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Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => FS2 Open Coding - The Source Code Project (SCP) => Topic started by: Nico on August 11, 2003, 04:34:30 pm

Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Nico on August 11, 2003, 04:34:30 pm
So, in less than 7 days, Bob has poped up the specular maps, the FOV and the clipping free modifications. Plus I've heard about the -trans tag for the maps. I needed to test it:

(http://www.swooh.com/premium/venom/fs2pics/Valk00.jpg) ( edited, damn case sensitive thinguy :p )

That's my upgraded valk pof ( as usual thrusters don't show, it doesn't have lods or debris, etc etc, but it works ).

The thing uses everything the narmal FS2 exe would hate:
many subobjects ( way more than 1000 polys ), intersecting polys, etc etc etc.
-The clipping is near flawless ( can barely see a poly through the front of the cockpit ), I think that's definitively out of the way, great job Bob ( clipping test area: the cockpit, and the litthe dents bording the recessed areas ).
-the specular map: as cool as it looks, it has a big pb: it seems to work on a poly basis, and it shows on every model I've tried: the polys shows ( look at the "hole" on the midle of the ship, you can see all the polys that are around it, for exemple ). I think it should use the smoothing groups.
-the trans tag: makes the thing invisible :doubt: the windows of the cockpit ARE modelled, but they won't show at all. I've tried a grey and a white map, same result. I tought it might be like the glow map, so I duplicated the map, but w/o the -trans tag, it results in no transparency at all ( white painted windows :p ). maybe I didn't understand how it works, tho.
-FOV: haven't tried yet, plus can do that with anything
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: redmenace on August 11, 2003, 05:00:47 pm
wow that looks awesome. But, I wonder how would the "specular lighting" interact with damage decals? Also how does this effect CPUs? in other words, does this put stress on the CPU or on the GPU?
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Vilkacis on August 11, 2003, 05:02:28 pm
Heh for a second I thought "hey that looks like IWAR2". Great work on the model. Now we just have to get rid of that subobject poly limit and everyone is happy.
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: mikhael on August 11, 2003, 05:13:25 pm
Now all we have to add is event driven animations and lighting to the pofs, surface-based (not texture based) transparency and saner handling of weapon points and we'll have Iwar2. ;)

The model and maps look great, Venom, except, of course, the transparency that you already mentioned. Excellent work on both Bob's part and yours.
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Bobboau on August 11, 2003, 05:19:09 pm
there will always be a poly limet, it might be in the tens of thousands but alocateing the memory just isn't worth it.

that model is... cool.
yes, yes it is

the problem with the shine mapping is that it doesn't like smooth shadeing as much as I would like it, or more properly it doesn't like the sort of smooth shadeing PCS makes, alterations to PCS will likely be needed so the normals can be partaly smoothed, I'll have to look into it.
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Nico on August 11, 2003, 05:20:42 pm
the maps are the original ones, have made no change ( just UVmapped again a couple parts because of all my messing around on the mesh ). I'm actually thinking on how to make photorealistic textures to replace this one, I searched for usable material on google, but to no result for now :doubt:
thanks anyway.
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Fry_Day on August 11, 2003, 05:48:37 pm
Remember that the specularity is due to using the phong illumination model, not phong shading. actual phong shading is a per-pixel operation, so naturally the highlights won't look as smooth, since they're interpolated per-vertex. I'd suggest not messing with the -trans flag yet, as it uses (to my understanding) additive blending, which isn't suited at all to what you're trying to achieve.
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Nico on August 11, 2003, 05:50:09 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Fry_Day
I'd suggest not messing with the -trans flag yet, as it uses (to my understanding) additive blending, which isn't suited at all to what you're trying to achieve.


well, it just makes things 100% invisible, you know :doubt:
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: LAW ENFORCER on August 11, 2003, 06:42:32 pm
they have got this far - they can fix it:yes:


let me make my self clear: THEY CAN  FIX IT!!!:mad:


:lol: :yes:
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Nico on August 11, 2003, 06:53:25 pm
to be honest, I prefer it turns the thing invisible, that way, I won't have to change anything later on when the tag works better :).
back to my brainstorming on how to draw photorealistic textures, now :o
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Taristin on August 11, 2003, 07:22:39 pm
Photo-realistic Valkyrie? This I gotta see.
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: LAW ENFORCER on August 11, 2003, 07:28:52 pm
How can yuo get PHOTO realism on fictional pictures of space ship armour.... got a space ship around ya?:rolleyes:

Seriuosly are you talking about getting pics of metal like on the thing then colour/modifiy them into the map then have the best look FS fighter ever killing all compition from Aldo once and for all! MUH HA HA HA HA HA!!!!


emm... went a bit wonky at the end there but you get the idea?
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Nico on August 11, 2003, 07:31:07 pm
Quote
Originally posted by LAW ENFORCER
How can yuo get PHOTO realism on fictional pictures of space ship armour.... got a space ship around ya?:rolleyes:

emm... went a bit wonky at the end there but you get the idea?


