Chrome effect on SCENERY

[Guest misho]

Hello,Is it possible to create a chrome reflection effect on scenery objects much in the same way as on aircraft? I tried but without success, using the Texture with Alpha channel method in GMAX.

[arno 1]

Hi Misho,Yes and no. The reflection effect does not work directly on scenery objects, as the reflection texture is a subtexture of TEXTURE_AIRCRAFT and not of TEXTURE_BUILDING. So before it can work you must change the texture type in the source code of your object.In the Fs2002 gamepack this worked, as all textures were set to TEXTURE_AIRCRAFT there by mistake.So with these tweaks it works, but it is clearly intended for aircraft use mainly.

[Guest misho]

Thanks Arno! This source code, where can I access that? The only thing created is the XML file and I don't think it contains any tags like that one. Is it a GMAX tag?

[arno 1]

No, unfortunately these things can not be set from within GMax.To get the source code (ASM) files you need to do a little trick in the Fs2004 gamepack. Some people make a CFG file for MakeMDL that enables the option to keep the source, but I use MDLCommander. This gives you the option screen back during export, where you can select the different options.

[toprob 105]

Depending on what you are trying to texture, it is possible to create simple non-textured reflective objects using GMAX. Maybe you could build a complex object from individual non-textured bits, in the manner of 'classic' 3D design techniques.

[Guest misho]

Ah - ok! I'll monkey around with that! :) Thanks!

[Guest misho]

I'm trying to have my scenery object use the same chrome map and effect as the aircraft objects ("envmap.bmp")... I'm not sure if the file would be accessible to the scenery object since all textures for the addon scenery should reside in "texture" sub-folder. I could always make a copy (in case I could do this effect in GMAX) but that's a bit of a kludge :)

[Guest SWA2873]

I beleive the answer can be found in the texture you use for the macro.I am not an expert on the topic but reflections with aircraft have something to do with "alpha".Get DXTBMP and start looking at posts regarding aircraft reflection textures on the aircraft design forum. Sam

[Guest Firestriker]

As Arno mentioned, it is not difficult at all. Follow the Makemdl SDK about using gMax materials. Export your scenery object but tell makemdl to KEEP FILES. Then go to the directory you exported to and open the *_0.asm file. Towards the top of this file you should see something like this:texture_riff_start_EconolineVan label word db 'T','E','X','T' dd texture_riff_end_EconolineVan - $ - 4 TEXTURE_LIST_BEGIN TEXTURE_DEF TEXTURE_BUILDING , <255,255,255,255>, 0.208596, "LIGHTS.BMP" ; 0 TEXTURE_DEF TEXTURE_BUILDING , <255,255,255,255>, 0.552675, "CHROME_T.BMP" ; 1 TEXTURE_DEF TEXTURE2_REFLECT , <255,255,255,255>, 0.552675, "CHROME_T.BMP" ; 2 TEXTURE_DEF TEXTURE_BUILDING , <255,255,255,255>, 0.447056, "GLASS_T.BMP" ; 3 TEXTURE_DEF TEXTURE2_REFLECT , <255,255,255,255>, 0.447056, "GLASS_T.BMP" ; 4 TEXTURE_LIST_END BGL_RETURNtexture_riff_end_EconolineVan label wordChange them so they are like this:texture_riff_start_EconolineVan label word db 'T','E','X','T' dd texture_riff_end_EconolineVan - $ - 4 TEXTURE_LIST_BEGIN TEXTURE_DEF TEXTURE_BUILDING , <255,255,255,255>, 0.208596, "LIGHTS.BMP" ; 0 TEXTURE_DEF TEXTURE_AIRCRAFT , <255,255,255,255>, 0.552675, "CHROME_T.BMP" ; 1 TEXTURE_DEF TEXTURE2_REFLECT , <255,255,255,255>, 0.552675, "CHROME_T.BMP" ; 2 TEXTURE_DEF TEXTURE_AIRCRAFT , <255,255,255,255>, 0.447056, "GLASS_T.BMP" ; 3 TEXTURE_DEF TEXTURE2_REFLECT , <255,255,255,255>, 0.447056, "GLASS_T.BMP" ; 4 TEXTURE_LIST_END BGL_RETURNtexture_riff_end_EconolineVan label word Recompile the *.asm with BGLC_9.exe then you can place it with xmlLou

[Guest misho]

Actually, Aircraft and Scenery approaches differ - that was my original question in the post. I know how to do it on aircraft but the trick is how to do it on scenery. Thanks anyway.

[Guest misho]

That's perfect! Thank you!

[Guest misho]

Hi Lou,I'm still having problems with this. I get the *_0.asm and *.asm files as intermediary files. I make the change as outlined above in *_0.asm file.Then I compile both *.asm files with BGLC_9.exe, as instructed (actually, I was unclear if both ASM files needed to be recompiled)*_0.bgl and *.bgl files are created.Then, when I compile XML with bglcomp.exe, the *.bgl file is overwritten... and FS won't start. Is this the right procedure?As a side note, Middleman is not working in the latest release of GMAX SDK. I'm not sure if I'm missing something, but I get error warnigs that "makem.parts.xml could not be found" and the names of the X files in the first dialog pane are ambiguous. Is there anything that I'm missing? Is Middleman v1.2 compatible with FS2004 GMAX SDK?Thanks in advance,

[Guest misho]

Never mind, I figured it out! *_0.asm is included in main *.asm, and the argument string for BGLC_9 is right at the top of the ASM file! It worked perfect! Thanks guys!!!

[rhumbaflappy 113]

Hi Misho.The output from BGLC_9 has a ".bgl" appended... just change this to ".mdl" for FS9 Gmax-derived code, then the XML-BGLComp will format it correctly.Alternately, from the command line:BGLC_9 /mdl Myfile.asmDick

[Guest misho]

Yup, that was exactly the command line I was missing. I found it at the top of *.asm file! Thanks!