Detail Textures for NS?

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Comments

  • CutedgeCutedge Join Date: 2003-09-13 Member: 20808Members
    edited March 2004
    I think in the end, NS will get a good graphical update from this but it probably will be a little less noticeable in that:
    a>> natural selection is dark, as opposed to the screens shown
    b>> natural selection is much grittier with textures that should be flat, which was my objection to the 'stucco' look on the wall lab textures.

    Also, from looking at the detail textures they used I can tell two things. One, they are using very customized detail textures for various textures, and two, the guy who did them was <i>very</i> good. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->

    Still though, has anyone told flayra what we're (and by we, i mean Soylent <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->) doing with this?
  • DaxxDaxx Join Date: 2002-04-16 Member: 460Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    This is amazing. I'll be trying out Soylent's package tonight.
  • KungFuSquirrelKungFuSquirrel Basher of Muttons Join Date: 2002-01-26 Member: 103Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
    Now, I'm not trying to be mean here, but there's really going to need to be a notable improvement in these detail textures if this is something that NS is going to want to use officially - much of what is in this thread is just scratching the surface (pun intended) of what is possible. Check out those Hostile Intent versions from a couple posts up. Those are by far the best consistent examples of detail texture use I have seen so far. The biggest reason for that is they are made specifically to work within the texture. In one shot, for example, a floor texture is simply greyscaled and put over itself, with fantastic results that give the illusion of smaller more detailed tiles.

    Much of what has been shown here just adds noise over top of the existing texture - the focus is on the detail rather than the texture itself. Focus more on bringing out the original texture by use of the detail texture rather than just the detail texture itself. Being subtle is going to be the key here. I think many of you might be surprised how simple a detail texture can truly be to still have absolutely amazing results.

    An example of what I mean, though not to single anyone out, is cutedge's most recent floor example. Adding those scratches to the metallic plate floor just kinda blurs out the original texture. Instead, try a 256x256 detail texture with a version of the original scaled up to 4x its original size, then put it over top the original with tiling values of 4 and 4. I think you'll notice a marked improvement in the appearance of the standard texture underneath the detail (that is, if I got those scaling numbers right <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->). Then, <i>within</i> that large detail texture, try the subtle scratches and nicks, but at a very low contrast level. They'll show up, but not make the horrid tiling effect from a distance that is the single greatest problem faced with using these.
  • LePrauLePrau Join Date: 2004-03-07 Member: 27193Members
    edited March 2004
    I am using detailtextures for my current NS-Map (though you do not NEED to activate them), for two different effects:

    First, just for adding details to an existing texture. I did my own floor_diamond-version, here is a screen:
    <img src='http://leprau.dyndns.org/detailtexture.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

    Secondly, I figured out how to decrease entity-usage by using detailtextures instead of overlays: just use the "normal" light-texture as texlight, create a detailtexture, where the "lightened" part is filled with approx. 128 128 128 (of 255) grey, and darken the border dramatically. what you geht might look like this:
    <i>(sorry that the comments are german ... I made a post on a german mapping-forum recently, therefore I used this pic. "Kein" means "no" and "Lampen" are lights, the rest should be understandable)</i>
    <a href='http://leprau.dyndns.org/thw/overlay01.jpg' target='_blank'><img src='http://leprau.dyndns.org/thw/overlay01small.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' /></a>
    click on image for larger version
    So you can save "some" func_illusionaries otherwise used up by overlays. Minus: On Computers, which are not capable of detailtextures, the texlights just look as ugly as the first image ... but you may see this as option for better performance: overlays can't be deactivated, detailtextures can, for some loss of detail.

