This won't take long

[cshedd]

This will be one of my last oldie w/ newbie question...(I hope)...

anyway...

It may not even be a question at all as it is wishful thinking.

but...

Is there anyway to add a few polygons of an object to a polygroup rather than all.... for example... if I make terrain, and the terrain is a part of the actual room, and I wan't to add a polygroup to just the polygons that are part of a slope or dome... can I do that? I know that I could copy the lightmaps and blur them in photoshop, but the effect still isn't the same, and doesn't look as good.

I don't think it is possible... but it should be! images/icons/wink.gif

[tommulder]

yes it is possibel, but not for what you want EXACTLY

when you make the polygroup, do not choose to select all. instead make a polygroup with no polys.

now select this in the hierarchy menu...

on the render scree F6 mode, hold shift and click on each individual poly you want added. they should be selected with this green aura you see when selecting objects.

now right-click on the polygroup in the hierarchy menu, and "smooth lightmaps", you cannot take the lightmaps of all the polys in the group and export them as one lightmap to paintshop.

if you need some help with lining the textures there is a planar texturing mode. select the polygroup in hierarchy, then hover over these selected polys on F6 mode... now hit "n" and click on the middle poly. it lines up the textures, but changes their scaling to fit in with the first face you click on in planar mapping. to move the texture,hold "n" and then use the normal right click to drag the texture around.

geometry can also be smoothed. this can be seen on the snowy bonnets etc. of cars and vans, and also snow drifts in MP, so it is up to you wether you use this option.

that should help abit, or at least make you ask some more questions images/icons/grin.gif

[cshedd]

thanks tom images/icons/smile.gif

That will do it.

by the way, has anyone figured out how to use the geometry smoothing tool effectively?

[tommulder]

well the geometry smoothing tool was used [i think] just for snow, because you do not see the effects in MaxEd; it only appears in the game. i will do some test now and find out though.

basically it takes two joined polys, and adds vertexs into this line to make it seem more irregular (this is seen in remedys level with the snow) but i will try some now and post back what happens.

brb!

[tommulder]

k i have been out all day but am working on that level now. i will post some screenies either here, or make a whole tutorial on my website.

[tommulder]

okay then in geometry smoothing, the effects CANNOT be seen in MaxEd, MP calculates this in game. It pulls the textures, lightmaps and polys of the polygroup into a more curved shape... which is defined in the right-click menu of the polygroup. I am going to write a tutorial about this tomorrow which will be more detail, and post it up (along with my new site) i will post when the site is up.

it basically turns medium poly counts into something with a higher poly counts, without the rendering difference. It needs to be fiddled with though to get the result you want for your level.