Fall Lodge - Autumn 2017 Level (released pg. 3)

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machf
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Re: Fall Lodge - Autumn 2017 Level

Post by machf »

What happens if you use 32-bit images with R, G, B and Alpha channels?
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Re: Fall Lodge - Autumn 2017 Level

Post by TheIdiot »

The level looks really awesome so far, Drac. I feel relieved in a way to see a level with unique scenery in the works. I'm also very happy with your choice of terrain textures, they go together really well and look very autumn-y. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the JPDS-ish fog, it seems a bit excessive and the level would probably look a bit more realistic if you went for a misty look rather than a dark, dreary foggy one. You really seem to like doing levels with dense, impenetrable fog! :P
To put words into pictures, something like this:
Click on Image
(Click on thumbnail for full size)
Image
Orangeish fog drifting vaguely and mysertiously through the trees, with a bright, somewhat washed-out pink or orange sky. Could do some really cool stuff with the CE sky in combination with the Fog, Ambient, DLight and Clut settings along those lines... :)
At any rate... The forest looks amazing, especially notable for the way it actually hides surroundings, unlike regular Tres in which you can see right through the jungle even when object population is dense (with the exception of recent ground foliage models introduced by TI).
Yeah, the old models do sort of have that problem. Good use of the TC~Isle shrubs in combination with some of the taller ground foliage models from retail can do a decent job of that, though, if you don't want to take the "jungle maze" route.
Well I figured it out and atm it looks like the HD texture route will work fine. A note for future modders (which I believe was mentioned by Lee), Tres CE does not seem to care about opacity maps for HD textures and simply computes pure black as opacity. Am in the process of recoloring the all-black areas in the tree textures which are not meant to be transparent.
What happens if you use 32-bit images with R, G, B and Alpha channels?
32-bit/alpha .dds files is what I use, and they work perfectly. And partial alpha works as well, even if the .bmp file you are replacing isn't 24-bit, so you can do that to avoid the bugs associated with 24-bit textures by overriding 8-bit opacity-enabled textures with .dds files. I would highly recommend you use this method instead to avoid loss of quality.
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Re: Fall Lodge - Autumn 2017 Level

Post by Draconisaurus »

TheIdiot wrote:I can't say I'm a huge fan of the JPDS-ish fog, it seems a bit excessive and the level would probably look a bit more realistic if you went for a misty look rather than a dark, dreary foggy one. You really seem to like doing levels with dense, impenetrable fog! :P
To put words into pictures, something like this:
Click on Image
(Click on thumbnail for full size)
Image
Orangeish fog drifting vaguely and mysertiously through the trees, with a bright, somewhat washed-out pink or orange sky. Could do some really cool stuff with the CE sky in combination with the Fog, Ambient, DLight and Clut settings along those lines... :)
Fog haters gonna hate! :lol: No one seems to like my dense fog... IRL, dense fog is my favorite outdoor condition (even better if accompanied with light rain and wet temperate rainforest). The image example you provide does look nice, I'll take a look at what different fog levels look like. The other setting, we'll see, aaand... We'll see with the CE sky. This is probably the time to try that thing out again.
32-bit/alpha .dds files is what I use, and they work perfectly. And partial alpha works as well, even if the .bmp file you are replacing isn't 24-bit, so you can do that to avoid the bugs associated with 24-bit textures by overriding 8-bit opacity-enabled textures with .dds files. I would highly recommend you use this method instead to avoid loss of quality.
machf did provide the source website but I do not wish to divide all those textures up again. Then again, each model has a full-rectangle-mesh version (the detail submodel), in theory I could use that to replace all ingame instances. I haven't actually checked the site machf pointed out; if it provides single, large textures for each tree, I might go that route. It's less tempting than it might be because the ingame result is already top-notch from how many 256^2 textures were made.
Also, I'm unclear on what partial alpha is or why I need be concerned about it if DDS is the suggested format..
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Re: Fall Lodge - Autumn 2017 Level

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Also, I'm unclear on what partial alpha is or why I need be concerned about it if DDS is the suggested format..
What I mean is when you need something to be translucent, in that you can see through it but not all the way through, like with windows or water. Usually you'd have to use a 24-bit texture to accomplish this, but you can do the same using the .dds format and override an 8-bit texture instead. Which is generally preferrable since you won't have the bugs (like shifted textures and poor rendering) that 24-bit textures can be subject to.
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Re: Fall Lodge - Autumn 2017 Level

Post by machf »

Draconisaurus wrote: machf did provide the source website but I do not wish to divide all those textures up again. Then again, each model has a full-rectangle-mesh version (the detail submodel), in theory I could use that to replace all ingame instances. I haven't actually checked the site machf pointed out; if it provides single, large textures for each tree, I might go that route. It's less tempting than it might be because the ingame result is already top-notch from how many 256^2 textures were made.
Also, I'm unclear on what partial alpha is or why I need be concerned about it if DDS is the suggested format..
You don't need to divide any textures. I included LoD meshes for the billboards which used single textures, remember? You only need to use those instead of the larger billboards with divided ones, and add the original textures (which already are in DDS format, IIRC - I had to split and convert each of them) externally without any other modification than matching the name...
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Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
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Re: Fall Lodge - Autumn 2017 Level

