LWMDraw3 Beta Test

[arno 1]

OK, I tested it and it runs fine on my machine.But I didn't do what I want to do. I want to make grass polygons for my airports (that why I can use the MS grass that also gives snow on HW but not during WI).I already have the polygons in my scenery, so I was thinking about making a converter to convert SCASM to VTP, but I think that would cost me too much time to do :). So finally I realised that our scenery team already has a great tool to do this. Our VE tool allow me to draw polygons and it creates VTP code, so I think I will use that from now on.Arno

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Member Netherlands 2000 Scenery Team[a href=http://home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen]http://home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen/banner.jpg[/a]

[Guest]

Thanks for checking it out ArnoAlthough it wasn't exactly what you was looking for I'm glad it worked for you at least. I placed all the texture listing that's within the "terraintextrures.cfg" file into the combo box control to add whatever selection the user would like. It's seems I read somewhere (probably Dick's writting) that other textures can be used with VTP method 2 poly's but I don't recall exactly the formatting required within the source file to accomplish this.Again though, thanks bunches Arno for your time to check it out.Take CareKen

[arno 1]

Yes, if you list the names of the textures (can't remember the format by head) you can use any texture name you want (but the texture must be DXT1 otherwise FS seems to crash).That is the format we use in our tool to display whatever texture we want.Arno

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Member Netherlands 2000 Scenery Team[a href=http://home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen]http://home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen/banner.jpg[/a]

[Guest]

Thanks ArnoIt seems I recall something about having to use comma separators between the seasonal and night lighting texture names as well. I'll probably look into this issue further so maybe I can add this option to another LWMDraw version.Thanks againKen

[arno 1]

Yeah, it was or comma or semicolon between the texture. And there is a fixed order like SU,FA,WI,SP (can't remember if this is the correct order btw :)).I'll have a look at the source of our tool this evening and post it here.Arno

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Member Netherlands 2000 Scenery Team[a href=http://home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen]http://home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen/banner.jpg[/a]

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Arno.I believe you can use 8 bit, mipped, with alpha transparency as well. ( CFS2 default texure style ). The alpha is transparent, not water, which leads to lots of possibilities for polys, and blending with different layers, etc. Layer numbers less than 4 affect water... so transparent water tinting is possible, without affecting the waterclass itself, or the shape of the LWM masking.In addition to the numbers in the CFG file, valid landclass numbers can be used, and regarding the use of polys ( rather than lines ), it helps to think of the polys as mini-landclass placement ( with autogen ).The Terrain SDK also describes the use of named textures:VTPTextureName "048b2wi1.bmp;048b2hw1.bmp;048b2sp1.bmp;048b2su1.bmp;048b2fa1.bmp;048b2lm1.bmp"VTPTextureType 1, 0, 0,4...the SDK contains an error, in that the names must be separated by a semicolon, rather than by a comma.Also, #253 and #252 will display CUSTOM textures on the LOD13 Areas the poly overlaps, with #252 being for seasonal&night use. This is consistant with the idea of landclass. ( The texture must have the correct CUSTOM name ).Also, #254 ( transparent, or no texture ) landclass number is allowed, if someone can think of a use for that. I tried this with CUSTOM autogen placement, but had problems.All VTP texture display is vertically flipped. So CUSTOM texture must take that into account... and it's best to flip the CUSTOM textures before mipping ( But create the autogen before flipping, as the autogen doesn't need that ).Dick

[arno 1]

Hi Dick,That was the info I was looking for :).During the tests we are doing with our VTP scenery we found out that when any of the textures was not DXT1 (but for example an extended bitmap made with BMP2000 (I think that is 565 or something like that)) then FS crashed while loading the textures. I think we also had some 8 bit texture between them, but they might be different from the ones of CFS2.For Fs2002 it seems a safe way to use DXT textures only.Arno

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Member Netherlands 2000 Scenery Team[a href=http://home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen]http://home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen/banner.jpg[/a]

[Guest]

Hi DickFrom what I'm understanding at this point it looks like there is some need to experiment with custom VTP texture placement.-----------------------------VTPTextureName"048b2wi1.bmp;048b2hw1.bmp;048b2sp1.bmp;048b2su1.bmp;048b2fa1.bmp;048b2lm1.bmp"VTPTextureType 1, 0, 0, 4-----------------------------With your mention that the textures MUST have the correct Custom name, does that mean the same as those texture names from your LandCalc program? I don't think the above example it those type of names. Also, and I could be easily wrong, it seems I read somewhere that a night LM texture had to be named as well. Is this correct too?I guess I'll learn more about the mipping, flipping, and the using of DXT1 8 bit bitmaps. I guess that's what is the exciting part for me anyway is the learning of new techniques and process to enhance our FS experience.Thanks DickKen

