New thread for my cloud texture issue

Thanks for adding those great observations to the geog lws post, mdvalley. I'll get them incorporated into the notes today.

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I am finally getting some time to revise the Geog tool. And I am working to validate some assumptions and do general cleanup. I am also adding a "decompress" option that will let you convert a map file back into a CSV file.

More questions and requests:

mdvally: Would you consider writing up a short note on how the coordinate system works? And how object orientation works? You figured out proper Lpoint placement - and I am thankful!

SecondChance: Texture issues. When you where changing the colors while testing rings - did you notice any more details of exactly how the colors change textures. For instance, does the first color change the first texture? Does the first color change the first and second texture?

Anyone:
I know the textures are mixed on planets. Do we know if it is a direct overlap. Or are the textured turned 90 degrees or something?

We know the textures are sometimes turned into rings. Do we know which edge becomes which ring? Bottom to inside? Right to inside?

The textures that PS shipped are all gray, but the planets are colored. Do we understand this relationship? Meaning can we write a formula for it?

[Edit]
Found something cool - an Lpoint can be between a planet and a star. I never realized that the Dante Lpoint was between a Gas Giant, and Hoffers Wake Beta.
-Gtrout

Ok, this is what I know about textures and colors:

• Texture Color 1 adds color to the black part of the grayscale texturemap.
• Texture Color 2 adds color to the white parts of the grayscale texturemaps.
• Texture Color 3 seems to be unused on rock planets.
• The Texture Colors seem to be applied after the 2 greyscale maps are combined.
• The two colors are mixed evenly from one to the other (smooth transition), but this is based on the transition between the black and white areas.
• On a gas planet, Texture Color 1 affects the planet surface map, Texture Color 2 affects the ring color.
• Don't use colors that are too bright (too much white) or too dark (too much black) for the Texture Colors, or the planets will look crappy. (A nice dark brown for the land and dark blue for the ocean, add some clouds, and you've got a nice earthlike planet.)
• Texture Color 3 seems to affect ring opacity in a weird way.
• Don't forget that using 0 rings on a rock planet will allow no clouds, but does add an atmosphere halo. 1 or more rings will always add the clouds from atmospheric texture index 1, but does not add an atmospheric halo.
• The Texture Colors are much lighter in the game than in a color picker. So make them darker than you think they should be.
• If you want to use texture maps that have their own colors, set the Texture Colors to 128 to keep the colors true. But tweaking the texmap colors using the Texture Color values will allow you to use the same color map on different planets and get different results.

I've never seen any textures used for rings other than ring textures, so I don't have any info on that.

What kind of formula do you want for coloring the grey texture maps?

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The Ultimate Guide To Modding: I-War 2 - Edge Of Chaos (on hold during SW MP mod)
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Very helpful - thank you!

Any thoughts on how the texture maps are combined? Are the values just averaged? Does one subtract from the other? In looking at some of the new textured planets, it almost seems like they are bump mapped. Like the second texture is somehow shadowing the first texture.

My reason for asking about formula and texture is that it might be handy to have a way to preview something at least close to the final. And give texture creators some pointers on getting the effects they desire. There are some pretty cool Mars images coming back now on the ESA site, and it would be neat to see some of those kinds of effects on planets (I know, the scale is all wrong, but this is partly Art!)



-Gtrout

Hmm, no ideas on how the textures are combined. I would guess that they were averaged. I haven't had a chance to get a good look at any combined textures yet. But now that I can get the clouds out of the way, I should be able to see them. Then it should be relatively easy to tell.

What new textured planets are you talking about? Are you talking about player made planets? Effects that simulate bump mapping could easily be achieved through the use of faked bevel shadows. For example, look at my Star Wars models, there are many 3D surfaces on the models that are only faked bevels. This would work exactly the same with planet textures.

About previews, you could actually get a great preview of the planet surface by shifting the RGB levels of a greyscale planet texture in a paint program. Of course, you'd need to convert the planet textures to pcx first for viewing using the LBM2PCX converter, and then combine them.

mailto:second_chance@cox.net
The Ultimate Guide To Modding: I-War 2 - Edge Of Chaos (on hold during SW MP mod)
cartoons.sev.com.au/index.php?catid=4
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Yes, player made textures.

I was thinking of writing a small program. I need some C++ practice.

I have noticed some odd things while decompressing the Hoffers Wake map file. Nebula use color values. So do Suns. But I have no clue why, or how. I can tell because if an object uses a value, it will put new and unique bytes of data there. Stations for instance, don't use color, and the 10 stations orbiting a planet will all have texture and color values of the last planet. So I know (at the least) that the structure for a nebula has space reserved for the color values. But they could still be without meaning.

Cloud Opacity - if this value does not actually adjust clouds, I wonder what it does. It is always set to 0 when clouds are set to 255 (no clouds). It is set to a value like 15 or 28 when around a planet that has clouds. It is set to 255 when around a gas giant. I can't remember if we disproved this was atmosphere halo thickness....



-Gtrout