How do I create my own level_definition files??

[Trapp]

Hey everyone. Delving into this so I can use it on rooms that are not enhanced by H5, so any and all help would be appreciated.

1. How can I make my own level_definition files from scratch? The room I want to experiment with is Room 306 Art Classroom since it plays a bit of a pivotal part in a lot of my stories.
2. Is it possible to insert and generate H5 Objects in rooms not ready for them? What do I need to do to achieve that?

Thanks in advance!

[MarkZappa]

32 minutes ago, Trapp said:

Hey everyone. Delving into this so I can use it on rooms that are not enhanced by H5, so any and all help would be appreciated.

1. How can I make my own level_definition files from scratch? The room I want to experiment with is Room 306 Art Classroom since it plays a bit of a pivotal part in a lot of my stories.
2. Is it possible to insert and generate H5 Objects in rooms not ready for them? What do I need to do to achieve that?

Thanks in advance!

Very far from expertise here but the most pretty step forward way is the following:

If you're using H5 extended version, is easy and usual workflow is pretty much the same for both (free and extended)

You can start by taking the "[environment]" data from any other level definition from another author of your like, this would be all basic parameters up to "shadow_enhable = false"

My last level definition for my last scene here, as example (Lights and objects not included)

Spoiler

[environment]
ambient_color 			= 211, 201, 173
ambient_intensity 	= 0.300000
parallax_correction 	= true
sky_intensity			= 1.500000
hdr_exposure			= 0.525000
hdr_bloom_clamp 		= 0.250000
hdr_bloom_amount 		= 0.675000
cubecenter 				= 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000
cubesize					= 125.000000, 125.000000, 125.000000
cubemap =_hook5data\envmaps\parkday.dds 
cubecolor = 255, 255, 255, 125
skybox_enable = true
skybox_cubemap =_hook5data\envmaps\sky_17.dds

cubesource_scale = 0.750000
cubesource_curve = 1.350000
glow_scale = 0.500000
saturation_scale = 0.700000

skybox_angle = 275.000000
cubesource_angle = -145.000000

cubesource_saturation = 0.950000
skybox_curve = 2.000000
skybox_saturation = 2.000000
fog_base_level = -27.500000
fog_density = 5.000000
fog_height_density_fallof = 0.190000
fog_sun_scattering_amount = 0.200000
fog_sun_halo_amount = 0.000000
fog_sun_halo_spread = 0.000000
fog_affect_sun = 0.000000
fog_color = 150, 200, 255

glow_cubemap_scale = 1.000000
glow_softness = 0.350000
sky_glow = 3.000000

lightmaps_enable = false
no_lightmaps_in_cubemap = false
wind_dir = 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000
wind_strength = 0.000000
wind_noise = 0.000000

no_level_shadows = true

lightmaps_scale = 1.000000
LUTEnbale = true
LUTTexture = !a lut\lut\driverlut_hefe.png
LUTTilesSize = 16
LUTTilesAmount = 64
LUTChromaAmount = 0.650000
LUTLumaAmount = 0.375000

as_background = 0

VXGI_Enable = 0
VXGI_AOEnable = 1
VXGI_DiffuseEnable = 1
VXGI_SpecularEnable = 0
VXGI_Quality = 0.100000
VXGI_SamplingRate = 1.000000
VXGI_VoxelSize = 0.040000
VXGI_AOScale = 1.000000
VXGI_AOBias = 0.000000
VXGI_AOCurve = 1.000000
VXGI_AODistance = 1.000000
VXGI_SurfaceInitialOffset = 1.000000
VXGI_SurfaceInitialDistanceFactor = 1.000000
VXGI_LightLeaking = 0
VXGI_TracingResolutionDivider = 4
VXGI_DiffuseScale = 1.000000
VXGI_SpecularScale = 1.000000
VXGI_EmmitanceDirectionScale = 1.000000
VXGI_EmmitanceGlowScale = 3.000000
HDRFuncVars_A = 6.500000
HDRFuncVars_B = 0.750000
HDRFuncVars_C = 1.950000
HDRFuncVars_D = 1.950000
EnvDiffuseScale = 0.950000
EnvSpecularScale = 3.000000

