[REL] Open Horizons II (old thread)

[Zedi]

Lets wait for the results on the shadow map from SteelViking.
The big improvement so far is that finally the new ships are not white like some hospital ships.

[SteelViking]

Okay, if you can't tell the difference with that one, let me make one that ya can't miss.

[SteelViking]

Okay fellas, apply this and look at the NMFMPC and see if you can tell the difference.

http://www.mediafire.com/?yf5sxgv1ovqa691

@Zedi, I am almost done removing the rust. It was coming from the shadow map like I thought.

[SteelViking]

Here is the NMFMPC shadow map with no rust(well, very little), just apply in JSGME over the campaign mod and take a look.

http://www.mediafire.com/?3row13gbtsdc4m7

[Zedi]

Its oke now, no rust. So finally this a solved issue.
Light/dark sides are visible but not so much. The ship is still a too much bright compared to the sh5 ships and at night is very visible even from great distances. Here is a comparison, pics taken at morning when the sun is low:

Looking in to the sun direction. Notice the shadows from flag and guns, only objects that cast shadows.


Looking from the other side. There is not much of difference.


But there are some dark/light area, for example on the deck


I cannot figure out how come I can see the ship hull under water in single missions but none in campaign..

[SteelViking]

Well, there is the situation:

I can make the ship darker, that is no problem.

The certain parts of the deck are dark(like where overhangs are) are coming right from the shadow map. I can do anything we want in regards to that.

However, one side of the ship being brighter than the other, I cannot fix with shadow maps. I didn't even realize that was happening.

We need to find a way to add dynamic shadows to the ship, that would put the non-sunny side in the dark.

[Rongel]

Originally Posted by SteelViking

Well, there is the situation:

I can make the ship darker, that is no problem.

The certain parts of the deck are dark(like where overhangs are) are coming right from the shadow map. I can do anything we want in regards to that.

However, one side of the ship being brighter than the other, I cannot fix with shadow maps. I didn't even realize that was happening.

We need to find a way to add dynamic shadows to the ship, that would put the non-sunny side in the dark.

Yes, agreed! You know, I have wasted maybe 6 hours looking into this, in S3D there are just the right tools to edit explicit materials. We can darken the diffuse color and lighten the specular color to make more contrast. Here is one example:



and the other side:



So both pictures are from the same ship. I can darken shadows and brighten reflections to adjust the look to more SH 5 style. What makes me mad is that I get good results in S3 editor, but I never get any changes to show in game. I have tried just about any material combination and order, embedded textures or not... It looks to me that these settings just don't work in SH 5.

What looks great in SH 4 is just too bright in SH 5.

[TheDarkWraith]

Originally Posted by Rongel

What looks great in SH 4 is just too bright in SH 5.

It's because of the vertex and pixel shaders for the Unified Render Controller. I'm almost 100% certain

[SteelViking]

Originally Posted by Rongel

Yes, agreed! You know, I have wasted maybe 6 hours looking into this, in S3D there are just the right tools to edit explicit materials. We can darken the diffuse color and lighten the specular color to make more contrast.

So both pictures are from the same ship. I can darken shadows and brighten reflections to adjust the look to more SH 5 style. What makes me mad is that I get good results in S3 editor, but I never get any changes to show in game. I have tried just about any material combination and order, embedded textures or not... It looks to me that these settings just don't work in SH 5.

What looks great in SH 4 is just too bright in SH 5.

Originally Posted by TheDarkWraith

It's because of the vertex and pixel shaders for the Unified Render Controller. I'm almost 100% certain

Exactly, I didn't expect what would work for SH4 to work here. That is why shadow maps are the way to do things. They are in the SH5 files for a reason, lets use them. I have shown that they can be used to do anything in regards to lighting except gradients from light side to dark side.

@TDW, I think you are right, but before you spend time on the URC, lets look into getting dynamic shadows to work.

If we can get dynamic shadows to render, I see all of our problems being solved on this issue.

Then the ships hulls not rendering under water when viewed from the top needs tackled.

[TheDarkWraith]

Originally Posted by SteelViking

@TDW, I think you are right, but before you spend time on the URC, lets look into getting dynamic shadows to work.

Dynamic shadows, reflections, and related items are for Granny files only. The devs didn't take these items into account when they added DAT functionality

The reflection passed to the pixel shader from the game engine for DAT units is blank There's one reason I know this.

I've explained why the ship's hulls are not rendering underwater when viewed from above water. If you want to dive into the sh5.exe and figure this out go for it

[SteelViking]

Originally Posted by TheDarkWraith

Dynamic shadows, reflections, and related items are for Granny files only. The devs didn't take these items into account when they added DAT functionality

The reflection passed to the pixel shader from the game engine for DAT units is blank There's one reason I know this.

I've explained why the ship's hulls are not rendering underwater when viewed from above water. If you want to dive into the sh5.exe and figure this out go for it

I know Python, I know controllers, and I know textures, but editing the .exe......I am afraid that is way above my pay grade.

Well, do you think you can get a gradient from light to dark side by changing the URC?

If you can get that gradient, we are set. My offer to redo the shadow maps is still on the table.

[TheDarkWraith]

Originally Posted by SteelViking

Well, do you think you can get a gradient from light to dark side by changing the URC?

You can make the final rendering of anything look however you want by changing the vertex and pixel shaders. That's the one great thing about them - they can be edited and are not hardcoded in the game.

[Rongel]

Originally Posted by SteelViking

I know Python, I know controllers, and I know textures, but editing the .exe......I am afraid that is way above my pay grade.

Well, do you think you can get a gradient from light to dark side by changing the URC?

If you can get that gradient, we are set. My offer to redo the shadow maps is still on the table.

Please stick around SteelViking! I think these ships need all the help that is available. Maybe the fastest, temporary cure would be to use only really dark textures for these ships to blend in. And all the ships still need proper SH 4 armament and SH 5 crew. I can send my Kasagisan ship with the right stuff to Zedi tomorrow.

[SteelViking]

Hey Zedi, do you want rust on the ships or not? I am guessing not since you didn't want it on the NMFMPC but I figured I would confirm before I redo the other ships.

[Zedi]

Nope, the main goal is to make these ships to look like out of box. Later on anybody can add skin packs to these ships and customize their look, thats why I wanna make them look like the ones from stock game, nothing more, nothing less.