BlackArmsShadow@Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:46 pm Post subject: A load of questions probably answered before....: ...but searching brings up no results. 
Anyway, I'm looking for ways to make:
A rain emitting texture in QUAKE 4,
Grass that sticks up in a 3D fashion w/o modelling,
And how to make trees/bushes.
Any links/advice would be very much appreciated.
Shadow
(P.S. Rather than starting a new thread, how do you divide a area into several airtight rooms with no collision blocking them/light errors?)
_________________
I'm not gonna think this way - Nor will I count on others
Close my eyes and feel it burn - Now I see what I've gotta do
OPEN YOUR HEART, IT'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT |
Bittoman@Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 5:33 pm Post subject: Re: A load of questions probably answered before....: There is an extensive thread on rain in D3/Q4 so I'm not going to explain it because it's a bit more complex than one reply can really do justice. In fact I know of at least two threads (one so recent it's within the last week) that specifically discuss it.
For grass without modeling you have one other alternative, using textures that look like grass and use the alpha mask to clip it then just weave two or three patch meshes with this texture applied to make a grassy area. Make sure to set the material to nonsolid though so that you can move through it. This is an "old school" method but it's still fairly common.
Making trees and bushes is as simple as modeling them heh. I mean, I can't really explain how to make them without explaining how to model with an editor. Of all the things you can model, these are really fairly simple objects once you have the basics for modeling down. |
BlackArmsShadow@Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 5:50 pm Post subject: : Ok, thanks for the quick reply.
What do I add to my material in order to apply an alpha layer?
And how do you mean by "alpha mask"?
Yeah, I'm a bit of a modding newbie.. 
_________________
I'm not gonna think this way - Nor will I count on others
Close my eyes and feel it burn - Now I see what I've gotta do
OPEN YOUR HEART, IT'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT |
Rayne@Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 6:01 pm Post subject: : So use the search function... There are thousands of posts that describe alpha channels etc
http://www.doom3world.org/phpbb2/search.php?mode=results
_________________
theRev is coming... |
voldemort@Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 6:05 pm Post subject: : rain ---- bring up the particle editor
(in console type edit particles)
open one of the default drip particles and see how it works
now redoo it so you have several drips falling randomly
save your particle
create a new material in your mtr file
here is what mine looks like
textures/exhale2/rain_prt
{
deform particle rain_drip
qer_editorimage textures/common/nodraw.tga
nonsolid
noshadows
(
blend filter
map _white
}
}
the filter removes the white and since your mapping _white its basically not drawn all that is drawn is the deform particle so now you have a drip particle that you can stretch over whatever area you need
portalling and optimizing is esential for rain without it you can have to many surfaces at once
grass
create a grass textures
next you need the mtr
textures/exhale2/grass
{
deform sprite
twosided
discrete
(
blend diffusemap
map textures/******--your grass texture here
centerscale (if needed) I did
shear ( sound *0.3) + fol1Table[time*0.008],0 //this makes it move in synch with a sound (shear sound) and the fol1Table is a table I made you could use a prebuilt one like sinTable and then just tweak the time and intensity
alphatest 0.5
alphaZeroClamp
}
}
this works great for bushes what you could try And Ive meant to try is to use this mtr as a bassis for a particle then use the same nodraw texture method to draw grass ( i would expect a big performance hit by trying this)
the other thing you could try is a flat texture that shears and has an animated heightmap to simulate grass movement again something ive been meaning to try
this material works best for bushes and trees though since grass is so tightly cropped together You would have a ton of faces to illuminate??
as for alphatest what you are doing is defining what sections of a texture will be drawn and what sections wont
you do this in gimp or photoshop by createing an alpha layer and then drawing white where you want the texture to show and black where you dont
the alpatest command then says if its black I wont draw it white I will
_________________
it was bad enough imps and maggots everywhere but when that Hellknight copped a feel that was to much now I really was in hell |
BlackArmsShadow@Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 7:09 pm Post subject: : <3
Thanks, I'll have to download this page. 
*EDIT*
It would seem the .mtr for the grass isn't working...
I edited it, so it looks like this:
textures/exhale2/grass
{
deform sprite
twosided
discrete
(
blend diffusemap
map textures/exhale2/grass.tga
centerscale
shear ( sound *0.3) + fol1Table[time*0.008],0
alphatest 0.5
alphaZeroClamp
}
}
All I get (similarly with the rain) is a placeholder checkered texture? 
_________________
I'm not gonna think this way - Nor will I count on others
Close my eyes and feel it burn - Now I see what I've gotta do
OPEN YOUR HEART, IT'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT |
voldemort@Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 2:23 am Post subject: : | Code: | Thanks, I'll have to download this page.
