Profile of PureBunk

FYI It looks like the lights script only works with the following objects: searchlight_l_01, lamp_simple_01, and rural_lamp_s_01. It has an effect on lamp_01 too, but it doesn't light up the area very much, it just creates a dim little white "bulb". I suppose those are the only lamp objects that have the flag for the scar code attached to them.

I like the direction you're headed with the atmosphere and the lights. But I agree with Akosi, it was originally too dark.

Does the map transition from day to night or is it strictly night the entire time? I'm asking because if you're not using transitions, then you might be able to cheat the lighting FX a bit. I think the way most people do it is to use the stamp tool to place their lamp posts and searchlights from other maps that have them working. This lets the object turn the FX on/off depending on the time of day and to turn off when the object is destroyed. But other than using the stamp tool, as far as I know there's no way to attach FX to an object. This leaves people with a very limited selection of lamp objects.

But if your atmosphere is static then you can just place FX_attach markers of lights onto objects - For example I see you tried putting beams of light coming from the headlights of one of the trucks in the screenshot. It adds a nice effect and I've used the same trick in my maps. The downsides to doing this is that it won't turn on/off with atmosphere transitions (not a problem if you don't use transitions), and that the light will remain there even if the object is destroyed which will look weird on your map with random floating lights everywhere when the objects get destroyed. The only way around that is to make the object invulnerable with SCAR scripting.

So IF you do have an atmosphere with no transitions, I would recommend adding invulnerable lamp posts, cars, with your own fx_attach markers as the light source. Also remember that even if an object is invulnerable, if it's crushable then tanks will drive right through it. So you may need to put movement blocker objects ontop of it.

These aren't the greatest examples, but aside from lamps these are other places lights can go:
- Train light
- Territory light (I only use these on the fuel/muni points so they stand out a bit more)
- Car headlights


Anyway here is a list of light FX I find useful.
- A nice white light that lights up the surroundings: fx_special\lamp_looping_light_combo_01_cool
- A beam of light. Can be used for car headlights: fx_ambient\lens_effects\lighting_fx\headlights\headlight_beam_00
- A yellow flickering light that lights up the surroundings: fx_ambient\lens_effects\lens_flare_ring_lit_01
- A flickering light (no source flash) that lights up the surroundings: fx_ambient\lens_effects\flickering_light_01

Also fire adds a nice lighting effect on dark maps. If there is a building that isn't strategically important you can do the following: set damage to it, make it invulnerable, and make it nonselectable so that units can't garrison it.
- Small fire with smoulder: fx_damage\fire\burn_circular_area_w_smoke_00
- Drifting sparks (set your wind direction to change where they float): fx_ambient\flame_burn\sparks_drifting_00
- Raging fireball: fx_ambient\smoke_dark\dark_black_oily_smoke_with_fire_00
- Ambient flame light(no flame source) incase you want the flames to light up the surrounding area a bit more without actually adding more flames : fx_ambient\lens_effects\lighting_fx\ambient_flashes\aa_ambient_m02_00

There is also a tree on fire that you can copy with the stamp tool from the first mission in the campaign if you can unpack that. It behaves the same way as a lamp post that you would use the stamp tool with - once the object is destroyed the FX disappear.

I hope that all makes sense and is helpful in adding some variety to your light sources.

I just wanted to share my map if anyone has the time to give it a play and provide some feedback. The comments I get on the Steam Workshop aren't very constructive most of the time.

I originally was going to make a "North Africa" map, but then I realized that I don't have any idea what that looks like. Google returned images of flat desert, and that didn't seem like a great idea for a map afterall. So instead I made a desert map inspired by photographs of Arizona, with red rocks, cliffs, and canyons. It features a river/canyon with 5 chokepoint crossings (3 bridges and 2 water crossings). Three of those crossing are infantry only. The map is also split perpendicular to the river by two 64x96 mud fields - The mud is disguised as sand dunes. I did this to slow down how quickly units can move from one side of the short end of the map to the other. There are also 2 invulnerable abandoned Howitzers on each side of the River. You can kill the team crewing it, but you cannot destroy the gun itself. The Howitzer range is about half of the map and doesn't reach the enemy base (unless you crew the Howitzer on their side of the River). I feel it adds some fun to the map, but doesn't cause overwhelming destruction - though if you feel otherwise I may just take them out entirely.

I believe the map is balanced - the sides are basically symmetrical without being carbon copies of each other. Pathing shouldn't be an issue. Objects to use as cover might be a bit scarce but I'd like another persons opinion on that before I start plopping more objects down. Thanks for looking.

Workshop Link: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=260452788

This is a bit difficult to make a tutorial for, but I just wanted to point out to people that they can get creative and make their own bridges in WorldBuilder.


What you need:
1. Wooden_pier_rural_small object (found in environment > art ambient > objects > industrial > wood). This is the deck of your bridge that units will walk on. What this object does is make impassable terrain passable. Doesn't matter if it's below super deep water or on a vertical slope, as long as this object is within the area grid your units will be able to walk or drive on it. Arrange these into a rectangle or whatever shape you want your bridge to take. These must be turned into an entity group and set to invulnerable via scar scripting, otherwise they will be easily destroyed during the game. Make sure you don't leave any small gaps in the deck or units will fall through it - they won't take damage, but they'll magically warp under the bridge and back ontop of it in the blink of an eye and it will look weird.

Example of what your deck will look like at first:


2. Movement blocker splines or objects. These must go at the edges of the deck of the bridge to prevent units from walking off/on the bridge where they're not supposed to. Make sure the movement blockers overlap with the bridge deck a little bit. If they don't then units might still be able to walk off the edge of the deck and magically warp to the ground without taking damage.

