[WIP] Lighthouses mod

[MLF]

Originally Posted by the_frog

kendras,

you have been wondering why the AO map does not appear? Well, simple answer is that you exported and re-imported the model without caring for the 2nd UV channel, which "carries" the AO map.
So, go back to the original file gap kindly provided, re-export the model and make sure that also the 2nd uv channel is ticked, then import both channels into the new file; again make sure the 2nd channel is ticked. That's it. The AO map works nicely.

Cheers

I'm confused here. When I ran Gaps file after remapping the ID's, and not having exported or imported the model, the AO was not showing. I have just included an AO controller in the dat file (see my screenshot) and now I have weed on the rock. I'm starting to feel I've been smoking the stuff

[the_frog]

MLF,

gap's original file already included the correct settings for the AO map. I have no idea why you had to re-do what you call the AO controller after re-mapping the IDs. The re-mapping of IDs does not change anything with the settings of AO map. For testing, I did a ID re-mapping of gap's original file and AO appears without any problem ...

I may add that there is an error in gap's original file -- the static object controller is not set up correctly.

I acutally referred only to kendras' lighthouse file. In that the 2nd UV channel is missig and so AO will not work at all.

Cheers

[MLF]

The_frog,

This is what I did:-

Installed Gaps .dat file in locations and ran a mission I created in SH3 - CTD

Remapped ID's and ran the mission no problem testing Gaps reef file. My lighthouse was added in locations.cfg and not the dat file

Took screenshots and posted them.

Gap observed there was no AO mapping either in my screenshots or SquareSteelBar's. Kendras also seems to have the same problem.

Regards,

MLF

[the_frog]

MLF,

the CTD when trying gap's original file might have resulted from the mistake with the static object controller; however, I am not sure because I corrected it before trying. Also, I omitted the specular mask controller.

Please note, I was referring the kendras' file that includes the lighthouse. The 3D model therein has no 2nd UV channel and therefore the AO will never ever appear.

Cheers

[gap]

Thank you for your feed-back guys. Summing up:

• My bad, after adding the StaticObject controller, I had forgot setting up its SquareLength property. The rock is now collisionable. Thank you MLF for pointing to my mistake
  
  
• The model is now anchored to the terrain.
  How did you manage doing that Kendras?
  
  
• According to the_frog, my settings for the AO material were correct, but SquareSteelBar's and MLF's screenies obvious don't show it (Kendras tests are ruled out, because he re-imported the model without the secondary UV map). The_frog, can you confirm that the AO map works correctly on your hand, and how it comes that it doesn't work for others?
  
  
• The model modified by Kendras is 50% higher than the original model. I think doing that made the model a bit too sharp though. I can try making it smoother using Wing 3D's smooth command, maybe followed by an automatic polygon reduction in Mod Tools. An UV remapping will be needed too, if we want to avoid textures to be stretched vertically

Any other remark guys? Am I forgetting any important aspect of the present model which needs to be addressed?

Originally Posted by gap

According to the_frog, my settings for the AO material were correct, but SquareSteelBar's and MLF's screenies obvious don't show it (Kendras tests are ruled out, because he re-imported the model without the secondary UV map). The_frog, can you confirm that the AO map works correctly on your hand, and how it comes that it doesn't work for others?

It works now. But what about the specular mask ??? Is it useful, or not ?

About the rock's model, I don't like it, it seems not natural. Could you improve the sections ? Look how it is at the sea level, that's not really good :



The small reefs have to be more smooth, and above the surface, not a little below.

Moreover, think about your lighthouse : it must be placed on the highest altitude of the island, and there must be enough space at this place. Could you increase a bit the altitude of the highest point ?

I don't even know if we should keep this model ... but the concept is good ! Maybe smaller polygons for more precision ?

[the_frog]

kendras,

the specular mask may be of use with plain textures; with texures with an alpha channel it is of any use. And even with simple, plain textures I do not see much visible effects. However, that is my personal impression.

Cheers

[gap]

Sorry Kendras, I am writing from Senegal. I will report back on monday, when I will be back home

Originally Posted by gap

Sorry Kendras, I am writing from Senegal. I will report back on monday, when I will be back home

I'm so happy to hear that !

Hello

Could you briefly tell us what you have done so far, and what you are planning to do during the month ?

[gap]

Originally Posted by Kendras

Hello

Could you briefly tell us what you have done so far, and what you are planning to do during the month ?

Hi Kendras, sorry for my late feed-back I planned to reply at the beginning of the weak, but a cold kept me away from my usual activities for days

As you might have noticed, unfortunately my working method is a bit chaotic: I start a project, I loose interest, I start a new project and before I got it finished, I get back to first one, but not before having committed myself to a third project. The good news is that, with the motivation of some good subsim mates as you, soon or later I will finish them all
Talking about this mod, here is what I have done so far:

1) As I told you a while back, the Düne (Helgoland) leading lights are 100% ready. I know that at this stage you are mostly focused on French lights and that the Helgoland-Düne islands are poorly implemented in SHIII, but nonetheless I think they might make a nice addition to the game. Moreover, importing them might provide us with some additional insight on the best importing method, which will come in handy when we'll be ready to implement other lighthouses. If you are on it, I can import the models in a set of SH files, and send them your way

2) To be honest, I didn't work on the phare de la Vieille in a long time, but its model is almost ready. The main lighthouse structure is done. The concrete base, the rock and the Temperly crane (added in 1926 and destroyed by a storm in 2008) are mostly modelled but some touch-ups are still needed (the rock must be extended below the sea level for instance), along with some UV-mapping and texture work. Ambient occlusion and normal maps are also in my todo list, but since I still have not fully clear how do they work in SHIII and whether we can have both of them on the same material or not, I think I can leave these features for a second moment. Extracting a generic lighthouse model from my representation of the La Vielle lighthouse should be fairly easy



3) More recently, I have started working on the Tourelle de la Plate, also known as "Petite Vieille" due to its position, facing the phare de la Vieille in the Raz de Sein. Now it is a bit too early to show you a preview, but the model is coming along nicely. Completed in 1896, destroyed shortly after by a storm, and rebuilt 12 years later as a 26-m long octagonal solid reinforced concrete tower laying on a submerged rock, this lighthouse is currently painted/lighted as a cardinal west mark. I couldn't find any information on its usage during the 40s, but I can suppose it had to be similar to the current one. Let me know if you find any useful information on this topic.

4) Talking about the rocky reefs that you asked for a while back, I think there was a misunderstanding. All the lighthouses I plan to release will come with their own customized rocky base where it applies, so to make sure that the two parts are fitting together as best as possible. When you first asked for the rocks, I thought you just wanted some reefs models to be randomly placed on the sea bottom in lithoral waters, so to mimic submerged or semi-submerged unsignaled obstacles. If you agree on their utility, I still think that the Blender heightmap extrusion method I illustrated a few months ago, is the easiest way to quickly create a virtually endless number of reefs. All I need is you to point me to the heightmaps you like (there are many freely available on the web) and to provide me with the approximate dimensions that you expect them to be in game