SCFOW change in 3.6.3?

There is, tho the method for doing so has changed a little bit.. Have you watched Owlbears video on this?

[youtube]iTb7aKTwp4o[/youtube]

[youtube]uPVRP5BXAN0[/youtube]

 

Place a light inside of it...

 

I talked with Owlbear some today and it is looking like nailing that down in the code is a bit harder than expected and created it's own set of other issues in FOW visibility.. He suggested (for the time being) placing an X of edge lines, rather than using an enclosed circle.. This will still allow people to see the Column/Statue etc., but block light.. It's just a temp solution until a better method can be worked out...

 

Hi hi. sorry been head down coding -- go figure.

The see thru nature of edges is still being revamped. We had a lot of issues with non-45-degree bleed using the inside out edges.
The result is that I've updated the FOW code to assume double sided polys for the time being.

There are several positives to this, the main one being the ability to totally disable all the invert/normal control tools providing a simplier user experience. The downside is that edges appear solid at the moment.

The downside is that edges cast shadows over themselves current, thus appearing to be filled.

Other changes worth note in this revision are as follows:

1. walls work as walls - the double sided poly fix means that you don't have to wrap Wall objects with Edge objects to create walls

2. fixed polygon lock behavior in Game Tools - if a poly is locked it cannot be moved, edited or otherwise *changed*. visibility is togglable based on some simple rules:
** Walls, Doors and Masks can all be toggled between Show and Hide while locked
** Edges will not toggle to Show while locked in the Hide state
** Edges who are in the Hide state can be toggled back to Show while locked
** NOTE: Walls will likely get locked down the same as Edges in the next build

Confused? totally understandable, the reasons for this wonky logic is based on use cases which I'll go into later on. Keep in mind what the capabilities are of the different objects will enable a wide range of shadow casting and fog of war behaviors.

3. Added Open/Closed Polygon drawing - this lets you hit enter or space while drawing to commit a polygon which does not close. You can use this to create spaces that allow light inside from one side while blocking from others. It can also be used to draw straight lines (2 points) for things like wall segments between windows. The downside with the current implementation is that you have to use the Game Tools Region list to select the object for moving. To move a 2-point object, you'll need to enter edit mode then drag the points or the segment -- I'm working on a solution that will grant this facility without the hoops above.

4. increased the size of the H and V door paint-ables - we made the H and V door objects bigger. This is mainly just to increase the ability to position the object well.

5. Updated icons for Passive/Interactive and Show/Hide states in the Region view.

6. Updated Lights to use new icons and show additional details -- note: the specific details and function will likely change before the next release (friday). We're experimenting with putting ring and fill color in the light mode list.

Quick Region Type concept notes that might prove helpful:

+ Walls are for walls and fill areas.
+ Edges are for any other object in the space you might want to model occlusion for. Eventually, you'll be able to create hollow objects again.
+ Doors are like Walls except that they are always on top when clicked and prevent region visibility toggling of areas directly below.
+ Masks are the general use object and will become the default object type for legacy maps updated to the new engine (next release)

Finally! a trick you can use to create a similar experience to the previous one is to use 2-point lines to "X" out an area you want to allow players to glimpse art under while still casting shadows. Definitely play with the open edges to get the maximum effect.
You can, for instance, just edge the back of a statue to create a completely front/side visible art item but from the back everything is in shadow.

 

Thank you for taking the time (I know you are super busy) to explain that, Owlbear..

 

Awesome!

So even though I'm the dev who nixed the feature, I have to say I'm sad that it's not working yet.

here's a couple of quick work around until we're able to put time back into the transparent shadow casters.



The top technique actually gives you exactly the old behavior but is expensive as it uses three objects and requires some intelligent FOW management on the part of the GM.

Basically, you draw your Edge around the object you want to illuminate, then you add a mask on using Align to Knot. Finally you toss a light source inside the Masked Edge area. When a player comes up to the object, it can either auto-reveal the mask or manually reveal the mask. The light you places will reveal the interior of the edge object while still casting a shadow behind it. used sparingly this could be a great method to handle interesting map assets until we can figure out a way to manage the original intended method without the geometry "holes".

The second technique shown above is to just "X" out an area such that light can peek into the art but never passes all the way through. For statues, I tend to edge one side of the statue allowing for players to view the art but not what's behind it. Or from behind, not see much of the statues features.

I'm super excited to hear that your group is having a great time with this update. Thraxxis and I put a lot of time and thought into it!

- Owlbear