Section 4 - Texturing and Lighting your Stacked Rooms
You are probably beginning to really appreciate all the work
that goes into creating a level! At this point, you need to
go back into each room (unless you were one step ahead and
already did it) and adjust your wall panels so you can get
down to the business of applying textures. Make sure you
apply the climbing and monkey swing textures appropriately.
Place the lights while you’re at it. Check the demo model
for reference if you need/want to.
Connecting your Stacked Rooms to “Hall Up”
Move your connected Stacked rooms so they are centered and
just to the east, or right side of the sloped hallway. (Make
sure the rooms are flush but not overlapping.) Because of
the way it was constructed, you CANNOT select the squares
from the east end of the hallway to create your door
connection. Instead, you need to go into “Stack2X” and
locate the 2 center panels from the corresponding wall (the
west, or left side of “Stack2X”). Now click on the DOOR
button - you should be inside your hallway, looking
downward. Go into PREVIEW MODE and check out your new real
estate!
Placing Objects and Setting Triggers in the Stacked Rooms
Earlier you placed most of the objects, then returned to set
the triggers. Now we will list the objects along with
instructions for setting triggers - you can decide which way
you prefer to work! You are about to learn how to create a
Pick-Up trigger – a type of trigger that will allow you more
control over how events unfold within your level.
In the Stack Top Room:
Object: Torches (Animating2) and flame (Flame
Emitter2). If you place the Flame Emitter on the wall, it
will actually be “outside” the wall (therefore not visible
unless you rotate your model) Use your Control + Cursor
Arrow command to bring it back inside and then raise it to
the proper height. You can also place it on the “floor”
square of the ledge and then position it.
Trigger: The torches need to light before Lara gets into the
room - a good place to trigger them is at the bottom of
“Hall Up X”. Look at the demo model for the exact placement,
then select one Flame Emitter at a time and set the
triggers.
________
Object: Pedestal (“Furniture2”)
Trigger: None
________
Object: Puzzle piece (“Puzzle_Item5_Combo1”). The
easiest way to place this on top of the pedestal is to first
place it on the square next to the pedestal, raise it up 4
clicks then move it over using the Control + Cursor Arrow.
Rotate it 45 degrees with one right click. How will Lara
know in-game to not bend over to pick up this puzzle piece,
since most pick-ups are on the ground? YOU must set the
special parameters to flag how it is to be retrieved.
1. Select the puzzle piece then press “O” on your keyboard.
This will bring up the “Object Code Bit” settings box.
2. In the window just above the OK button, type in the
number 68. (Press ‘Enter’ for the number to stick, then
press ‘okay’). Why 68? Numbers have been coded to call forth
specific actions. 4 is the number that tells Lara to pick
something up from a low pedestal rather than the floor. 64
is needed to activate the “pick-up” trigger that you will
set for this puzzle item. (A complete list of these numbers
and what they do is located in the Reference Section -
General WAD Objects – Special Instructions and Code Bit
Settings).
Trigger: Special Pick-Up Trigger Before placing the
trigger for the puzzle piece, a little background….When Lara
picks up the puzzle piece from the pedestal, a camera is
activated that shows not only where she is in relation to
the door at the bottom of the pool, but that her action
caused the door to open as well. Setting up triggers for
sequenced events takes a little time to learn, but it is all
quite logical and not so intimidating as long as you
remember some basic rules about triggers. You can stack as
many simple triggers as you like without a problem, but if
you begin mixing in special triggers (such as a pick-up
trigger) or start assigning special parameters to triggers,
you run into problems since you cannot overlap special
triggers. (This rule can be used to your advantage
sometimes, but more on that when the time comes!)
A pick-up trigger causes another event to happen the moment
Lara picks something up. In this case, the camera is
triggered. Since the flyby camera takes a few moments to
scan the view down to the door, you would miss seeing the
door open unless you could somehow delay its opening.
However, to put a delay timer on the door would cause an
overlap of special triggers! What to do? The flyby camera,
which you will learn about soon, has some special
capabilities that will make it possible to open the door up
at the right time….this involves yet another type of special
trigger…..fun, huh?
Setting the Pick-Up Trigger for the Puzzle Piece
1. Select the puzzle piece then click on the square below
the pedestal and press the pink Trigger button.
2. Now click on the “Object Trigger Text Window” next to the
trigger button. It should read “PUZZLE_I” in the upper right
corner.
3. Click in the box next to the word “Type” and select
“pick-up” from the menu, then click “OK”.
4. Now hit “OK” in the ‘Set Trigger Type’ window and you’re
set.
If you checked the triggers in the demo model, you noticed a
few other triggers on this square….you’ll get to those soon!
All triggers placed on a square with “ pick-up” trigger will
not trigger until Lara picks up the item with the “pick-up”
trigger.
Stack 2 Room:
Object: Statues (“Animating7”) Place on either side
of the entrance to the room.
Trigger: None
Stack 3 Room:
Object: Uzi (“Uzi_Item”) Place on ledge in the
corner.
Trigger: None
Stack Pool Room:
Object: Crossbow Ammo (“Crossbow_Ammo3_Item”) Place
anywhere in bottom of pool.
Trigger: None
TAKING A LOOK
Time to check out your new rooms, objects and triggers you
set. Of course, the pick-up trigger won’t work until you set
up the camera, but it is a good time to take a break before
beginning the section on cameras.
