Water
Author: Brian Lozier
Okay, water is VERY easy to do. So we'll jump right in.
1. Start with the default sector, and cleave a square out of the floor as shown
below.
2. Now, extrude it.
3. Okay, the extruded sector is going to be our water, but first, we want
to cleave it a little bit so the water is below ground level. To do this,
switch to a side view, and making sure the correct sector is selected, cleave
it like in the following diagram.
4. Now, we have to set the bottom sector to be water, so select it, and press
[enter] to invoke the Item Editor. In the "+Flags" section, enter 2, to designate
it "underwater." Or, you can double click, and use the "underwater" checkbox.
5. Now, if we leave it like this, then the player will look into the pit, and
it will just look like a hole, but if he walks into it, he will start swimming...
and will wonder "what the heck?" So, we have to add a texture to the surface
separating the water from the air. So, select the surface shown below, and
choose a water texture for it.
6. Now, that will only take care of ONE side... remember, the person must see
water from above the surface, but also from below the surface. So, if you
press [shift+f], it will automatically select the surface that the original
surface is adjoined with. So, select a water texture for that one also.
7. Now, you will have noticed that a lot of times, level editors choose to
make thier water "transclucent" which means you can see through it. There are
positive and negative aspects to this. Tranclucent water looks nice... but,
it causes a strain on the computers hardware, which can cause bad framerates.
Generally, if you have a small pool of water, and it is a multiplayer level,
making it transclucent is fine, but if you have a large pool of water, and
are making a multiplayer level, it is not a good idea. In single player levels,
I personally think that you can do whatever you want.
These are just general guidelines, but it's your level, do whatever you want,
just be sure to test it for playability.
That said, the way to make a surface transclucent is to select the surface,
press [enter] to invoke the Item Editor, and set the "face flags" to 2. Or,
you can double click on it, and use the checkboxes. Remember to make both
surfaces of the water that way if you are doing it.
8. Now, when we extruded and cleaved the sectors, it automatically set the "GEO"
to 0, meaning the surface isn't rendered at all. The player can walk and see through
it. We have to change the geo so the game renders the surfaces.. so the textures
we inputted will show up!
To do this, on both surfaces, switch the "GEO" to 4, as shown below. Once again,
you can also double click and use the radio buttons to select "draw textured."
9. Okay, only a few more steps! You will notice that in most levels, when you go
underwater, everything looks blue. Well, in JediKnight, this is done by tinting
the sector a certain color. To do this, select the sector you want to tint,
in our case the water sector, and double click on the "+tint" field in the
Item Editor. This will let you choose a color to tint your sector.
Easy enough.
10. Now, the last thing we have to do is add the sound. I have to let you know that
in both JK and MOTS, the book says that use of LEC sound effects and music is
prohibited. I would suggest recording your own water sounds, and adding those
will be covered in a different tutorial. For right now, we will insert a LucasArts
sound, but please change this before you release your level.
First, select the underwater sector, and invoke the Item Editor. Then double click
on "+Sounds" and pick "00underwater.wav" and set the volume to about 8 or so.
Okay, that should be about it. Happy swimming.