    By the way, it's much easier to use those detailtextures (with scaling 1.0 1.0) than creating a new overlay-brush for each light ... and it looks much better IMO
  • ReeseReese Join Date: 2003-05-08 Member: 16143Members
    That right there could be enough to get detail textures as an official inclusion. (as an overlay-replacement that is)

    Speaking of which, for those of you for whom it doesn't work does it not run the game, throw an error message, or simply not show the details?
  • LePrauLePrau Join Date: 2004-03-07 Member: 27193Members
    For those where Detailtextures don't work, there are just no detailtextures. It may look worse, but it has no other side-effects. No Errormessage, no crashes, no "You cannot play this MOD without Detailtextures!" Message <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo-->

    Short: Without detailtextures (means: Older Graphics card, below Ge3Ti) you just have less Detail, and maybe some ugly looking glitches but ... with every week the number of People out there who have a newer GFXcard increases. And you do not have to have a GeFX5900 Ultra, it will most likely run with a Ge3Ti and for sure with a Ge4Ti and Radeon 9xxx. And: With my Ge4Ti4200 I didn't have any frameratedrops, at least nothing noticeable.
  • txnhockeytxnhockey Join Date: 2004-01-06 Member: 25104Members
    so is this evrything gfet retectured are r u doing this manualy cause floors arent that detatient as lik to a wall or somethin
  • DaxxDaxx Join Date: 2002-04-16 Member: 460Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    @LePrau: The floor in your screenshot still looks a little fuzzy, but the wall is nice. Good work <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • CutedgeCutedge Join Date: 2003-09-13 Member: 20808Members
    <!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Being subtle is going to be the key here<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Yeah, that's why I was trying to get stuff to work with the floor before, such as this.

    <img src='http://www.llamalicious.com/images/nancy_detail2.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

    It's also why I made the 'scratched1' texture for walls, because it adds some detail without making the texture look overly bumpy. Yes, it's just adding small detail but it's because, at least for now, the use of detail textures was simply to add small detail to textures in order to take away the 'low-res' look of them.

    For the floor, I dunno what to do. I tried what you said and it would be a great effect BUT the floor texture isn't all even. It doesn't line up unless you take the whole thing because the bumps in the grating aren't all completely uniform. I *could* just increase the size by a factor of 2 or 4 and just set it to overlay on a 1 to 1 ratio but in the end, it doesn't end up looking that great and probably costs more performance than what it's worth visual wise.

    But that's just floor_diamond.
  • DiablusDiablus Join Date: 2003-03-31 Member: 15080Members
    edited March 2004
  • Soylent_greenSoylent_green Join Date: 2002-12-20 Member: 11220Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    KungFuSquirrel, I've never intended to make these official. These are intended to be a quick fix for people who wan't detail textures when those lazy mappers haven't done it yet <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo-->.
  • LuminairLuminair Join Date: 2002-11-04 Member: 6785Members, Constellation
    Good work. This sort of movement towards better textures is just what the game needs to keep up with the times.

    Keep it up... and don't forget about the combat maps <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • Soylent_greenSoylent_green Join Date: 2002-12-20 Member: 11220Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    com...bat?, wha? <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • crodecrode Join Date: 2002-11-09 Member: 7876Members
    What I would like to know is how much does this increase the texture usage memory? If Flayra wanted us to only have 4MB of textures, this totally throws that number the window.
  • Soylent_greenSoylent_green Join Date: 2002-12-20 Member: 11220Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    Crode, doesn't matter much how much memory we use since it is an optional feature and can't even be enabled on low end cards which could possibly run into problems with memory usage(think integrated graphics here).
  • Soylent_greenSoylent_green Join Date: 2002-12-20 Member: 11220Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited March 2004
    lots-O-fixes for lots-O-problems™, link in sig updated.

    Made tiling of bumpy5 less apparent(made larger and removed features that ruined tiling).

    New stone texture. Still not sure what to do with out_rk3 on hera, is this better than the old one? It works well(IMO) on stone and dirt on mineshaft etc. but looks kind of screwy on hera.

    Pinched the scratched metal image posted by cutedge and made a texture of it(applied on nos_trim and nos_dingpipe).

    Fixed detail texture not drawn on the background of the lab-screen texture in veil.