[sun_light]
type 					= sunlight
enable 				= false
rotation 			= 90, 0, 0
color					= 236, 255, 255
intensity			= 1.000000
shadow_param		= 3.000000, 15.000000 
game_control		= false


sunrays_enable = true
sunrays_check_distance = 15
sunrays_step_size = 0.121000
sunrays_density = 0.030000

shadow_enable = false

 

Once done you save it as "_level_definition.txt" within the active mod directory of the room you want to lit up, run the game and under H5 GUI you can customize it changing values at ease from the environment menu, here you can add light source in general, particle systems if you're looking for fancy fires and other parafernalia

You can also add your own objects there

One important thing is comprehending the importance of IBL (image based lighting), HDR settings and the use of light sources; the proper combination of these deliver a nice output

Summarizing, is easy but you may spend two hours or so tweaking the settings until you get your desired scene But is funny tho!

[Kanmar]

57 minutes ago, Trapp said:

How can I make my own level_definition files from scratch?

If you are using Hook5 paid you can do it very easily. In ActiveMod in the folder of the room you want to make, simply create a text document and call it _level_definition. Now launch the game and the room you want to make, press F4 /level select/scene manager/create static obiect or create spot light and you can start creating lighting and adding objects. You can resize objects and move them around the room. When you've done what you wanted to do don't forget to click save level and you're done, you have your level definition.

Edited April 27, 2023 by Kanmar

[Trapp]

27 minutes ago, Kanmar said:

In ActiveMod in the folder of the room you want to make, simply create a text document and call it _level_definition.

If the room has no ActiveMod folder, how do I go about creating one?

27 minutes ago, Kanmar said:

press F4 /level select/scene manager/create static obiect or create spot light

A lot of vanilla/Legacy rooms don't even show these options to begin with. Is there a way around this?

30 minutes ago, MarkZappa said:

Summarizing, is easy but you may spend two hours or so tweaking the settings until you get your desired scene But is funny tho!

I'm definitely taking your word on that! I just want to make sure I have the right stuff in order to progress. I know it will take me a bit as I've tinkered around some other rooms lol!

[MarkZappa]

16 minutes ago, Trapp said:

If the room has no ActiveMod folder, how do I go about creating one?

That's easy, take all the images from Luder\Room\R9ZRoom306 (or whatever its name is), textures should be in that directory; copy and paste them into a folder within active mod directory, then create your _level_definition.txt file there and proceed following Kanmar's instructions or just copy elements of another level def as I explained above and modify at your ease

Note: It might happen (because it happened to me one specific room) that te room you want to work in active mod never was added to the legacy script from 7.5 which is what allow legacy rooms to work via active mod in VX; if this is the case you'll have to perform a manual conversion of the whole room for VX and add the active mod script within (Scripts\Luder\Common)

But I very much doubt this will happen in your case, most (I'd say everyone of them) Berger's legacy rooms (like the one you want to work up) were into the script back then, but I throw you this info just in case; so you don't panic if the active mod room doesn't show up in the future

Quote

A lot of vanilla/Legacy rooms don't even show these options to begin with. Is there a way around this?

(Addenda)

If you can't go with this workflow, just follow the one on my post above! But following the logic, Kanmar's reply should work too (I never tried this way, but reading it, it seems like pretty logic)

[Trapp]

4 minutes ago, MarkZappa said:

That's easy, take all the images from Luder\Room\R9ZRoom306 (or whatever its name is), textures should be in that directory; copy and paste them into a folder within active mod directory, then create your _level_definition.txt file there and proceed following Kanmar's instructions or just copy elements of another level def as I explained above and modify at your ease

Definitely going to try that now! Folder's been copied, so it's just a matter of checking if it works and if I can further edit the level_definition.txt file. I copied the example from your first post as a reference to see if that works out!

6 minutes ago, MarkZappa said:

most (I'd say everyone of them) Berger's legacy rooms (like the one you want to work up) were into the script back then

Berger rooms and I have a difficult relationship. Some of them just REFUSE to load and crash my game instantly, which sucks. I don't know why. They used to work kind of okay in the past, but all of a sudden, bam. They just didn't, and I don't know any fix for that. Even the Gym reupload that @Smoke uploaded gives me a bit of a problem, but that one at least DID load for me. Oh well...

