking whether it should be a single box, containing all three stages, like Dustbowl (look in hammer and you can see), or 3 boxes that are unconnected but in the same vmf, like I'm fairly certain snowplow is.

The answer is a single box in almost all scenarios. Each stage should look like a progression from the previous, so you'll want out of bounds features from the previous stage visible. Basically, this will give the impression that the 3 stages are happening in the same area. Snowplow did it differently because the stages are actually in different areas - a snow clime and an alpine clime.
 
Mar 23, 2013
1,013
347
Like Rubbishy already stated, it would be nice if you see a connection from the previous/following part, it can work without. Thundermountain and I think the two offical PLR maps have compleetly seperated areas. Just make the 3d skybox when you have all three parts ready for having one

I am making a three stage payload map, like dustbowl.

Dustbowl ain't payload ::p:
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
aa
Nov 14, 2009
4,694
2,579
I recommend doing it like Gold Rush does it: Having the stages all visibly chain together, with some suggestion of how the cart made it from the end of one stage to the start of the next. Valve has stopped caring about that, but then again they also claimed to have learned that multistage is a dumb idea and then went right back to doing it, so I assume there's been some major turnover in the Team Fortress cabal over time, with nobody bothering to pass what they learned on to their successors.
 

BigBros

L3: Member
Aug 20, 2014
147
31
Sorry, I didnt explain myself very well :p

What I really want to know, is now I know each stage should have its own skybox, how I should position it. AT the moment, my map looks like this. (transition between stage 1 and 2 is not able to be seen here, so surprise for you!

F1LQYDv.png


Now, should I have the skybox on the fence, where the red lines are, with both of them connected like that, or have them separated by about 100 units or so each side of the skybox, where the green line is.

Thanks, BigBros
 
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henke37

aa
Sep 23, 2011
2,075
515
You don't have the skybox "on" anything. You place exactly one sky_camera entity where you want the 3d skybox to be based. This is always in a separate area of the map that is unconnected to the rest of it.

What you appear to be asking is where to place the skybox brush that designates the border of the map. To that I say that you can't put it anywhere but at the actual edge of the map. Unless you are doing tricky visibility tricks that is, but that's a matter for optimization later.
 

Freyja

aa
Jul 31, 2009
2,994
5,813
In this case, like most, it's best to just look at how Valve does it. Open dustbowl or goldrush and see where they place their skybox brushes (they definitely don't put it through a fence).