    Found that the texture i used for nos_grooved in the last pack looked kind of nice so I used it on nos_grooved on all maps.

    etc...

    edit: made a small search and replace to make a little extra pack in a separate folder that can be drag and dropped to your maps folder to use the scratched1 texture from cutedge instead of bumpy5.
  • CutedgeCutedge Join Date: 2003-09-13 Member: 20808Members
    It's still giving me the original file rather than an updated one. Are you sure it's linking to the right place?
  • Soylent_greenSoylent_green Join Date: 2002-12-20 Member: 11220Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited March 2004
    Thanks cutedge, renamned DetTex_pack to DetTex_pack1 by accident <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • VarsityVarsity Join Date: 2004-01-29 Member: 25687Members
    Hmm, I still think the grating (like in the ayumni ms) need to be detailed. It's a very ditinct pattern.
  • Soylent_greenSoylent_green Join Date: 2002-12-20 Member: 11220Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited March 2004
    <!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Much of what has been shown here just adds noise over top of the existing texture - the focus is on the detail rather than the texture itself. Focus more on bringing out the original texture by use of the detail texture rather than just the detail texture itself. Being subtle is going to be the key here. I think many of you might be surprised how simple a detail texture can truly be to still have absolutely amazing results.

    An example of what I mean, though not to single anyone out, is cutedge's most recent floor example. Adding those scratches to the metallic plate floor just kinda blurs out the original texture. Instead, try a 256x256 detail texture with a version of the original scaled up to 4x its original size, then put it over top the original with tiling values of 4 and 4. I think you'll notice a marked improvement in the appearance of the standard texture underneath the detail (that is, if I got those scaling numbers right ). Then, within that large detail texture, try the subtle scratches and nicks, but at a very low contrast level. They'll show up, but not make the horrid tiling effect from a distance that is the single greatest problem faced with using these.
    <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    The problem with that method is that VERY few ns textures tile within the texture. Take the lab_wall set for example, only that repeated bar thing(comp_bars?) could be made that way.

    Another problem with this method is that by taking the original texture and blowing it up you are increasing contrast, which is not really what you wan't to do since you could have just that with the original texture and been done with it. It's the adding of nicks and cuts and stuff that serves a purpose. This tends to ruin the illusion of depth if you don't do it like you suggested(a blown up version of the original texture with extra detail that fits well to the original texture). I think it would be best to blow up the texture and make a nice detail texture ontop, then remove the blown up version of the texture just leaving the changes(keep the blown up texture as a separate layer and remove it when your done).

    A noisy texture breaks up the blockyness of the bilinear filter and it works on almost any texture, therefor it's one of the first things to try when your just going through all maps and looking at what textures where used and which ones are most important.

    edit: yes varsity there's quite a bit left to be done and those gratings are the hardest things to make a nice looking detail texture for(IMO).
  • TacOneTacOne Join Date: 2002-11-05 Member: 7070Members
    From a player PoV these textures are excelent! They really squeese out the details from within the maps.

    And btw:
    I'm running with a P4 2400 mHz
    512 mb RDRAM
    GF4 Ti4600 @ OpenGL 1152*864 with 5303 drivers
    And I haven't gotten any FPS drop whatsoever.
  • rknZrknZ Join Date: 2003-10-23 Member: 21885Members
    edited March 2004
    I have to say very good work so far...

    The one texture I dont like is in veil and eclipse (bumpy5 - i think) it makes the walls look like stone, and it is a bit over the top...

    Can I just replace all the bumpy5 lines with the scratched1 lines from the less-bumps text files??
  • Soylent_greenSoylent_green Join Date: 2002-12-20 Member: 11220Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    smooth if your talking about the bumpy one then it would be better to look at the folder namned less_bumpy in the zip and copy the contence to your map folder. It will overwrite the list files with ones that use a scratchy(canvas-like thing) instead of the bumpy texture.
  • GuspazGuspaz Join Date: 2002-11-01 Member: 2862Members, Constellation
    I also agree that we need an official detailed texture set for NS. I also prefer the method of using detailed textures to create apparently higher resolution textures (See Hostile Intent screens), rather than just as noise (See Unreal Tournament). UT had reasonably high res textures, so it worked well for that. However Half-Life's 240x240 textures are ultra-low-res.

    Here's hoping that Flayra makes detailed textures official policy!
  • NaigelNaigel Join Date: 2003-07-23 Member: 18376Members, Constellation
    <!--QuoteBegin-Guspaz+Mar 8 2004, 12:00 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Guspaz @ Mar 8 2004, 12:00 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> I also agree that we need an official detailed texture set for NS. I also prefer the method of using detailed textures to create apparently higher resolution textures (See Hostile Intent screens), rather than just as noise (See Unreal Tournament). UT had reasonably high res textures, so it worked well for that. However Half-Life's 240x240 textures are ultra-low-res.

