Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Guest

Ground2k question

Recommended Posts

Guest JohnC

If it is possible to inlay a custom texture in Ground2k (as the documentation says) wouldn't it be possible to produce a standard series of 43K photoreal textures ( via Terrabuilder, for example) then go back to Ground2k and inlay each of those "custom" textures" in Ground2k?.............This would permit the combining of a large area of photoreal textures in some areas, along with the drawing features where photorealistic textures are not available?Got my fingers crossed..................Rhumbaflappy?....make my day!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi John.Yes.There are some conditions.The photoreal slices need to be vertically flipped if they are VTP2, and if you access these textures as landclass #252 or #253, then they will need to be in the "C:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesFS2002SCENEDBWORLDTexture" folder ( along with their autogen ).The textures can be accessed by name as well, then they can be in a local texture folder... but then you won't be able to have autogen with them ( I think ).Any alpha channel will show as black. If photoreal is being used, it's probably best not to worry about alpha-channel.. just use DXT1 opaque, and then you wll need to draw LWM polys for water.==================If they are placed as VTP1 polys, Ground2k has some provision for flipping them for you in the BGLC code, and mapping the whole tile, so you can use the textures without manually flipping them. This is Christian's concept of using photoreal slices. ( VTP1 doesn't allow autogen ). Again, if using them as a landclass value of #252 or #253, the slices should be placed into "C:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesFS2002SCENEDBWORLDTexture", with the other landclass textures. I'd need a day to see just how Christian IDs the textures, to see in which folder they need to be placed.I haven't used Christian's program to place the tiles, so unless someone else has tried it, you'll need to study the docs to see how it's implemented. Give me a day or two, and I'll see how it goes.=========================I'm not real fond of the idea of placing textures into the "C:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesFS2002SCENEDBWORLDTexture" folder ( they might also work in "C:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesFS2002TEXTURE" ). But that is where the autogen would have to go, in order to display. My concern is if someone would install your scenery, then want to uninstall it, they would need a batch file to remove the textures and autogen from the default texture folder. Maybe I'm just too paranoid. *:-* ===================The VTP2 textures need to be vertically flipped... if you do want autogen, make the autogen from the slices, then vertically flip the textures, then mip and translate to DXT1 Opaque. I use XNView to flip textures ( it's free and has batch capability ). I use imagetool to mip and convert to DXT1 ( it also can batch ). Martin Wright's DXTBMP can flip and convert to DXT1... but I'm not sure if it will mip or if it can batch process.The VTP polys should be assigned to a layer 4-7. Layer 8 is shorelines, and layers 0-3 are for texturing water. Then any shores, streams, roads, will display over your CUSTOM ground textured polys.===================This vertical flipping of textures is a real pain, involving another step in the process. I remember the old .r8 textures were also vertically flipped... so maybe that's where this code came from.Another pain is the locations needed for the textures and autogen... why can't we just put them in a local texture folder? Maybe this will be corrected for FS2004. If the terrain engine would first check the local folder for landclass textures and autogen, that would solve the problem.===================Lately, I've been leaning towards using Aerial photos for the background bitmap of Ground2K, and just placing VTP2 polys of landclass textures over background... a little forest here, a little city there, some grass over there. It's like coloring the aerial photo with textures. The autogen is already made, and the seasons are automatically included. In the long run, it may take no longer than coloring all the seasons for CUSTOM, and with some care, it should look pretty accurate... and will blend into the default landclass well.==================If you would settle for rectangular blocks of CUSTOM, they can be placed as landclass values #252 or #253, in a landclass BGL. 2x2 is the smallest block allowed for a CUSTOM block. You could make a huge CUSTOM set, and then pick'n'choose the blocks you'd like displayed, by making a landlcass BGL, with several blocks of rectangular CUSTOM values on a transparent background ( #254 ) to replace the CUSTOM bgl made by resample. ( Use the slices you want and display them with a landclass BGL ).VTP lines and polys won't show over the CUSTOM values ( I think ), but it will show over the transparent of a landclass bgl.So you have a few options.Dick

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest JohnC

Thanks for a very complete and thorough answer.....you are a real resource in this community. THANKS A LOT.:-jumpy

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest

Absolutely agree. Dick is like a living bible of LWM/VTP!!!!! :-) Thanks a lot, too. (Still cannot make this method work for me, although. But will try it on a completely new project and see what happens)--Daniel R. Careri

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

  • Tom Allensworth,
    Founder of AVSIM Online


  • Flight Simulation's Premier Resource!

    AVSIM is a free service to the flight simulation community. AVSIM is staffed completely by volunteers and all funds donated to AVSIM go directly back to supporting the community. Your donation here helps to pay our bandwidth costs, emergency funding, and other general costs that crop up from time to time. Thank you for your support!

    Click here for more information and to see all donations year to date.
×
×
  • Create New...