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Cel Shader
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Creating cel-shaded maps.
Cel Shader, by Orko60

Thanks to Orko60 for the work put into this tutorial.

This is my first tutorial, so bear with me! I've been mapping for about 8 months now, and I am by no means an expert, but I can help you get started in the amazing world of Cel-Shaded maps! Before you begin, download this Test Map I created to help you learn from. This zip file contains 2 pk3's (one with lightmapped shadows, and the other without - we'll get to that later), and the .map file for GTKRadiant.

  • First thing's first. You need the latest version of Q3Map2, which can be downloaded from http://www.shaderlab.com. If you're using a recent version of GTKRadiant, I think the version of Q3Map2 that comes with it is up to date enough. I currently use 1.2.13, and it works fine. You do, however, need the correct shader, which is included in the Test Map's PK3 file. Just open it up, and put the cel.shader file in your base/shaders folder (baseq3/scripts for all you q3a users...) Also, add the word "cel" to the end of your shaderlist.txt file, in the base/shaders directory. Now you should be ready!
  • Run GTKRadiant, and build a simple room. I built mine 640 x 640 x 320, I think...but it makes no difference, as long as the player can fit!Creating the first box... 
  • Create whatever geometry you wish in the room. Make sure you build it all out of caulk to begin with. The caulk texture is under tools/_caulk (for SOF2). Cel shading relies o­n geometry to create an interesting play area, so make sure there's lots of neat brushes all around the map. Add a lot of Raised Surfaces, layer the depth of the geometry. Here's an example of what I mean. To make the stairs, I brought the middle down about 4 units, which brings out the ink lines, forcing the cel shading effect. Also, o­n the landings going up the stairs, I added a 4-unit-high brush with an odd shape, just to create more ink line. This adds a bit of interest to the brushes. Here's a screenshot of my caulked room. Don't worry, we'll texture it next..The caulked test room... 
  • In Photoshop, or whatever your favorite image editor is, create a bunch of small, square images of varying color. Use common sense, and don't do anything too bright. I keep mine kind of pastel, or desaturated. If it looks good for you, though, use whatever colors you'd like. I did mine 64x64, for no reason in particular. The images will be tiny, just flat colors. Don't do anything "photorealistic", or too "textury". You are emulating the cartoony look, so keep it simple. When you do textures for doors, computers, etc....keep that simple too. Here's some screenshots. First is my photoshop files, which you can find in the PK3 in the textures folder. Just very simple flat colors *very important*! Creating the textures....  The next image is of a texture I created for a door, in another cel shaded level. You can see how simple it is, but in game it looks great! Consistent style is the key!Space door! 
  • Next, we texture all the visible faces with our flat colors, or flat-looking textures. You can try to emulate the shadows, or just go nuts, like I did. This was put together rather quickly, but it still looks pretty cool. You really can't go wrong, just use your instincts. Leave the faces that you don't see "Caulked". This is advice straight from the guy who wrote the compiler, so I suggest you follow it! Here's a shot of the Texturing in GTKRadiant. Texturing the visible faces... 
  • Add lights to the scene now. I used white light, but you can experiment with whatever color you want. Here's a shot of the lights I put in the scene, but light it however you'd like! Lights...throw em in! 
  • The last step is to open up the worldspawn entity (with nothing selected, hit "n". This should be the worldspawn). Add the key "_celshader", with value "cel/ink".Worldspawn key 
  • You're finished, and ready to compile! I used the "final" setting in the bsp menu, the o­ne with the "bounce 8" tag in it. This gives the best lighting, though the compile takes a big longer than without it. It's up to you, experiment! Load it up in SOF2, and see how it turned out! Here's a shot of my test level!Screenshot 
  • It has been suggested to me, to compile with the -external tag in the lighting stage. This gives it a more cartoony look, by eliminating the lightmaps, creating a brighter world. Try it out for yourself. I prefer the shadows in my cel shading (like Space Jam, or something), but to each his own! Thanks to MastahUK for the suggestion.

Extra TIPS

  1. Here's some extra tips o­n maximizing the cel shading effect in your map. I was asked how patches and curves worked with cel shading. I think they work rather well, so use em till your heart's content. Here's an example from another map I worked o­n. The curves all get curved black lines applied to them. You can also see in the sample map, that the yellow pillar in the middle is a cylinder. Looks great in-game.
  2. If there's a section that you DON'T want cel shaded, you can turn it off easily. Just Func_group everything you don't want celled, and add a key "_celshader" with value "cel/no_ink". That'll do it.
  3. I had a problem when I made a door that was an odd shape. One part went up, the other down, when it opened, but each part was made of 3 brushes, because of the shape. That left me with small ink lines in between the brushes, like this.... One solution would have been to calm down and do something a bit simpler (which I'm doing), or I could turn off cel shading for the door...but I think that might look odd.
  4. The best tip I can give you, is to just experiment to see what looks best. Use a lot of geometry, 'cause that's what makes it look good. I know it's the opposite of what you'd probably been doing before, but this is a brave new world. Have fun with it.
Hope you enjoyed my first tutorial, and happy mapmaking! Email me at orko60@hotmail.com, with screenies of your own work, or if you have any questions. I'm no expert, but I'll help all I can!

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