peter_spy

Yup, no stutter on my end as well, great job!

I changed a bunch of material files and replaced the standard frob. I ended up using _white so I could replace the code faster. Unfortunately, there's no one-size-fits-all solution in this case. Some objects look pretty decent, other, especially those with darker textures, not so much. Doors and boxy stuff looks like from TDS. This would need tweaking per object. Here are the material files, make sure you backup the originals before using these: https://www.dropbox.com/s/n2xjugnmwhle0rm/01_new_frob_materials.zip?dl=1 Edit: Oh, and to properly use these, you need to put this cubemap in the mod env folder: https://www.dropbox.com/s/z8ce4kxy4xakgdc/env.zip?dl=1

Obj is a common intermediate format, so you can import your model from DR and work on it in basically any modeling software. It might be useful when you need to block out your structure first, test it in first person mode, and then export to modeling software as a base.

For the chalice, I used its normalmap for the outline, as it's a bit more subtle. I used diffuse for the actual frob. You can also use _white in both cases, but it looks more like a plastic wrap or TDS-like frob. Code: // Frobable object outline { maskcolor map makealpha (models/darkmod/props/textures/gold_chalice_ornate_local) // Object normalmap for outline mask alpha .5 // modify it as you wish } { blend gl_dst_alpha, gl_one maskalpha cameraCubeMap env/fres texgen reflect } // Better frob { if ( parm11 > 0 ) maskcolor map makealpha (models/darkmod/props/textures/gold_chalice_ornate) alpha .3 // modify it as you wish } { if ( parm11 > 0 ) blend gl_dst_alpha, gl_one maskalpha cameraCubeMap env/fres texgen reflect } Btw. one thing against the "frobable object outline" is that it adds to the drawcall and triangle count of a model (two additional stages). The frob itself is not an issue, because it doesn't add anything to the scene unless you're highlighting an object. That's why I'd also exclude "junk items" from the outline, since many missions use them extensively.

Sounds like great news, can't wait for the next build then

Thanks! No, I didn't think about adding it to the core mod yet. I'll add it as a feature proposal in the bugtracker. But I think it might need refinment and more extensive tests (not just loot but doors, junk objects, etc). Great, that means my idea works That's the "frobable object outline" code at work. That said, this is a gameplay-changing feature i.e. it helps the player see what's static and what's interactive. It might be better if it was left optional, as originally TDM doesn't do that. The way I see it, TDM model of presenting interaction is more like Thief 1-2. What I'm proposing here is more like Dishonored and the like, only a bit more subtle. There are still more tests needed IMO. The outline may work for loot, but what about doors or junk objects? I'm not so sure about that. Best PoC would be a complete list of shaders modified for e.g. Tears of Saint Lucia or A New Job, to see how it works as a system. I have a lot on my plate right now, so no promises, but I'll get back to it, sooner or later.

Should have done this long time ago, but here goes. This is the default frob in action. Notice that in such lighting conditions it's hard to tell whether these chalices are loot or not, especially if player is in a hurry, sweeping the room in a risky move: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8r0khi00f00s73i/frob_default.mp4?dl=0 Now this has both an initial outline for interactive objects, and the new frob. You may argue that the white outline doesn't fit here, maybe something more orange would be more suitable. And I agree Still, IMO with that kind of frob player can see better what's interactive and what's not: https://www.dropbox.com/s/yaobhqqrk8sv51c/frob_new.mp4?dl=0

That's easier than you think. This model is 3100 triangles, but they convey certain, quite complicated shape: And that's all what really is to low poly: you use as little of them as possible to achieve certain shape, along with all other tricks you know (baking normals, using smoothing groups in a certain way etc.) This is a very good presentation on the subject btw.

http://bugs.thedarkmod.com/view.php?id=4493 first comment. No need to get aggressive, TDM Team was always careful not to break stuff like older missions. That's why I'm surprised that this fix was introduced so fast and without much consideration.

While it's always good to know how the LOD system works to have better control over performance, there's no need to use it for such low differences in polygons. It you wanted to have a nice curve and it would have over e.g. 5000 triangles in total, that might be a problem in more complex scenes, longer views etc. Going from 800 to 500 polys is a waste of CPU time for LOD thinking entities.

I play with lightgem on, all the time. I expect new players will do the same, and the last thing I'd want to do is to discourage them.

AFAIR, you don't need to inherit anything in your model for LOD to work, but you need to have certain set of spawnargs, otherwise it won't. I'll check that on Monday, since I'm away from home, but AFAIR you have to include at least hide_distance (can be set to -1, if you don't want to hide your model), dist_check_period, and lod_1_distance.

That's true, you can get away with more triangles than with transparency, even TDM engine allow for several milions of polygons per scene, as long as other things are relatively low.

Isn't that the other way around here, actually? Everything was fine untill we started discussing high framerates like 300 fps. But that's where most games break, noone is introducing fixes for that in other games. Most miltiplatform games are 30-60 fps locked on consoles and PCs, multiplayer titles have caps for like 120 fps on PCs, but that's it. If I understand this correctly, there was no need to introduce this fix in a first place.

I know, and you don't have much choice with tiling textures and DR as a building tool. You should really get a hang of any modeling program, especially with your skills. That way of making models would kill even Unreal 4 in a long run. Hell, even for static shots and architectural rendering this would be considered really expensive.

I can't say I understand specifics of that solution, but you shouldn't have to make changes in the engine to facilitate movement. It's the mapper or modeler, who is responsible for that, either by turning off collision for smaller objects, like Biker said, or by making proper collision for a model, whether it's stairs, ground or anything else. Also, most people play games with Vsync on, and from what I understand from that bugtracker thread, you made a workaround for really high FPS like 300, so with Vsync off.

AFAIK, you don't have the control over smoothing, and that is necessary for this trick to work.

If you mean stretching, that's not a bug, you can see that pincusion distortion in 2.05 for every FOV above something like 70 or 75. It's not even subtle. The engine just doesn't seem to use proper correction for 16:9 ratio (separate V and H FOV ratio values).

Nine? Jesus F. Christ... If this is just one model in the scene, it hopefully won't be a problem. But right now you have 9 meshes instead of one. Multiply that by ambient light + any lights that hit the table in the scene, and you know how this will end. Ideally the model should have one material, just one diffuse, normal, and spec texture. But that would require making it in Blender or other modeling program.

Filter/modulate works just like Obs mentioned, which means it's basically Multiply mode from Gimp or Photoshop. It might be useful for stuff like dirt, maybe dry blood, but IMO not much else. As for viewing, you could still use decal_macro or polygonoffset to help z-fighting and related problems, although for best results you should have the whole table surface on one unwrapped texture. How many materials does this table use now?

For distant art, sure. But for something placed nearby the player you'd be better off with 3d cables. But instead of cylinder, you can use 4 sides (square/rectangle profile), just give them one smoothing group. You'll save a ton of polygons, and nobody will see the difference. Old modeling trick.

I haven't used blend filter for ages, but in my notes I see that "white color is transparent, and alpha is ignored". That's why you see those textures inverted. Proper material for such alpha would be: { blend diffusemap map texture/with/alpha_d alphatest [value] }

Decal macro should work, but why do you use blend filter? Edit: also, it looks like the second texture is missing closing curly bracket (the blend filter stage).

Alpha masks look correct in Gimp. I assume noshadows, noselfshadow, proper alphatest value, etc. is in the material?

Textures look fine to me, how the material looks like and how it behaves ingame?