Iv been working hard at trying to create a house but texturing is proving a problem. I have a few questions and was hoping somebody out there would have the answers i am looking for.

Firstly iv recently made a breakthrough using an add on for gimp allowing me to make the normal map. Now my question is as follows why does the standard .dds size stay in evens 1024x1024 or 512x512 iv noticed this in other people models. Is there a must for this as my file size is un-even in this respect.

Also now iv added the normal map to my house aswel as the diffuse map i see no difference. Although my laptop will not display on highest so is that maybe why?.

Iv take the liberty and have uploaded the screen shot of my texture files.

Am i on the right track any help or feedback would be greatly appreciated and is certainly needed .

Wenga (Also proximity mines are fun!)

For the normal map to work it must have the same name as the diffuse map, with _N at the end instead of _D. For example, if your diffuse map is mytexture_D.dds, your normal map must be mytexture_N.dds.

Yeah iv got them named like that but i cant say i really noticed a difference, my laptop is fast but graphically it does suck so i'm almost certain that's why the change isn't very dramatic. Now does the size (width/length) of my texture matter?. Like iv said it's not in a used size like every body else's 1024x1024. Now does this matter for the files to work in conjunction with one another?. Also what texture file is named in the fpe file just to be sure i.e is it the diffuse texture?.

Thank you for your response.

Wenga

Its more lenient on modern graphics hardware. However, the power of two size (1024*1024 etc.) optimise the texture for your hardware.

If you want to know what its about. Check this out.



You are! What you produced there looks fine so far. (you might want to color the sign a single color (same as its background) where the text is, otherwise the sign will look 3Dimensional where it should look flat. I hope you understand this, I think I explained this as bad as possible but I can't explain it in better english.

Do you have a specular map (_S) ? Could you upload your .fpe so we can see these settings?



-Wolf

Hey thank you, as in regards to your first bit i think i see what you mean, but i will certainly have a read through the link hopefully that will shed some light .

And ha! you know i had to read it a few times to relate to what you meant, i believe by sign you mean welcome mat, that caused the confusion the rest in it's own way made sense . So yes i'm with you now, it appears embossed so it stands out and will look raised against the other texture, you know at first i hadn't realised so thank you for pointing that out.

Your post has been most helpful . I'v attached the fpe.

Wenga

Check you have the FPE settings updated to your new images. Reloaded should automatically use any spec and normal maps then.



textured = TextureName _D.dds



Also, remember to delete your .bin and .dbo files for the object when you reload an object in with a new texture. I did a video tutorial on playing around with normal maps using gimps plugin, so it may be worth giving that a watch to see all the steps involved if you are still having difficulty.



Gimp normal map video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU0VivxibxI



Object import video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWhhAPy0ERk



I'm sure you should be off and going soon enough!



Edit - Lol, took too long to post! Looking at your FPE, I would say to try getting rid of the first underscore, so house_1_D.DDS would be house1_D.dds. Rename the fpe and files to suit. I believe I fell into that trap on the first video, lol. I could be wrong, but I am fairly sure the extra underscore confuses Reloaded.



Also, as a last idea, make sure you are on highest shader settings for your entities.

Oh! Its a floormat! Ah!

But yes, thats exactly what I meant. I also figured out why your normalmaps don't show up, you don't have a shader selected.
Change this line in the fpe:

"effect=effectbank\reloaded\entity_basic.fx"



-Wolf

Hiya thanks for that i will check both those out too. I'm quite brushed up on some of what does what like the temporary dbo and fpi files so i tend to delete them because they don't update on there own, i presume at some point they will implement that if it's even worth doing deleting them is pretty painless haha!. And you know i had i feeling i had read that somewhere and really wasn't sure, so ill do it now just to be safe.

As a side note when using a .png you can use transparent textures for windows or bottles but the transparency is lost when i use .dds and i'm guessing .png wont work in conjunction with other .dds files i.e the specular and normal because the first texture would be .png?.
And it automatically creates a .dds file of the .png i would be using. Now is this being used by fps even though my .fpe would say otherwise?. Or is it just created by default?.
Also even when using a .png the transparent texture only views objects placed before the texture that is transparent yet there is no way to keep that texture refreshing once it's loaded in game for example.

Sorry for that massive unload of questions feel free to answer them in stages over a succession of days haha!.

Cheers Wenga

Haha! yeah its a door mat . Looks quite good. Or it looks like a sign :/ lol. And ahhh you know iv often pondered the significance and noticed by default most or all static items iv seen have that set as standard makes sense now. Most of my limited knowledge comes from just faffing around can't bring my self to read masses of information. Maybe i should haha!. But i like forums they give you that personal touch .

