How do I use custom brightmaps?

[Tenement Funster]

All I want to do is have the brightmaps that make monsters' eyes always bright and visible and stuff like that. I can't quite figure out how to apply these brightmaps, although a little wiki investigation leads me to believe I need to create a wad that links the various game elements with the thousands of image files that make up brightmaps?

If that's how it works, then I give up here. If there's an easier way, please tell me!

[Enjay]

...although a little wiki investigation leads me to believe I need to create a wad that links the various game elements with the thousands of image files that make up brightmaps?

If that's how it works, then I give up here. If there's an easier way, please tell me!

/checks own brightmaps file...
hmmm, 22814 lines of code!

OK, that's for an extensive brightmaps file allocating brightmaps to thousands of textures, flats and sprites. It doesn't have to be that big, but it does involve quite a few images and the text file to support them.

Each sprite that you want to have bright eyes will need its own brightmap. This is easiest to do if you extract the sprite and, keeping the graphic the same size, make everything dark (black or near black) that you don't want to shine and anything that you want to be bright a lighter colour (white being the brightest). If you just want to do zombie eyes, you'll only need to do the sprite angles where you can see the eyes (reducing the number of images required) and the editing will be pretty easy. Many graphics programs will have filters that allow you to make the kind of images you need pretty quickly with only a small amount of hand touch-up involved. It's much easier to make a brightmap than it is a sprite.

Then, yes, each brightmap needs to be allocated to the image (sprite, wall, flat, whatever) it corresponds to using a test file. This can certainly run to quite a few lines of code, but it isn't too hard to do.

I take it that you have the GZDoom brightmaps file? it should have come with GZDoom.

[Tenement Funster]

I had the GZDoom brightmaps yes, but afaik, it never did/does anything. I've never messed with the file though. Now I've downloaded some giant pack of brightmaps and don't know what to do with it.

All I really care about are the bright eyes and enemies lighting up when firing so I can see stuff attacking me in the dark. (Also, didn't enemies light up their entire sprite when firing in vanilla doom? Cause it's not doing that at all anyway. Maybe I'm crazy.)

[Enjay]

The GZDoom brightmaps certainly do do something. They work just fine for me.



You have to load them (either by the normal methods to load a file or by adding it to the autoload section of your ini). However (and I'm not sure about this) it could be that some graphics cards do not support them. GZDoom has a kind of 3 tier system for some of its effects IIRC:

1) The graphics card definitely supports the feature so it is enabled by default and it does not appear in the menu.
2) The graphics card may support the feature but it has to be enabled by the user via the options menu.
3) The graphics card definitely does not support the feature so it is disabled and does not appear in the menu.

At least that's how I *think* some things behave. I don't recall if brightmaps is one of those features or not.

However, I notice that you said:

"Also, didn't enemies light up their entire sprite when firing in vanilla doom? Cause it's not doing that at all anyway. Maybe I'm crazy."

Well, you could be crazy. I'm not a psychologist. However, when you define a brightmap there is an instruction "disablefullbright" that you can use to (you guessed it) disable the fullbright effect on sprites. This is needed because if the whole sprite is showing bright, then the brightmap will have no obvious effect. The fact that your sprites never light up *could* be because you are loading the brightmaps and they are disabling fullbright but, for some reason, the brightmap effect is not showing up.


I guess the obvious question is can you post which graphics card you are using and then someone who knows might be able to tell you if brightmaps should or should not work on your machine.

[NeuralStunner]

I've noticed that the Zombieman in particular lacks BRIGHT on his firing frame, but Id is to blame for that one. (G)ZDoom follows suit for compatibility reasons.

[Tenement Funster]

Well, I did a fresh download of GZDoom and it worked just by dragging it in. I don't know what I did to make it not work before, or maybe just all the different tests were me trying to get it to work on map01 (where the zombies don't light up, never knew that!)

And now I've got the custom brightmaps working, with the glowing eyes and whatnot. I don't suppose anyone knows how to make a pk3 of brightmaps work in Skulltag, 'cause it certainly doesn't work with the methods here. I want for us both to be able to use them when I decide to co-op with my buddy.