[arno 1]

You can use any name you want. We used names like nl_akker.bmp, with summer and winter variants like nl_akker_wi.bmp. As long as you put the names at the right spot it should work.And when you look good, you'll see that the last texture in Dick's list is the night texture, so it is there.Arno

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Member Netherlands 2000 Scenery Team[a href=http://home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen]http://home.wanadoo.nl/arno.gerretsen/banner.jpg[/a]

[Guest]

Thanks ArnoI'll make a note of that one for future reference and experiments.Ken

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Ken.

texturemark_0	label	wordVTPTextureName 	"252"VTPTextureType	2, 0, 0, 4texturemark_1	label	word

That snip of code will display a CUSTOM texture, with seasons and night, and autogen. The texture that gets displayed, is the one with the correct geographical name ( which you can find with Landcalc or LandCalc2 ).That texture can be made by resample... or it can be anything you want to put there, as long as it has the proper name. If the poly spans more than one LOD13 Area, you'll need more than one CUSTOM texture. Like landclass, the "252" just reserves a spot for the CUSTOM to display on."253" is for use with a single texture ( and no seasons ). You can have some fun by making a nearly transparent texture ( it seems one pixel needs to be non-black for the alpha to work when exporting from PSP as a photoshop type.. for import into imagetool.. ). Then you can make an autogen for the transparency, and place custom autogen over the default landclass, for a specific LOD13 Area, with a VTP layer of 4, so you can still place roads, and other polys over it. So it becomes like a transparent sheet, with autogen attached to it, that drapes over the mesh.-------------We actually are just scratching the surface here, as to what is possible, and as Arno has indicated, we need to experiment with textures, transparencies, formats, autogen.---------------There are no native examples of VTPm2 polys in the sim, other than the airport background polys... and only 1 or 2 instances of a 'named' VTPm2 line ( Christian Stock found it in Madagascar ). There are no VTPm1 polys or lines at all in FS2002... The lines ( strips ) are native to CFS2. There are no default VTPm1 polys anywhere. VTPm1s have some problems in FS2002 ( no night, no autogen, conflicts of type when mixed with VTPm2s in the same BGL ). I'm suprised VTPm1s are even mentioned in the SDK, as they are obviously meant for CFS2, and those polys were never used anywhere. I don't think VTPm1s are a good design choice for FS2002, if they can be avoided.In fact, mixing lines and polys seems to create problems when in the same BGL... that's probably why FS2002's defaults do not mix line types or polys in the same BGLs... I think the different types of lines will be OK, but don't mix VTPm2 lines with VTPm2 polys. Keep them in separate BGLs. Also, LWMs and VTPs can't be in the same BGL. ( At least that's my experience ).Dick

[Guest]

Thanks again DickI've added that to the long text reference I have on this subject.texturemark_0 label wordVTPTextureName "252"VTPTextureType 2, 0, 0, 4texturemark_1 label wordIf the above will display a Custom texture of the correct name, where does the texture itself go (directory placement) and how would I or how should the texture names be represented within the VTPSource file?ThanksKen

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Ken."jmf" and I had a long thread about just this topic: VTP & Custom LandClass #252.The textures and autogen should go into "C:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesFS2002SCENEDBWORLDTexture"... at least the autogen must, in order to be displayed. I don't know if the CUSTOM texture can be stored in a local twin 'texture' sub-folder', with the autogen in the "WORLDTexture" folder... possible. But the autogen seems to need to be there. Gerrish Gray discovered that necessity for autogen long ago, I believe.The texture names never get mentioned in the ASM files. Just the number 252, which then assigns CUSTOM as the polygon texture, and if the correct CUSTOM-named texture exists, it will get displayed in the portion of the poly that exists in the proper LOD13 Area... but vertically flipped.I'm still thinking the texture must be 8-bit, mipped, with alpha, not DXT1, with alpha... or the transparency won't work.Dick

[Guest]

Thanks for the thread link Dick I found it very interesting among your recent reply for VTP airport skirts. It just keeps getting more interesting all the time with new things to play with. Now a perfectly irrelevent question:What do you call the third hand on a watch? "A Second Hand" Umm, I think it's time for Bud!! :-beerchug Thanks for help so greatly Dick.Catch Ya LaterKen

[Guest]

Hi...Sorry for lated reply and Thanks for your reply.I already unloded STR program and then try to start LWMdraw3 but still error in the same. (also reinstall VB6)Anybody can run this program on Win98se?Cheers and Best Regards,Naphon Sudprasert....Fly highest has too quited cold......