Liquid Light - 3d Level Creation Tool, News: Discontinued / 3rd party development Options

[EDGE]

November 11, 2009: I terminated my old website which has caused all these dead links. I may set up a new liquidlight/gm portfolio page when I have time, but I'm not sure when that will be. For now I've re-uploaded a copy of liquidlight 4.2.0.1, get it here: LiquidLight ( 14.35MB )

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LiquidLight Website - LiquidLight Forum - My Website

Download
Download: Find the most up-to-date version here
Latest Version: 4.2.0.1 (Not a reliable source to check for the latest version)
Edition: Fourth Edition
File Size: 15~20Mb
Full Screen: No
Resolution Change: Optional
Made with: GM7

Other
Plugin Guide: Web PDF
Updated LL SDK and Example: LL_GM7_example.zip
New extension w/documentation: liquidlight.gex (Thanks to Rusky)

About
LiquidLight is a terrain generation tool that was made specifically for GameMaker D3D users. It has several features, among them a powerful terrain engine, a fluent interface and controls for Sky, Fog, and Water. The project started back 2005 when GM's D3D was relatively new, It never got released until now because I continually wanted to make it better. At the moment, the program is somewhat lacking for a project that's been in development for so long, but it's because I've rewritten it four times. I have great plans to extend this into a fully functional level editor with objects, paths, lights, etc. This release however is strictly just the terrain editing.

Enjoy.

ScreenShots

View More At the LiquidLight Website

FAQ
So...How do I use this in my game?
(I guessing that this will be asked the most, so I put it up top)
There are a few ways, but the easiest and most feature complete way is to save your map as a *.LLM (simply by going file>save as). Once you've got it saved add it to the directory of your game. Now include the LiquidLightSDK extension package in your game. You can find the .gex in the same directory as the program Use the scripts provided with the example for now! Once this is done, theres only a few lines of code you must add to view your map in GM.
Create:

CODE

mymap=ll_map_create(); //Create a map and store the ID in a variable
       ll_map_load("mapname.llm",mymap); //Load the map into the chosen map ID

Draw:

CODE

ll_map_draw(mymap);

Thats it, Pretty simple huh? Looks a lot (if not identical) to how you load a d3d model. If you need anymore help, I included a functional example with the program.

What if I don't have GM7?
Unfortunately for the time being you must resort to using the File>Export function to save your model and load it up however you choose. The process will feel quite similar to saving as a .LLM except you loose the textures. Sorry, I will add more functionality for GM6 users. Please just be patient for the time being.

Where did the name LiquidLight come from?
Yes, the name doesn't seem fitting, but it's just the name that has stuck with it since the beginning. I've thought about changing it to something like TerraLight or Crystal Edit but everyone preferred LiquidLight over the other two names.

Wait...Fourth Edition? Where's the First, Second and Third?
I wished I released them, but it's hard letting go of a project, you just continually want to work on it and add make one little change after another, and time will just fly by. Each edition represents a complete rewrite. So, LiquidLight has been written from scratch four times. Where did I get the determination to continue on, I don't know, but I'm very proud to say the Fourths been the biggest change up of all of them.

This post has been edited by EDGE: Nov 11 2009, 09:22 PM

[gmjab]

After a couple of years of waiting it is great news to see the project finally released. To all the Game Maker 3D users, you will find this program to be not only a high quality program but a very useful one.

gmjab

[GisleAune]

This may be very useful for 3D envioroments for games.
11.287 / 10 I't rocks:)

[death-droid]

Really awesome i like it looks amazing.

[Mr. Limbojello]

I remember you let me test a very early version of this about a year ago, and that version was amazing. I never though Liquid Light would grow to be even more amazing. Awesome work.
10/10

[undy15]

really really awesome...ive waited the hole 2 years for this to come out and it finally has. Nice job and thanks.

[freko]

Its beautiful.

[FredFredrickson]

I'm not sure if this topic belongs here or in Creations, but I think we can leave it here for the time being.

This is definitely a great tool - I just played around with it for about a half hour, and it seems pretty solid. Everything works the way it should, and it was pretty easy to figure out how to use, which is always a plus. I think that some people may have trouble figuring out how to get the levels to work in their games... but that's always the tricky part, because of the freedom we have to program our games however we want, without any sort of standard that would allow files created by programs like this to be easily imported. Because of this, I am not sure how much practical use the program may get. That's not to say it's useless though... just that in the hands of completely novice users who will see it as an easy way into 3D, it will be misunderstood.

Great work on the program though, I really do think this could help a lot of people! I also hope to see future updates, as the features that aren't completely functional look great as well!

[Pie Person!]

This is pretty awesome. The water looks good.

[Marten Troost]

...HAHA I am almost finished with a tool much like this. I was about to release it this week or the next but this looks a bit better then mine, if it runs fast enough on my comp I guess I will abort my project.

Good job

[EDGE]

Thank you all for the great feedback . A small update has been made with some minor bug fixes not too log ago, you might already have it, it's Version 1.1.

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I'm not sure if this topic belongs here or in Creations, but I think we can leave it here for the time being.

I was worried about that too, but I figured that the program fits better here with its target audience of GM D3d developers.

This is definitely a great tool - I just played around with it for about a half hour, and it seems pretty solid. Everything works the way it should, and it was pretty easy to figure out how to use, which is always a plus. I think that some people may have trouble figuring out how to get the levels to work in their games...

