Hammer texture size question

[plagueofburia]

Hi

I have a texture question for hammer. Last few days I been trying to design the entrance way that leads into a building storage area.

The texture was to have blue paint, though I have been having trouble trying to texture the walls I think because it is at an angle, I would add that also there are straight lines in the concrete texture so lining up the texture has not been going so well.

I decided to create a super large texture so far I have 2 large textures H-4096 x W-4096 and H-2048 x W-4096, the textures are created at an angle, as close as the angle of the brush I could do. I then stretched the texture the length of the hallway. Though this helped the texture was still not long enough. So I moved the end part a little and covered up part of the wall with a pillar. I should note that the end part of the wall is at another angle, so there is 2 angles and lines to line up it has been difficult as the texture I created has only been at one angle.



To be honest I am not sure if this was the best way, what problems does hammer have using 4096 by 4096 textures?How slow does this make the game run? How many should one use? does hammer have a limit?

Or is this okay?

I guess part of that would depend how many 4096 textures I am using I cannot answer that yet as I am still in the process of creating the area. Have I done this wrong? It looks okay at the moment modelling the wall proved the same problems.

Today I thought if I just use a plain 512 x 512 concrete line texture with overlays, would that produce the same effect?

Or perhaps I should have just taken out the lines in the concrete texture I am not sure.

I also want to create the pillars seen in the pictures as models but lining up the texture might prove to be too difficult unless someone knows ways of doing angled textures better please share and possible help me. Can hammer tell me the angle of the brush?

Perhaps I could use that when modelling and creating a texture or maybe not again I just don't know.

How would one with more experience
handle something like this?

Thanks

[[KIRBY]]

Is this the effect you are going for?

also you don't need 4k textures for anything in world geometry, it should be saved for character textures

[marnamai]

http://twhl.info/tutorial.php?id=187

this method also works in source it's tricky to get it right tho

[plagueofburia]

Hi Kirby, yeah that is definitely the look I am trying to achieve, I like the idea of the white paint too.
Someone has also mentioned that 4096 by 4096 is wasteful for a texture used in this way, I agree.

So the idea has to change or go.

You have the idea right with the dirt from the blue painted part to the concrete is one of the things I would like to do. Though I am also looking for the top to have stains and dirt as well.

I was/still having problems because there are straight lines as well as angled lines in the same texture.

Again I like the idea you have with the white paint that is great.

marnamai, cheers thanks, it must be amazing when that technique works. I tried to follow the tutorial but I got confused when the person was saying point the camera at the middle of one the edges but did not say which edge. The picture was not clear enough for me to see what view port is what in the picture

"You will have to place the part of the camera tool that “points” (the red line) at the middle point of one edge of the brush, and the camera itself between the middle point and the lower point of the opposite edge" It lost me

I tried, I created 256 unit wall that lowers 256 units but I did not manage to get the
technique to work.

I think the problem is there are two types of lines in the texture horizontal concrete lines and the diagonal blue paint. If I skew or rotate the blue part of the texture to make it diagonal, the horizontal concrete lines also get skewed or rotated at the same angle which is not the desired effect I am after.

The numbers 1 and 2 in the picture signify two different angles. The straight arrow represents the horizontal concrete lines and the diagonal represents the blue paint.



Overlays seem to be the solution but I am not sure the length of that hallway is 760 units in length.

People playing the level are not really going to care but I do care.

[cz_squishy]

http://twhl.info/tutorial.php?id=187

this method also works in source it's tricky to get it right tho

Holy shit.

[[KIRBY]]

watch this video, part you are looking for is after 3rd minute

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmqKTJmyEKI

[plagueofburia]

Kirby- Cool, I do like the tutorials Douglas has created for hammer/source games I have watched a number of them they are great. I did not do the lift face texture and apply left mouse click trick in my previous posts.

However the problem occurring for me and would happen to the same texture that you have also chosen. The texture you chose has horizontal lines that mark out the bricks/concrete joints and when rotated at an angle those lines would get rotated that is not what I was looking for, sorry.

I am not sure what the best way to do this. Overlays seem like a good option to add dirt to the plain walls as they can be warped and skewed at angles.

[[KIRBY]]

when you have these horizontal joint lines where textures dont align properly, the easiest way to get rid of them is to cover them with something, consider using some pipes, columns or other supports.
also dont overdo overlays, if decal you are applying does not need transformation, just use decal tool

[plagueofburia]

Kirby, yeah I will try my best to hide the texture problems of the map. From what I have heard one can have up to 512 overlays for a map. Overall it is still better to use them wisely thanks for the tip..

Cool, cheers, I read the new tutorial cz_squishy thanks that did real help with getting the texture to line up. I first followed the exact sizes you posted in the tutorial and it worked great.

I then tried the trick on the wall I was having trouble but it did not work correctly I am not totally sure why but I had to adjust the side views camera the one that says 25% of the wall height. I had to change this I kept the height 25% but where the red line would point to the centre I had moved it some units above for some reason. It took many attempts I was going to give up but I did manage to get something that works I don't believe it is perfect The dimension I worked with was H-272, W-256 25% of the was 68 and 2nd wall was H-312, W-512 25% was 78.

It is a crazy technique, I would never have thought camera placement could skew a texture like this. It does take a while to get right and 25% centre of wall thing worked strange for me. However when it works it works real well.

It could be better, I originally wanted the lines straight/horizontal and only the dirt at the top and the blue paint to follow the slope of the angle. This works and perhaps with a white paint overlay Kirby's idea it should look cool.

I am going to edit the wall texture a little bring the blue paint down to line up with the rest of the area. The great thing is once the texture is lined up one can just switch textures with no problem. I think to model some broken pillars I have started already. Lining up the textures of the pillar to the wall in hammer is going to be crazy.

My new question is how would one handle this?

[cz_squishy]

I fixed the tutorial since it's not 25% but 32 units high and wall height away.

[[KIRBY]]

alright just a quick tip, before you proceed anywhere further, put some lights in, and I dont mean some random omnilights, put spotlights with actual lamp models and then compile and see how it looks like.
most of the time light sorts out all your problems when you are unsure about textures, and also you should never make things too bright, keeping things dark may help you.

and in terms of pillars, go with texture that is different from gray/white/blue pattern you are using, go for example with a yellow concrete texture, and use it on whole pillar, then test these pillars with lighting you set up before and see how it looks like.

[plagueofburia]

Last few days been design pillars, 7 various pillars for this car park entry area.

Hi thanks Kirby, cz_squishy

I was not going to go into lighting just yet. Can I use I cordon tool, place a light then compile with lighting? From what I understand I don't need to set up any sky box, it can be used for rough testing.

A texture that is different then the blue paint and concrete wall. That might be a major contrast don't you think? Would you happen to have any real world concepts or texture concepts in mind?

I am happy to take on any ideas that work. That also can help make texturing these pillars easier. If I need the texture to follow the wall and blue paint at the angle I have it is going to be very difficult to do.

I am soon going to create the texture after UV mapping.

Here are some pictures of the pillars

[plagueofburia]

As I am design models for this area my time is spent there.

This is what the texture looks like in game with a basic light entity, using the cordon tool has no-draw textures, does not have a sky box and so on.....

If only I was more further on but something that looks and works well together takes time to do.



If you have any ideas on textures for the pillars please share. This is what I am kind of going for.