Generate a MegaTexture - Revision history

MoP: .rlt naming is important

2007-12-12T18:52:07Z

.rlt naming is important

MoP: added atmosphere rlt info

2007-12-12T18:43:31Z

added atmosphere rlt info

MoP: Updated with paths image at Jared's request, RLT info at Hoffa's request.

2007-12-07T17:19:19Z

Updated with paths image at Jared's request, RLT info at Hoffa's request.

MoP: Updated with info matching the SDK launcher

2007-12-07T16:59:50Z

Updated with info matching the SDK launcher

Show changes

MoP: straight copy of megabuild article for use with the new SDK launcher

2007-12-07T16:09:22Z

straight copy of megabuild article for use with the new SDK launcher

New page

The ETQW SDK Launcher includes all the settings required to generate a MegaTexture. It includes options for MegaGen (to render the raw texture tiles), Renderlight (to bake lighting info into the tiles) and MakeMegaTexture (which compiles the tiles into a compressed ''.mega'' file). It's a one-stop shop for compiling MegaTextures!<noinclude>__NOEDITSECTION__
= Overview =
The MegaBuild application can be found in the "Utilities" folder of the main ETQW directory. Look for '''MegaBuild.exe''' and run it.

= Using MegaBuild =
[[Image:megabuild_overview.png|right|MegaBuild main window]]

=== Find ETQW.exe ===
Firstly you need to select a valid game executable to launch the commands from.
* Go to ''File -> Find EXE...'' (or hit {{accelkey|CTRL}}{{accelkey|SHIFT}}{{accelkey|O}}).
* Browse to the SDK directory and select ''ETQW.exe'' or ''ETQWx64.exe'' if you have a 64 bit version of Windows.

=== Find the Retail Game ===
* Go to ''File -> Find Base Game Path...''.
* Browse to your game's install directory.

=== Choose a Save Path ===
* Go to ''File -> Find Save Path...''.
* Browse to the folder that you would like to save your files to.

=== Load a Surface Tree ===
Now you will need to load a [[Surface Tree]] (''.sft'') file which contains the texture and surface information you want to render into your MegaTexture.
* Go to ''File -> Open'' (or hit {{accelkey|CTRL}}{{accelkey|O}}).
* Browse to your ''maps'' directory and select your ''mapname.sft'' file.

=== MegaGen Settings ===
MegaGen is the first stage of making a MegaTexture. The settings are fairly straightforward.
* '''Resolution''' sets the width and height in pixels of your final MegaTexture. For ET:QW we used a ratio of 1 pixel to 1 game unit, so a terrain which is 32,768 units across would use a MegaTexture with a resolution of 32,768.
* '''Video Cache'''. 128 is a good value.
* '''Memory Cache'''. Give it as much as your computer will allow! For a computer with 2GB of RAM, 1536 is a good value here.

=== RenderLight Settings ===
RenderLight bakes atmospheric lighting information into your MegaTexture. Depending on the settings used here, MakeMegaTexture will either output a 3-channel (RGB) or 4-channel (RGBA) MegaTexture.
* '''Bake lighting''' - When checked, this option will bake the atmospheric sunlight into the MegaTexture.
* '''Bake ambient''' - When checked, this option will bake the ambient atmospheric light into the MegaTexture.
* Leaving both '''Bake lighting''' and '''Bake ambient''' un-checked will produce a 4-channel MegaTexture, which is larger size on disk but contains more accurate surface bump information.

=== MegaTexture Settings ===
MakeMegaTexture is the process which compiles the output of the previous processes into a compressed ''.mega'' file.
* '''Best Quality''' denotes using the best quality. You should usually leave this enabled.
* '''Luminance Error''' denotes the brightness compression quality, where lower amounts mean better quality but larger file sizes.
* '''Chrominance Error''' denotes the colour compression quality, where lower amounts mean better quality but larger file sizes.
* '''Alpha Error''' denotes the alpha compression quality, where lower amounts mean better quality but larger file sizes.

For our retail Megatextures, we used 3-channel settings, with all the Error settings at 1, for best quality. If you are making a 4-channel Megatexture, we would recommend the Error settings at around 20-30 for each value. Lower values might greatly increase the file size, while higher values might result in very blurred Megatextures.

