Lighting Techniques

Lighting Techniques
"the Basics"
by
RVMECH

So you have learned to make a decent looking map and you would like to enhance it's over all appearance. You would like to make the colors more vibrant, maybe include aDay/Night loop, or just want information on what the lighting settings are and how they work. this tutorial will attempt to do just that. Let's begin with the basics.

Tip #1: Setting your editor


Make sure that your copy of FINAL ALERT is not in the beginner mode, go to "options" and uncheck beginner. Next select "Edit" and the "Lighting". A window will open with various numerical settings.These settings are as follows;
Normal
Ambient
Level
Red
Green
Blue
Weather Storm Settings
Ambient
Level
Red
Green
Blue
Tip #2: Setting the Normal parameters


Ambient normal defines the overall visibilty and the brightness (day or night) of the map. Red, green, andblue define the tinting or actual colors of your map.The numerical entries are expressed in percentages (numbers to the right hand side of the decimal point). Tints are used to extract emotions (feelings) from the end user and as a way to enhance the overall look of the map.
If you are making a Desert theater map then may want to tint your map slighty higher with red and green or lower the bluesetting. remembering that a little goes a long way. This will give your map a "warm and sunny" feeling
If the theater is Temperate, then possibly lowering the red and increasing the green and blue content may be the way to go. This should convey an emotion of "anxiety".
On the other hand when working in the Lunar or Snow Theaters then slightly increasing the blue setting will give the overallfeeling of cold, frigid and remote.
All of the previous examples are assuming that your map is using a "daylight" setting for the ambience. Usually this is between 1.00000 and a 0.800000 setting .
For sunrise and sunset settings then a little extra red tinting will be in order. The ambient level for sunrise and sunset will be somewhere between 0.800000 and 0.600000.
Ambient levels for dawn anddusk lie somewhere in the range of 0.450000 and 0.600000.
Dawn and dusk (just before sunrise or just after sunset) tinting settings can be tricky depending on the ambient level you have chosen. If, for example, the ambient level is set at the lower end of the scale then blue would be the predominant tint and red the would be the dominated tint, whereas if the setting is on the higher end ofthe scale the reverse would be the case.
We now come to "night" ambient levels. These settings are the trickiest of all and can be frustrating to the end user if entered without regard to playability. Remember all monitors are not equal!! If your map is too dark not all will be able to play it unless, you make some modifications to it (this will be covered later).
The settings for night abientlevels resides in the range of 0.00000 and 0.4500000
The tinting of this ambient level also depends on whether you would like to convey a "moonlight" type of mood or weather it is a moonless, cloud covered type mood. For the "moonlight' effect then a heavy dose of blue tinting can be quite beautiful with just a little smattering of green. On the other hand if it is a moonless night then alltints should be equal.
Now let's tackle the "Level" setting. This parameter determines the percentage of ambient difference between the various height values x 4..in other words if the ambient light level is set for .95 and a cliff is at a height of 12 tiles then it would be very bright as compared to the floor (height=0)of the map,which would be "shadowed". This setting is very delicate but...