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Old 13-08-15, 05:59   #4
AkyV
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Joined: Dec 2011
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Rain and snow

There is a button in Room Editor that reads “Normal”. If you click on it some times, it will read “Snow” or “Rain”.
Maybe you think if that button reads Snow then it will snow in the given room, or if that button reads Rain then it will rain in the given room.

But I must tell it is not quite right, because:

a, If you want to see rain in your level, you have to type this entry in the [Level] block of your level:

Rain= A

In which A could have these values:

RAIN_SINGLE_ROOMS: it will rain in all the rooms that are outdoor areas (so where Button O is switched on) and have the “Rain” button switched on.
RAIN_ALL_OUTSIDE: it will rain in all the rooms that are outdoor areas.
RAIN_DISABLED: this value is useless, actually. Because it has the same result as if you didn’t have Rain entry in the [Level] block.

b, If you want to see snow in your level, you have to type this entry in the [Level] block of your level:

Snow= B

In which B could have these values:

SNOW_SINGLE_ROOM: it will snow in all the rooms that are outdoor areas
(so where Button O is switched on) and have the “Snow” button switched on.
SNOW_ALL_OUTSIDE: it will snow in all the rooms that are outdoor areas.
SNOW_DISABLED: this value is useless, actually. Because it has the same result as if you didn’t have Snow entry in the [Level] block.

Moreover, this is still not the whole truth. I mean, if you want to see (proper) rain/snow in a room, you must also answer these requirements:

- Texture at least one room surface element with the tiny black square in the room. (But you don’t need Horizon or Layer script entries or triggers, or HORIZON in your WAD.)
- The room should have at least 10-12 clicks height (or a bit more than that, instead).
- It always “starts raining/snowing” from the ceiling of the rainy/snowy room. Lara’s eye level should be lower by minimum 8-10 clicks than those starting points.
- At least one horizontal or one vertical portal (door) must be in the POV of the actual camera – even if that door is textured by Toggle Opacity or Toggle Opacity 2 method or is far away, behind the end of the visual range. (This problem exists only at snow.)

To adjust the intensity of rain, these are your possibilities:

- If you use “Single” case, then all the rainy rooms will have their own intensities – the one you chose in the little window next to Rain button in that room. (1: the lowest intensity, 4: the highest intensity.)
- If you use “All” case, then at least one of the rooms of the level must have the Rain button switched on. It doesn’t matter if that room is an outdoor or an indoor area. (Naturally, if that is an indoor area, then it won’t rain there.) But when Lara enters that room she defines the rain intensity (chosen in the little window next to Rain button in that room) for all the outdoor (rainy) rooms.

As you see, “Rain” and “rainy” terms are not always the same in “All” case: it’s not sure if it rains in rooms with Rain button switched on, but it’s possible that it will rain in rooms without Rain button switched on.

(That room with Rain button switched on is the first rainy room of the level or, at least, you hadn’t seen the first rainy room of the level before you stepped into that room with Rain button switched on. - I mean, just think about it: if you step into the first rainy room of the level before you step into that room with Rain button switched on, then it means you saw some unwanted rain intensity in the first rainy room of the level, because the intensity still isn’t defined in that first room.)
After that, if you want to change the rain intensity, then step with Lara into another (outdoor or indoor) room with Rain button switched on, and all the rainy rooms will have the intensity that is chosen in the little window next to Rain button in that room.

Adjusting the intensity of snow is analogous with that.

Notes:

1. Activate this FLIPEFFECT, if you want to switch off Rain or Snow button of the room, during the game.

Room. Remove from the <&>room the (E)type of room

But I’d like to remark:

- Never choose “Flipped” names from the list. It means we cannot switch off the Rain/Snow state of flipped rooms, using this trigger.
- If you want to create a flipped room only to switch off Rain/Snow button in the game (so, e.g., if it rains in the original room, but it doesn’t in the flipped one), it’s an alternative solution if you activate this trigger.
- This trigger is a great tool to use three states for a room. For example: the original room is a rainy room. We use this trigger to stop raining there, then later we activate the flipped room of the room to make the room to be a water room.
- Some FLIPEFFECTs – just like this – use a room list in Window &. – But that is the source of a problem.
See this example:
This is the starting state, where the FLIPEFFECT uses Room038 in the game that is Room53 in Room Editor:

[036] Room50
[037] Room52
[038] Room53

Now we’ve deleted Room52. According to the new state, the FLIPEFFECT will still work on Room038 in the game, but that is Room54 now in Room Editor and not Room53:

[036] Room50
[037] Room53
[038] Room54

2. If a room is (just) doesn’t have Rain/Snow button switched on, then you can switch them on in the game, activating this FLIPEFFECT:

Room. Set the <&>room as (E)type of room

But I’d like to remark:

- The remarks of Item#1 are also valid now (in an analogous way, of course).
- This trigger is a good method to experiment with the states. So, e.g., in Room Editor you can switch on only Rain or only Snow button, but if the Room has Rain state, you can also switch Snow state now – without switching off Rain state -, using this trigger. (So, this is a good method to make “snowy rain” – sleet – in a room. – Another good method, if you have “All” cases both for the rain and the snow.)

