Oolite Bulletins

Smivs wrote:

ADCK wrote:

I'm confused, why are you using an illumination map AND a emission map when you could merge the two and use emission_and_illumination_map or just a single emission map?

From http://wiki.alioth.net/index.php/Materials_in_Oolite

A texture whose RGB channels act like emission_map, and whose alpha channel acts like illumination_map (and can be coloured with illumination_modulate_color). This uses less memory (on systems with shaders) than using separate shaders, although blending the emission and illumination maps into a single emission map, as described above, is still preferable.

Hi ADCK,
I'm confused as well!
I'm trying to get all three elements working in a single map (diffuse map, illumination map and emission map) as per Ahruman's post further up, and I just can't get it to work.
I have got illumination_and_emission maps working (with a few minor glitches), but adding the diffuse map as the base layer just won't work for me for some reason.
I just find it easier to make each one seperately and then merge them. I have no training of any kind in any of this, so I'm learning as I go along, and tend to do things in the way that I find easiest. So currently I have seperate maps for everything, and I'm hoping to crack this soon so that I can merge them all into a single map for each model.
Perhaps you can advise.
Just to re-iterate I'm placing the diffuse map as the first layer in Normal mode, then adding the illumination map as the second layer in Multiply mode, and finally adding the emission map as the third layer in Lighten Only mode. This is using Gimp, following Ahruman's instructions further up this thread. It doesn't work. If I do this the illumination and emission elements are OK, but the base texture (diffuse map) doesn't show...the resulting ship has the default Oolite texture, except where the illumination is. Here it shows my texture.
Any thoughts? By the way, I should mention that my computer doesn't support shaders. Am I trying to do something my computer can't handle?

ADCK wrote:

I edited my post for more detail.

...put the diffuse map in the bottommost layer, then the illumination map as second layer, choose multiply in 'mode' then choose 'merge down' in layers, then the emission map as yet another layer, choose 'lighten only' in 'mode' then choose 'merge down' in layers.

ADCK wrote:

As I said above, combining a diffuse map/effects map in one image likely won't work without custom shaders.

I'd suggest using two completely unrelated seperate images (not merged, not two layers in one image, two spererate files), one being the diffuse map, and the other image the effects map (the effects map would be the merged illumiation/emission map)

Smivs wrote:

ADCK wrote:

As I said above, combining a diffuse map/effects map in one image likely won't work without custom shaders.

I'd suggest using two completely unrelated seperate images (not merged, not two layers in one image, two spererate files), one being the diffuse map, and the other image the effects map (the effects map would be the merged illumiation/emission map)

That's what I just tried - the diffuse map and the combined illumination and emission map (as described above) as two separate images. It IS working but the illumination element is too bright...there's a white-out effect instead of a gentle illumination. I've just been playing around with 'illumination_modulate_color' in the shipdata.plist to try to sort this out, but it doesn't seem to have any effect.

ADCK wrote:

Hmm, well for illumination maps, if you want to make it darker all you have to do is make the white in the illumination maps image greyer, the closer to black it is, the less bright it is.

ADCK wrote:

can you post the materials section of your ship from the shipdata.plist so I can see what you're doing?

materials = 
		{ 
			"boa_redux.png" = { 
diffuse_map = "smivs'-boa.png";
emission_map = "smivs'-boa_em-map.png";
                           };  
		};

ADCK wrote:

Shininess is pretty self explainatory, so i'll skip that, but specular is a little complicated...
...specular_color is what color the light reflected is, I don't know if this works in non-shader mode. but I usually use the following settings:

Code: Select all

specular_color = "1.0 0.7 0.5 1.0";

.