    Here's hoping that Flayra makes detailed textures official policy! <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    I'm with ya!!
  • CutedgeCutedge Join Date: 2003-09-13 Member: 20808Members
    <!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I also prefer the method of using detailed textures to create apparently higher resolution textures (See Hostile Intent screens), rather than just as noise <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    The problem, again, is that a lot of the textures doesn't tesselate exactly. I tried making a high res texture for the diamond floor and it turns out that the floor isn't all the same size. It will tile correctly because the edges line up but the flooring doesn't work when you try to take 1/2 or 1/4 of it and set up a high-res pattern to detail it with. If that did work, it'd look sweet but I spent an hour on it yesterday and could not get it to tile. I could just increase the size of it by 2 and set a 1 to 1 ratio of the texture on top of it, but it doesn't end up looking all that good and it probably takes up a good deal of texture memory. If you go back and look at LePrau's example of it, you'll see that it does make a difference but it still looks pretty low res. However, I think his version of just making a larger texture turned out better than mine, so maybe you can convince him to give that to everyone. <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • LePrauLePrau Join Date: 2004-03-07 Member: 27193Members
    For the Diamons floor, use a 24x24 pixel part, that'll tile fine, and you have to scale the detailtexture up to 5.5 by 5.5 (or take 12x12 pixels ^for 11.0 by 11.0 ...)

    Thats what I've done, and yes, it still looks a bit blurry, but ... it was a test for now <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /><!--endemo-->

    Maybe I'll do a better detailtexture in the future.
  • roqaliciousroqalicious Join Date: 2003-01-07 Member: 11981Members
    <!--QuoteBegin-Restrik+Feb 11 2004, 09:00 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Restrik @ Feb 11 2004, 09:00 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> it doesn't look that bad...


    come on guys HL1 is over 5 years old now....based on an even older engine (Q2) cut it a little slack <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    ....Q1
  • 7Bistromath7Bistromath Join Date: 2003-12-04 Member: 23928Members, Constellation
    edited March 2004
    Could you work a little bit more on the set for ns_origin? I used the less_bumpy set, because it made hera look much better in my opinion, and some other maps as well. Problem is, it applies the scratchy texture to the marine start on origin, and that doesn't look quite right, because the walls there have many spots where they are supposed to look rusted out and blotchy. There are also a few other things that look odd. By my measure, origin is the archetypical pretty map, so I'd really like for the textures to fit there.

    The carved texture is just a little bit too rough in my opinon, but it's used well in mineshaft, so it works. There are a few other maps where the texture is applied that it looks kinda funny in, though. For example, on hera, in the big pipes leading out of vent 3-C, it gets stuck on the big, black (I guess this is what they are, anyway) support beams connecting the different pipe sections. These are clearly supposed to be metal rather than chipped stone, so it looks kind of odd. Also, I think the texture itself would probably look better in general if you made the pattern look a little bigger, so there are fewer scrape marks per area unit.

    Finally, I think a texture made specifically for rusted stuff would be really boss, if it was done right. Some of the bumpy textures sorta give that impression, but to really give the impression of rust, you need something that looks flakey.

    PS: I know nothing about this, really, I'm just talking about the way it actually looks. If this stuff just can't be done, call me a nubcaek and leave it at that. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • OlmyOlmy Join Date: 2003-05-08 Member: 16142Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor, NS2 Developer, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Diamond
    edited March 2004
    <!--QuoteBegin-pandas|RoQ+Mar 8 2004, 11:41 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (pandas|RoQ @ Mar 8 2004, 11:41 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin-Restrik+Feb 11 2004, 09:00 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Restrik @ Feb 11 2004, 09:00 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> it doesn't look that bad...


    come on guys HL1 is over 5 years old now....based on an even older engine (Q2) cut it a little slack <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    ....Q1<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    - You should have read a little further down, this was discussed.
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