I don't think I'll bother explaining it to you.
Nope, I'm not gonna.
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: LAW ENFORCER on August 11, 2003, 07:33:41 pm
typical:lol:
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Nico on August 11, 2003, 07:43:52 pm
If you say so.
Oh, and I never seeked competition with anybody.
...ah well...
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Nuke on August 12, 2003, 11:46:55 pm
sweet! is this something i can play with now, or do i have to wait? not to fly it, but to make my own ships use those features.

is there any way to render the cockpit interior from the player view? it would make 3d cockpits possible. another idea is to find a way to render the hud upon a polygonal surface in the game. sence the hud is fit to the polygons, you could use the hi res art, otr the low res art as a detail setting, and then anihilate the resolution constraints (that way i can render at 1400 x 1024, my laptop screen's native resolution).

for the windows, could you just use additive transparency and render from an ani. then kind of animate some shimering effects.

another idea, could you load different pilot models, so you can have vasudan pilots, terran pilots, and customized pilot models in multiplayer. the pilot model would be placed relative to the eye point specified in the pof file. it would be kinda cool.
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: diamondgeezer on August 13, 2003, 01:13:56 am
Quote
Originally posted by Venom
Oh, and I never seeked competition with anybody.

Dude, compete with Aldo at every oppertunity. The two of you will produce better models ;7
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Deepblue on August 13, 2003, 01:28:09 am
If only you could see what Aldo has in store for you in Reciprocity... :thepimp:
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Bobboau on August 13, 2003, 02:18:05 am
I just did a test and the trans tag seems to still be working,
in case I wasn't clear on this, -trans doesn't work like every other -something I've done, it is not a seperate map that gets aplyed to the base map it is the base map, in the pof you need window-trans and you need a texture named window-trans.pcx, all this is is a way to set a few flags easily,
and that is why this sort of thing is known as a hack. if you can't get it working some how get the model (and textures) to me and I'll see if everything is set right, but you need to have a seperate texture for the windows than for the rest of the hull.
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Nico on August 13, 2003, 05:41:06 am
Quote
Originally posted by Bobboau
I just did a test and the trans tag seems to still be working,
in case I wasn't clear on this, -trans doesn't work like every other -something I've done, it is not a seperate map that gets aplyed to the base map it is the base map, in the pof you need window-trans and you need a texture named window-trans.pcx, all this is is a way to set a few flags easily,
and that is why this sort of thing is known as a hack. if you can't get it working some how get the model (and textures) to me and I'll see if everything is set right, but you need to have a seperate texture for the windows than for the rest of the hull.


yeah, well, that's exactly what I did...
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Unknown Target on August 13, 2003, 10:15:36 am
Bob, have you implemented all the stuff you just did into one exe?
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Bobboau on August 13, 2003, 10:31:06 am
test this (http://freespace.volitionwatch.com/blackwater/transtest.zip), it works on my machine
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Nuke on August 15, 2003, 02:31:07 pm
i tried the exe and i couldnt get it working at first. so i downloaded the launcher and still it didnt work. the executeable complained about the registry entry videocardfs2open not being there, so i added it manually and set it to 1. i sitll got errors saying that it wouldnt run under dx5 and required dx8 (the launcher setting for dx8 was selected though). i got the game to run under opengl, but without the specular stuff and with alot of crashes. what else needs to be in my registry for the game to run under dx8. btw i run dx9 on an ati mobility 9000 (2.4ghz p4 w/ 128mb ram, winxp). im going to try again on my other computer (geforce4 mx420, p4 1.7ghz, 512 mb ram, dx9, winxp) and see if it works.
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Bobboau on August 15, 2003, 07:51:30 pm
run the launcher without IE or WE open.

you know I am going to add this to that error
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: J.F.K. on August 15, 2003, 10:55:52 pm
Looking that list of achievements, Venom, I wonder what the FreeSpace devs would think of all this.
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Bobboau on August 15, 2003, 11:06:30 pm
too bad daveb got scared off, he was by far my favorite dev
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: J.F.K. on August 15, 2003, 11:46:00 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Bobboau
too bad daveb got scared off, he was by far my favorite dev


daveb? Another of those things that must have been before my time...
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Bobboau on August 15, 2003, 11:50:32 pm
he was one of the big V gods, wrote about half the origonal FS2, probly the most important person behind geting the FS source relesed, just all around nice guy,
finaly had it during the Columbia shutle disaster when some people decided to turn it into an opertunity to beat on America
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: J.F.K. on August 16, 2003, 01:24:51 am
Quote
Originally posted by Bobboau
he was one of the big V gods, wrote about half the origonal FS2, probly the most important person behind geting the FS source relesed, just all around nice guy,
finaly had it during the Columbia shutle disaster when some people decided to turn it into an opertunity to beat on America


