Lightning prob in SH4

CaptainCox · 08-02-07, 04:26 AM

As I think you guys might have a trick or 2 up your sleeves I decided to post a plea here

Over at the SH4 mod forum we are trying to figure why the lightning is not showing up as it should in bad weather. We can now see it but only when its really dark, and it only seem to emanate from one spot etc.
Thread Link:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=115503

I have been searching this forum for a lead but have not really found any hard facts as of yet. Maybe one of you guys remember or did a tweak for this stuff in GWX for example or simply looked at enhancing the lightning for SH3 and could give us some hints as to what to look for.

We found that there are settings for "Lightning" in the
Scene.dat
Materials.dat
Particles.dat

But are there any other .dat that might control this stuff?

Thanks and Cheers!

danlisa · 08-02-07, 04:59 AM

Those 3 files do control the lightning.

I think you need to look elsewhere, maybe the Environment settings. I reckon the improved environmental effects in SH4 are affecting the lightning. What do they look like with all the filters off?

Also, don't forget that the files are DDS and as such, the further away the lightning is rendered the game will use the reduced version (are they dds is SH4?).

CaptainCox · 08-02-07, 05:09 AM

Surprisingly they are TGA's. One of the 1st thing i looked at.
Environment settings might be a lead. Did not yet check that stuff. Will have a look. Thanks!

Dowly · 08-02-07, 07:32 AM

Just a though, check if the alpha channel of the lighting .tga is messed up. If it's solid white or close to solid white, it there's no problem. But if it's very very very transparent white that you can barely see, then that's the problem.

DivingDuck · 08-02-07, 07:45 AM

Moin CC,

have you checked the selfillumination bytes in the tga´s properties section?

Regards,
DD

CaptainCox · 08-02-07, 10:34 AM

Cheers guys, just home here and will start digging

CaptainCox · 08-02-07, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DivingDuck

Moin CC,

have you checked the selfillumination bytes in the tga´s properties section?

Regards,
DD

Where would i find that?
In the TGA itself or do you mean in the particles.dat or...

Cheers!

skwasjer · 08-02-07, 01:11 PM

I think DD means some bytes part of the self illumination chunk, or material chunk that references the tga? My tool does not display them atm though...

CaptainCox · 08-02-07, 01:23 PM

Ahhh, cheers. will digg

TheDarkWraith · 08-02-07, 01:49 PM

I took apart the funnel_smoke used in particles.dat and found that it used the material DE6E9B8F8621FB6C for the smoke. I found this in the materials.dat and here's the entry before the tga file that's packed in:

02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 36 00 00 00 DE 6E 9B 8F
86 21 FB 6C 23 FF FF FF 00 E5 E5 E5 00 3F 00 00
1D 85 00 00 2C 00 01 00 E8 91 06 40 00 00 00 00
53 6D 6F 6B 65 5F 76 6F 6C 75 6D 30 32 2E 74 67
61 00

Is the highlighted yellow the self illumination bytes? If so, how do you read this? If it's not, what is this and how do you read it?

EDIT: Stupid me! I knew what the second highlighted text was! I have removed it now. So the question remains what is the above highlighted text?

DD, help! What are these highlighted things? I can't make sense of it.

Not trying to highjack this thread but since self illumination bytes were brought up I thought I'd ask.

If you'd like to see what Visio can do then look here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/46583793...visio.jpg.html

The text is small because the breakdown of funnel_smoke was big! It's just to give you an idea of what you can do with it.

CaptainCox · 08-02-07, 03:03 PM

Not Hijacking at all I find it very interesting. Keep it up

leovampire · 08-02-07, 03:18 PM

somthing about transparency for each of the lightnings could this also be part of the problem?