So again many thanks Wenga

I thought i'd post this just so people where aware there's an add-on i found last night for gimp which has just made my life a whole lot easier and i was totally un-aware of its existence haha! Its called insane bump it creates all of the extra textures needed for a model with just one easy click it really is effective . Its a fantastic little time saver.

Wenga

Thats how I learned everything I know too



Any luck on seeing that model with a shader applied then?

(Besides: The mods don't really like it when people double or triple post )



-Wolf

Yeah it's more fun that way readings boring haha!.

And yeah i managed to get a-lot sorted it really is looking spot on so thank you for that. Shame transparent textures don't function correctly, because my windows are no longer see through but there a muddy brown so they just look dirty so it's cool. I also realised my normal map had to many layers so it was looking super strange on full spec so i'v reduced it now. Looks better!.

That add on really is a time saver does them all, just out of curiosity it does an occlusion map and this other one i can't remember the name of, yet fps currently only uses 3 i can see but has an occlusion setting in the editor. Is that setting not in use yet?.

And i don't get the last bit (am i posting too much do you think?) because i do get a little carried away haha!.

I shall upload the finished product when i'm done because i know i'm getting screenshot happy . And plus no-body in my social circle can comprehend this stuff and just blank out when i talk to them so here is my only option lol.

Many thanks Wenga

No! Not at all, you can post as much as you want! Its just that you shouldn't post multiple times in a row. You can always edit a post if you have more to add and then wait for another user to post and so on. I hope you got that, because my english really rusted in the months I paused gamemaking.







Most in mine don't even know about this.







-Wolf

Lol yep I work in mining so very few there even know I'm not computer illiterate like all the other miners, even got one bloke who is in their 20's coming round on break so I can show him how to use email and add attachments.

I don't think your English fairs up to bad, in-fact if you hadn't of said wolf i would never have guessed . And yeah i edit them quite a-lot although i have noticed when doing so it use to add a / to the end of every paragraph not sure if it still does. Also iv seen some of your latest stuff in store looking really good, seriously in to the whole fantasy genre aren't you?.

Hi Au shadow no way mining you say, i can't say i'v ever known anyone to do that as a profession ace, hard work i bet. And yeah we are all but slim pickings my brother tries to keep up but it's not the same outlet as here the forum really proves to be a useful tool. I never really got in to the swing of the old fps so i never used the old forum, this game engine just offers so much more and has a-lot of potential. Never before has such a powerful engine been made so user friendly. I'v tried others in the past but without prior programming knowledge they where just lost on me and god knows i'v tried to learn c++ did a course but dropped out after a year hurt my brain to much!. haha!.

Wenga

Lol mining is a very general term, my actual job in mining is a heavy duty mechanic so I get to maintain and repair all the large diesel machinery, drill rigs and explosive vehicles

You maintain these machines in a garage or under-ground?



Actually, if I screw my career, I just get a "Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English" and teach it in some third world country.
But thanks!!



Thanks! Yes, kinda! I try to make a videogame that focusses less on violence and a fantasy setting offers a lot of creative freedom. I currently work on a scifipack for the store though... it will have a battlemech
But...these are the genres I work in. Fantasy and Sci-Fi.


-Wolf

Underground. Its a dirty filthy job but its pretty common around where I live and the pays all right

What matters is that it doesn't bore you out of your skull or is toxic. Those are the worst jobs.







-Wolf

Morning Wolf, although it might not be morning by the time you read this haha!. Yeah i like fantasy always have i'm a big lover of dragons because there just awesome . But when it come's to designing a game i'm more of a modern day Apocalypse type guy. Fallout springs to mind!.



Oh and i noticed your new thread and i must say wow! the sword you've created really is fantastic, it's a shame the poly counts so high it's not usable as a prop and i'm guessing a poly reducer would just ruin it?.



Right now the main reason i'v posted is because i'm still stuck trying to texture my house, now i'v got all the textures but when i put the fps graphic settings to high my model looks odd. It's to detailed also now i know this is a specular problem but it also has a shine across it. Now to sort this doe's the specular just need to be darker?.



Anyways i was hoping if i uploaded my model and textures you would perhaps try it on a higher powered machine for me which mine just isn't just to see if it's not my laptop doing it. Or is it the way i'v created my textures have i perhaps done something wrong?. I shall upload several screenshots just to give you an idea of whats going on. And if your happy to help i can always upload the model and textures for you too.



The second picture i'v re-edited the specular map so the windows are brighter in colour than the rest so they appear shinier now. I'v also just used a copy of the diffuse map for my normal map to clear it up slightly but i know it still needs a proper normal map, i just can't seem to get it to look right.