[Hellser]

And now I've got the custom brightmaps working, with the glowing eyes and whatnot. I don't suppose anyone knows how to make a pk3 of brightmaps work in Skulltag, 'cause it certainly doesn't work with the methods here. I want for us both to be able to use them when I decide to co-op with my buddy.

Then there's the fact that Skulltag is using an older version of GZDooM. I don't think it supports Brightmaps.

[Enjay]

I've noticed that the Zombieman in particular lacks BRIGHT on his firing frame, but Id is to blame for that one. (G)ZDoom follows suit for compatibility reasons.

What!!!! How could I be playing and editing this game for almost 2 decades and not notice that?

[Mikk-]

And now I've got the custom brightmaps working, with the glowing eyes and whatnot. I don't suppose anyone knows how to make a pk3 of brightmaps work in Skulltag, 'cause it certainly doesn't work with the methods here. I want for us both to be able to use them when I decide to co-op with my buddy.

Then there's the fact that Skulltag is using an older version of GZDooM. I don't think it supports Brightmaps.

Skulltag supports Brightmaps, Heretic++ used a lot of Brightmaps and they work perfectly for Skulltag.

[Virtue]

I've noticed that the Zombieman in particular lacks BRIGHT on his firing frame, but Id is to blame for that one. (G)ZDoom follows suit for compatibility reasons.

What!!!! How could I be playing and editing this game for almost 2 decades and not notice that?

umm...next you'll be saying you havnt noticed the Cyberdemon suffers a similar fate....and so did the shotgunner till doom 1.666 (i think, my 1.2 version definatly didnt have bright sprites)

[doomguy88]

The GZDoom brightmaps certainly do do something. They work just fine for me.



You have to load them (either by the normal methods to load a file or by adding it to the autoload section of your ini). However (and I'm not sure about this) it could be that some graphics cards do not support them. GZDoom has a kind of 3 tier system for some of its effects IIRC:

1) The graphics card definitely supports the feature so it is enabled by default and it does not appear in the menu.
2) The graphics card may support the feature but it has to be enabled by the user via the options menu.
3) The graphics card definitely does not support the feature so it is disabled and does not appear in the menu.

At least that's how I *think* some things behave. I don't recall if brightmaps is one of those features or not.

However, I notice that you said:

"Also, didn't enemies light up their entire sprite when firing in vanilla doom? Cause it's not doing that at all anyway. Maybe I'm crazy."

Well, you could be crazy. I'm not a psychologist. However, when you define a brightmap there is an instruction "disablefullbright" that you can use to (you guessed it) disable the fullbright effect on sprites. This is needed because if the whole sprite is showing bright, then the brightmap will have no obvious effect. The fact that your sprites never light up *could* be because you are loading the brightmaps and they are disabling fullbright but, for some reason, the brightmap effect is not showing up.


I guess the obvious question is can you post which graphics card you are using and then someone who knows might be able to tell you if brightmaps should or should not work on your machine.

In my Gzdoom also not brightmaps works (V.1.9) but SkullTag and Zamdronum work, does anyone know why

[Kappes Buur]

In my Gzdoom also not brightmaps works (V.1.9) but SkullTag and Zamdronum work, does anyone know why

I always load DrVenom8's brightmaps from the ini file.

Code: Select all

[doom.Autoload]

[doom.doom2.Autoload]
Path=H:\PWAD_EDITING\IWADS\BrightmapsDoom2.pk3

[doom.doom2.commercial.Autoload]

[doom.doom2.bfg.Autoload]

[doom.doom2.plutonia.Autoload]
Path=H:\PWAD_EDITING\IWADS\BrightmapsDoom2.pk3

[doom.doom2.tnt.Autoload]
Path=H:\PWAD_EDITING\IWADS\BrightmapsDoom2.pk3

[doom.doom1.Autoload]

[doom.doom1.registered.Autoload]

[doom.doom1.ultimate.Autoload]
Path=H:\PWAD_EDITING\IWADS\BrightmapsDoom1.pk3

With GZDoom 1.8.x and GZDoom 1.9.x brightmaps always show up, when

Code: Select all

gl_brightmap_shader = true

is set in the ini file.