Temple Maker 64 Demo · published · build 23154360
In this new update, major changes were made in the way temples are shaded. It might not seem like much, but it should in fact optimise very large temples and get rid of the remaining lag spikes you may encounter. Here's a breakdown.
AO stands for Ambient Occlusion, and it corresponds to the darker shading that you can see along the corners of the rooms. In the N64 days, this shading was achieved by colouring the models beforehand. But in the case of Temple Maker 64, it has to be done procedurally.
In the previous version of the game, I used a highly convoluted approach to generate AO which was laggy, and created a lot of flickering (called Z-fighting) and other shading issues. Here is an example of what I'm talking about:
I'll spare you the technical details, but for this update I took a completely different approach. This approach is faster, more stable, and most importantly it gets rid of all those ugly artifacts! Here's the same location with the new approach:
Builders enjoying decoration and complex room design will be pleased. This update now includes the brand new corner slope, which you can use to close up slope loops! Here's a demo showcasing it, as well as the arrow sign:
Keen eye! There is indeed one additional object in this update: the alternative tile! Behind that unimaginative name is another kind of tile which allows you to change the appearance of the floors, walls, and ceiling, not unlike the already-existing ornamental tile. Here's what the alternative tile looks like with the Verdant Cavern environment!
On rare occasions, some people would experience silent save fails. Temples would not be saved, and you would lose work as a result. This update addresses this issue, and everything should be back to normal. If you were affected, you can now relax!
Added corner slope object
Added half wall object
Added alternative tile object
Added arrow sign object
Added new and more optimised AO algorithm
Added temple and author names to main menu
Fixed flickering (z-fighting) and visual glitches
Fixed silent save fails
Fixed export-related issues
Fixed bottom right handle erroneously appearing when moving the Entry Point around