3. You can change the case (single/all/disabled) of rain/snow, if you want, if you activate one of these FLIPEFFECTs:

Weather. Rain. Set <&>new state for Rain in current

Weather. Snow. Set <&>new state for Snow in current

(Now “disabled” state is useful to represent that “the rain/snow has been stopped in the whole level”.)

4. If we have a Room A (above) and a Room B (below) and they are vertically connected with each other, and we want to see rain/snow in both, then some requirements (see them above) look this way:

- “10-12 clicks” requirement: there will be proper rain/snow in both rooms now, if the difference between the ceiling of Room A and the floor of Room B is 10-12 clicks at least.
- “Lara’s eye level” requirement: there will be proper rain/snow in both rooms, if Lara’s eye level is lower by minimum 8-10 clicks than the starting point. And the starting point is the ceiling of the upper room now.

But these things are true only for the room parts above/below the portal, and if the portal is not textured by Toggle Opacity (impassable) method. (And it is true for the rain only if you have rain in both rooms, and it is true for the snow only if you have snow in both rooms.)

5. There are some special cases when the vision of the rain could be imperfect:

- For example, this is what is adjusted: Room C and Room D are horizontally connected with each other, and, in Room C, there is no rain, but, in Room D, it’s raining.
But that’s what will happen in the game: Lara is in Room C and looks through the portal into Room D. If she is not too close to the portal, then she won’t see any rain in Room D, even if that has a high intensity.
- If the rainy room has paper thin walls/floor squares, then Lara will see some of the rain drops hitting those walls/squares, if she looks at those walls/squares from their “other sides” (i.e. from an adjacent room).

You could have the similar problems with snow.

6. You can see only one rain/snow intensity at the same time.
So, for example, Room E and Room F are horizontally connected with each other. In Room E, there is Rain Intensity 1 adjusted, and, in Room F, there is Rain Intensity 2 adjusted.
If Lara stands in Room E in the game, she can see Intensity 1 there. But, if she looks through the portal into Room F, she will see Intensity 1 there as well.
Now Lara goes into Room F. She will see Intensity 2 there. But if she looks through the portal back into Room E, she will see Intensity 2 there as well.
(In this regard, the rain and snow intensities are independent of each other.
I mean, change the example, so the adjusted Intensity 2 of Room F now is snow intensity.
If Lara stands in Room E, seeing Rain Intensity 1 there, she will see Snow Intensity 2 in Room F, if she looks through the portal into Room F.)

7. If the problem I described just above in Item#6 doesn’t exist, it doesn’t mean you won’t have problems with seeing the proper intensity in the adjacent rooms.
I mean, see e.g. that problem of Room C and D above. If you realize, standing in Room C, you don’t see the proper intensity in Room D – though you are close enough to the portal between them – then activate this FLIPEFFECT trigger so you will see the proper rain intensity in Room D:

Weather. Set in advance the rain setting using the intensity of <&>Room

(I don’t know if this trigger has any – real – effect on a similar snow problem.)

8. Activate this FLIPEFFECT trigger, if you want to change the rain/snow intensity of a given room:

Weather. Set Rain/Snow intensity for <&>room with the new (E)intensity value

But I’d like to remark:

- Don’t misunderstand: the trigger won’t change the intensity if the room doesn’t have Rain/Snow button switched on. (So it won’t affect the intensity of rooms in “All” case if those rooms don’t have Rain/Snow button switched on.)
But the trigger will always change the intensity if the room has Rain/Snow button switched on. (So it will also affect the indoor rooms with Rain/Snow button switched on, though, it doesn’t rain/snow there.)
(To activate the new intensities in “All” case for outdoor rooms, naturally you need to step into those Rain/Snow rooms.)
- Never choose “Flipped” names from the list. The intensity value is always the same in the “original” room and its flipped room, so always choose the name of the “original” room. (Whether the original room has Rain/Snow button switched on or the flipped room does or both do.)
- Don’t forget to use this intensity-setting trigger to add the intensity to a new state if you give a new state to a room (see: Item#2). But also don’t forget: if you give a new state to a room (e.g. Snow), using the Item#2 trigger, but you don’t remove the old state of the room (e.g. Rain), then the intensity-setting trigger may affect the intensity of the old state as well. (On the other hand, if you give a new state, using the Item#2 trigger, not removing the old state, but without using this intensity-setting trigger, then the new state may “adopt” the intensity of the old state.)
Moreover, having more states at the same time in the same room may disturb the adjusted intensity of that room.

9. The rain could be customized, if you type this into [Title] block (now the customization is valid for the whole game) or if you type this into a [Level] block (now the customization is valid only for the actual level):

Customize= CUST_RAIN

See more about this customization in NG Center\References.

The snow cannot be customized at the moment.

Last edited by AkyV; 13-08-15 at 06:20.
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