surely you just need to add for example #, to the end of the mat id and make that part of the model render without causing errors. then just link everything to your frame?

quote: Simple yes/no question: can you have a floating one-sided plane within the structure?
aye sure it wouldn't be any different than having a decal in there as far as i can see.

edit: i see you online there mookz, is this not what you ment?

Edited by ally on Sep 4, 2012 at 05:31 AM

if you want to keep the model as it is now, just add the 2-sided properties (% <- this symbol at the end of the material names) to every material that is going to have collision in your map, and it will compile without errors

I've done it before and it works

and just to let you know, you don't need the giant cube to render the sky... even a single sealed shape (with any size and anywhere you want) with the +sky material applied to it will render the sky
Edited by ChBgt909 on Sep 4, 2012 at 03:39 PM

2 sided properties will double the triangle count.
Yes you can have a floating piece of geometry.
Like ally said, you just need the objects to obey sealed world rules (if you dont know what that means then study the tutorials again)
Link both objects to a frame or link one object to the other then link that to frame.

^Open edge on each separate model. Of course floating geometry is fine as long as each separate piece is closed. For example, the cube skybox itself must be closed, whereas the floating geometry inside the skybox must also have no open edges. It doesn't mean that you can't have space between the cube-skybox and the floageo.

make it a very thin box

for a simple box yes.
but if you have an object that is more complex then it is a better method to just seal the open part, with as few triangles as possible.

yes, it will give errors to the one-sided plane,
you got these options:

1.- remove the sky box (inverted box) and seal the bottom of the map (one-sided plane) with invisible geometry, you can actually use the +sky material to seal it, it'll be invisible in game but it will seal the bsp and thus no open edges

2.- give to that one-sided plane a 2-sided material, that would double the amount of polies but it'll do the job (note that you dont need the sky box to be that big nor to have it's faces inverted, even a 1x1x1 sized box with +sky material applied to it will render the sky in-game

Does that answer you question? (pretty sure it does)
Edited by ChBgt909 on Sep 12, 2012 at 01:19 AM

Actually, if it was 1x1x1, then I believe it would cause errors. The floating geometry should be located INSIDE a skybox that is BIG enough to fit it, however note that the bigger it is, the more space you have to actually fall off the map to reach the very bottom of the skybox, unless ofcourse you create invisible playerclip material around your floating geometry (or if you actually want people to be able to fall off as a feature in your map, that's fine too).

I know what you're trying to ask, teh m00kz, and the answer is that it can't be done. Every object in the BSP must be sealed if it is going to be collideable, whether inside the skybox or not. The reason for this is that if there were open objects within a sealed world, it would still crash Halo as soon as something tries to collide with it.

Therefore, you cannot have an open plane inside or outside a closed skybox or object. It must also be sealed, as if it were a separate level put within.

Yes

^Good explanation.
In my opinion, it would be best to just make the separate geom scenery. Much simpler, and shouldn't take too long.

huh, did you understand what i said?

what i meant is that he can seal the bottom of the level geometry with the +sky material and he will have a sealed map AND a "floating" map OR use the 2-sided property on the bsp materials and that will seal the floating bsp geometry (but it'll double the polies) and make some random shape with the +sky material applied to it (making sure that random shape is sealed as well)

and it's a fact that you don't need a giant box with inverted faces around the bsp as the sky (i tested it myself before and it works) just one triangle with the +sky material applied is enough to render the sky ingame
Edited by ChBgt909 on Sep 12, 2012 at 06:43 PM