cube map tools

Cube Map Tools

those tools are a group of tools for working on cube maps.

all cube maps use 6 images, which are set-up as if you where inside a cube of which every face was one of the cube map textures. therefore cube maps don't depend on your position in the 3d environment. the only thing that varies a cube maps in-game is the orientation of your point of view.

there are two kinds of cube maps:

• environment maps: used for reflections, in doom3 you can see them in the glass panels of the game.
• sky box maps: used as the last layer of the sky. guess where you can find it in d3...

those two kinds of maps use the 6 images, all of the same resolution. but their naming convention as well as appearance is different, hence the need of tools in order to convert and create those cube maps.

the actual pictures of a cube map are TGA files, and share a common base name that associates them all as a cube map.

SKY BOX MAPS

the 6 pictures besides the base name, have an addendum that defines their "position" in the cube, this added name defines what face of the cube that picture adheres to.

let's say we have a "sky" basename:

• sky_forward.tga - 0 degrees face (degrees in a relation of the same direction you can see in the map editor z prespective)
• sky_back.tga - 180 degrees
• sky_left.tga - 90 degrees
• sky_right.tga - 270 degrees
• sky_up.tga - self-explanatory
• sky_down.tga - self-expla. blah blah blah

with those images you get a convincing texture of a sky all around you

then referencing that base name in a in-game material you get the sky in the 3d level.

--- TODO add a simple material TODO ---

ENVIRONMANT MAP REFLECTIONS

TODO keep writing stuff, but first sleep or whatever you'll write will be lame and useless.