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[mattskii]

Hi there.

had this posted in the wrong area, so I'll try again.

Could one of the map devs explain a few things about the forest textures for the custom maps. I've not got dev privilages, so can't post in the map worx area and therefore placing the query here.

I've been tinkering around comparing textures in photoshop against what's displayed in the full mission builder and in situ in the sim. I've only been looking at one map mod at this stage. From the tga files listed in the relevant load.ini there's a 'forest ground' and a 'forest far'. These are matched by the file names of the actual tga's contained in the relevant map subfolder. Presumably, the 'forest ground' displays in close proximity, whereas the 'forest far' displays at a distance.

Is that correct?

Now all seems to work as advertised apart from one thing. What I've noticed is that in close proximity, a default forest texture displays. It's not the 'forest ground' texture contained in the mod. As you zoom in (down) in the mission builder, you can identify the 'forest far' texture showing, but as you get closer a brighter or lighter default texture displays. The pattern and colour is not like anything in the map subfolder and definately not the 'forest ground' texture in the map sub folder.

Is this a bug with the mod or a limitation with moding the sim?

Cheers,
Matthew.

[mattskii]

Ah! I think I know the answer. It might because the mod is missing textures listed in the 'load.ini' file.

No, correction, that's no good. The relevant forst textures are there, but I noticed other textures listed in the 'load.ini' file are missing from where they are supposed to be.

[SAS~Boomer]

Hi
this is the correct section to ask for help with regarding maps

your correct
forestground is the texture you see on ground wherever rgb 24 is present on map_t.tga
it is the texture on the ground wherever the 3d trees are

forestfar,is the texture as seen from Altitude high in the sky

if a load.ini slot calls for a texture
and the game does not have that texture installed,the map will quit loading
do to a missing texture

if the map loads,all textures are available in your game that are called for in the load.ini
whether in the _Tex folder or in the SFS Files

which Mod are you talking about ?
be easier to troubleshoot if I new what files to look at

not quite sure I understand what you mean by

I noticed other textures listed in the 'load.ini' file are missing from where they are supposed to be.

Now all seems to work as advertised apart from one thing. What I've noticed is that in close proximity, a default forest texture displays. It's not the 'forest ground' texture contained in the mod. As you zoom in (down) in the mission builder, you can identify the 'forest far' texture showing, but as you get closer a brighter or lighter default texture displays. The pattern and colour is not like anything in the map subfolder and definately not the 'forest ground' texture in the map sub folder.

Is this a bug with the mod or a limitation with moding the sim?

this default texture,which is brighter or lighter that displays
it must be called on by the load.ini to be displayed
if not in map _Tex folder then it has to be in SFS Files

please post the load.ini using #code in this thread
will be much easier to troubleshoot looking at the exact load.ini your working with

[mattskii]

Thanks for the reply Boomer. I'll gather the info you need here and I'll post back.

[mattskii]

Hi Boomer.

I feel a bit lousy publicly dumping the dev in it, but for the purposes of clarity, the mod is the New Guinea repainted by Whitecat v.3.0:
https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,11198.0.html
(You can actually see the issue in the screen shot).


These are the tga's in the ground texture folder:

Code: [Select]

whc_agriculture_NG.tga
whc_beachmuddy_NG.tga
whc_beachmuddy_NG_GR.tga
whc_coastline_NG.tga
whc_dcountry_NG.tga
whc_downcity_NG.tga
whc_factoryc_NG.tga
whc_fields_airfield_NG.tga
whc_forestfar_NG.tga
whc_forestground_NG.tga


This is complete ini file:

Code: [Select]

[MAP]
ColorMap  = map_c.tga
HeightMap = map_h.tga
SmallMap  = map_M.tga
TypeMap   = map_T.tga
FarMap    = map_F.tga
ReflMap   = map_R.tga

[LIGHT]
LandLight = LandLight.mat
CloudShadows = CloudShadows.mat

[MAP2D]
ed_m02.tga
ed_m01.tga

[TMAPED]
ed_map_t.tga

[WORLDPOS]
CAMOUFLAGE = DESERT
MONTH=7
DECLIN = 10
PRESSURE    = 745
TEMPERATURE =  25

[CUBE]
Down  = Cube_bott.tga
East  = Cube_right.tga
North = Cube_front.tga
South = Cube_back.tga
Up    = Cube_top.tga
West  = Cube_left.tga