*EDIT*
It would seem the .mtr for the grass isn't working...
I edited it, so it looks like this:
textures/exhale2/grass
{
deform sprite
twosided
discrete
(
blend diffusemap
map textures/ [color=blue]exhale2[/color] /grass.tga
centerscale
shear ( sound *0.3) + [color=blue]fol1Table[/color] time*0.008],0
alphatest 0.5
alphaZeroClamp
}
}
All I get (similarly with the rain) is a placeholder checkered texture? |
noticed the hightlighted sections if that isnt the path for your textures your outa luck
also if your table isnt named that again your outa luck you need to change the mtr to match your paths and files
example if your folder is blah and the texture blah.tga
textyres/blah/grass
{
deform sprite
twosided
discrete
{
blend diffusemap
map textures/blah/blah.tga
centerscale (you must have a scale here or omit this for instance 1, 1 or 2, 2
shear (sound*0.3) =+ blahTable(time)*.009),0
alphatest 0.5
alphaZeroCLamp
}
}
go into the editor after you have created your mtr file
texture it with the texture
then click on the entity inspector window
click the bottom tab labeld console
type editdecls in the open field
this will open the declaration editor
once open browse it like this
materials
----textures
-----"""browse to the texture in question
double click it to edit
make sure your view window is in realtime render mode
now every time you make a change to the material click test until it works
then click save
if your usure about whats wrong
look at the console window it will give an error everytime you test and something is wrong the error will tell you how to fix the mtr
_________________
it was bad enough imps and maggots everywhere but when that Hellknight copped a feel that was to much now I really was in hell |
Syx@Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 7:06 am Post subject: : | I can't remember offhand if you could exhibit enough control over particles to do this (the particles would have to stay still once created and have a long life span with a gradual fade in fade out so a flicker wasn't noticable), but I wonder how feasible it would be to use a particle emitter to simulate actual grass? |
BlackArmsShadow@Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 2:17 pm Post subject: : Ok, the grass works, but there's only one blade per suface and it's megaly streched out. Subdivison on a patch mesh does nothing - or to be more precise, it behaves like the "crusher" switch on Xaero Gravity...
_________________
I'm not gonna think this way - Nor will I count on others
Close my eyes and feel it burn - Now I see what I've gotta do
OPEN YOUR HEART, IT'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT |
BlackArmsShadow@Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:46 pm Post subject: A load of questions probably answered before....: ...but searching brings up no results. 
Anyway, I'm looking for ways to make:
A rain emitting texture in QUAKE 4,
Grass that sticks up in a 3D fashion w/o modelling,
And how to make trees/bushes.
Any links/advice would be very much appreciated.
Shadow
(P.S. Rather than starting a new thread, how do you divide a area into several airtight rooms with no collision blocking them/light errors?)
_________________
I'm not gonna think this way - Nor will I count on others
Close my eyes and feel it burn - Now I see what I've gotta do
OPEN YOUR HEART, IT'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT |
Bittoman@Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 5:33 pm Post subject: Re: A load of questions probably answered before....: There is an extensive thread on rain in D3/Q4 so I'm not going to explain it because it's a bit more complex than one reply can really do justice. In fact I know of at least two threads (one so recent it's within the last week) that specifically discuss it.
For grass without modeling you have one other alternative, using textures that look like grass and use the alpha mask to clip it then just weave two or three patch meshes with this texture applied to make a grassy area. Make sure to set the material to nonsolid though so that you can move through it. This is an "old school" method but it's still fairly common.
Making trees and bushes is as simple as modeling them heh. I mean, I can't really explain how to make them without explaining how to model with an editor. Of all the things you can model, these are really fairly simple objects once you have the basics for modeling down. |
BlackArmsShadow@Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 5:50 pm Post subject: : Ok, thanks for the quick reply.
What do I add to my material in order to apply an alpha layer?
And how do you mean by "alpha mask"?
Yeah, I'm a bit of a modding newbie.. 