[MarkZappa]

7 minutes ago, Trapp said:

Berger rooms and I have a difficult relationship. Some of them just REFUSE to load and crash my game instantly, which sucks. I don't know why. They used to work kind of okay in the past, but all of a sudden, bam. They just didn't, and I don't know any fix for that. Even the Gym reupload that @Smoke uploaded gives me a bit of a problem, but that one at least DID load for me. Oh well...

Not gonna lie here, as far as I remember that room was one of the huge ones from Berger so is highly probable you face a little crash either at start up or after a long play

For rooms big as such I highly recommend to keep the addon folder devoid of toys or unused stuff, the lack of optimization can be a problem but is possible to bypass by being responsible with what you load and not

[Trapp]

14 minutes ago, MarkZappa said:

Not gonna lie here, as far as I remember that room was one of the huge ones from Berger so is highly probable you face a little crash either at start up or after a long play

For rooms big as such I highly recommend to keep the addon folder devoid of toys or unused stuff, the lack of optimization can be a problem but is possible to bypass by being responsible with what you load and not

The Art Classroom isn't actually that big. I do recall there was this room called Private Villa with a pool, a bed, a sofa and a big open space that did work in my old potato, but when loading them today... Nothing. It crashes, and I don't even use that many things there. And I'm talking about vanilla graphics even! I used to load some car toys on that one with H4, but after that... Nothing. Dunno why...

[MarkZappa]

5 minutes ago, Trapp said:

The Art Classroom isn't actually that big. I do recall there was this room called Private Villa with a pool, a bed, a sofa and a big open space that did work in my old potato, but when loading them today... Nothing. It crashes, and I don't even use that many things there. And I'm talking about vanilla graphics even! I used to load some car toys on that one with H4, but after that... Nothing. Dunno why...

I remember it was big regarding textures count in which possibly many of them are linked to its own respective material, too many draw calls and game might crash due to this (memory leak is up around the bend in this case)

But if you optimize a bit you may not experience crashes at all; I rarely experience them and when happens well, is because I fucked it up all

Another note btw, if you going to use the snippet of the level def I pasted on my first reply keep in mind you must disable LUTs or going to see a pretty lovely black screen
You can disable LUTs from H5 GUI at "Level" tab, or manually on the level_definition by typing "False" on "LUTEnbale = "

Also, there's this complete guide about H5 here that explains everything to the detail! I recommend it

[Kanmar]

54 minutes ago, Trapp said:

A lot of vanilla/Legacy rooms don't even show these options to begin with. Is there a way around this?

If you have already created a _level_definition text file in the room folder in your ActiveMod then these options should appear in the Hook5 menu when you press F4.However, there are a few stubborn vanilla rooms that continually load default settings instead of your level definition. For example, stripclub , photostudio or hotel first floor. In this situation, press F12 and room settings change the option of some item, then press alt+R. After reloading, your level definition should appear.There was a thread dedicated to this issue in which you will find more detailed information.

[Trapp]

4 minutes ago, MarkZappa said:

But if you optimize a bit you may not experience crashes at all

With optimizing, do you mean reducing the size of the PNG files? Does this work for regular VX Rooms only or is it possible to apply to H5 Object rooms as well?

4 minutes ago, MarkZappa said:

Another note btw, if you going to use the snippet of the level def I pasted on my first reply keep in mind you must disable LUTs or going to see a pretty lovely black screen

Yep, fell into that trap more often than not lol! Definitely going to watch out for that!

5 minutes ago, Kanmar said:

there are a few stubborn vanilla rooms that continually load default settings instead of your level definition. For example, stripclub , photostudio or hotel first floor. In this situation, press F12 and room settings change the option of some item, then press alt+R. After reloading, your level definition should appear.

Duly noted! I'll be in touch should I require further assistance!

[Smoke]

17 minutes ago, Trapp said:

Berger rooms and I have a difficult relationship. Some of them just REFUSE to load and crash my game instantly, which sucks. I don't know why. They used to work kind of okay in the past, but all of a sudden, bam. They just didn't, and I don't know any fix for that. Even the Gym reupload that @Smoke uploaded gives me a bit of a problem, but that one at least DID load for me. Oh well...

I'm gonna say this again. So pay attention because I've been saying this a bunch of times and its truly mind boggling that people don't read what I've been saying and repeating.