Wenga

True! Its evening



Oh! Thank you!
A polyreducer wouldn't work well but if I remove the tribal-sun elements, its only 1740 Polygons which is acceptable as a deco-prop.



From how this looks, I'd say yes. Darken the specular map. A house does not reflect and shine that much anyway. Alternatively, you can PM me the textures and I do it for you.

The house is great though!! I noticed you also made indoor parts.



Certainly! Just send me the whole thing and I can see what I would change.



-Wolf

Morning/Afternoon/Evening .



Hey that shouldn't be to hard then because it would be a shame to miss out on such a nice model . And i'm rather fond of swords have a reasonable sized collection at home. Oh and perhaps make a wall bracket or a stand to display it.



And ace! I was kinda hoping that would be your answer haha!. I'v tried so many times now to get the look right and still no joy.



Thank you for saying so . And yes all the inside walls and ceiling, floors etc are all done and textured even the stairs it's not 100 percent there yet though there\'s a few gaps that need texturing i got carried away trying to do the rest of the textures so i\'d say it's like 98 percent there. But you\'ll get to have a good walk round it once it's up loaded..



My aim is to get at-least one model store ready not because i want any money, i want the badge/medal thing you get in forum hahaha!.



Well thank you very much wolf i will up-load everything i have once i know your online ..



Wenga

Well after much messing about i think i'm on the right track with regards to my normal map. There was a few reasons i think it was playing up, the first being the texture settings in deled so i had to re-import it and re-texture the lot, so i realised it was far easier to make a new house. The second being my texture layout it's self. I couldn't seem to get it to convert the whole lot to a normal map without it going nuts so i had to do tile by tile. And lastly to finish off this great effort i had to scale down a-lot of the texture's to a basic coloured shape i.e a roof tile has just the outline of the tiles with a block colour inside so it's just a coloured in rectangle and then convert it. Omg!!!!



I have no idea why it's been this hard, maybe i'm still learning so i'v just screwed up a-lot during this whole process. Or perhaps deled just isn't as good as more advanced modelers out there so it makes hard work of it.



Anyways i'v uploaded a screenshot of my progress thus far. (High Graphics setting)



Wenga

For a better result I usually press Tab.... Then turn the ambience down to about 20%...Followed by the Ambience colours to around 70%

then the surface colours for the final touch......it gets rid of the horrible bright glare and makes the normal really stand out



But that's just my preference

Ahhh thanks i shall try that, it's been a right mess about. Is it usually a time consuming process creating normal and specular maps or is it just me haha!. And just because i'm curious but what program do you use to model and texture etc?. I'm thinking of trying something new, deled was free and advised to start off with and it's served me well so far but it lacks a-lot. And i think to progress i'm going to need something that offers a-lot more.



wenga

Yeah, I always have to drop the ambient light down to get most models looking anything like. Otherwise they look really super bright and horrible. The new brightness and contrast settings can look great, but the default setting seems to be awful. I have also noticed having shadows on full can introduce artifacts as well. Always best to test that out, and get the scene looking correct in Reloaded before overly changing your maps.

I find texturing the hardest part of modeling also. I can spend way longer tweaking the texture than I do creating the model. It's normally worth the effort once you see your finished object looking all swanky in Reloaded of course

Totally agree with you ....The Default isn't actually good but if you play around with the ambience settings to suit your map it can look pretty impressive ..

Yeah i have noticed the same, although it does have a-lot of options it's hard finding lighting that suits as it changes the look of my objects quite dramatically.



Well after like 50 attempts i'v realised how to go about creating my normal map. It takes abit of messing around but here is a snap shot of my house, i'v used the normal to accent the brick.



I now know that in order for me to get it to work i need to pick the bits i want to look 3d or have depth so in the case of the brick i'v normal mapped just the mortar and deleted the rest of the brick so it give's the impression of depth.



I can understand what people mean now when they say a good texture can look really effective with-out the need to make super fancy 3d details on your model.



I gather to most this is pretty straight forward but for me it's been a long tedious process of trial and error.



Wenga

I use Crazy Bump for texturing... very easy to use with full control



http://www.crazybump.com/



Set it how you like then save all the textures in one hit.....Worth a look and there is a demo to try first.

Yeah i'v tried it but just couldn't seem to get the over all look i wanted, it does make it a breeze though. I'v just got the normal map plug in for gimp, but i still have to faff around lots, otherwise the brick gets textured with the normal too and it just doesn't seem right, so i'v cropped just the mortar to give to look in the screenshot above but it's still a long way off.

Wenga