No discernible frob highlight for some doors & chests

[Fidcal]

There are some doors & chests with no detectable frob hilight. Here are a couple but I suspect the whole range for each might be the same...

 

models/darkmod/architecture/doors/door128x56_2hinge.ase

models/darkmod/containers/openable/bc_chest3_lid.ase

[Dram]

It's a material file thing, so you can look up the material names and see if the frob code is in them

[Baddcog]

those are mine. did a bit of adding frob highlights to objects a few weeks ago. Still not sure what we want to highlight.

 

whole chests, just locks, lids???

 

and doors, the entire door? just lockplate?

[Dram]

those are mine. did a bit of adding frob highlights to objects a few weeks ago. Still not sure what we want to highlight.

 

whole chests, just locks, lids???

 

and doors, the entire door? just lockplate?

 

It's a good idea to put frob highlight code for all materials that could remotely be used for frobbing purposes (so even hedge materials for example) as the highlighting only happens if the object is frobable. So even if all materials have the code, only the objects which are frobable will highlight.

[SneaksieDave]

Yep, you never know what a material might be used for, so we add a frob stage to all of them.

 

...hoping that doesn't cause any performance issues.

[Ishtvan]

On a semi-related note, I still think the current frob hilight setup can produce a hilight that is a bit too subtle in certain lighting conditions. In bright light you can usually tell, in the dark you can obviously tell, but in mid range light the hilight is sometimes barely perceptible, unless you are frobbing and unfrobbing it to tell the difference.

[Fidcal]

On a semi-related note, I still think the current frob hilight setup can produce a hilight that is a bit too subtle in certain lighting conditions. In bright light you can usually tell, in the dark you can obviously tell, but in mid range light the hilight is sometimes barely perceptible, unless you are frobbing and unfrobbing it to tell the difference.

 

Does TDM have a master offset that can be changed and affect all materials or would they need fixing separately?

 

I've noticed light materials like my light wood shutters in Den highlight much better than dark materials like a dark crate.

[Ishtvan]

I'm not sure exactly how it works. I think there's a master additive offset, and then a master multiplier that multiplies based on the current light level. This seems to fail when you have a dark colored object in medium light levels though. The combination isn't enough to give it a good hilight.

 

We could probably go through problem-materials by hand and add an offset to the parm11 code if parm11 is greater than 0 (i.e., it's frobbed), but there might be a better way than that.

[Springheel]

Yes, all the materials can be tweaked by hand if necessary to get an ideal frob. If there are a lot of materials with problems that might not be an ideal solution though.

 

Did we ever solve the mystery of whether both blends were necessary for the frob?

[Tels]

I'm not sure exactly how it works. I think there's a master additive offset, and then a master multiplier that multiplies based on the current light level. This seems to fail when you have a dark colored object in medium light levels though. The combination isn't enough to give it a good hilight.

 

We could probably go through problem-materials by hand and add an offset to the parm11 code if parm11 is greater than 0 (i.e., it's frobbed), but there might be a better way than that.

 

You could add a "parm10" and then tell people to set ShaderParm10 in the editor, so they can tweak the parm per model.

 

	{
	if ( parm11 > 0 )
	blend	   gl_dst_color, gl_one
	map		 _white
	rgb		 0.40 * parm11
}

 

becomes:

 

	{
	if ( parm11 > 0 )
	blend	   gl_dst_color, gl_one
	map		 _white
	rgb		 (0.40 + parm10) * parm11
}

 

parm10 defaults to 0, seting it to 0.2 would make the final factor 0.6 instead of 0.4

 

(untested, but should work similiar)

[Tels]

those are mine. did a bit of adding frob highlights to objects a few weeks ago. Still not sure what we want to highlight.

 

whole chests, just locks, lids???

 

and doors, the entire door? just lockplate?

 

Yeah, this is something that makes me ponder, too. I created brush doors and these highlight the entire door:

 

However, a model door I placed highlights only the lock, and it is almost impossible to see it in the dark:

 

[PinkDot]

You could add a "parm10" and then tell people to set ShaderParm10 in the editor, so they can tweak the parm per model.

Isn't it easier to tweak it per material rather than per model? You would have to set up the same shaderparms for every instance of the same model in every map you use it. The strength of frob highlight depends on the brightness of diffuse texture - the darker the less noticeable frob highlight is. All we have to do is to change that 0.40 after rgb to something else.

 

However, a model door I placed highlights only the lock, and it is almost impossible to see it in the dark:

This might be another issue, something with frob peers or something like that - somebody else will explain it better. (and maybe fix it even )

[Tels]

Isn't it easier to tweak it per material rather than per model? You would have to set up the same shaderparms for every instance of the same model in every map you use it. The strength of frob highlight depends on the brightness of diffuse texture - the darker the less noticeable frob highlight is. All we have to do is to change that 0.40 after rgb to something else.

 

Yes, fixing the materials should be done first. I just mean, that in addition to that, somebody might want to change the frobhighlight per model. (I am not sure that fixing the material is possible for all cases, but it should definitely attempted)

 

This might be another issue, something with frob peers or something like that - somebody else will explain it better. (and maybe fix it even )

 

I admit I don't understand that stuff yet