Example of where to place your movement blockers:



3. The "R" key and extra objects of your choice. Here's where you get creative and add the frame of your bridge with whatever objects you desire. If you don't want the deck of your bridge to look like wood, you can cover it with "High_wall_01" for a brick road (found in environment > art ambient > objects > oob objects) or with "hangar_roof_##" (found in environment > art ambient > objects > industrial > metal) and rotate it to a horizontal plane with the "R" key and place it just barely ontop of the wooden deck. KEEP IN MIND that any objects you place under the bridge will affect pathing! Try to avoid putting the legs or supports of the bridge underneath it and instead them it beside it. But you can put objects beneath the bridge if you set them to Visual objects. When you select an object, under the "current" options there will be 2 buttons - "To Visual" and "To Entity". The default is Entity, so all you need to do is select the object and click the "To Visual" button. Also, you may want to make the bridge supports invincible the same way you made the bridge deck invincible. This will prevent them from being destroyed and having the bridge magically float in the air without any support.


Pros:
1. They can be as long as you want.
2. They can be as wide as you want.
3. They can branch off, go in zigzags, have multiple entry/exit points and ramps.
4. Depending how imaginative you are, they can look niiiiice.

Cons:
1. They must be indestructible since there would be no way to repair it.
2. They can be difficult to make. When creating it you must take several things into account:
- Objects that are indestructible (entity's set to invulnerable via scar scripting). These objects typically make the frame of the bridge and cannot be used as objects/beams directly beneath the bridge since they will block the pathing. They can also negatively affect units LOS and cover.
- Objects that are visual (and therefor easily destroyed). These objects don't affect pathing or LOS and can be used below the bridge for more visual appeal, but since they're easily destroyed you must keep in mind what the destroyed version of that object looks like. You don't want random chunks of wood/concrete stuck in the air.
- Pathing. This will be affected by how you arrange the visual objects and the entity objects. You must always keep pathing in mind so that you don't create a bridge with random blocks where units cannot move on the deck.
3. As with ingame bridges, units cannot cross beneath these bridges either. You will need to put movement blockers on each side of the bridge to prevent units from magically walking on/off the sides and magically teleporting up/down.


Examples:


This is a wooden trestle bridge I made using fence posts. The pathing is 2 wide, so the only units that can cross it are infantry and AT guns. Most of the wooden frame is indestructible but any beams of wood that crisscross or lay horizontal underneath the tracks can be destroyed. This way the bridge can have objects beneath it that don't affect pathing AND can appear to take damage when the objects set to "visual" are destroyed, but not inexplicably have pieces of wood floating in the air since they are all connected to atleast 1 invulnerable object.



This is a bridge slightly wider than the ingame bridges and longer than the "best bridge".



This is a "bridge" (It's more of a catwalk). There are multiple entry/exit points. It goes in a circle, and can be crossed again in the middle. Unfortunately since I'm using the iron_girder objects as the legs of the structure directly underneath the deck of the bridge, I had to set them to invincible so that they could not be destroyed and left with a floating bridge. The downside to this is that the entire deck of the bridge provides bonus cover since the units think they're standing beside the iron_girder and not ontop of it. This is one of the things you have to think about when creating these kinds of objects.

Remember to check the impass editor when you're doing step 3 to make sure you're not accidentally blocking pathing with your bridge decorations.

I just wanted to inspire other people to get creative. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

You can create a waterfall type feature in WorldBuilder using the terrain and water tools. You will also use a few objects and action markers to decorate them. This is how the waterfalls will appear in game:





The trick is that water is rendered with a vertical drop on all sides that you can't see due to the waters edges being hidden below the terrain. But you can make it clip through and ontop of the terrain if you place water beside a steep and sudden drop.

Water as seen from above (what you normally see):


Water as seen from below (moving the camera as close to the ground as possible you can see the water's vertical drop edges):


Our goal is to get the water edges to appear above the terrain.

How to set up the terrain:

You can see that there is a sharp edge of terrain. The terrain must have that jagged edge. You should be using the "Set Value" mode of the terrain tool to be as precise as possible.

Add water:

If the value of your highest point of terrain was for example "15", then set the water level value to "14.9". Once you add water you can see that the water clips through the terrain and extends past that sharp edge before it starts its vertical drop. You now have a basic waterfall.

Lower terrain at the bottom of the falls and add water and decorations:

Now to add the final details. You can lower the terrain at the bottom of the falls and add more water to continue your river/lake/stream. You must also add some kind of object to cover up that jagged edge at the top of the falls. The best ones to use are cliff rocks, and dead trees. Position them creatively so that they cover the jagged edge. You can use the "R" key to rotate the objects. You must also set the water direction to go with your waterfall (in the terrain settings) and set the water normal map to an appropriate wave (I tend to use water_shader_nrm). And as a final touch you need to add Action Markers with FX for the misty splashes at the bottom of the falls. I use "fx_ambient\smoke_fog\smoke_nis_beach_fog_combo_lrg_02_nowind" for the mist and "fx_ambient\water\fountain_water_spray" for the splashes.


There are 2 small problems with waterfalls:

1. You should only have waterfalls facing one direction on your map. This is because the water direction setting in the Terrain Properties can only be set once for all water on the map. If you make another waterfall at a 90 degree angle to your first waterfall, then one of your waterfalls will appear to have the water flowing sideways instead of down since the water direction will be set to the wrong direction.

2. The higher the waterfall, the easier it is to spot a cosmetic issue. There is a horizontal line that cuts through the falls the lower you move your camera to the ground. I believe it's caused by how the water is trying to render the reflection of the horizon. You can see that in the screenshot here.



If you want a closer look you can download my map from the screenshots above in Steam Workshop Here and use Janne252's map extractor tool to open it in world builder and take a look.