VTP and CUSTOM Textures

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi All.I had an interesting exchange with Christian Fumey, concerning VTPs and their ability to show CUSTOM textures.Here's the core of information I can derive:--------------VTP Method1 cannot display any numbered texture... so landclass, including "253" or "252" cannot be used as names.--------------If you want to use landclass numbers for textures with VTPs, you need to use VTP Method2."253" or "252" are landclass numbers. They will show a properly named CUSTOM texture, in it's correct geographic location, but that texture ( and it's autogen ) must be in "C:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesFS2002SCENEDBWORLDTexture", just like the other landclass textures.--------------Both VTPm1 and VTPm2 can display a named texture, but it must be in a local texture folder. It doesn't matter if the name is "003100023031330Su.bmp" or "Delavan6.bmp"... the name is just a name, now. Autogen cannot be used with a named texture.VTPm1 needs a complete named set, such as "Delavan6Wi.bmp;Delavan6Hw.bmp;Delavan6Sp.bmp;Delavan6Su.bmp;Delavan6Fa.bmp;Delavan6Lm.bmp", or you risk a crash in FS2002.--------------If you want to use Autogen, you must use VTPm2, and the texture must be referenced as a landclass number.The texture and the autogen must be inside "C:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesFS2002SCENEDBWORLDTexture". Landclass number "253" is non-seasonal CUSTOM. Landclass number "252" is seasonal CUSTOM.--------------VTPm1s are nonexistant in FS2002. We can add them, but they adhere to the rules established for CFS2. That's where they came from.The only advantage to using VTPm1, is that a texture can be located easily in a LOD13 Area ( like LWMs ), and the texture can be flipped, mirrored, rotated.... VTPm1 seems to have a point limit of 22, not what the SDK says.All VTPs have are affected by a bug in the terrain engine that displays textures vertically flipped. So using VTPm2 requires we vertically flip each texture we plan on using. This can be done in a paint program, or XNView ( batch processing ), or DXTBmp now allows this.Landclass numbers are also displayed vertically flipped... and that throws off the autogen for these textures, as the autogen is not flipped in the display. There is no adequate "work-around" for this. You can have a totally transparent, 8-bit, mipped with alpha texture named as CUSTOM. That would allow a CUSTOM autogen to be used as well, without disturbing the display of underlying landclass or named textures.Autogen always displays according the last VTP in the datastream... it doesn't matter what layer it is. This allows VTP lines to exclude autogen where they exist. This also allows VTPm2 polys to display a different autogen then the underlying landclass, for the actual poly shape.-------------------Photoreal, as produced by resample, will destroy all VTP layers, and LWM masking, and landclass, for each LOD13 Area it covers.-------------------Many thanks to Christian Fumey for approaching me about this confusing usage. :)Dick

[spotlope 0]

Dick, for me this may be the most helpful post you've ever put together, and that's saying something. Many thanks to both you and Christian Fumey for tackling such a convoluted subject and bringing such clarity to it! :-beerchugI've got a couple of questions based on what your post. First of all, if VTP Method 1 polys are a hold over from CFS2, what's your prognostication on whether they'll survive the jump to FS2004? I know that's a complete shot in the dark, but I'm curious as to what you think. Secondly, do VTPm2 polys accept seasonal texture name lists like VTPm1 polys do?Also, I have an observation about adding autogen correctly to VTPm2 polys... couldn't a designer add the autogen in Annotator using the pre-flipped textures required for VTPm2s? It seems as though the autogen would display correctly, as it would have been placed in using a flipped texture, which is how it will be applied in FS2002. Just a thought. Maybe not a good one, but who knows? Maybe.thanks,

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Bill.I don't know if anything will survive! But if we were only to invest design time in features we know will survive to the next FS incarnation, we wouldn't design a thing. Right now, we don't even know if it's to be FS2004 or FS2005 or FS2006.Fs2002 is pretty good. It will take some work to improve it, and that may take some time. I don't think October of 2003 is written in stone as a release date.VTPm2s may have seasonal variations of the names:VTPTextureName "winter.bmp;hardwinter.bmp;spring.bmp;summer.bmp;fall.bmp;night.bmp"That's the order, they must all be listed if you go with seasons, and they must be in the local texture folder. VTPTextureName "single.bmp"That's a single texture for all seasons, but there is no night texture displayed ( just like in CFS2 ).Yes, you could design the Autogen upside down, but......if it's a photoreal texture, it will display upside down unless you vertically flip the texture in a paint program... so it does no good to flip the autogen in that instance. Make the autogen right-side-up first, then flip the texture for display.-------------------Christian has conveyed some more info about VTPm1s that I'll need to verify over the weekend. He states that the numbers "1024" and greater in "terraintextures.cfg" work with VTPm1 ( which makes me wonder if those numbers display right-side-up, as they are should ).Dick

[rhumbaflappy 113]

A follow-up.The only numbers that can be used as textures for VTPm1s are those listed in "terraintextures.cfg" that identify a named texture. All of those are the line textures... and there is no reason to use VTPm1 lines ( strips ) in FS2002.It's unfortunate that VTPm1 doesn't display the landclass with autogen, as that really limits their usefulness in FS2002.So unless we discover a flag or switch, all VTP textures will display vertically flipped, and their autogen will be mismatched, unless ( in the case of CUSTOM textures ) we first alter the texture to flip it vertically.I note that Martin Wright's DXTBmp also has options to both flip and mirror textures with their alpha channel.Dick