This Could Be Very Interesting - AnKor's Shaders

[MajorMagee]

It's explained here http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3881675/103

Post #4007665, #4007682, and #4007683.

 

[HouseHobbit]

Thanks, That helped greatly..
Back to my first love, ETO 1.50
Only changed the shaders with Major Magee's lines.
And modded the water to my tastes (today) And off I go.
With the ENB files added.
looks great, Autumn is nice..
And can fly like a Hobbit should too.
Thanks to the Masters for this MUCH REJOICING>>

 

[MajorMagee]

Escorting a crippled B-24

how can I get more shiny skins ?

The key to having a mirror finish, which I think is what you're asking for, is to have a reflection dds file with an intensity of about 10% above pure black (a very dark grey). If it's not already referenced in the m3d file you will have to add it by hex editing. The instructions are here:
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?40606-Projected-knowledge-base/page3 in post #58.

 

[MajorMagee]

I've also spent this afternoon fixing a variety of aircraft that have heavily tinted window glazing like that seen in the shot of the P51B above. From all the color references I can find these were never tinted. The key to correcting this is to change the diffuse color from typically something like 04 57 00 3A to 33 33 33 33. The first three pairs define the shade in B G R order so making them all the same sets it to neutral grey. The lower the last two digits the more transparent the glass will be with FF being completely opaque and 00 being invisible.

 

[josepicos]

Quick question, what override settings in the cfs3 config are you guys running??

Seems that the dual pass render causes there to be a huge gap in the middle of the screen when flying...

 

[gosd]

I've also spent this afternoon fixing a variety of aircraft that have heavily tinted window glazing like that seen in the shot of the P51B above. From all the color references I can find these were never tinted. The key to correcting this is to change the diffuse color from typically something like 04 57 00 3A to 33 33 33 33. The first three pairs define the shade in B G R order so making them all the same sets it to neutral grey. The lower the last two digits the more transparent the glass will be with FF being completely opaque and 00 being invisible.

@MajorMagee
Still having trouble finding the address nb.

 

[MajorMagee]

Yes, Dual Pass Rendering has to be turned off for compatibility with AnKor's mod.

Gosd,

Are you having trouble finding the quad for Diffuse Color, or the row where the glass is defined?

Determining the correct row can be a bit of trial and error, but typically there are only a few rows where the transparency is not set to FF. For most of the P-40s there are two rows that need to be changed, and they don't even have the same color values.

 

[gosd]

The row where the glass is defined for this A/C

 

[MajorMagee]

I don't appear to have that same skin (I have one that looks similar showing 72, not 75), but assuming the model is the same, it's at address 9EC through 9EF. Sometimes where there are multiple possibilities, I put the hex values into PhotoShop to check the tint against a screen shot to see which one is a match.

The intensity works as the ratio of the difference from 256.
For example hex 3A = decimal 58
256 - 58 = 198
198 / 256 = 77%
So in PhotoShop I would enter 00 57 04 into the color selector to determine the color, and then I would adjust the brightness value up from the 34% that the hex value represents to 77% to see what would be displayed on the model in game. In this case it's a bright green (RGB = 0, 196, 10) as seen in the screen shot.

 

[MajorMagee]

I just discovered the real reason why some of the models turn black with AnKor's Mod turned on. In the case of TKs B24J the shadow layer dds was saved with an alpha layer. Deleting that and saving it again in DTX1 format fixed the problem.

 

[greycap.raf]

Anybody with some good ideas on who stole my sea?

In other words, when I turn the mod on my water disappears. What remains is the shoreline, normal land textures where the sea should be and interestingly enough wave animation and shine - but no water textures.

I originally had this issue with my very heavily tweaked "normal" CFS3 but thought that I have some files that cause conflicts and didn't pay any more attention to it. Now, however, when ETO 1.50 was released I tried it there (the included package) and the exact same thing happened and my ETO install is as untouched as can be so this time the reason isn't scenery textures or anything like that. I seriously have no idea. Intel E6750 and Nvidia GTX 470 if they make any difference.