_________________
I'm not gonna think this way - Nor will I count on others
Close my eyes and feel it burn - Now I see what I've gotta do
OPEN YOUR HEART, IT'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT |
Rayne@Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 6:01 pm Post subject: : So use the search function... There are thousands of posts that describe alpha channels etc
http://www.doom3world.org/phpbb2/search.php?mode=results
_________________
theRev is coming... |
voldemort@Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 6:05 pm Post subject: : rain ---- bring up the particle editor
(in console type edit particles)
open one of the default drip particles and see how it works
now redoo it so you have several drips falling randomly
save your particle
create a new material in your mtr file
here is what mine looks like
textures/exhale2/rain_prt
{
deform particle rain_drip
qer_editorimage textures/common/nodraw.tga
nonsolid
noshadows
(
blend filter
map _white
}
}
the filter removes the white and since your mapping _white its basically not drawn all that is drawn is the deform particle so now you have a drip particle that you can stretch over whatever area you need
portalling and optimizing is esential for rain without it you can have to many surfaces at once
grass
create a grass textures
next you need the mtr
textures/exhale2/grass
{
deform sprite
twosided
discrete
(
blend diffusemap
map textures/******--your grass texture here
centerscale (if needed) I did
shear ( sound *0.3) + fol1Table[time*0.008],0 //this makes it move in synch with a sound (shear sound) and the fol1Table is a table I made you could use a prebuilt one like sinTable and then just tweak the time and intensity
alphatest 0.5
alphaZeroClamp
}
}
this works great for bushes what you could try And Ive meant to try is to use this mtr as a bassis for a particle then use the same nodraw texture method to draw grass ( i would expect a big performance hit by trying this)
the other thing you could try is a flat texture that shears and has an animated heightmap to simulate grass movement again something ive been meaning to try
this material works best for bushes and trees though since grass is so tightly cropped together You would have a ton of faces to illuminate??
as for alphatest what you are doing is defining what sections of a texture will be drawn and what sections wont
you do this in gimp or photoshop by createing an alpha layer and then drawing white where you want the texture to show and black where you dont
the alpatest command then says if its black I wont draw it white I will
_________________
it was bad enough imps and maggots everywhere but when that Hellknight copped a feel that was to much now I really was in hell |
BlackArmsShadow@Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 7:09 pm Post subject: : <3
Thanks, I'll have to download this page. 
*EDIT*
It would seem the .mtr for the grass isn't working...
I edited it, so it looks like this:
textures/exhale2/grass
{
deform sprite
twosided
discrete
(
blend diffusemap
map textures/exhale2/grass.tga
centerscale
shear ( sound *0.3) + fol1Table[time*0.008],0
alphatest 0.5
alphaZeroClamp
}
}
All I get (similarly with the rain) is a placeholder checkered texture? 
_________________
I'm not gonna think this way - Nor will I count on others
Close my eyes and feel it burn - Now I see what I've gotta do
OPEN YOUR HEART, IT'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT |
voldemort@Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 2:23 am Post subject: : | Code: | Thanks, I'll have to download this page.
*EDIT*
It would seem the .mtr for the grass isn't working...
I edited it, so it looks like this:
textures/exhale2/grass
{
deform sprite
twosided
discrete
(
blend diffusemap
map textures/ [color=blue]exhale2[/color] /grass.tga
centerscale
shear ( sound *0.3) + [color=blue]fol1Table[/color] time*0.008],0
alphatest 0.5
alphaZeroClamp
}
}
All I get (similarly with the rain) is a placeholder checkered texture? |
noticed the hightlighted sections if that isnt the path for your textures your outa luck
also if your table isnt named that again your outa luck you need to change the mtr to match your paths and files
example if your folder is blah and the texture blah.tga
textyres/blah/grass
{
deform sprite
twosided
discrete
{
blend diffusemap
map textures/blah/blah.tga
centerscale (you must have a scale here or omit this for instance 1, 1 or 2, 2
shear (sound*0.3) =+ blahTable(time)*.009),0
alphatest 0.5
alphaZeroCLamp
}
}
go into the editor after you have created your mtr file
texture it with the texture
then click on the entity inspector window
click the bottom tab labeld console
type editdecls in the open field
this will open the declaration editor
once open browse it like this
materials
----textures
-----"""browse to the texture in question
double click it to edit
make sure your view window is in realtime render mode
now every time you make a change to the material click test until it works
then click save
if your usure about whats wrong
look at the console window it will give an error everytime you test and something is wrong the error will tell you how to fix the mtr
_________________
it was bad enough imps and maggots everywhere but when that Hellknight copped a feel that was to much now I really was in hell |
Syx@Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 7:06 am Post subject: : | I can't remember offhand if you could exhibit enough control over particles to do this (the particles would have to stay still once created and have a long life span with a gradual fade in fade out so a flicker wasn't noticable), but I wonder how feasible it would be to use a particle emitter to simulate actual grass? |
BlackArmsShadow@Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 2:17 pm Post subject: : Ok, the grass works, but there's only one blade per suface and it's megaly streched out. Subdivison on a patch mesh does nothing - or to be more precise, it behaves like the "crusher" switch on Xaero Gravity...
_________________
I'm not gonna think this way - Nor will I count on others
Close my eyes and feel it burn - Now I see what I've gotta do
OPEN YOUR HEART, IT'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT |