How to make an Opacity Map function?

[Argorius]

I got some assets from Dexsoft and am trying to get them ready for use in the 2.30 Editor. However, some of these assets have opaque maps and I can't get them to show up properly. There is one that has a diffuse map, normal map, specular, and an opaque map.

 

In the mat file I usually do the following:

 

texture0="abstract::fishnet1_diff.dds"
texture1="abstract::fishnet1_nmap.dds"
texture3="abstract::fishnet1_spec.dds"

blend=0
depthmask=1
overlay=0
zsort=0
cullface=1
castshadows=1
specular=3.33333
gloss=0.0
bumpscale=0.3
shader="abstract::mesh_diffuse.vert","abstract::mesh_diffuse_bumpmap_specular.frag"
shadowshader="abstract::mesh_shadow.vert" 

 

What do I have to write if I have an opaque map involved?

 

on a more general note...is there some documentation that allows me to make sense of what texture 0, 1, 3, etc. is? And what type of maps belong to which texture? I am doing this mostly by trial and error but I dont understand what I am actually doing...or is someone could explain this or point me to some cool link - I'd appreciate it!

 

Thanks!

[AggrorJorn]

try to set the blend value higher. 2 or 4 might do the trick.

 

tex1 = the diffuse color

tex2 = the normal mapping (bump map)

tex3 = specular map (for glossines, making it more shiny)

[macklebee]

"abstract::mesh_diffuse_bumpmap_specular.frag"

 

try to set the blend value higher. 2 or 4 might do the trick.

 

tex1 = the diffuse color

tex2 = the normal mapping (bump map)

tex3 = specular map (for glossines, making it more shiny)

 

He is using "..specular.frag" not "..specularmap.frag. In "..specular.frag" the specular is set by the bumpmap's alpha multiplied by the specular value you set in the material file.

 

if he used the specularmap.frag, then it looks like its handled by texture2, where the diffuse is texture0 and the bumpmap is texture1

[Niosop]

For opacity you'll have to use one of the alpha shaders I believe. The best reference as to what to pass where is the shaders themselves. You can rename shaders.pak to shaders.zip and extract them to look at the .frag files and see what is used for what.

[macklebee]

it looks like the alphatest looks at the diffuse texture?

#ifdef LW_ALPHATEST
if (diffuse.w<0.5) {
	discard;
}
#endif

 

but offhand I don't know what the ".W" signifies...

[Niosop]

It's the alpha channel. RGBA->XYZW

[AggrorJorn]

For alpha mapping I use

texture0="abstract::lock.dds"
blend=2
depthmask=1
overlay=0
zsort=0
cullface=1
castshadows=1
specular=0.0
gloss=0.25
bumpscale=0.3
shader="abstract::mesh_diffuse.vert","abstract::mesh_diffuse_alphatest.frag"
shadowshader="abstract::mesh_shadow.vert"

[macklebee]

It's the alpha channel. RGBA->XYZW

 

is that interchangeable or dependent on the texture channel?

[Niosop]

They're always xyzw AFAIK since a color is just a Vec3 or Vec4.

[macklebee]

They're always xyzw AFAIK since a color is just a Vec3 or Vec4.

 

well thats not what i am seeing tho... I am also seeing ".A" as well to denote the alpha...

[Niosop]

Hmm, you're right. I only see .a in a couple of places....are the places it's at working properly? I remember someone saying that specular wasn't working for them somewhere, I suppose that could be a reason if they're not interchangeable. Really not sure.

[TylerH]

Ok guys, I asked Argorious when he PMed me with the question to post here, so since I understand what he is asking, here is the full explanation on how to do this:

 

At lines 14- 20 in mesh.frag:

#ifdef LW_DIFFUSE
uniform sampler2D LW_DIFFUSE;
#endif

#ifdef LW_SPECULARMAP
uniform sampler2D LW_SPECULARMAP;
#endif

 

Add code to make it look like this:

#ifdef LW_DIFFUSE
uniform sampler2D LW_DIFFUSE;
#endif

#ifdef LW_OPACITYMAP
uniform sampler2D LW_OPACITYMAP;
#endif

#ifdef LW_SPECULARMAP
uniform sampler2D LW_SPECULARMAP;
#endif

 

At lines 102 - 104 in mesh.frag:

#ifdef LW_DIFFUSE
	diffuse *= texture2D(LW_DIFFUSE,texcoord);//*fOcclusionShadow;
#endif

 

Add a line to make it this:

#ifdef LW_DIFFUSE
	diffuse *= texture2D(LW_DIFFUSE,texcoord);//*fOcclusionShadow;
	diffuse.w *= texture2D(LW_OPACITYMAP,texcoord).r; // Assuming you map an opacity map properly, the RGB values will all be the same.
#endif

 

Now, in any of the mesh_x_y_z.frag shaders:

#define LW_OPACITYMAP texture4

 

In your .mat file:

texture4="abstract:myopacitymap.dds"

 

And to get the proper alpha blending:

blend=1

 

This is what we use in Jeklynn Heights to get transparent windows with glow.

[TylerH]

On the note of the rgba, xyzw stuff:

 

In GLSL, if you read the specification, the following values are all interchangeable:

 

rgba -> xyzw -> uvst

 

.r = .x = .u

.g = .y = .v

.b = .z = .s

.a = .w = .t

 

They are just all there to make it obvious what that vector variable is (color, vector, texture coord respectively).

 

You can also do other things, like .rr, .xyxz, .yyyy, .wwst, .argb, .bgra, .uvzw

 

They can be combined and interchanged at no cost, and even reordered like I showed.

[Niosop]

Cool, thanks, good to know.

[Argorius]

Thanks so much - that was a real helpful discussion in general for me - it made me realize a lot of things about the different maps and shaders!

 

One of the proposed solutions by Aggror actually worked too - not sure if it made it as good as it could but using the shader he suggested with no blending and only the diff texture made the model as it should look (I think). Here is what I changed it too and this worked:

 

texture0="abstract::fishnet1_diff.dds"
blend=0
depthmask=1
overlay=0
zsort=0
cullface=0
castshadows=1
specular=0
gloss=0.05
bumpscale=0.3
shader="abstract::mesh_diffuse.vert","abstract::mesh_diffuse_alphatest.frag"
shadowshader="abstract::mesh_shadow.vert"

 

I am going to have to try Tyler's approach next - thanks for answering this!

[TylerH]

Alpha test just discards pixels if the alpha of the diffuse map is < 0.3.

 

I was coming from the approach if you wanted to store your alpha map in an entirely separate file (i.e. the definition of opacity map).

[macklebee]

Alpha test just discards pixels if the alpha of the diffuse map is < 0.3.

 

I was coming from the approach if you wanted to store your alpha map in an entirely separate file (i.e. the definition of opacity map).

 

thanks for the rgba->xyzw explanation... appreciate it. seems like using a consistent referencing tho inside LE shaders would be preferable... but

 

and i think its less than 0.5...