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Ibsen's Ghost · 10-27-2008, 04:56 PM,

Tried them? No, I didn't realise they were available for download. I must have missed that. Anyway, I've been delayed recently with voice work.

np about the tileset idea...just wondering at your capabilities and skills really. I'm sure Razorwing can offer better advice on what parts to use inside the caves and whether there are any ST-specific textures that would suit perfectly. If it were possible then I'd recommend the 'Primeval Hollow' textures from the 'Lost Spires' mod but I'm not sure if they're spawned from SI or not.

Sachiel · 01-19-2009, 09:53 PM,

Hi there,

I've been working on some rocks again, recently. I was trying out texture splatting, then baking them to a new texture and then make a custom normalmap for that texture. Works out pretty well so far apart from some issues. Dds-Converter for example. I made a 4096x4096 normalmap with insanebump. When I try to convert it it seems like it's taking forever. Speaking of hours. Has anyone encountered that and can tell me if it's normal that it takes so long? Seems like its because of the alpha in the normalmap. I need it though to influence the specular.
I was trying to add some parallax mapping as well but when tampering with the alphas of the diffuse map it turns out in nifskope that it looks just like the texture gets streched or something. Having parallax too on theses rocks would be so cool. Damn perfectionism. Sad

Well, here are two pics:

Lady Nerevar · 01-19-2009, 09:57 PM,

i think its mainly the size, 4096 is INSANE!

nick_op · 01-19-2009, 10:25 PM,

Quote:Originally posted by Sachiel
...4096x4096...

That's probably the reason it's taking so long. There is absolutely no reason to use a normal map that size, it's massivley inefficient and very bad practice.

I'm not even sure if Oblivion will even use a texture that size, it might just drop down to the next mip map.

Quote:I was trying to add some parallax mapping as well but when tampering with the alphas of the diffuse map it turns out in nifskope that it looks just like the texture gets streched or something. Having parallax too on theses rocks would be so cool. Damn perfectionism.

Parallax maps are done in a pretty funky way in Oblivion, in that they're not self occluding (or something along those lines). They tend to give a strange effect where the texture appears to move with the camera. Probably why Bethsoft used it for one wall in the starter dungeon and never again.

Sachiel · 01-19-2009, 10:49 PM,

Yeah, 4096x4096 might be a "bit" big but the effect over, say, 1024x1024 is well visible. I was trying how it looks on very big rocks so when I turn sown the resolution the specularity spots get a bit square. With full resolution it's still running quite ok on my 6800LE. But yeah, there are othere ways to achieve similar effect much more economically.
About the parallaxing: There are yctually a bunch of stones that use the effect. Usually the ones with the grinded edges.

Lady Nerevar · 01-19-2009, 10:59 PM,

is your whole rock on one texture? if so make it tile, a smaller n map should look just fine if it repeats several times.

Sachiel · 01-20-2009, 09:44 AM,

Yes, it's one texture with baked AO and all. Tiling isn't really possible as I was going to paint several textures in one big texture so if I made it tile it would a) bump regions of the mesh that shouldn't have bump and b) won't have the bump exactly like the diffuse.
I know how to do it the old way with different materials but well, the one I tried just might not be a better new one. Wink

But thanks for the help.

Ibsen's Ghost · 01-21-2009, 04:57 PM,

The screenshots look stunning, Sachiel!

btw, there appears to be a slightly over-bright gleam or sheen to the textures that reminds me of some of Koniption's plants when the light is on them. She managed to sort this out, I believe, so that they stopped doing it. I might be worth asking her how.

nick_op · 01-21-2009, 08:17 PM,

Quote:Originally posted by Ibsen's Ghost
btw, there appears to be a slightly over-bright gleam or sheen to the textures that reminds me of some of Koniption's plants when the light is on them. She managed to sort this out, I believe, so that they stopped doing it. I might be worth asking her how.

It's the specular maps - Sachiel has mentioned that he's not adjusted them yet.

Koniption · 01-21-2009, 08:27 PM,

Quote:Originally posted by Ibsen's Ghost
The screenshots look stunning, Sachiel!

btw, there appears to be a slightly over-bright gleam or sheen to the textures that reminds me of some of Koniption's plants when the light is on them. She managed to sort this out, I believe, so that they stopped doing it. I might be worth asking her how.

Actually, I know what is causing some of my plants to gleam brightly, and how to fix it, but no, I have not fixed the textures yet to correct the issue. I've been too busy. And currently, I'm too sick to do much more than sleep (saw the doctor today; got some antibiotics).

Basically, the textures of my plants that are saved as DXT3 with Alpha, need to have their normal maps saved with "black" color alpha channel, then saved as DXT3 again. Currently, all my DXT3 plant textures are saved with a "white" alpha channel, which reflects light.

Koniption