Combining Multiple Texture Layers

Download Code File

Here is a simple datablock which can be used to customize your textures in game. I decided to use a datablock since we have a bunch of characters which will be sharing the same custom textures. But it will work just as well if you have one for each character, although it might be better to just slap the guts of this resource into your character class.

The datablock allows you to specify the base texture which is going to be used to blend the other layers onto. This base texture needs to be RGB format. You can then specify 2D "mount points" for where the layers should be added. (ex. where the eyes should be placed) For each "mount point" you specify a texture filename to blend at that point or some text you want to be rendered. The texture needs to be RGBA. The texture layer or text that you add will be placed centered at the "mount point". I also added in rotation, so that in the datablock you can specify (in degrees) how much each layer should be rotated. (it is just doing nearest neighbor interpolation, so the quality could be improved, but it seems to look ok for our stuff). When you specify text you can also give the font, size, and color.

To use this datablock you will also need to add to consoleTypes.h around line 69:

TypeTextureLayersDataPtr,

Here is an example datablock that is in the player.cs file:

datablock TextureLayersData(DefaultTextureLayersData)
{
  baseTexture     = "TextureLayerExample/data/shapes/player/player.png";
  
  points[0]       = "126 109";
  points[1]       = "325 64";
  points[2]       = "255 420";

  text[0]         = "kick me";
  font[0]         = "arial";
  fontColor[0]    = "255 0 0";
  fontSize[0]     = 28;   

  layerTexture[1] = "TextureLayerExample/data/shapes/player/logo1.png";
  rotation[1]     = 45;   
  
  layerTexture[2] = "TextureLayerExample/data/shapes/player/eyes1.png";
};

When the datablock has been added to the simulation, it will create the texture and store it in a TextureHandle object called texture. Here is what I added to my character class to get the texture to be applied to the shape:

bool WarUnit::onNewDataBlock(GameBaseData* dptr)
{
  mDataBlock = dynamic_cast<WarUnitData*>(dptr);
  if (!mDataBlock || !Parent::onNewDataBlock(dptr))
    return false;
  
  if( isClientObject() )
  {
    TSMaterialList* matlist = mShapeInstance->getMaterialList();

    if( mDataBlock->mTextureData->texture )
    {
      matlist->mMaterials[0] = mDataBlock->mTextureData->texture;
    }
  }
  
  scriptOnNewDataBlock();
  return true;
}

Our datablock has a mTextureData field which stores the texture layer datablock. That way you can have multiple texture layer datablocks if you have more then one material for your shape (we have one for the skin and one for the armor).

If you only have one material on your objects, you could also use the setOverrideTexture() method instead of changing the material list.

When you download the resource there is also an example mod showing
it in action. I also included the changes required to the player class in 1.3
to use this datablock.

I am pretty new to TGE (but lovin' it!) so if you see any problems with how I am doing this, please post a comment and let me know!

Enjoy!