TheDarkWraith · 08-02-07, 04:07 PM

Ok, partial mystery solved on the highlighted text. Using S3D (great app though it has many problems still!) I found out what some are and it breaks down to the following:

02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 36 00 00 00 DE 6E 9B 8F
86 21 FB 6C 23 FF FF FF 00 E5 E5 E5 00 3F 00 00
1D 85 00 00 2C 00 01 00 E8 91 06 40 00 00 00 00
53 6D 6F 6B 65 5F 76 6F 6C 75 6D 30 32 2E 74 67
61 00

0x23 = opacity (35d)
0xFFFFFF = Diffuse (255d,255d,255d)
0x00 = ?? (Diffuse strength?? - would make sense since it follows Diffuse)
0xE5E5E5 = Specular (229d,229d,229d)
0x00 = ?? (Specular strength?? - would make sense since it follows Specular)
0x3F = Glossiness
0x00000000 = should be the marker for end of data and next to follow is the tag name

rest of yellow highlight still a mystery............DD????
Could these be the self illumination bytes?

CaptainCox · 08-02-07, 04:14 PM

Brilliant Racerboy! Will have to look in the morn as its bedtime here

Will dig in with a hexed in the morn.

skwasjer · 08-02-07, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Racerboy

02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 36 00 00 00 DE 6E 9B 8F
86 21 FB 6C 23 FF FF FF 00 E5 E5 E5 00 3F 00 00
1D 85 00 00 2C 00 01 00 E8 91 06 40 00 00 00 00
53 6D 6F 6B 65 5F 76 6F 6C 75 6D 30 32 2E 74 67
61 00

Red is the size of the TGA file.
Blue control the self illuminance according to DD. How, I don't know...

The rest I don't know yet... If I do, I can add it to my tool...

08-02-07, 04:26 AM	#1
CaptainCox Sea Lord Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: A Swede in Frankfurt am Main Posts: 1,897 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	Lightning prob in SH4 As I think you guys might have a trick or 2 up your sleeves I decided to post a plea here Over at the SH4 mod forum we are trying to figure why the lightning is not showing up as it should in bad weather. We can now see it but only when its really dark, and it only seem to emanate from one spot etc. Thread Link: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=115503 I have been searching this forum for a lead but have not really found any hard facts as of yet. Maybe one of you guys remember or did a tweak for this stuff in GWX for example or simply looked at enhancing the lightning for SH3 and could give us some hints as to what to look for. We found that there are settings for "Lightning" in the Scene.dat Materials.dat Particles.dat But are there any other .dat that might control this stuff? Thanks and Cheers! __________________ DOWNLOAD MY MODS HERE

08-02-07, 04:59 AM	#2
danlisa Navy Seal Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Cornwall, UK Posts: 5,499 Downloads: 45 Uploads: 1	Those 3 files do control the lightning. I think you need to look elsewhere, maybe the Environment settings. I reckon the improved environmental effects in SH4 are affecting the lightning. What do they look like with all the filters off? Also, don't forget that the files are DDS and as such, the further away the lightning is rendered the game will use the reduced version (are they dds is SH4?). __________________

08-02-07, 05:09 AM	#3
CaptainCox Sea Lord Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: A Swede in Frankfurt am Main Posts: 1,897 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	Surprisingly they are TGA's. One of the 1st thing i looked at. Environment settings might be a lead. Did not yet check that stuff. Will have a look. Thanks! __________________ DOWNLOAD MY MODS HERE

08-02-07, 07:45 AM	#5
DivingDuck Grey Wolf Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Germany Posts: 902 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 1	Moin CC, have you checked the selfillumination bytes in the tga´s properties section? Regards, DD __________________ http://www.filefront.com/user/DivingDuck \| OpenHatch_V3_RH (SHIII)

08-02-07, 10:34 AM	#6
CaptainCox Sea Lord Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: A Swede in Frankfurt am Main Posts: 1,897 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	Cheers guys, just home here and will start digging __________________ DOWNLOAD MY MODS HERE

08-02-07, 07:32 AM	#4
Dowly Lucky Jack Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 25,054 Downloads: 32 Uploads: 0	Just a though, check if the alpha channel of the lighting .tga is messed up. If it's solid white or close to solid white, it there's no problem. But if it's very very very transparent white that you can barely see, then that's the problem.

08-02-07, 01:11 PM	#8
skwasjer The Old Man Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Netherlands Posts: 1,549 Downloads: 28 Uploads: 3	I think DD means some bytes part of the self illumination chunk, or material chunk that references the tga? My tool does not display them atm though... __________________ S3D - Silent 3ditor (v0.9.9) - S3D homepage - Open sourced S3D file parser API's - SUBSIM thread SH5 mods: Speech Recognition for SH5 \| Digital UI Clock Tutorials: [TEC] Import/export 3D models to/from game using S3D [TEC] How to work with the model viewer in S3D - VIDEO

08-02-07, 01:23 PM	#9
CaptainCox Sea Lord Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: A Swede in Frankfurt am Main Posts: 1,897 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	Ahhh, cheers. will digg __________________ DOWNLOAD MY MODS HERE

08-02-07, 01:49 PM	#10
TheDarkWraith Black Magic Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 11,962 Downloads: 147 Uploads: 5	I took apart the funnel_smoke used in particles.dat and found that it used the material DE6E9B8F8621FB6C for the smoke. I found this in the materials.dat and here's the entry before the tga file that's packed in: 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 36 00 00 00 DE 6E 9B 8F 86 21 FB 6C 23 FF FF FF 00 E5 E5 E5 00 3F 00 00 1D 85 00 00 2C 00 01 00 E8 91 06 40 00 00 00 00 53 6D 6F 6B 65 5F 76 6F 6C 75 6D 30 32 2E 74 67 61 00 Is the highlighted yellow the self illumination bytes? If so, how do you read this? If it's not, what is this and how do you read it? EDIT: Stupid me! I knew what the second highlighted text was! I have removed it now. So the question remains what is the above highlighted text? DD, help! What are these highlighted things? I can't make sense of it. Not trying to highjack this thread but since self illumination bytes were brought up I thought I'd ask. If you'd like to see what Visio can do then look here: http://rapidshare.com/files/46583793...visio.jpg.html The text is small because the breakdown of funnel_smoke was big! It's just to give you an idea of what you can do with it. Last edited by TheDarkWraith; 08-02-07 at 03:09 PM.

08-02-07, 03:03 PM	#11
CaptainCox Sea Lord Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: A Swede in Frankfurt am Main Posts: 1,897 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	Not Hijacking at all I find it very interesting. Keep it up __________________ DOWNLOAD MY MODS HERE

08-02-07, 03:18 PM	#12
leovampire Eternal Patrol Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Waterbury, CT. USA Posts: 2,336 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	question there is also in the particles file somthing about transparency for each of the lightnings could this also be part of the problem? __________________ AIR_BASE_NAV_MAP_MOD Reflections_on_the_Water

08-02-07, 04:07 PM	#13
TheDarkWraith Black Magic Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 11,962 Downloads: 147 Uploads: 5	Ok, partial mystery solved on the highlighted text. Using S3D (great app though it has many problems still!) I found out what some are and it breaks down to the following: 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 36 00 00 00 DE 6E 9B 8F 86 21 FB 6C 23 FF FF FF 00 E5 E5 E5 00 3F 00 00 1D 85 00 00 2C 00 01 00 E8 91 06 40 00 00 00 00 53 6D 6F 6B 65 5F 76 6F 6C 75 6D 30 32 2E 74 67 61 00 0x23 = opacity (35d) 0xFFFFFF = Diffuse (255d,255d,255d) 0x00 = ?? (Diffuse strength?? - would make sense since it follows Diffuse) 0xE5E5E5 = Specular (229d,229d,229d) 0x00 = ?? (Specular strength?? - would make sense since it follows Specular) 0x3F = Glossiness 0x00000000 = should be the marker for end of data and next to follow is the tag name rest of yellow highlight still a mystery............DD???? Could these be the self illumination bytes?

08-02-07, 04:14 PM	#14
CaptainCox Sea Lord Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: A Swede in Frankfurt am Main Posts: 1,897 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	Brilliant Racerboy! Will have to look in the morn as its bedtime here Will dig in with a hexed in the morn. __________________ DOWNLOAD MY MODS HERE

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