Post by Draconisaurus »

*very sick today from drinking too much* Uhhhh yes that makes sense. Pretty simple, just need to add opacity to the full versions, along with what you mentioned.
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Re: Fall Lodge - Autumn 2017 Level

Post by machf »

Thinking about it, I may take some time later this week to make a CE-version of that billboard pack myself. May even take the time to finish porting the rest of the billboard textures into Trespasser as CE versions, too...
Visit The Carnivores Saga - a forum devoted to modding Action Forms' Carnivores, Carnivores 2 and Carnivores: Ice Age games
Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
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Re: Fall Lodge - Autumn 2017 Level

Post by Draconisaurus »

Well, if you're going to do that, I'll hold off on that from my end... Meanwhile, it would be super-helpful if you could be sure that the resulting model/pivot-point orientation remains the same, so that the basement models may be updated and not alter the apparent position of ingame instances.
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Re: Fall Lodge - Autumn 2017 Level

Post by machf »

Given that I'll do it just by using the already-made LoD meshes and adding the original textures, that's already been taken care of...
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Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
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Re: Fall Lodge - Autumn 2017 Level

Post by Draconisaurus »

machf - how are those updated trees coming? Will they be done by Monday morning?
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Re: Fall Lodge - Autumn 2017 Level

Post by machf »

Depends. I *could* maybe turn on my old PC tomorrow...
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Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
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Re: Fall Lodge - Autumn 2017 Level

Post by Draconisaurus »

*sigh* Well progress continues... Can't get bloody BigAl to actually go to his StayNearTarget. He either runs away or stands still. In fact, StayNearOK values under 1.0 seem to make him stop further away than, say, 1.0. Ontop of this I'm convinced there is some scaling involved in the scripted distance value, relative to one or more of the models involved...
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Re: Fall Lodge - Autumn 2017 Level

Post by machf »

See, what I need are the original hi-res textures, and I didn't copy those over to this PC... once I do, it's only a matter of minutes to make CE-ready high res versions of the Autumn billboards. And after that, I can work on the other ones which I never got around to release...

Are you sure you're setting the StayNear parameters properly?

Code: Select all

bool 	ActStayNear 	false 	When you get far enough away, run back to target. See StayNearOK, StayNearMax and StayNearTarget.

string 	StayNearTarget 	must specify 	Object near which the dinosaur should stay. Can be of any class.
float 	StayNearMax 	must specify 	Maximum distance from target at which dinosaur can get before turning back towards the target (ActStayNear is triggered).
float 	StayNearOK 	must specify 	Distance from target at which dinosaur doesn't need to get closer anymore (ActStayNear isn't enforced anymore). StayNearOK < StayNearMax
Particularly, remember that StayNearOK < StayNearMax.
Visit The Carnivores Saga - a forum devoted to modding Action Forms' Carnivores, Carnivores 2 and Carnivores: Ice Age games
Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
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Re: Fall Lodge - Autumn 2017 Level

Post by Draconisaurus »

It's a fairly simple system; that description matches what I already knew. At least, for how it's SUPPOSED to work. How it ACTUALLY works seems to be more complicated. A StayNearMax of 2 won't necessarily bring the CAnimal to that distance before they start wandering in other directions, even with all other AI turned off (as a note, ActStayNear does not even work if ActApproach is set to false). I am wondering about things like, how well (or at all?) can the CAnimal pinpoint the StayNearTarget if it is behind physics from its perspective; and, does the CAnimal stop short of the StayNearTarget if they process that their physical shape will not fit in the space this would bring them to (basic AI programming for obstacle-course steering getting in the way)? ...

THIS JUST IN: Got the AI working perfectly, by erecting physical barriers to prevent wandering (AI boxes were not cutting it) which teleport into and out of the scene at the right times.
However, after assigning additional collision-detection triggers for its body, its AI behaves differently (no other differences) and its approach to the StayNearTarget is considerably delayed.
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Re: Fall Lodge - Autumn 2017 Level

Post by TheIdiot »

Hmm. Your AI seems to be acting up a bit, Draco. Have you been setting their Mood values as well? I found that too many mood conflicts can result in weird stuff such as this. Also, some acts, such as ActMoveAway, can cause your dinosaurs to permanently ignore certain instances for some reason. I'm not too certain on much of this yet, but if I were you, I'd put down two different dinosaurs in a spot with some flora and add and remove values from one dinosaur one at a time and see how it responds. You can see what it is currently focusing on when you turn on the "BONES" cheat, which can help you figure out the reason for an AI stall or weird behavior.

Also, have you looked into using Pathfinding for the dinosaurs at all? I find it improves their navigation skills quite a bit. :)
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