What do you struggle with the most?

[Newfoundking]

I see lots of topics popping up asking for help, sometimes it's people don't know how to do something and DON'T want to learn, but more often than not, it seems to be people who genuinely don't understand and if given proper instruction would be interested in learning and probably could.

 

So what I want to hear from people is what is a modding skill, however small it may be, that you want to see a detailed tutorial on how to do? Do you want to learn how to add finishing touches like lights that look great but don't kill a system? Maybe you have no idea how to model or UV Map. Maybe you just can't figure out how to build your own mod, you've only ever done the basics of submodding, on what's already there.

 

There's a lot of tutorials there, but without direction, it gets hard for people to figure out what to do next. If there's a detailed tutorial in existence, but maybe it's missing some steps on either end, or it's just a part of a bigger thing, I'll be sure to link that tutorial, instead of reexplaining the wheel. 

 

So Emergency-Planet, tell me what you want to know how to do to model. Maybe you've got your own tips you want to add. I'm by no means a modding god, and I'm always learning different ways to make a mod, so don't be afraid to speak up

 

[RangerDog]

Well, Mayby you could assemble a good diverse team, which explains the basics of modding. Like litle bit of skinning etc, Litle bit of scripting. Just 1 central topic. I think people would think it is easyer to use 1 central topic instead of multiple different topics.

[Pottyscotty]

While I do not struggle with lighting I would like to see an explanation on how to keep them optimized as I never know if what I'm doing is over the top or not. 

[Newfoundking]

RangerDog,

What I would like to do over the next little while as I find out what people need is optimize the TUTORIALS section in the site. We have a tab for it, it's jsut right now, things aren't laid out in an intuitive manner. I'm gonna take some time to organize what we've got better. Having one topic covering everything would just get confusing I think. This tutorials tab lets us lay things out so we can be detailed, but we can also cover off a lot of topics if they're reasonably titled and follow some standard.

 

PottyScotty. 

I find there's usually a lot of different ways to achieve the same effect, often totally indistinguishable from afar, but will have much different levels of lag, as well as time taken to do it. Rotating lights is one I've seen people do a lot lately, and there's a different way for each lighter, and many are great, but you need to look at your vehicle and how heavy it is before you put in the work on it.  

 

I wouldn't but a radiation for every corona on a rig like FDNY HAZMAT 1 which has something like 60 LEDs with fast patterns, but I may put radiations for each corona on a small utility vehicle with one beacon. 

 

The heaviest part of any lighting is the radiation, but the number of coronas can be damaging to the vehicle as well. This is an old game, so we need to work with the restrictions of the engine. The old saying less is more really applies well here. I'm going to take a look through a few mods now see how they light their vehicles, and then compare it with my way and put up a little tutorial on lighting a vehicle from scratch with basic lights and a lighter tax. 

 

That being said Anyone who lights vehicles, if you want to share your method with me, please PM me on what you do and tell me where you have an example available for me to see. I want to know how and more importantly, why you do it that way

[Pottyscotty]

*Reply*

 

That being said Anyone who lights vehicles, if you want to share your method with me, please PM me on what you do and tell me where you have an example available for me to see. I want to know how and more importantly, why you do it that way

Hm, thanks for that. I personally never use radiation because I know of the lag it can cause and because generally I find them a pain to do. I also use as little amounts of coronas and instead improve the lighting with polygons.

 

I'll get one or two of my newest units and send them over to you and give a better description on how I do stuff.

[Newfoundking]

Sounds good. I hate saying nix radiations because they really do make the difference between a good unit job and a great one, the trick is knowing what to do to make the most of the least. 

[itchboy]

Sounds good. I hate saying nix radiations because they really do make the difference between a good unit job and a great one, the trick is knowing what to do to make the most of the least. 

I killed radiations for my most recent units

[n00bingtarget]

What I've had the most problems with is when I am importing a new model to my personal mod.  I have to add the doors & wheels on.  Getting them to align correctly can be a real pain!  Especially wheels.  Seems when I get 1 where I want it and I add the next one, something goes screwy when I'm aligning it up, and it ends up screwing up the previous wheel(s) also!  ARGH!

 

 

Also, I wish that so many of the models didn't have lightbars on them already.  I would love to choose a different lightbar on the base chassis.  Like maybe I don't want a rotating bar I want a LED bar.  Make it look like my department spent some money on upgrades for the rigs.

