L3DT Users' Community

Hi Aaron.
I've in mind this by many time.
Do you know FarCry and Crysis, i suppose.
Well; i want to use for my project, but only for the last part (vegetation, buildings, characters, etc.). I would use L3DT as terrain/climate/texture generator.
In the past i've tried to play with Sandbox 1 (FarCry) and L3DT and i've reached some results only with heightfield export (L3DT) and import (Sandbox 1). I've failed to use textures generated by L3DT into Sandbox 1. Probably i've spent a little of time to investigate the problem.
So, i ask to you if it's possible to integrate the work of L3DT into Sandbox 1 and, in near future, Sandbox 2.
If i can help you about decision, i can post some shots of my previous attempts.

Cheers.

Mauro.

Hi Mauro,

I know of Far Cry and Crysis, but I don't have a copy myself (I'm more of an RTS guy). Can you point me in the direction of documentation/resources on importing maps into Sandbox 1?

Cheerio,
Aaron.

PS: Congratulations on your 100th post!

Hi Aaron.
I reccomend to you to acquire a copy of FarCry: probably you will discover a new world (almost, form me has been so). I don't like the game, but Sandbox is a very powerful tool that cover many aspect of world building (mapping, vegetation coverage, fauna, characters). Often it's used to create 3D virtual worlds or little movies (both are my aims). Crysis and Sandbox2 will be a huge jump forward concerning 3D realism.

These are some useful links; they are extracted by
CryMod portal (mainly focused on FarCry):

Crymod Modding Portal » Tutorial Database » General (particular useful Sandbox Editor User Manual v1.1, chapter MAP CREATION from page 1 to page 14)
Crymod Modding Portal » Tutorial Database » Crytek
Crymod Modding Portal » Tutorial Database » Mapping (particular interesting)
Crymod Modding Portal » Tutorial Database » Modding
Crymod Modding Portal » Tutorial Database » Modeling
Crymod Modding Portal » Tutorial Database » Scripting

Instead, these are some useful links extracted by
Incrysis portal (mainly focused on Crysis):

Crysis/Crytech 2 Videos and dowloads

PS: Congratulations on your 100th post!

Thanks Aaron: now let's point to 200 (JavaJones and Monks, i'm arriving )

Hi Aaron.
Any news?

Hi Mauro,

I haven't had a chance to look through those links yet (also, they require registration to view the documentation). I'll try to set aside some time this weekend.

Cheers,
Aaron.

Hi Mauro,

I read through the mapping tutorials on the Crymod site, but sadly I'm none the wiser when it comes to knowing which file formats are supported by Sandbox1/2. This tutorial seems to suggest that RAW is supported. Can you confirm this?

Cheers,
Aaron.

Yes Aaron.
Sandbox1 support both .RAW and .PGM formats. Actually i don't know if Sandbox2 will support any other formats. Sadly, Sandbox1 treats height as steps from 0 to 255 and slopes as ratio of 90° (ever from 0 to 255). So, if you try to create an heightfield with very high mountains, Sandbox1 tends to "flatten" them; so the only workaround that i've found is to apply a vertical exxageration of various orders (from 2 to 5).

Hi Aaron.
I would specify that when i talked about L3DT/Sandbox integration i meant not only about heightfield import (.RAW and .PGM format is supported) but mainly about texture export/import, (not format, because .JPG is also supported) but about texture placing. Sandbox1 supports import of mask based on slopes and L3DT supports export of alpha maps. I suppose that this could be a good approach of integration.

Hi Mauro,

What are the requirements for the mask import? (e.g. sizes, number of masks, file format and bit-depth, etc.) Do alpha exports from L3DT work in Sandbox1, or if not, do you know what needs to be changed?

I'll be happy to start an 'Export to Sandbox1' plugin if you (or someone) can provide a list of the requirements.

Cheerio,
Aaron.

Hi Aaron.
Now i'm in holidays, but shortly i'll write a list of requirements that allows to export all that is necessary to make a realistic landscape with Sandbox1. Generally they would be:
- heightfield
- normal map
- texture map (whole map or splitted into alpha maps)

Stay tuned!

Mauro.