[static]
actors.static
[text]
texts.txt

[WOOD]
Wood0 = forest/summer/whc_wood10.tga
Wood1 = forest/summer/whc_wood11.tga
Wood2 = forest/summer/whc_wood12.tga
Wood3 = forest/summer/whc_wood13.tga
Wood4 = forest/summer/whc_wood14.tga

WoodMask2  = forest/summer/JForestMask.tga
WoodMask3  = forest/summer/JForestMask2.tga
WoodMiniMasks = forest/summer/MiniMask.tga
SideWood = forest/summer/ForestSide.tga

[APPENDIX]
HighClouds  = Clouds256.tga
HighCloudsNoise  = CloudsNoise.tga
Moon = Moon\Moon0000.tga
ShadeNoise = land/SandNoise.tga
WaterNoise = water/WaterNoise.tga
WaterNoiseAnimStart = Water/Animated/WaterNoise00.tga
ForestNoise= forest/summer/ListForestNoise.tga
BeachFoam  = water/PacificFoam_.tga
BeachSurf  = water/PacificBeachSurf.tga
BeachLand  = water/RiverLand.tga
CoastBumpNoise = water/CoastBumpNoiseDimas.tga

Tree0 = Trees\MTO_AlteredBush8a.tga
TreeLightMask = Trees\LightM256.tga

[WATER]
Water    = water/PacificWater.tga
WaterColorATI = 0.150 0.225 0.180
WaterColorNV = 0.165 0.264 0.233

[ROADS]
Rail     = land/summer/Rail
Road     = land/summer/Road
Highway  = land/summer/Highway

[FIELDS]
Lowland0 = whc/land/pacific/whc_agriculture_NG.tga,-2
LowLand1 = whc/land/pacific/whc_forestground_NG.tga
LowLand2 = whc/land/pacific/whc_forestground_NG.tga
LowLand3 =

MidLand0 =
MidLand1 = 
MidLand2 = 
MidLand3 =

Mount0   = whc/land/pacific/whc_beachmuddy_NG_GR.tga
Mount1   = whc/land/pacific/whc_forestground_NG.tga
Mount2   = whc/land/pacific/whc_beachmuddy_NG.tga
Mount3   = whc/land/pacific/whc_forestground_NG.tga

Country0 = whc/land/pacific/whc_dcountry_NG.tga
Country1 = whc/land/pacific/whc_beachmuddy_NG_GR.tga
Country2 =
Country3 =

City0    = whc/land/pacific/whc_downcity_NG.tga
City1    = whc/land/pacific/whc_downcity_NG.tga
City2    = land/Pacific/CenterCity.tga
City3    = whc/land/pacific/whc_factoryc_NG.tga

AirField0= whc/land/pacific/whc_fields_airfield_NG.tga
AirField1=
AirField2=
AirField3=

Wood0    = land/pacific/JungleKT.tga
Wood1    =
Wood2    = whc/land/pacific/whc_forestfar_NG.tga,-2
Wood3    =

Water0   = water/water.tga
Water1   = water/water.tga
Water2   = whc/land/pacific/whc_coastline_NG.tga
Water3   = whc/land/pacific/whc_coastline_NG.tga
Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Matthew.

[SAS~Boomer]

This may be the light green texture your talking about,the JungleKT.tga
In the load.ini under Wood0,swap the line like below to use the whc_forestground_NG.tga

All the info helps tremendously 

Wood0    = land/pacific/JungleKT.tga

Edit Wood0 slot to be like below
Wood0    = whc/land/pacific/whc_forestground_NG.tga

copy and paste the above line to load.ini
the originol line mark with a couple forward slashes so the game won't read the line
like below

//Wood0    = land/pacific/JungleKT.tga

the semi-colon also works to prevent the game from reading a line
;Wood0    = land/pacific/JungleKT.tga

Then you could always revert back to whatever you had
saving the line for back up

a full edit would look likebelow
//Wood0    = land/pacific/JungleKT.tga
Wood0    = whc/land/pacific/whc_forestground_NG.tga
Wood1    =
Wood2    = whc/land/pacific/whc_forestfar_NG.tga,-2
Wood3    =

I also see the whc_forestground_NG.tga being used in these other RGB Slots I posted below
so now the 3d tree's should be on that same texture,which should look like the texture on lowland 1 and 2
,as well as Mount1

so where the 3d tree's are, the ground texture should blend in a bit better with the surrounding textures
of Lowland 1 and 2 and Mount1

In the load.ini >
LowLand1 = whc/land/pacific/whc_forestground_NG.tga
LowLand2 = whc/land/pacific/whc_forestground_NG.tga
Mount1   = whc/land/pacific/whc_forestground_NG.tga

in theory at least anyway,never know until you try it   
I'd try it quick,but I'm on my Macbook at the moment without IL-2

hope this helps some
cheers

ps:

BTW
whenever an empty slot exist
like below example,the empty slot uses the last known texture which in this case is the Wood0 texture
So wherever the Wood1 RGB Value is on map_t.tga
it will also show the texture being used in Wood0 slot

Wood0    = whc/land/pacific/whc_forestground_NG.tga
Wood1    =

[mattskii]

Excellent. That did it. I missed the 'woods' section.

