Judith on 5/1/2009 at 21:49

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I don't think it's a mater of .dds saving options, you cannot really mess much there, as you should only choose between compression styles (DXT1-DXT5) I'd say it's something either Ion Shader related (some unnecessary option checked) or the gfx drivers/directx problem.

Judith on 5/1/2009 at 22:31

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Yup, that might be the best option, or maybe .mlb file plus textures, so we can put those into our T3ed directory and see what's up.

Judith on 5/1/2009 at 23:23

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Doesn't matter, we need them to see what's gone wrong.

Beleg Cúthalion on 20/2/2009 at 20:51

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I'm trying to get my few own textures into a custom matlib now to salve my conscience because my whole building progress came to an end for now because I cannot effectively add anything to the FM and cannot use 3DS Max yet to get me some composite meshes to decrease my property storage count either. Long story short, I have no idea so I'm doing something different.

I've tried this matlib thing according to both massimiliano's and Judith's step-by-step explanation (wiki still offline) but it always kicks me out on lines like "Clickin on Standard, selecting the Mtl Library check..." (where the hell in this large program is "standard"?) or "Switch "Browse from:" to "Mtl. Editor"..." which I haven't been able to find either. Plus, when I add my textures after chosing the ION_SHADER and clicking reload, this sphere remains grey although I have the feeling it should somehow show my texture. Plus, I've found nothing to add more than those 24 or something materials.

Call me anything but I'm most happy with such an idiot-proof tutorial like Komag's. :(

Judith on 21/2/2009 at 11:06

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He wanted to "get his own textures into a custom matlib", not to import a stock low-res texture. He doesn't need to import a TDS matlib for that. He needs to create one from scratch. Sorry, I don't have time for making pics for each of this:

1) Open the material library

2) Click the Get material button (1st icon on the left under the material preview section), a window on the right should appear.

3) In the "Browse from" section check Mtl library. Go down to the file, choose open. You'll see a default max matlib folder. Choose something small, like Bricks.mat

4) Select the first material at the top, you'll see that the X/cross icon above isn't grayed out any longer. Press it repeatedly to delete all the materials here. From File section choose Save as. As Max 5 doesn't use MRUD feature, it's good to have .mat saved in its default material library directory. Just create a subfolder with your nickname, or "Thief3", and save your mat file there.

5) Ok, were getting back to the material window on the left, but don't close the map browser one on the right. Click the box beside the diffuse channel. A new window will appear, choose Ion Shader from the list and double-click it.

6) The Ion Shader properties should appear after that. If you want to have a basic material, just click on the bar below Map: Diffuse 1 and Map:Normal, and choose appropriate .dds files.

7) Scroll down the properties all the way down (Hold down LMB when you see the hand icon and move your mouse). There's a material category rollout at the bottom, you have to assign it in order to have sounds on your surface. Select the option that will match your material.

8) Back to the horizontal set of icons, below the material preview: click the Put to library icon (a ball, an arrow and a disk ;) ). Dialogue window will appear, choose Yes, then choose a distinct name for your material and click Ok. It will appear on the Material/Map browser list on the right. Now go to the File section in this window and click Save.

This is how you get Ion Shader to work under 3dsmax. Now you have to export it to .mlb format. You'll do that quite often, i.e. every time you'll add something new to your library or modify the existing material - you have to change the properties in your mat file first an then export it to .mlb. So it's good to have a shortcut to your \...\T3edit\CONTENT\T3 folder inside \...\3dsmax5\matlibs folder. It's a real time-saver.

To do this, you have to go to the Max panel on your far right. From those tabs you see, click the hammer button. This is the Utilities tab. You'll use those quite often too, so click the third icon on the right (More, Sets section) - Configure button sets. In the Total buttons section, increase the number by two. Scroll the bar on the right all the way down, you'll see two empty buttons awaiting for your command ;) Do the same with the bar on the left. Drag and drop two options from the left to the buttons on the right: MatExport and HkConvexMakerUtility. As you probably know, the second thingy is for creating collision models. This is another time-saver, you don't have to choose this option from More section and finding it on the list everytime you want to export a material (or create a collision). Now click Ok to close this window.

Click MatExport button you just created. Parameters will appear below (or on the right, if you have 2 sections for properties. Just click export, then the .mat file you need to convert, double-click it, go to the T3edit\CONTENT\T3\Matlib folder and click Save. Remember to pay attention at the names, you won't get any overwrite file confirmation dialog here. You cannot make a mistake here ;)

And that's it, if you put your dds files in PCTextures and Textures folder, you'll be able to "import matlibs" through your texture browser in the editor. One more important thing, your diffuse .dds texture must always use some sort of compression, otherwise it won't appear in the T3ed's texture browser. Everything else can go uncompressed (while it's not wise, but possible). So if you did everything right and you don't see your material on the list, that's the first thing to check. Most non-transparent diffuses should be compressed with DXT1, for gradients (transparent or opaque) use DX5. Transparent textures look good when compressed with DXT3.