Yeah, I'm afraid that this might become a place for people asking how to get it in there game instead of a place for feedback and suggestions. I tried to counter this with making it as simple as possible and including the How-To at the top of the FAQ. I also added a support forum too to help direct that traffic away from the GMC, but even with all this some people may never look and there isn't much else I can do to prevent that. Anyway, we'll see how it goes...

but that's always the tricky part, because of the freedom we have to program our games however we want, without any sort of standard that would allow files created by programs like this to be easily imported. Because of this, I am not sure how much practical use the program may get. That's not to say it's useless though... just that in the hands of completely novice users who will see it as an easy way into 3D, it will be misunderstood.

Indeed, I came to this realization myself that every game is different and each game might require a differnt solution for their environments. However thats not to say this this can still help some games. With the addition of a region editor it might become a little more practical for larger worlds. But again, It won't ever be a universal solution for all environments in games, but I hope for it to be a solution to many. Your worry about having novice users see it as an easy way in to 3D was another concern I had. I considered selling the program, but I figured that wouldn't really help anything. So unfortunately there isn't much I can do about this either .

Great work on the program though, I really do think this could help a lot of people! I also hope to see future updates, as the features that aren't completely functional look great as well!

Thanks.

...HAHA I am almost finished with a tool much like this. I was about to release it this week or the next but this looks a bit better then mine, if it runs fast enough on my comp I guess I will abort my project.

Good job

Haha, I'm sorry . Competitions always good though!

[MightyFoo]

Man thats awesome - runs smooth too

I think it be useful for RTS/RPG type games.

[FredFredrickson]

but that's always the tricky part, because of the freedom we have to program our games however we want, without any sort of standard that would allow files created by programs like this to be easily imported. Because of this, I am not sure how much practical use the program may get. That's not to say it's useless though... just that in the hands of completely novice users who will see it as an easy way into 3D, it will be misunderstood.

Indeed, I came to this realization myself that every game is different and each game might require a differnt solution for their environments. However thats not to say this this can still help some games. With the addition of a region editor it might become a little more practical for larger worlds. But again, It won't ever be a universal solution for all environments in games, but I hope for it to be a solution to many. Your worry about having novice users see it as an easy way in to 3D was another concern I had. I considered selling the program, but I figured that wouldn't really help anything. So unfortunately there isn't much I can do about this either .

A region editor would be very interesting indeed - I'd really like to try that out again once it gets in there, as it struck me that depending on the scale you work at, some of the terrains you make with this might just be a bit small, hehe.

If you were to add region support, and maybe some sort of LOD generation (for textures and models), that would be awesome!

Edit - By the way, if you need help creating icons or anything, just let me know. I'd be glad to lend a helping hand with such a promising tool.

[Pie Person!]

It would be good for an FPS map too . Pretty neat, I'm using this.

This post has been edited by Pie Person!: Apr 28 2008, 01:51 AM

[Polar Production...]

I have watched this being developed since the beginning, from a demo of the first version to screenshots of the later editions. Quite frankly, Im still amazed every time I look at where it is today! As soon as I get my new computer in about a month now (yay!) I will be trying this out, because as it stands, the last version I tried got me only 9 FPS, and on dial-up, I don't wanna download it for 9 FPS! None the less, it looks amazing, and from what you have repeatedly told me, Im sure it is!

[joshuaallen64]

thats so cool.
it looks so sexy it makes me want to make a 3D game again.

[T-Bird]

Well this just makes me jealous. I had built (and nearly completed) a terrain modeling system some time before, but I build mine completely in GM d3d, and got frustrated when it came time to do that ever so neccessary optimization. I'm not sure, but I'm assuming yours does most of it's work using dlls or non-native code, but then converts the files to a GM compatable form.

Anyways, the software looks amazing, although I couldn't figure out how to change either the heightmaps coordinates relative to the camera, or the camera's coords relative to the ground, and so I couldn't really get to within working range to do anything.

This gives me a little enthusiasm to work on mine again however, thanks!

EDIT:

I'm not sure if this topic belongs here or in Creations, but I think we can leave it here for the time being.

All of persich.hu's tools were listed in the 3d section, as opposed to Game Maker Creations

This post has been edited by T-Bird: Apr 29 2008, 01:30 AM

[FredFredrickson]

I've come up with a few more suggestions. Not sure if these are already implemented or not, but I think I could find them useful.

- Output shadow map / shadow data - a lot like the heightmap / height data, you could use this information to figure out if objects placed on the terrain should be in shadow, and by how much.
- Output overhead version of map - you might be able to do this with the terrain texture already, but it'd be really useful for mini-maps to be able to output a flat, overhead projection of the terrain

[qwertyuiop23]

- Output shadow map / shadow data - a lot like the heightmap / height data, you could use this information to figure out if objects placed on the terrain should be in shadow, and by how much.

Wow. Are you have an idea how to do this? Are you meaning like when this gets to the stage where an entire scene can be created we COULD have a shadow map that has been baked by this program rendering each object's shadow? If this is actually what you are meaning then I 2nd that. It would be a great addition.

~Qwertyuiop23

(I wonder how he would manage to do that if he is only using d3d. . . )

[FredFredrickson]

- Output shadow map / shadow data - a lot like the heightmap / height data, you could use this information to figure out if objects placed on the terrain should be in shadow, and by how much.

Wow. Are you have an idea how to do this? Are you meaning like when this gets to the stage where an entire scene can be created we COULD have a shadow map that has been baked by this program rendering each object's shadow? If this is actually what you are meaning then I 2nd that. It would be a great addition.

~Qwertyuiop23

(I wonder how he would manage to do that if he is only using d3d. . . )

No, I didn't mean actually baking the scene. But since the program calculates shadow data for the terrain, if you placed trees on a shadowy side of a hill, it'd be useful to have so you could tell your tree to draw a darker shade than normal and thus look more realistic.