=== Run the Processes ===
Once you have set up all of the options for your MegaTexture, you can set the MegaBuild processes going.
* ''Tasks -> Run Checked...'' (or pressing {{accelkey|F5}}) will run all of the selected processes.
* If this is the first time you're compiling a MegaTexture, check all 3 boxes for MegaGen, RenderLight and MegaTexture.
* You can un-check any processes you don't want to run at this time. For example if you want to re-compile some tiles from RenderLight with different MegaTexture settings, un-check MegaGen and RenderLight, leave MegaTexture checked, and then select ''Run Checked'' or hit {{accelkey|F5}}.
** Alternately, you can just click the ''"Make MegaTexture"'' button in the MegaTexture field.

= Components =
These are the individual processes that MegaBuild calls from the game.

=== MegaGen ===
{{:MegaGen}}

=== RenderLight ===
{{:RenderLight}}

=== MakeMegaTexture ===
{{:MakeMegaTexture}}

[[Category:Art]]
[[Category:Level Design]]
</noinclude>

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 === Create a RenderLight Template ===
-Before you can compile a full MegaTexture, you will need to create a ''.rlt'' template. You can find examples of these in {{filename|base/renderlight/}}. You can create one by making a blank ''.txt'' file and renaming the extension to ''.rlt''.
+Before you can compile a full MegaTexture, you will need to create a ''.rlt'' template. You can find examples of these in {{filename|base/renderlight/}}. You can create one by making a blank ''<mapname>.txt'' file and renaming it to ''<mapname>.rlt''.
 A RenderLight template looks like this:
+  {
-  	mesh		"models/terrain/<mapname>.lwo"
+  	mesh		"models/terrain/<terrainmodel>.lwo"
   	diffuse		"maps/<mapname>_d.tga"
   	bump		"maps/<mapname>_local.tga"
@@ Line 50: / Line 51: @@
 * These processes can take a long time, and use a lot of memory and hard drive space. For a full-resolution (32k x 32k) MegaTexture, you will need at least 18gb of free space on the drive ETQW is installed to.
 * Make sure all your paths are set up correctly, otherwise files may be missing.

@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 * '''out''' - this is where RenderLight will output the lit texture tiles.
 * '''map''' - this is the path to your map's ''.entities'' file, which is created when the map is compiled. RenderLight should read the atmosphere information from this file. If Renderlight is giving warnings about missing atmospheres, make sure your map has an atmosphere entity, and has been compiled successfully.
@@ Line 49: / Line 50: @@
 * These processes can take a long time, and use a lot of memory and hard drive space. For a full-resolution (32k x 32k) MegaTexture, you will need at least 18gb of free space on the drive ETQW is installed to.
 * Make sure all your paths are set up correctly, otherwise files may be missing.

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 Each section contains a ''"View Command Line"'' button, which will output a set of options for each process.  You can add these to a command line of {{filename|ETQW.exe}} in a ''.bat'' file if you need to automate your MegaTexture compiles.
-== Using the tools ==
+= Using the tools =
-[[Image:sdk_launcher_megatexture.png|right|The "Generate a MegaTexture" tab of the ETQW SDK Launcher.]]
+[[Image:sdk_launcher_paths.png|300px|right|The "Launch The SDK" tab of the ETQW SDK Launcher.]]
 === Paths setup ===
@@ Line 11: / Line 10: @@
 Just make sure you have the correct ''"Save Path"'' and ''"Mod Name"'' which contain your custom terrains, textures and maps selected.
 === Load a Surface Tree ===
@@ Line 20: / Line 24: @@
-==== Important notes ====
+=== Create a RenderLight Template ===
 * You must have fully compiled your map successfully at least once before these processes will work.
 * Your map's terrain model must have a "MegaTexture material" applied to it, and must be UV-mapped inside the 0-1 range. If you are unsure of how to do these steps, read through the tutorial for [[A Simple First Terrain]].
@@ Line 28: / Line 52: @@
 == MegaGen ==
 [[MegaGen]] is the first stage of making a MegaTexture. It scans your ''.sft'' file for textures and then renders them all to flat "tiles", 4096x4096 pixels across. Each tile comes in two parts, a "diffuse" tile (contains un-lit surface color), and a "local normal" tile (for the bump and directional information).
@@ Line 69: / Line 94: @@
-== Run the processes ==
+= Run the processes =
 Once you have set up all of the options for your MegaTexture, you can set the processes running.
 * Each process can be launched individually by clicking the ''"Run"'' button on the right of each section.