First off - I repeat - and I repeat because there are some people that will misinterpret my assessment and constructive criticism as 'bad' and will create some wild accusation. I respect berger, he was 1 of few people that took time and passed information about modding. That said, he knew much of the issues that his rooms had but as he told me a bunch of times because I had requested if he could fix some rooms, he said that he won't because its not his character to return back to a 'old' project of his. His interest was to make it happen and move on. Though, that for said rooms, that he would pass me the blender files and "I" can fix them myself.

As for the issue, plain and simple - his rooms ARE NOT optimized. Many rooms has double vertices, NGONS issues, high poly, etc. You can remove ALL HIS rooms and just 1 and you will still have issues (crashing, long loads, etc). So don't bother removing said rooms (unless they have some custom scripts - which he rooms don't).

Another factor of optimization is 'TEXTURE LOADS'. To generalize/easy to understand this problem - without using H5, if the room has over 125 textures. You will have issues. There are a ton of legacy rooms that has over 200 textures. Now, without H5, sure you can 'load' a room. But with H5, you will have to factor the pass files, the norms and spec files. That is a additional 3 files to read. So doing basic math here (100x3=300) - 300 files with H5. It is why I concluded that that sweet spot is 100 textures for a room. Also factor on the size of the textures. Not all textures will need to be in 2k or 4k.

Vertices: This is something that berger admitted to me. That he fucked up with a lot of his legacy rooms. Just like the amount of textures, he said that he just went crazy and did a bunch of wild things without thinking about the games limitations. vertices is pretty much the same talk when you throw in the word/phrase 'poly count'. In short, I have concluded that the max for a room should be a million. I recall X17 say that even a million is too much but when you crank open some of these legacy rooms, you are pushing 1.5 million - 2+ million - so a million should be the max, no more.

Like I said, berger has admitted to doing a 'bad' job with the legacy rooms. And you can tell that he 'learned' from his mistakes with his VX rooms. Hes been keeping his 'texture loads' - LOW. He has 'baked' a ton of textures into a single texture. He removed a ton of vertices, in locations that the users will not see or notice. Combined usages of multiple items with a single textures, etc.

Never the less, for those VX room - it needed that extra step to 'fully' complete optimization (he still wasn't removing doubles, ngons, etc).

And note: That is just rooms. When you combine toys, that creates another set of headaches. Plain and simple: I would avoid High poly toys, you'd be surprise that some of these toys are carrying the same vertices/poly counts as to a berger legacy room. I already gave this example out but for the sake of argument: Look at the car/toy sections. There are 2 major users making cars. MZ and Karlos83. Of those 2, ONLY MZ is optimizing his work. Karlos83 is doing the same mistake like berger, he is going 'crazy' and making a bunch of things. The concept of 'making addon is easy' can be true. But IMO it is not. I believe in Quality or quantity.

[Trapp]

7 minutes ago, Smoke said:

I'm gonna say this again. So pay attention because I've been saying this a bunch of times and its truly mind boggling that people don't read what I've been saying and repeating.

I understand where you're coming from, but I was just making a comment about something I didn't even know was an issue. I've been around KE for a bit over two years now, but the stuff I'm seeing and learning is but the tip of the iceberg. I am not entirely aware of the work it takes to create addons or rooms, but I do realize that it does take a lot of time and effort, and of course, mistakes are going to be made.

I wasn't trying to bash anyone, just so we're clear. I was only commenting on how I wish I could use those rooms, but it's clear that Berger has moved on from them, and whoever decides to pick up his work has a hell of a mountain to climb.

And yes, quality over quantity definitely applies in most cases. I only want my stuff to work with what I have, which isn't much. That's why I'm here, to ask questions and be dumb, so I can learn!

[MarkZappa]

46 minutes ago, Trapp said:

That's why I'm here, to ask questions and be dumb, so I can learn!

Please, your questions are totally legit and that's the reason this section exist, there's no dumber person than the one who doubts don't ask for directions and falls down the ravine (some people have a noble pride, beautiful aura others just follow their ego and crumble slowly after... is fine to have questions and whoever that have all the answers is either an idiot or a boring twat)

47 minutes ago, Trapp said:

I wasn't trying to bash anyone, just so we're clear. I was only commenting on how I wish I could use those rooms, but it's clear that Berger has moved on from them, and whoever decides to pick up his work has a hell of a mountain to climb.

