Alpha LOD for TGE (1.5 & 1.5.2)

#1 In the editor you can change beginning and end of the AlphaLOD Fading.
Turn AlphaLOD off with:
AlphaLODStart = 0
AlphaLODEnd = 0

Small bugfix:
in "bool TSStatic::prepRenderImage(..." remove the bold lines

//AlphaLOD ->
	  fAlphaLOD = 1.f;
	  if((fAlphaLODStart < fAlphaLODEnd) && fAlphaLODStart > 0.1f)
	  {
		if (dist >= fAlphaLODEnd)
		{
		  return false;
		}
		  
		[b]if((fAlphaLODStart < fAlphaLODEnd) && fAlphaLODStart > 0.1f) <-- remove line
		{ <-- remove line [/b]
		  if (dist > fAlphaLODStart)
		  {
			fAlphaLOD -= ((dist - fAlphaLODStart) / (fAlphaLODEnd - fAlphaLODStart));
		  }
		[b]} <-- remove line [/b]
	  }
	  //<- AlphaLOD

This is fixed in the new Version

#2 This is good stuff!

I also have an Alpha LOD system, not as fancy as yours, plugged into ShapeBase.cc. I use fogAmount to calculate when to Alpha fade the mesh and dont render it when the alpha is over 90%. I am going to see if i can adopt your system, with individual mesh alpha fade settings, in place of mine in tsStatic, but still use fogAmount for ShapeBase alpha LOD.

#3 @Caylo
With fogAmount?
Then all Static Object are using the same value / distance for fading?

I think it is better that every Static Object has it's own AlphaLOD settings.

#4 Yes, with fogAmount. I had it so all mesh would fade out INTO the fog. Very much like your system. But as i said, for tsStatic i like your system better. (I still have it so they all fade away into the fog, but your system allows SOME mesh to fade away faster.)

#5 this looks cool!

#6 this for TGEA ;) *hint hint*

#7 Inverse AlphaLOD

Billboard -> highdetail Mesh

Poor man's SpeedTree ;-)

Download the trees (Public Domain)
Use values like:

treesbb.dts ->
Start: 60
End: 70
Inverse: off

treesbblowdetail.dts ->
Start: 50
End: 60
Inverse: on

Place both on the same Position. (move treesbblowdetail.dts a little bit up)

#8 Some Tips:
Use the Inverse AlphaLOD for
- Groundfog in your Dungeons.
- Spooky Lights in the distance
- Soft transitions from HighDetailMesh to LowDetailBillboards

#9 Thats very cool, thank you!

#10 Sweet! Thank You!

#11 does this code break any of the metrics for anyone else?
my metrics(fps) is returning only 0 or 1 when looking at TSStatics and normal values when looking elsewhere.

#12 Great resource! - can this be adjusted to work in TGEA 1.01 + ??

#13 Unfortunately my profile makes no reference to coding or scripting skills... So, I have had no luck merging this into 1.5.2 :( Anyone able to merge this successfully into 1.5.2?
Thanks

#14 @Eric Johnson:
TGE 1.5.2 Version is comming soon. It's already done, but my PC is broken.

@Juha Eerola:
I own TGEA, but i don't use it in the moment because of the missing Linux and OpenGL support.

#15 Thank you!

#16 @Martin: how difficult would it be to port that to an older version? TGE 1.4+TLK for example

#17 TGEA port :) ?

#18 @Stephan (viKKing) Bondier:
I think it should be easy, about 20 - 30 minutes. I marked all changes with "AlphaLOD" in side the source code. The AlphaLOD based on the Cloaking code of the torque engine.

@PuG:
I own TGEA, but i don't used it. At monent i had rewrote the sky-class of TGE and have alot of truble now with the FOG (water is pink and the rest is blue O_o ). All of my freetime is spend for my wife and TGE. :-)

#19 @Martin,
Great resource! Very nice looking in game.

@Stephan,
If you haven't tried it yet, it went into my build of 1.4 (with the MK) in about 20 minutes (actually would have been a lot faster, but I brought over a few things I shouldn't have, and had to backtrack once).

#20 @Martin,

What would I have to do to add the AlphaLOD setting controls to shape replicated objects? The are being controlled by the default settings. I can set an overall fade level for shape replicated objects, but it would be nice to have the same kind of controls as for single statics. I can see where it might go, but not really sure what code additions might be necessary in the fxshapeReplicator.

Thanks,
Alan