[Pottyscotty]

What I've had the most problems with is when I am importing a new model to my personal mod.  I have to add the doors & wheels on.  Getting them to align correctly can be a real pain!  Especially wheels.  Seems when I get 1 where I want it and I add the next one, something goes screwy when I'm aligning it up, and it ends up screwing up the previous wheel(s) also!

 

 

Also, I wish that so many of the models didn't have lightbars on them already.  I would love to choose a different lightbar on the base chassis.  Like maybe I don't want a rotating bar I want a LED bar.  Make it look like my department spent some money on upgrades for the rigs.

I used to find aligning doors hard but what really helps is turning on 'Snap to objects' - It makes it 10x quicker and easier.

 

Some mods can use different sized vehicles which are not true to scale meaning it can be very hard to use the same lightbar model. I for one find it much quicker and easier to add a lightbar to the model rather than add it as a child object (Also removes that annoying thing where lightbars don't bounce with the vehicle's suspension). So unless the developers prefer the childs method, they will add it to the model since they make the mod the way that's easier for them and not for those editing it

[Firequi]

What I've had the most problems with is when I am importing a new model to my personal mod.  I have to add the doors & wheels on.  Getting them to align correctly can be a real pain!  Especially wheels.  Seems when I get 1 where I want it and I add the next one, something goes screwy when I'm aligning it up, and it ends up screwing up the previous wheel(s) also!  ARGH!

 

 

Also, I wish that so many of the models didn't have lightbars on them already.  I would love to choose a different lightbar on the base chassis.  Like maybe I don't want a rotating bar I want a LED bar.  Make it look like my department spent some money on upgrades for the rigs.

 

For the aligning of the wheels I use a very easy method. Always start at the front of the model! First you add one wheel and make the right height adjustments. Simply play with alt and dragging and checking by pressing "ok" a view times in order to get the right height. Then instead of adding a complete new wheel, just copy the one that is already on the vehicle. Make sure to check the snap angles box, that way you can ensure yourself that the wheels are completly straight when adjusting them for the other side of the model. Then you turn the camera so that you are facing the downside of the model and you drag the wheel to its right position. Once you've done that, simply copy the two front wheels and drag them to the back and voila, your model has well allinged wheels.

 

Some mods can use different sized vehicles which are not true to scale meaning it can be very hard to use the same lightbar model. I for one find it much quicker and easier to add a lightbar to the model rather than add it as a child object (Also removes that annoying thing where lightbars don't bounce with the vehicle's suspension). So unless the developers prefer the childs method, they will add it to the model since they make the mod the way that's easier for them and not for those editing it

 

You know, you can avoid the problem of childs that don't bounce by implementing them as doors as well. Just make sure to add "_door" to the child name when you create the prototype. Only childs dat are put on the model in the "edit childs" screen (the screen within the edit screen) won't bounce along with the vehicle.

[Pottyscotty]

You know, you can avoid the problem of childs that don't bounce by implementing them as doors as well. Just make sure to add "_door" to the child name when you create the prototype. Only childs dat are put on the model in the "edit childs" screen (the screen within the edit screen) won't bounce along with the vehicle.

Interesting, didn't think of that. I think I'd still stick with the model method though

[TACRfan]

Hm, thanks for that. I personally never use radiation because I know of the lag it can cause and because generally I find them a pain to do. I also use as little amounts of coronas and instead improve the lighting with polygons.

I'll get one or two of my newest units and send them over to you and give a better description on how I do stuff.

I don't like using radiation either, I think it can ruin the appearance of the vehicle, I agree about the polygons though, wasn't to sure about them when I started doing the lights for the Kent mod but now I think I would do them when ever possible.

The coronas and sizes I use are:

Blue: corona 5 blue, size 23

Red: corona redlight, size 23

White: corona 5 white, size 13

Green: corona greenlight, size 13

Orange: corona 5 orange, size for emergency lights: 13, Size for blinkers: 8

These are the coronas and sizes that I personally think look best in game

[EmC-Unit]

It's a nice idea to make a topic with a list of tutorials available, still i don't see a lot of sense for it when community decrease and left em4

[Newfoundking]

Tutorial's up,

http://forum.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/article/55-lighting-methods-in-emergency-4/

 

Let me know thoughts, comments, concerns. This isn't quite a walkthrough so much as a discussion on the types and how to achieve them. 

[TACRfan]

Tutorial's up,

http://forum.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/article/55-lighting-methods-in-emergency-4/

 

Let me know thoughts, comments, concerns. This isn't quite a walkthrough so much as a discussion on the types and how to achieve them. 

i thought it was very informative and great for anyone starting out with lighting.