Gee... ****. Sounds like he must have been a rare genius, if he wrote half of all this stuff which seems ridiculously complex to me. Bummer. :no:

Maybe you could lure him back with your achievements on FS Open.
Title: Re: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Woolie Wool on August 16, 2003, 01:28:18 am
Quote
Originally posted by Venom
So, in less than 7 days, Bob has poped up the specular maps, the FOV and the clipping free modifications. Plus I've heard about the -trans tag for the maps. I needed to test it:

(http://www.swooh.com/premium/venom/fs2pics/Valk00.jpg) ( edited, damn case sensitive thinguy :p )
*snip*


Do the transparent cockpit thing with the Apollo and put up the zip. That kicks ass.
Title: Re: Re: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Ace on August 16, 2003, 01:52:21 am
Quote
Originally posted by Woolie Wool


Do the transparent cockpit thing with the Apollo and put up the zip. That kicks ass.


I'm a little surprised considering the source material how good the cockpit and pilot look.

The real test would be an Anubis though ;) (Mainly seeing the cockpit on the central vertical fin showing a little Vasudan in it would be so cute...)
Title: Re: Re: Re: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Nico on August 16, 2003, 05:41:09 am
Quote
Originally posted by Ace


I'm a little surprised considering the source material how good the cockpit and pilot look.

The real test would be an Anubis though ;) (Mainly seeing the cockpit on the central vertical fin showing a little Vasudan in it would be so cute...)


hmm, head to the descent network website, you'll see the material is plenty and way enough.
well, the vasudan I have it ( Bob's mesh, thanks :) ), but I have absolutly no idea of how a vasudan coskpit could look like...
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Bobboau on August 16, 2003, 06:41:56 am
;)

hey did that zipped up file with the -trans tag work?
should have made the Ulysses transparent (with inverted colors)
if it didn't then something is seriusly screwed up.
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Nico on August 16, 2003, 10:35:10 am
Quote
Originally posted by Bobboau
;)

hey did that zipped up file with the -trans tag work?
should have made the Ulysses transparent (with inverted colors)
if it didn't then something is seriusly screwed up.


haven't tried yet, I can't right now, so I'll test it tomorrow.
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Nuke on August 16, 2003, 11:30:56 am
i will give it a spin from the command line and see it it works. leave it to windows to screw things up.
Title: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Ace on August 16, 2003, 02:23:36 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Venom


hmm, head to the descent network website, you'll see the material is plenty and way enough.
well, the vasudan I have it ( Bob's mesh, thanks :) ), but I have absolutly no idea of how a vasudan coskpit could look like...


Well I know about that site, I'm just surprised how good the textures came out considering that you had to yank 'em from those images ;)
Title: Re: Re: Re: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Woolie Wool on August 16, 2003, 02:33:51 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Ace


I'm a little surprised considering the source material how good the cockpit and pilot look.

The real test would be an Anubis though ;) (Mainly seeing the cockpit on the central vertical fin showing a little Vasudan in it would be so cute...)


Zods are not cute.
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Unknown Target on August 16, 2003, 03:41:10 pm
Hey, Venom, how you do that? I'm doing the same thing with a Perseus using a cockpit I stole + modified from Macross VO :D Not as good as yours, but I'd like to know how you did the cockpit bars + stuff...
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Solatar on August 16, 2003, 03:44:24 pm
Nice work Venom, looks like it came straight outta the fs1 opening cutscene (Valkyrie instead of Apollo bomber thingy, but still :D).

Now you have to do that with at least all the fs1 port ships.:D
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Ace on August 16, 2003, 04:25:27 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Solatar
Nice work Venom, looks like it came straight outta the fs1 opening cutscene (Valkyrie instead of Apollo bomber thingy, but still :D).

Now you have to do that with at least all the fs1 port ships.:D


It's going to be interesting if the final SCP ships look as good as the FS1 intro cutscene due to the improved lighting, etc.
Title: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: Nico on August 16, 2003, 08:35:39 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Unknown Target
Hey, Venom, how you do that? I'm doing the same thing with a Perseus using a cockpit I stole + modified from Macross VO :D Not as good as yours, but I'd like to know how you did the cockpit bars + stuff...


I cut them in the mesh and weld the useless vertices, not very complicated.
Title: Re: Re: Re: Bob's exe benchmark
Post by: J.F.K. on August 16, 2003, 08:37:50 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Ace
a little Vasudan in it would be so cute...)


A Vasudan? Cute?