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Visible Ceiling Tiles Version 3.0

by jgwhiteus Posted 4th Feb 2005 at 1:15 PM - Updated 29th Oct 2006 at 3:36 AM by jgwhiteus
 
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Inge Jones
One horse disagreer of the Apocalypse
#2 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 1:28 PM
Looks lovely! I suppose it's taking a bit of unnecessary processing power if they're all acting as lights though. I'd be happy to help you make them non-lighting if you like, and I *think* I might be able to get it so lights can go on the same square.
jgwhiteus
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#3 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 1:33 PM
Feel free - I have almost no modding experience, so I'm more than willing to let anyone who wants to improve upon this do whatever they want with the idea, mesh, etc. And after all, I mainly got the idea from your controller, so who better?
Darkmoon
Field Researcher
#4 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 1:33 PM
That would be great Inge, if you could help out on this, as I am interested of having it in my game.

....great job jgwhiteus and thanks.
Inge Jones
One horse disagreer of the Apocalypse
#5 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 1:36 PM
Thing is, I am no good at all with graphics, so I love the opportunity to get involved in a project where someone else has the ability to do that side of things and just needs a coder to tweak the BHAVs and settings.

Ok I will download it and see what I can do.
Inge Jones
One horse disagreer of the Apocalypse
#6 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 1:58 PM
Do I have to do anything with the .obj file?
BionicSquirrel33
Test Subject
#7 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 1:59 PM
Great job, with or without modding skills. Would these show with the walls down? I would presume they need walls up. I hardly ever have my walls up....they interfere with my view a ceiling will be nice though! Quite like the full ceiling lighting too
jgwhiteus
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#8 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 2:04 PM
Hi Inge,

You don't need to do anything with the .obj file - I just included that in case anybody wanted to re-create the object with SimPE and the Mesh Tool. In fact, if you wanted to work on the object from scratch, you could do just that - start off with a lamp base in SimPE's Object Workshop, import the mesh with the Mesh Tool into SimPE format (without having to do any 3D modeling), and go from there - it takes less than a minute.

These will show up with walls down just like ceiling lamps will, and fade out if you get close - however, if you play with walls down you'll definitely have to have the camera at ground level, as these will cover the area and conceal anything going on underneath.
tunride
Test Subject
#9 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 2:09 PM
Recessed ceiling lights for bath and kitchen! I think they are great as is. Thanks!
Inge Jones
One horse disagreer of the Apocalypse
#10 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 2:12 PM
I will put a new GUID on the hacked version, to leave people with the option of using the lit up version.

Hmm, I was wondering if it would be possible to play with the alpha channel in such a way as to make them actually transparent when viewed from the top? I didn't have much luck with transparency last time I tried it, but I feel sure it would be possible for someone who knows what they are doing. Something like mapping out which bit of the texture represents the top half and transparenting that bit.
Geekess
Lab Assistant
#11 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 2:14 PM
Oh I have been dreaming, yes literally, of coffered ceilings. Can you imagine? *hmmmmmm*
Inge Jones
One horse disagreer of the Apocalypse
#12 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 2:16 PM
This ceiling object makes all the difference in the world to how the rooms look. It was a brilliant idea! And if we use some lighting and some non-lighting in one room it can look like an office.
Isiliel
Lab Assistant
#13 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 2:31 PM
This is sooooo interesting! Great idea!
..maybe now my wish for phosphorescent stars will be possible too... now that we have a ceilling to place them! Ahh...I love you guys!
Sim2Kid405
Lab Assistant
#14 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 2:35 PM
didn't rgiles created transparent floor tiles, maybe the he or if i'm mistaken can help you in the transperant part.
Geekess
Lab Assistant
#15 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 2:39 PM
Is it a camera thing? I mean, they are no longer visable when the camera drops below it, sooo?
Eriksrocks
Lab Assistant
#16 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 2:53 PM
I don't think it's a camera thing. I think we should pursue the transparency idea.
johnr2000
Forum Resident
#17 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 2:56 PM
Nice I will test it
Thank you
rosiedogsim
Lab Assistant
#18 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 3:19 PM
Innovative idea. Who knows, maybe Maxis will add a "Create New Ceilings" option to HomeCrafter in the future!
Inge Jones
One horse disagreer of the Apocalypse
#19 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 3:20 PM
I've sorted it for allowing a normal light on the same tile, whilst I'm still battling to stop them lighting up... I feel sure I will get there eventually.

One thing I am a bit puzzled about though, is in the screenshots they look like a smooth white ceiling, but in my game it looks like stainless steel tiles, with that metallic banded effect?
jgwhiteus
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#20 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 3:31 PM
Wow, it's great that you've made progress so quickly

No, the ceiling has that stainless steel effect in my game as well - the screenshots just aren't very large. I used a solid color as the texture, hoping to get a flat look like with walls, but got the metallic effect instead. I wasn't sure if I was getting lighting effects because of the way ceiling lamps textures are made, or the way they deal with shadows? I guess it works if you want them to be ceiling lamps, but not if you want them to be regular ceilings. Maybe someone who's done a lot of re-colors would know?
Sims2DW
Lab Assistant
#21 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 7:20 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Inge Jones
Thing is, I am no good at all with graphics


I could do the graphics! You can see a whole set I made Below.

Wanna see more of my creations?
Visit My Site: www.UniversalSims.com
Inge Jones
One horse disagreer of the Apocalypse
#22 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 7:45 PM Last edited by Inge Jones : 4th Feb 2005 at 7:47 PM.
Well I am afraid I have to report failure! I ended up pulling so much of the code out that the object wouldn't even allow itself to be placed, and *still* it lit up the room as it passed overhead!!

I think the light is actually coming from the model itself, the bit of the model called "bulb lit" is probably emitting light. That can obviously be turned off programmatically for those in the know, but I think it still leaves us with some of the problem of the object being more complex and processor-hungry than it need be for its purpose.

I tried just deleting the bulb resources but then the game crashed.

Would it be possible to import this as a mesh for, say, an ornament clone, and I'll try setting the flags on that to make it stick to the ceiling?

PS but not the bulb bits!
"You can do refraction by raymarching through the depth buffer" (c. Reddeyfish 2017)
Miss Puff
Field Researcher
#23 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 8:11 PM
This is a really great idea! As a suggestion, maybe you could try using one of the hanging plants as a base instead a lamp in order to get around the lighting problems? Couldn't use the invisible light controller with it then, though, I'm guessing. Wish I knew more about modding so I could help, but as it is, I'll just have to wish you good luck.
Inge Jones
One horse disagreer of the Apocalypse
#24 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 8:16 PM
The good news is the lighting controller should work on anything that hangs from the ceiling. I didn't know there were hanging plants! Perhaps you could let us know if it does work. The only test it does is asks if the thing is on the ceiling.
bigheadpirate
Test Subject
#25 Old 4th Feb 2005 at 8:35 PM
you could use the hanging airplane as well.
David's World - if you can handle it
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