[Bobboau]

I made these a long time ago and I don't feel like converting them to the correct format, but I thought some people would like them and useing virtualdub get them into avi format

[Bobboau]

and you might like to see an effect I'm planning for BWO, look at the docking pad of the station, note the depth

[DaBrain]

Wow the effect is pretty cool

How did you do that? (How many textures does it use?)

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by DaBrain
Wow the effect is pretty cool

How did you do that? (How many textures does it use?)

Looks like multiple layers of textures with alpha transparency to help create the illusion of depth.  Hard to actually make out anything from that clip, tho.

[Taristin]

Yeah, I'd have to agree with that. It does look like there's depth, though. Which is cool and all. But making all those targas with alpha transparency would be too difficult for me. >.>

[Liberator]

Those lockons are cool, but they'll need some work to be usable.  I don't have the skills to do it anyway.

[Lightspeed]

The first lock-on rocks.

[Rictor]

screenies?

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by Raa
Yeah, I'd have to agree with that. It does look like there's depth, though. Which is cool and all. But making all those targas with alpha transparency would be too difficult for me. >.>

Nah, it'd be piss easy.  Those look like the arcadia maps, which are mostly straight lines IIRC - ideal for making masks.

[Taristin]

I guess. Mayhaps I'm just too lazy:p (Or I don't actually know how to do alpha transparency, unless it's the same as alpha environment just on the texture file.

[Bobboau]

there's four layers in it, and it's just an alpha mask, it looks almost exactly like that in game wich is realy cool when you fly over the surface, maybe this would give someone some ideas for an HTL Arcadia

[Lightspeed]

Cool cool. A way to simulate displacement mapping

However, I fear its definately not gonna do the performance any good, making you use more than four times more texture space.

[aldo_14]

Not if it's the same texture used 4 times with a position tweak, unless imverymuchmistaken.

[DaBrain]

And how does it work?
I'd like to try that one myself.

[Lightspeed]

You have a model with four "hulls" over each other. Parts of the textures from the outermost hull are transparent. Inside these parts you see through to hull #2. In those spaces, some parts from hull #2's texture are transparent, and you see through to hull#3. In these little areas, hull #3 will have some transparent spots, letting you look through to hull #4.

aldo: Same texture with tweaked positions won't work for most textures or ships, sadly.

[Liberator]

How heavy is this computer-resource wise?  If it can be done on a wholesale basis with next-to-no-impact FPS wise, this could be used to create the illusion of depth in Fighterbays on warships as well as dynamic hull details on everything.

[karajorma]

As far as I can see it's no more resource intensive than a few polys per layer as far as modelling goes. Textures are another mater completely. If you UV map the layers and put them on the same map as everything else there will be no cost at all. Start using seperate maps and it's going to cost you for each one. (I'm assuming that alpha  channels still work when both parts of the model are textured from the same texture.)

[Bobboau]

the more you use the effect the less inefecent it would be, as stated it uses four textures in two relitively small flat places, useing the same texture would help but the diferent layers realy sort of need to be in diferent subobject in order to give you any controle, though that would be less important if you only used fully transparent / fully opaque alpha

[Taristin]

You could easily use one map, if you seperate the arcadia parts on a different map, and alpha mapped it that way. So you could have one texture for the multiple details.