idea for transparant water

[thefretmaster]

i had a thaught about the transparant water. im guessing that this could be achieved by not making the water see-thru but instead changing the water reflection for each boat so it is a upsidedown version of the model.

if you understand what i am trying to say then great, if not its kinda hard to explain.

um, the reflection map is usually the same 3d model as the actuall boat. i havnt tried to do any of this as i dont have sh3 installed atm so i dont know how accessable the reflection map is.

so this is the model \________/
~~~~~~~~~ lol boat on water

and this is the refection map \________/ exactly the same as the model

so you get it reflected onto the water like a mirror


if you flip the reflection model upside-down im guessing that the reflection would be flipped too so with a bit of tweaking you could get it lined up so that the reflection is showing the hull of the boat instead of the masts and stuff reflected
kind of giving a transparant water effect


\_________/
~~~~~~~~~
\__________/ this kinda thing

if anyone understands this or how to do it then do try it and see if it works, i am no where near good enough to attempt it so i wont but thats some input from me :up:

[flakmonkey]

A couple of hours ago i accidentaly acheived this with my x-craft sub, the reflection model was in the wrong position and it looked for all the world like the water was transparent,
Its a cracking idea and as i found it does work, you do howwever loose your reflection :down:

[thefretmaster]

awesome, i knew it would work to some extent. would it be to much of a hassle to post a screeny of it for us? (or me :smug: ) i might re-install the game and try it too

[flakmonkey]

screenies:
http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa186/tris1066/?action=view&current=transparent1.jpg (http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa186/tris1066/?action=view&current=transparent1.jpg)
http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa186/tris1066/?action=view&current=transparent2.jpg (http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa186/tris1066/?action=view&current=transparent2.jpg)
http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa186/tris1066/?action=view&current=transparent3.jpg (http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa186/tris1066/?action=view&current=transparent3.jpg)
http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa186/tris1066/?action=view&current=transparent4.jpg (http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa186/tris1066/?action=view&current=transparent4.jpg)
http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa186/tris1066/?action=view&current=transparent5.jpg (http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa186/tris1066/?action=view&current=transparent5.jpg)

[Mush Martin]

Thats Brilliant well done both of you it looks Great!
MM:up::up::up:

[GT182]

Looks great FM. And your alblum on the Brit mini is great too. :up:

[ReallyDedPoet]

Nicely done:up:

RDP

[Kaleu. Jochen Mohr]

awsome :rock: :rock: :rock:

you should upload it so others can download this :up:

[Schöneboom]

Mensch, you're really on to something! Does the effect work for all types of subs, even at PD?

[Hadrys]

How does it work in rough water? Reflection might be not that necessary... hmm

Looks cool!

[GoldenEagle8]

I like that alot better!!

[Boris]

Um... wow, that looks surprisingly good!

But this has to be done per unit, right? :-? Seems like a mammoth job

[Mush Martin]

yes assumably every unit would need to be done for it to look
universal in game.
I wonder if its possible to attach both reflections inverse and regular
simultaneously with mildly different transparency values?
M

[thefretmaster]

wow it actually worked :o thats for that flakmonkey. if people would like this i can re-install sh3 and try to do it for a few more ships. y'kno experiment and see what works well.
i did think that as it will be reflecting an upsidedown version of the ship it might look too transparant as you can see right to the bottom of the boat, ill see what happens
thanks again flakmonkey

[ReallyDedPoet]

Look forward to your continued work.

RDP

[d@rk51d3]

To quote "Big Kev":


"I'M EXCITED!":rock: :rock: :rock:

[Indiana_Jones]

Looks nice :)

But I think i'd still be happier with the reflection, unless I can have both :D

-Indy

[The General]

Either that or you play SH4.

[Hitman]

The idea is a great piece of "alternative thinking":up: yet I must say that in real life you can't normally see ship's submerged part from above the surface :down: due to the shape of the bulk (Submarines are differently shaped). What this idea would be very nice however is for seeing a submerged U-Boot at shallow depth, (That is realistic) so I would suggest the mod concentrates just in submarines:ping: . That would make it both be realistic and manageable:rock:

Even so, reflections are to me much better than transparent water if I have to choose, but hey that's just my personal taste, and alternatives are the spice of life :yep:

[ichso]

But wouldn't that be a good idea for some mediterrean campaigns as teh water there is much more clear than in the open atlantic ?

BTW: The pictures look good and it might be a nice diversion from the current water look ;)

[Boris]

The idea is a great piece of "alternative thinking":up: yet I must say that in real life you can't normally see ship's submerged part from above the surface :down: due to the shape of the bulk (Submarines are differently shaped). What this idea would be very nice however is for seeing a submerged U-Boot at shallow depth, (That is realistic) so I would suggest the mod concentrates just in submarines:ping: . That would make it both be realistic and manageable:rock:

Even so, reflections are to me much better than transparent water if I have to choose, but hey that's just my personal taste, and alternatives are the spice of life :yep:

That said i've always thought that the reflections in SH3 are a bit excessive and overdone.

[d@rk51d3]

I would be inclined to apply this to the U-Boats only, too (if possible).

[Mush Martin]

So this all now begs the question when will a uboats only version
be bagged up for d/l ? I for one would take a copy of that.
MM

[thefretmaster]

ill look into doing some of it tomorrow. im out tonight so ill have a good when i can.

[thefretmaster]

ok i finally gat around to having a go at trying this out on u-boats. i tried with the IIA and got very strange results. it seems that flipping the reflection map caused the model to flip in game too. basicly i had a fusalage that was the correct way up with no coning tower, the periscopes raised downwards upside down so you could see what was underneath the boat :lol: and when you went to the bridge station that was all upsidedown. it was quite odd and now it wont change back so ill have to re-install the game :cool: silly me for not maiking bups. any ideas anyone?

[Mush Martin]

nope but some days are like that as a modder. hopefully
someone will have some suggestions that help you.