DETAIL MAPS for everyone...
by Apparatus · in General Discussion · 12/13/2005 (11:06 pm) · 54 replies
I was thinkin if the engine supports bump and detail for the terrain (nevermind the bump here) why not detail maps for every dts object? ime no coder but i think multiple UV's and such will do. Would be huge help for MMO project in particular; Ive seen DM at work on 1st class games (and i've used the technique extensivelly as well with Renderware products) and i can tell you the amount of detail is fantastic at a very low cost. It's called detail map, you know...
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#42
-John
12/15/2005 (3:52 am)
Scaling is already in the Max exporter - in Max you need to set the detail texture's scale (in the material editor). The detail mapping isn't based on a second uv channel it's relative to the diffuse channel.-John
#43
Now remember John, not all of us are so blessed to have Max. =)
What I was noticing is that it appears from the tutorial for the 3d.digger.de exporter that the 1:1 ratio is hard coded in the plugin for Milkshape. I'm going to try to get a hold of Sven "RaCooN" Knie who modified the plugin and see why the ratio is hard coded and if it can be removed or modified with a scalable ratio.
- Alan
12/15/2005 (7:38 am)
Hey John how are things? I'll fire off an e-mail and tell you how MI is going currently if I get a chance in the next day or so.Now remember John, not all of us are so blessed to have Max. =)
What I was noticing is that it appears from the tutorial for the 3d.digger.de exporter that the 1:1 ratio is hard coded in the plugin for Milkshape. I'm going to try to get a hold of Sven "RaCooN" Knie who modified the plugin and see why the ratio is hard coded and if it can be removed or modified with a scalable ratio.
- Alan
#44
12/15/2005 (7:46 am)
The 3D.digger.de expoerter.. is it based on the ms2dtsplus exporter or the old one?
#45
It appears to be nearly identical to the old one, so with that another issue arises, now that you've mentioned it. The old exporter is a bit-- ... er I mean very difficult to export animations easily with. So even with a ratio modification it wouldn't be very useful for animated dts models since it's such a pain to export animated sequences. I mean it can still do it, it just takes a lot more work and it doesn't have some of the features of the Plus exporter.
Grrrr...I didn't even think about that.
O.K., back to thinking about this...
- Alan
*edited for spelling. =)
12/15/2005 (7:58 am)
@JasonIt appears to be nearly identical to the old one, so with that another issue arises, now that you've mentioned it. The old exporter is a bit-- ... er I mean very difficult to export animations easily with. So even with a ratio modification it wouldn't be very useful for animated dts models since it's such a pain to export animated sequences. I mean it can still do it, it just takes a lot more work and it doesn't have some of the features of the Plus exporter.
Grrrr...I didn't even think about that.
O.K., back to thinking about this...
- Alan
*edited for spelling. =)
#46
Matt
12/15/2005 (7:59 am)
Hey I just realized that detail maps outa MAX aren't working in game but they do work in the Showtool pro. Any trick for getting the in game to work?Matt
#47
12/15/2005 (9:25 am)
Detail maps are also working from Blender, almost in ShowTool Pro. Any advices to get them inside TGT?
#48
Or we ask both the 3d.digger.de and the guy who updated the exporter very nicely to work together and give us a really cool exporter which can handle detail textures with different detail scale ratios and bumps ;-)
12/15/2005 (9:42 am)
Well, I suppose the animation aspect could be handled by using both exporters... a bit of a kludge but, it might work. Using the ms2dtsplus exporter, export all the animations to dsq files. Then export the model using the detail compatible exporter.Or we ask both the 3d.digger.de and the guy who updated the exporter very nicely to work together and give us a really cool exporter which can handle detail textures with different detail scale ratios
#50
My version is older and based on the old gg ms2dts exporter.
@Matthew and Gustavo,
if the two exporters support detailmaps and the showTool Pro display them, then it's just a setting problem of the TGE. It has to be a setting in the "/client/pref.cs". (sorry at the moment I don't know which one. It's a long time since i work at this point).
Sven
12/15/2005 (11:51 am)
I just send Chris Robertson an email. It would be better he update his ms2dts plus.My version is older and based on the old gg ms2dts exporter.
@Matthew and Gustavo,
if the two exporters support detailmaps and the showTool Pro display them, then it's just a setting problem of the TGE. It has to be a setting in the "/client/pref.cs". (sorry at the moment I don't know which one. It's a long time since i work at this point).
Sven
#51
If I run the model through Unmess it seems to work fine in both the showtool and ingame.
12/15/2005 (12:04 pm)
I really don't see anything that would change that in the pref.cs file.If I run the model through Unmess it seems to work fine in both the showtool and ingame.
#52
12/15/2005 (12:10 pm)
Just give in to the dark side and start working on TSE... you don't know the POWER of the hardware side of the force. :)
#53
You know this whole community is scary (in a good way). What I mean is that this is an area that I've not even been concerned with but I thought I'd throw in my two cents. Then along with a few others brainstorming we figure out a few things and are brought to a standstill by other things.
Then, determining that the solution lies beyond our ability, I propose my intention of contacting Sven. Well, before I can even do that, he's gone even farther and contacted Chris who did ms2dts plus.
So in the time it took me to take a nap on my day off, it's bounced all over the world, passed through a couple of people intimately involved in exporter writing, and I'm just here rubbing my eyes saying, "how long was I asleep?"
Now nothing may even come of it, and that would be completely understandible. We all have projects and jobs and families and lots of other responsibilities but the fact that the collaberation has occured and moved so quickly without any structured coordination is astounding. Maybe there is no solution, maybe it is a different app., but the fact of active participation in trying to find a solution gives me new encouragement. I'm really honored to be part of that kind of community.
- Alan
12/15/2005 (2:20 pm)
@EveryoneYou know this whole community is scary (in a good way). What I mean is that this is an area that I've not even been concerned with but I thought I'd throw in my two cents. Then along with a few others brainstorming we figure out a few things and are brought to a standstill by other things.
Then, determining that the solution lies beyond our ability, I propose my intention of contacting Sven. Well, before I can even do that, he's gone even farther and contacted Chris who did ms2dts plus.
So in the time it took me to take a nap on my day off, it's bounced all over the world, passed through a couple of people intimately involved in exporter writing, and I'm just here rubbing my eyes saying, "how long was I asleep?"
Now nothing may even come of it, and that would be completely understandible. We all have projects and jobs and families and lots of other responsibilities but the fact that the collaberation has occured and moved so quickly without any structured coordination is astounding. Maybe there is no solution, maybe it is a different app., but the fact of active participation in trying to find a solution gives me new encouragement. I'm really honored to be part of that kind of community.
- Alan
#54
@AlanJ - That example does look good.
12/15/2005 (3:20 pm)
Here is what the procedural Material bump mapping of TSE EA can do. I just used Gimp to make a bump map then applied the procedural shader to it. This way you can have 200+ million transisitors doing the work and your CPU can be doing other things. :)@AlanJ - That example does look good.
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