Could you please clarify on thing. In relation to the following (see box below), does that mean where the whc_forestground_NG.tga texture is used for classes LowLand1, LowLand2 and Mount1, the forest trees will not display? To put it another way, is the display of the forest trees confined to the 'woods' classes?

Code: [Select]

I also see the whc_forestground_NG.tga being used in these other RGB Slots I posted below
so now the 3d tree's should be on that same texture,which should look like the texture on lowland 1 and 2
,as well as Mount1

so where the 3d tree's are, the ground texture should blend in a bit better with the surrounding textures
of Lowland 1 and 2 and Mount1

In the load.ini >
LowLand1 = whc/land/pacific/whc_forestground_NG.tga
LowLand2 = whc/land/pacific/whc_forestground_NG.tga
Mount1   = whc/land/pacific/whc_forestground_NG.tga
Thanks again.

Cheers,
Matthew.

[SAS~Boomer]

The Lowland 1 and 2 RGB Texture slots
will NOT produce 3d tree's

Nor will it happen on Mount1 RGB Slot

Those three texture slots
will show the texture being used,but will not produce 3d tree's on that texture
Do to being other RGB Values for those slots

Only RGB Value of 24 on map_t.tga will actually produce 3d tree's on it

Below is the load.ini along with the assighned texture RGB Values for each Slot

Code: [Select]

low0 RGB 0
low1 RGB 1
low2 RGB 2
low3 RGB 3

mid0 RGB 4
mid1 RGB 5
mid2 RGB 6
mid3 RGB 7

mount0 RGB 8
mount1 RGB 9
mount2 RGB 10
mount3 RGB 11

country0 RGB 12
country1 RGB 13
country2 RGB 14
country3 RGB 15

city0 RGB 16
city1 RGB 17
city2 RGB 18
city3 RGB 19

airfield0 RGB 20
airfield1 RGB 21
airfield2 RGB 22
airfield3 RGB 23

woods RGB 24
water RGB 31 (surf)
water RGB 30 (no surf)

secondary roads RGB 32
railways RGB 64
highways RGB 128

last three RGB values are flattened,RGB 32,RGB 64 and RGB 128


Other than the RGB values above for the roads/highways and rail roads
RGB values that are above 40, are used to simulate shallow water and surf around coastlines
you won't see water on these areas even though in map_T you've created water textures.

The map_C and mapC_tga.table, are what make shallow areas or deep shoals in water



You can see from the table above
that Lowland1 and 2 are RGB value 1 and 2
Mount1 RGB Value is 9

So whereever,RGB 1,2 and 9 are on Map_t.tga
That whc ground texture will show just like it looks if the texture is viewed in a graphics program
That texture will be displayed on the map
but because it is displayed on RGB 1,2 and 9 there will only be the texture showing on the map but with no 3d tree's

Where as the Wood section is RGB 24 on map_t.tga
and where ever RGB 24 is on map-t.tga there will be 3d tree's being produced

hope that clears it up a bit for you

Cheers

[mattskii]

Thanks Boomer. All make sense.

Pitty there's only one class that produces the 3d trees. Unfortunatley makes for a lot of repetition in the landscape.

Cheers,
Matthew.

[SAS~Boomer]

not sure where your getting at,repetition in landscape
are you trying to use more than one set of 3d tree's ?

[mattskii]

Hi Boomer.

My understanding (correct me if I'm wrong) is that there's only one set of 'Wood' textures (0-4) that can be used for the 3D forests. These constitute the layers that make up the forest canopy. As such, when you fly over the forested areas in any given map, you can see the repeating patterns of the 'Wood' textures. This is esp apparent at altitude. It'd be great if we had the capacity to use more than one set of 3D trees (multiple sets of 'Wood' textures), but it looks to me that it's not the case (again, by all means correct me if I miss understand the tech).

Cheers,
Matthew.

[SAS~Boomer]

Uh nope,you understand it alright

Some tree textures look better than others
thats about all one can do I suppose