Judith on 22/8/2008 at 19:37
Yes, I was fiddling with texture properties again, trying to make a material without a diffuse (or with invisible one) but with visible normalmap. Of course I failed again :cheeky:, but found something funny about the transparency in general. You can have some transparent areas in your texture and the rest will remain normalmapped if you don't check "use alpha" box, instead check "alpha test" at the bottom (didn't see any difference between 0-254 values, when you choose 255 the whole texture disappears completely :wot:)
The way transparency is handled remains a problem though. It cannot be used in making plants or leaves, as T3ed somehow "reads" the image area when it was opaque (through the layer mask, I guess) and makes it "half-transparent", or something like that. As for now I'm thinking about one use - windows.
I made a simple window for this example:
(
http://img221.imageshack.us/my.php?image=window01mansiondtb4.jpg)
Inline Image:
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/6586/window01mansiondtb4.th.jpgThen I simply added the alpha channel and used selection rectangle to "delete" areas where you see glass. I saved it in DXT3 format to store info about transparency and ingame got something like this:
(
http://img225.imageshack.us/my.php?image=32990913oj7.jpg)
Inline Image:
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/5779/32990913oj7.th.jpg (
http://img228.imageshack.us/my.php?image=93930854mk1.jpg)
Inline Image:
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/3960/93930854mk1.th.jpgWhile the "glass area" is half-transparent and doesn't use normals, the rest is opaque and still uses them.
I'm not sure whether you'll ever need something like this, as we're in static mesh era and something like this seems a bit too simplified and it probably creates more problems than it's worth :) Still, we may put it to some other use...
Beleg Cúthalion on 22/8/2008 at 19:46
I think that could be useful indeed. Just try how it changes the scenery. I could even imagine using those cube maps to make windows with a dark room behind them reflect the sky (maybe on higher levels) while those on ground level are transparent.
By the way - and Flux will notice my chance not to start a new thread :p - everytime I break one of those glass cabinets in TDS I wonder whether this glass material could be used for breakable windows also. They already have a little shiny effect, do they not?
New Horizon on 22/8/2008 at 19:48
I think that looks great. TDS was sorely lacking in the area of windows one could actually see through. Great work.
Beleg Cúthalion on 22/8/2008 at 19:50
Quote Posted by New Horizon
TDS was sorely lacking in the area of windows one could actually see through.
Not only that, I even think those window textures are one of the main reasons why it looked so comic-like, as you always point out. A long time I did not even want to use them in my little City section, but after finding the dim versions, it looks slightly better.
New Horizon on 22/8/2008 at 22:32
Yup, that's gorgeous!
CrackedGear on 22/8/2008 at 23:48
Wow, I think you just solved one of the bigger problems I've been having. And it looks amazing too.
ShadowSneaker on 23/8/2008 at 02:25
Those are awesome, Judith.
SS
clearing on 23/8/2008 at 02:39
Cool, Judith :eek:
