Skybox issues

[MrAlBobo]

Ive been making my 1st map, and using the tutorials in the valve developer community. Thus far I think ive managed ok. Then I reached the skybox part...

Essentially I have a few problems:
First...the selection for skybox models seems to be seriously limited, and a few are majorly oversized (one larger then my entire level) file path ive been using: c:\program files\steam\steamapps\mralbobo\sourcesdk\bin\orangebox\hl2\models\props_skybox
Second, when I compile the level and look to the left wall, I see a fragmented mirror image of my level, and my actual level turns black
Third, when I look to the right its a giant leak type thing (there are no actually leaks in the designer, as there is a huge block surrounding the whole level)

So...yeah...it would be nice if someone could help me...
Just as a add on...ive read most of the general and tf2 tutorials on the Valve Developer Community, along with a few random ones here. (I obviously have no life)

 

[spaceweasels]

Make sure you have only one sky_camera entity, and that it's in the skybox, not the playing area.


Also, check my tutorial on making a 3D Skybox. It might be easier to read.

 

[MrAlBobo]

i do...at least i did before hammer crashed my computer a short while ago...ill do a quick check...


nope...the camera is not there...however...the red blue and green lines that mark where it used to be are still there, can and how would i delete them?

 

[dirtyminuth]

Couple questions:

What skybox model is larger than your entire level?

What lighting have you placed in the level so far?

Can you post some in-Hammer and in-game screens of your problem areas? (Use the "jpeg" console command for victorious screenshots)

 

[spaceweasels]

Make sure that the sky_camera is in the right position to display the skybox to coordinates 0,0,0. If it isn't, you can easily find yourself walking out of the skybox.

 

[MrAlBobo]

ive got about 8-12 light entities, and a light environment
the model is models\props_skybox\coast01.mdl

how do i use the jpeg console command, and clarify what you mean space...


im going to do a quick dry run...as in, im taking everything out of my skybox except for the camera and seeing how it runs

 

[spaceweasels]

clarify what you mean space...

Here's what I wrote in my 3D skybox tutorial, about the sky_camera and coordinates 0,0,0:


First take notice of where the coordinates 0,0,0 are. You can tell, because as you move you mouse cursor around, you'll see the coordinates at the bottom of Hammer, as I've circled:

The 0,0,0 coordinates are a reference spot of the sky camera entity.

 

[MrAlBobo]

the sky camera on my map was placed at exactly 0,0,0
I honesty have no idea where it is in the skybox

 

[dirtyminuth]

the model is models\props_skybox\coast01.mdl

Ah, yes. That prop is huge, don't worry about it. It's designed to replicate a huge coastline / hill range.

how do i use the jpeg console command,

When you start up the game, go into your console and bind a key to the jpeg command. For example, if I wanted to use F9 to take jpeg screenshots, I would type: bind f9 jpeg.

Then, in game, pressing f9 would take a screenshot and place it in your root tf folder.

 

[MrAlBobo]

theres the in game
srry about the size...didn't think they would be that large

as for the editor...do you just want the camera or the grids as well?

 

[MrAlBobo]

well...im going to leave this for tonight...hopefully ill get some help in between now and tomorrow
and with that i have a couple of things to say
1st, the amount of help you can get hereand the speed you can get it at, is just amazing
2nd...i found that giving a damn avatar elsewhere, and turned it into a spray XD
and then i just have another question...How long should it take on average to get a map done? Ive been at it for about a week and a half and im almost done (depending on how much effort i put into the appearance) granted ive been averaging about 6 hours a day in hammer, but still.

 

[YM]

6 hours a day for 2 weeks isnt enough for an extremely pretty, nicely sized map with good gameplay

Maps can take anywhere from a 2 week intensive blitz of something like 16 hours a day to a leisurely 6 months at 2 hours a day.
It depends how fast you work, how much you have to change things and how much time you spend.

 

[spaceweasels]

the sky camera on my map was placed at exactly 0,0,0
I honesty have no idea where it is in the skybox

It should be the opposite.

Wherever the Sky_camera entity is , it will begin to display at 0,0,0 when the map is spawned. Don't put the Sky_Camera at 0,0,0.

Once the sky_camera is in the skybox, it will scale it up, so you must make sure that the skybox is bigger than the playfield. By default, the skybox is 1/16th the size of playing area.

 

[MrAlBobo]

im confused...you want me to have my sky camera at the origin?

just to clarify what i did...
set a sky camera at the origin, selected the sky camera and a few other things, copied them, pasted them far to the right of the map, then i deleted the sky camera on the map so the only one is in the sky box
i resized everything to the right scale...i followed the tutorial to the letter, and there is no way the skybox would be smaller when scaled up, my map is quite narrow

 

[spaceweasels]

im confused...you want me to have my sky camera at the origin?

just to clarify what i did...
set a sky camera at the origin, selected the sky camera and a few other things, copied them, pasted them far to the right of the map, then i deleted the sky camera on the map so the only one is in the sky box
i resized everything to the right scale...i followed the tutorial to the letter, and there is no way the skybox would be smaller when scaled up, my map is quite narrow

Okay, those were the right steps. I just wanted to clarify that.

 

[MrAlBobo]

i see...so...we have no idea what is wrong yet...but its nothing obvious

any other ideas on what could be causing it?
if i delete the sky camera, the sky around my map renders perfectly...so its something to do with the skybox or sky camera

 

[MrAlBobo]

now hammer will not even open...i get this error

 

[bazola]

Well I don't know anything about that error and I don't use the beta of the SDK.

I can say a bit about 3d skyboxes. It took me a little while to figure out, I think the tutorials available are somewhat lacking individually.

Basically what you want to do is create your entire map. Then align it so that its centered at 0,0,0. Failing that you can adjust the position of the sky camera inside the 3d skybox. Step two is to copy all the brushwork in your map, and when you have it all selected, use ctrl+m to scale it down to 1/16th size in x,y,z (I believe it's 0.0625 but I will leave you to do the math). Now create your 3d skybox around the reference geometry you created. So whatever displacements and models get placed around the reference geometry of your map. Then put the second skybox around that. Now place the sky_camera in the center of your reference geometry, and delete the reference geometry.

Make sure your map is sealed because if it isn't, it will use your entire map as the 3d skybox. I learned that one the hard way.


I hope this helps you.

 

[MrAlBobo]

well...i did all that...multiple times
in fact i sealed my entire level in a giant box to ensure there were no leaks
and i can't really do anymore testing on my own due to that error

 

[MrAlBobo]

well...after spending another couple of hours trying to figure out what is going on, im starting to get a bit desperate...
so...i uploaded the vmf file if anyone wants to take a look at it to see if they can figure out the problem
I just threw together a quick skybox, I deleted my old one while copying the entire gravelpit skybox and pasting it in my map to see if that would work...it didn't
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QFZDZAGL