Also, Smoke didn't wanted to say you were bashing or stiring the pot he was more pointing towards the common misunderstood of he being conceived as fiendish figure that is always pocking over the work of other modders and trying to destructively disqualify; which isn't that way

[Trapp]

9 minutes ago, MarkZappa said:

(some people have a noble pride, beautiful aura others just follow their ego and crumble slowly after... is fine to have questions and whoever that have all the answers is either an idiot or a boring twat)

Yeah, those people definitely need a reality check every once in a while lol!

10 minutes ago, MarkZappa said:

Also, Smoke didn't wanted to say you were bashing or stiring the pot he was more pointing towards the common misunderstood of he being conceived as fiendish figure that is always pocking over the work of other modders and trying to destructively disqualify; which isn't that way

I never saw things that way, and I do understand he means well, so it's whatever. He definitely knows his stuff and his quality is amazing! So no complaints there!

[Smoke]

1 hour ago, Trapp said:

I understand where you're coming from, but I was just making a comment about something I didn't even know was an issue. I've been around KE for a bit over two years now, but the stuff I'm seeing and learning is but the tip of the iceberg.

Not trying to single you out but its literally within the same category of "why does my game crash" and the biggest mistake that people do is that they DO NOT want to believe the person or they do not want to believe its a multitude of issues and only 1 can be the cause of the issue (which is your tip of the iceberg comment). I'm not trying to excuse or justify my harsh comment but for you to understand, this has been said many times. So after while, if the 'friendly' tone is not sticking, perhaps a more assertive and to the point tone will stick.

1 hour ago, Trapp said:

I am not entirely aware of the work it takes to create addons or rooms, but I do realize that it does take a lot of time and effort, and of course, mistakes are going to be made.

I wasn't trying to bash anyone, just so we're clear. I was only commenting on how I wish I could use those rooms, but it's clear that Berger has moved on from them, and whoever decides to pick up his work has a hell of a mountain to climb.

My statement in which I 'explained' my criticism is not just meant for you but to all. You are well are of the drama that people create (be it here or outside KE). And I find it funny that people assume 'we love' that drama or any sort of drama. But its the complete opposite, we don't want it, we want no part, we don't want to deal with it, its a waste of time. So my statement, was to create a buffer zone so people can understand it and not take a comment out of context, or to at least have a point in time to debunk so statements and move from them.

As for berger, I believe that he is officially retired and I would avoid believing any wild speculations (I know, its dumb mentioning this but people have tried to stir the pot and blaming 'us' for him finally saying "i'm done"). I've talked to him for many years and from what I can understand, he didn't play the game like you or me. He was more interested in 'rendering' stuff and seeing if such things could be bought over to this game. And he had many burn out periods (in which this game was just 'boring'). My mistake was that I should of asked for more of his files but I was too humble and too much of a noob to fully understand the blender files and that time frame just expired for me.

1 hour ago, Trapp said:

And yes, quality over quantity definitely applies in most cases. I only want my stuff to work with what I have, which isn't much. That's why I'm here, to ask questions and be dumb, so I can learn!

No question is dumb, though I've seen some doozie's. I was answering to the statement you made in which you tagged me. In which you said your 'rooms' don't load. Again, read my comments about toys. Limit the amount of toys you have in your game. Lots of Un-optimized toys. Some people like to use "high poly" toys and that is a terrible idea because with "H5" you get to produce those same details.

Also something I didn't mention here but have said it before: When loading a room, this game will load said room, its textures, and ALL your toys and the texture toys (hence on some of those long load times). The better that the room and toys are optimized, the smoother the load times are. The less textures that it has to load, the less likely you will crash. 

As I said before, this game has a sweet spot. And you need to find that sweet spot for your self in terms of using 'X' amount of toys and for you optimize your textures (like I said, not all textures has to be in 2X or 4X). If I recall correctly, Your computer is not that strong - so you will have to understand that you will most like be more limited than others.

[Trapp]

5 hours ago, Smoke said:

When loading a room, this game will load said room, its textures, and ALL your toys and the texture toys (hence on some of those long load times). The better that the room and toys are optimized, the smoother the load times are. The less textures that it has to load, the less likely you will crash.

Duly noted, and I will make sure to clean up whenever I attempt to use the aforementioned rooms. Same thing with clothing textures and so on. It's a great tip, and I for one, appreciate the more assertive tone for what it is.