Oolite Bulletins

How do I add colour images to a station?

I added a yellow sun image to griff_station_coriolis_normalmap.png but it displays as a ghostly grey image:



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A normalmap is similar (practically the same thing) as a "bumpmap" in rendering applications such as raytracers.

The image in a normal map does NOT yield color, it yields "height"; the height is determined by the numerical value of the pixels. Black would be "low height". White would be the "highest". Grey is in-between.

For other colors, you would have to consider the RGB (red green blue) values and how they "weight" against grey-scale.

Your yellow image is CONSIDERED to be a grayscale image when used as a normal map. What you have done, in effect, is added a "bas relief" or "contour" to the surface of the station.

SO... to put a yellow sun on the station, you need to modify the TEXTURE file (whatever it is called, I don't know without examining it), NOT the normal map file.

As an extension to this, there is probably also an "effects" file... controls things like flashers, glows, "flames", etc.

To put a GLOWING yellow sun on the station, you would * probably * need to modify the texture file AND the effects file. Otherwise, if you just modify the texture file, it is a simple paint job (which is probably what you want anyway, UNLESS you WANT it to glow).

Someone else more oolite-knowledgeable than me will probably help you... wait for more responses.

Hmm - more complicated than I thought!

It's the griff_station_coriolis_diffuse.png file that you'll need to add the sun image into, but because of the glowmap being stuffed into the alpha channel of that texture it's a bit tricky to edit.
I'll sort out a small shader re-write and move the glowmap into the alpha of the normalmap texture and upload them in a bit, you'll just need to overwrite the originals on your pc with these then you'll be able to edit the texture to add in the sun image really easily

edit: done! here's a link to a zip containing the modified shader and the coriolis diffuse & normal map texture it needs to work, just copy them over the versions you have currently installed. You'll notice the 'skin' or diffuse texture now just looks like a normal texturemap, just paste your sun image into it and you're away! http://www.box.net/shared/3504p4iz3q

Wow - thanks Griff, works a treat

I like that, DGill... very nice. I might have a go at that myself.