 

[MajorMagee]

Near the top of the SeaWater.fx file (in the Shaders30 folder) there is a parameter called BaseOpacity. If it's set to a value lower than 0.95 you will start to see the bottom, and with low enough values the water will "disappear". Beyond that, I'm not sure what the cause could be.

 

[gecko]

Did you ever install my new environment effects? The water files in it are not compatible with Ankor's effects.

 

[italflyer]

I just discovered the real reason why some of the models turn black with AnKor's Mod turned on. In the case of TKs B24J the shadow layer dds was saved with an alpha layer. Deleting that and saving it again in DTX1 format fixed the problem.

Do you mean the *_s.dds? Did that with MW's Bitmap tool, nothing changed. tried the the *_r.dds, still nada... ?

 

[HouseHobbit]

Anybody with some good ideas on who stole my sea?

In other words, when I turn the mod on my water disappears. What remains is the shoreline, normal land textures where the sea should be and interestingly enough wave animation and shine - but no water textures.

I originally had this issue with my very heavily tweaked "normal" CFS3 but thought that I have some files that cause conflicts and didn't pay any more attention to it. Now, however, when ETO 1.50 was released I tried it there (the included package) and the exact same thing happened and my ETO install is as untouched as can be so this time the reason isn't scenery textures or anything like that. I seriously have no idea. Intel E6750 and Nvidia GTX 470 if they make any difference.

I have ran into this problem also.. had to change the Dual render , to be Off (disabled), and had to make sure I had the correct Water .DDS files in the effects.
No all water >DDS files work the same with the many d3d8 and (d3d9) and shader files, I have tried.

I have been trying several different Shader/shine set ups in my WIN 7 machine, From Major Magee to Wiek And Borek.
and a new set from Stary.
When the is a problem it often was having the right combination of Shader, Effects and the various d3d8 and (d3d9) file loaded.
For me the basic set with ETO 1.50 is as good as any, and better then some.
But also I realize Video cards, CPU,amount and types of ram, monitor settings will also effect this.

I have the shader from Ankor/Gecko files as the base I work from.
Have a modded shader (post at WOFF) now works that with some of the other d3d8 and (d3d9) files
also with paint.net in my Win 7 machine I can change the Hue, brightness and saturation of the .dds water files to my tastes.
Been dancing hard with this the past week or so,and are truly amazed at all of his.
WOW!!

 

[greycap.raf]

Did you ever install my new environment effects? The water files in it are not compatible with Ankor's effects.

This seems to have been the reason, I have zero idea if I've changed files in ETO - apparently I have - but I got everything in working order first in MAW and then in my (far from) normal CFS3.1a and I have to say that things are looking mighty fine. Not far from the old XP shine and the sea is simply gorgeous.

Which leads to another question, is there a set of sea textures that works particularly well with the mod? Everything I've tried this far is showing pretty heavy alternating between dark and light in the distance in broad daylight.

 

[MajorMagee]

Try editing your SeaWater.fx file so that the WaveBump and WaveScale parameters are 5 instead of 1, and see if you like that better.

 

[greycap.raf]

Try editing your SeaWater.fx file so that the WaveBump and WaveScale parameters are 5 instead of 1, and see if you like that better.

That did the trick, thanks! I went with 3 and 3 but anyway, those figures were the key. And now the next question...

What is causing a line on the water like this? It's more or less 90 degrees from the Sun's direction, only visible with the mod activated. Not dependant on location. I guess it has something to do with shaders and/or suneffect, has anyone else ran into it?

View attachment 17904

 

[gecko]

I think it's the seam in the environment map texture where it wraps around to meet itself. What we need is a new one where both edges can be lined up to match.

 

[MajorMagee]

The special file that controls that seam is Effects\Skybox\panoramic_cubic_test.dds, and the original default one from CFS3 was not made seamlessly. I made my own versions to correct this.

View attachment panoramic_cubic_test_files_by_MajorMagee.zip