RPG Keybinds

[arcones]

I'm using MapZone2. And I agree, it is awesome. The thing is, I can create really nice textures without having to rely on Diffuse or Spec maps, I simply use Normals and it all looks good.

The one problem is it becomes a bit pixelated on some textures so I resize them to 256x256 usually.

So if I'm creating textures I guess I'm fine without the specular map. I guess I can't use the phillipk textures though, unless I want to manually change each spec map (which frankly, I don't have the time for). To the MapZone!

[Tony]

Try them flat.

I mean, one solid color.
Like hex #1d1d1d
Or eye-dropper one of the darker shades on the s_map and fill the entire image with that color.
Your hotspots are probably caused by those lighter areas in the spec-map.

Those images were probably made for a different game engine that renders differently.
This game seems to be really jacked up, when it comes to shiny.

Or go without'em I suppose. But you could sure try making one that was all one color.
If it works, just keep reusing that same file for all of the other textures.
Call for the image file in the s-slot by name, for all textures in the same folder.

Like dis mon:

Code: Select all

setshader bumpspecmapparallaxworld
setshaderparam specscale 3 3 3

texture 0 "tony/stone.png"
texture n "tony/stone_n.png"
texture s "tony/multipass_s.png"

texture 0 "tony/wood.png"
texture n "tony/wood_n.png"
texture s "tony/multipass_s.png"

texture 0 "tony/castle01.png"
texture n "tony/castle01_n.png"
texture s "tony/multipass_s.png"

texture 0 "tony/castle02.png"
texture n "tony/castle02_n.png"
texture s "tony/multipass_s.png"

*shrugs*

I dunno, it's like 6 of one, half-dozen of the other for some of this stuff, ya know?

One thing that I think most people do bad... is to make the normals too busy.
That and the specular shine too shiny... it looks cool and all, but not so much realistic.
Most stuff in the world is not really very shiny.
Rocks aren't shiny, nor are trees.
An ancient castle wall is a pretty dull texture, as is aged wood.

Old wooden keg barrels are not shiny, nor are most organic substances or structures in the world.

We exaggerate, to try and make it look realistic, but I think that too often, we go too far.

Cheers,
- Tony

[arcones]

I mean, one solid color.
Like hex #1d1d1d
Or eye-dropper one of the darker shades on the s_map and fill the entire image with that color.
Your hotspots are probably caused by those lighter areas in the spec-map.

Those images were probably made for a different game engine that renders differently.
This game seems to be really jacked up, when it comes to shiny.

That sounds good, I'll give it a go.

Or go without'em I suppose. But you could sure try making one that was all one color.
If it works, just keep reusing that same file for all of the other textures.
Call for the image file in the s-slot by name, for all textures in the same folder.

Like dis mon:

Code: Select all

setshader bumpspecmapparallaxworld
setshaderparam specscale 3 3 3

texture 0 "tony/stone.png"
texture n "tony/stone_n.png"
texture s "tony/multipass_s.png"

texture 0 "tony/wood.png"
texture n "tony/wood_n.png"
texture s "tony/multipass_s.png"

texture 0 "tony/castle01.png"
texture n "tony/castle01_n.png"
texture s "tony/multipass_s.png"

texture 0 "tony/castle02.png"
texture n "tony/castle02_n.png"
texture s "tony/multipass_s.png"

*shrugs*

I dunno, it's like 6 of one, half-dozen of the other for some of this stuff, ya know?

Besides the spec map for my textures, those are the same. Well, except I have diffuse and normal textures only, which in and of itself could be my problem, although I don't know for the life of me how to get the "texture 0" that isn't diffused. My average texture code looks something like....

Code: Select all

texture 0 "arcones/ss5_d.png"
texture n "arcones/ss5_n.png"

Could it be I don't have the diffuse in the wrong spot?
Anyway....

One thing that I think most people do bad... is to make the normals too busy.
That and the specular shine too shiny... it looks cool and all, but not so much realistic.
Most stuff in the world is not really very shiny.
Rocks aren't shiny, nor are trees.
An ancient castle wall is a pretty dull texture, as is aged wood.

Old wooden keg barrels are not shiny, nor are most organic substances or structures in the world.

We exaggerate, to try and make it look realistic, but I think that too often, we go too far.

Cheers,
- Tony

Honestly, I agree. Occasionally it appears that way because of differences between what the texture was originally used for and a conversion (the phillipk textures in my case). The tutorials I've read have said exactly the same thing and I agree. Sandbox does have some shiny models (in addition to the textures). I think we should try either fix or replace them with better models. But it should come from the community in my opinion.

Thanks for all the help Tony.

[Tony]

A diffuse map is merely just a color image.

Like say a photo, or a created, artist's picture of something.
In the case of those philpk images, it is the picture that you see when you look at the face of whatever you've applied the texture onto.

Other maps can be a normal map, which generally will give you the textured look, the bumpiness rendered onto a face.
A displacement map, which is a greyscale used to generate the normal map, and then a specular map, which is used to generate the reflection look.
Ambiance maps, and etc.

Maybe you're mixing up a displacement map with a diffusion map. Diffusion maps really are just a color layer, a photo, or like in MapZone2 it is a gradient scale.

The way I make most of mine so far is, I produce an image, a graphic rendition, a picture of what I want the face of my cube to look like.
From that, I generate a displacement map which is required to make a true normal. Generate the normal. And then a flat specular plane to reflect the light for shiny.

That's it. There are other methods, but this is the way I am doing most of these right now.

For load efficiency, whenever it is possible, I will use a method of /vcolor over a normal and a texture z layer. If I am able to /vrotate./vscale,and /vcolor the same set of images to do multiple purposes it will alleviate weight by reusing the same images for lots of duties. That is a good goal to have in mind. The newer engines are doing a lot with rendering on the fly now with computational generation rather than 47 thousand unique individual texture images.

Again though, sometimes the CPU/GPU/RAM usage isn't any more efficient than loading up images into memory... some stuff is 6 of one, half dozen of another by the time it is actually all said and done.

Like UDK... they talk all about making good use of multiple processors and how efficient their engine is and blah blah... all about next generation rendering, blah blah blah... and yet... for all of that efficiency... the games are heavy as heck and require a massive cutting edge gaming rig to run right.

That'll be wonderful when we're all playing on 128-core processors and running 32 terabytes of RAM with a 12 terabyte GPU...
...but for most folks... that day isn't coming soon.

I'm all for forward thinking and pushing the envelope of technology... but I am also all about today and right now and practical application in the real and present world. Yeah, I wanna fly a spaceship to Mars, but until then I need to keep good tires on my Nissan ZX car, m'k.

</rant>
<smile>