TGE Detail maps (let's fix it)
by Apparatus · 06/21/2008 (5:26 pm) · 23 comments
I know detail map code is in there, Milkshape exporter has (had?) it, Lightwave exporter has it (complete with detail scale), 3dsMax (version 8 tested) exporter has it if you add the detail texture in the Ambient slot of the material. Yet in Torque no detail maps show up..
I recon it is not so important for many people but sometimes it really makes the difference; In TGE a small / medium object with a proper diffuse map could look great; in TGEA the fancy normal mapping and specular make indeed wonders. What if you run into a problem when you really could use a good ol' trick?
I was making these huge mountain bits and since the textures are relatively perfect for the job one may think it was enough. Well, it isn't : ) TGE recommends a maximum resolution of 512x512. On current hardware, 1024x1024 can be used here an there with no problem at all. I can't say about TGEA cause I don't have it / never looked into the issue.
The following example has a good 1024x1024 texture estate (with a bit of repeating as well) and should provide enough detail and it does, as looking at it from a distance ; On a close up however, we got ourselves a huge chunk of the screen covered with this dull blurred texture. And we really need some detail there since the player is about 2 m high (and that's about half the square zoomed region).
no detailmap whatsoever:
with detail map - the same texture cause I haven't bothered to create one so you get dirty spots and a bit of saturation from it:
Since this is looking right in ShowToolPro, the question is why it doesn't show up in TGE (1.4 and up)? I am willing to provide assistance to whomever is good at this and maybe we can fix this and release it to the community.
Also, the guy who can fix this in a quick manner will get a free bundle (2 packs: Bridge Pack and TGE Mountain - or environment pack as I call it for the moment);
Post here your ideas or write me an email if you're interested. Thanks!
I recon it is not so important for many people but sometimes it really makes the difference; In TGE a small / medium object with a proper diffuse map could look great; in TGEA the fancy normal mapping and specular make indeed wonders. What if you run into a problem when you really could use a good ol' trick?
I was making these huge mountain bits and since the textures are relatively perfect for the job one may think it was enough. Well, it isn't : ) TGE recommends a maximum resolution of 512x512. On current hardware, 1024x1024 can be used here an there with no problem at all. I can't say about TGEA cause I don't have it / never looked into the issue.
The following example has a good 1024x1024 texture estate (with a bit of repeating as well) and should provide enough detail and it does, as looking at it from a distance ; On a close up however, we got ourselves a huge chunk of the screen covered with this dull blurred texture. And we really need some detail there since the player is about 2 m high (and that's about half the square zoomed region).
no detailmap whatsoever:
with detail map - the same texture cause I haven't bothered to create one so you get dirty spots and a bit of saturation from it:
Since this is looking right in ShowToolPro, the question is why it doesn't show up in TGE (1.4 and up)? I am willing to provide assistance to whomever is good at this and maybe we can fix this and release it to the community.
Also, the guy who can fix this in a quick manner will get a free bundle (2 packs: Bridge Pack and TGE Mountain - or environment pack as I call it for the moment);
Post here your ideas or write me an email if you're interested. Thanks!
About the author
Tarakibu Studio
#22
06/22/2008 (4:58 pm)
Whoops, may have been bad phrasing. I was kind of rushed at the time. What I meant to say is, my code implemented both with and without your code didn't seem to make much difference on the object. I was thinking maybe some objects that had a smallestVisibleDL !=0 may have had a difference with your code fix. Your code does cause a big difference from stock TGE 1.5.2, but I meant in combination with my effort. 
#23
06/22/2008 (5:04 pm)
Ah, gottach :-) Yeah, I was worried there for a minute that there may have been yet another path through the code that I wasn't seeing with the test model that I've got. All of those selectCurrentDLNew2Newer3Ex(random argument list) methods were starting to make my head spin ;-)
Torque Owner Redacted
Hardcoding mCurrentIntraDetailLevel to 1.0 for the last DL does cause the detail maps to be drawn, but they don't fade out as the distance from the camera increases. That's one of the solutions that I considered. Perhaps the lack of fading isn't important, and hardcoding mCurrentIntraDetailLevel to 1.0 for the last DL does prevent the "popping" issue that I mentioned in the thread. I'm not sure why you're not seeing any difference with my suggested change though... I am seeing a difference here using the model that Apparatus sent me. I took a version with detail map and without and set them right against each other and the difference was pretty obvious (here at least :-)