CFS3
Was playing around with replacing the original searchlights in the 'Chastise' mission with the new ones and caught this nifty shot . . .
Was playing around with replacing the original searchlights in the 'Chastise' mission with the new ones and caught this nifty shot . . .
I like it!
Cato said "Carthaginem esse delendam"
I say "Carthago iam diu deleta,sed enim Bellum Alium adhuc aedificandum est"
For anyone interested:
I did not modify the mission file. I modified the Mohne dam facility to replace the searchlights in it. Next, I'm going to dup the mission, change it to day, and see what it looks like. This is part of my effort to try and get searchlights into Quick Combat. My thought is that if searchlights don't show during the day, there'd be no harm in replacing a flak gun or two in each facility with searchlights. It's a thought if nothing else!
There's a function in the TextureMagic.ini file you might be able to take advantage of to do this.
[NightSprite] ; Sprites which are drawn (fullbright) only when the world light is below the certain threshold set in d3d8.ini
piston_exhaust_n.dds
Just add the associated texture file name from your searchlight.
The other option would be to use the .+nlight function.
US Army, Major, Ret.
Service To The Line,
On The Line,
On Time
US Army Ordnance Corps.
I suggest put all light.dds files that only should be illuminated at night under [NightSprite] . Since I have different TextureMagic.ini files for ETO(day) and TOW(night) eras, I was reminded of this when the ETO era3 did not have all my airfield lights.dds files under [NightSprite], so they were illuminated in the daytime. ( The reason I have different TextureMagic.ini files is that I wanted a darker night. It does however make grass purple in the daytime!)Originally Posted by MajorMagee
If in doubt you will have to check what dds files are called for by various objects through their m3d files.
Cato said "Carthaginem esse delendam"
I say "Carthago iam diu deleta,sed enim Bellum Alium adhuc aedificandum est"
I thought I'd got rid of this issue! Must be some flak I have on TOW_Deelen!
Cato said "Carthaginem esse delendam"
I say "Carthago iam diu deleta,sed enim Bellum Alium adhuc aedificandum est"
Ground.spawns appear in Quick Combat. That is one reason why I put two or three alternative ship formations into the ground.spawns file (together with corresponding .xml files). For searchlights, you could make a searchlight a vehicle (as per some flak installations I have written as a ground spawn file), write the vehicle into a ground spawn and presto, you can get ground formations of searchlights appearing in QC - make speed=0 of course, groundtype=direct.
Still on testing TOW_Deelen I came across this with the tow_mosquito_nfxiii. Zooming out makes it loose textures!
Zoom out
Zoom in
Cato said "Carthaginem esse delendam"
I say "Carthago iam diu deleta,sed enim Bellum Alium adhuc aedificandum est"
Could it be a wrongly or untextured LOD-version? Do the colours come back after zooming out any further or does the aircraft stay black?
ACC Member, ETO and PTO contributor & librarian
Not being overly savvy regarding the game's mechanics, I can't say for sure, but something seems to be at work (perhaps the threshold thing), but my experiment worked perfectly. After a certain light level, the TOW searchlights I put into the Mohne facility are utterly invisible and do not inhibit daylight activities at all! More experimentation ahead.
Searchlight beams are automatically turned off in daylight at the same time as night sprites disappear.
Not sure if I mentioned it before, but there's a setting available in d3d8.ini which defines the threshold for daylight detection.
It is a bit arbitrary, but decreasing it will make searchlights and night sprites disappear earlier, and increasing - later.
Code:; Ambient+sun light amount when night sprites are enabled NightLightThreshold=0.30
I'll check. I forget who last modified this aircraft.
Cato said "Carthaginem esse delendam"
I say "Carthago iam diu deleta,sed enim Bellum Alium adhuc aedificandum est"
Colonel Duncan looking for targets
Manny
Glad to be back - Now if I can just remember how to fly this damned thing........
I found a Korean night time livery for the FP B-29 in the library and I've been loving it, so figured I'd post a screenshot of it just for fun.
FirePower has to be one of my favorite payware addons for CFS3. Wish there was some more new stuff but that's just a pipe dream. Sky Unlimited did some great stuff too. There are a few others but FirePower was the most bang for the buck and at around $9.00 it's still a good buy. Regards,Scott
Here's a Before and After shot of the typical enhancements I've been doing to all the models and textures. In this case I was also able to find a museum copy of the original VT-6 logo to upgrade the nose art versus simply scaling up the low rez version with AI Gigapixel.
US Army, Major, Ret.
Service To The Line,
On The Line,
On Time
US Army Ordnance Corps.
Definitely an improvement!
Agree with that and the good balance is not easy to find as models have not to be too shiny nor too reflective (this is my preference) and in this case it's just perfect.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
www3.telus.net/murrdaka/
Yes, if they're too glossy, they tend to look like plastic models, or something sitting in a museum. Too flat, and you lose the 3D shaping provided by the dynamic shader lighting.
I work in a fairly narrow range of reflectivity (_r.dds) with the recent images of the P-51H representing the most reflective (16% brightness for clean bare aluminum on the spinner), and the P-63A or Kate about as dull and flat as I go (4% brightness for matte paint). The TBD-1 above was at 8%.
The spectral value I use in the m3d for the outside finish is typically 80 42 to keep the highlight spread moderately tight. For inside the aircraft I've been using the max possible shader value of 7E 43 keeping the highlight spread very tight as it enhances the 3D effect of sitting in the tight confines of the cockpit.
US Army, Major, Ret.
Service To The Line,
On The Line,
On Time
US Army Ordnance Corps.
Interesting shots
This thread had dropped to the last post on the front page. Something had to be done.
Enjoying Clive's P-40B in MAW. A wonderful aircraft !
A Mc-202 in MAW. Lightly armed but fun to fly.
John
(DR/ MAW/ ETO/ PTO Textures)
Keep it coming!
Awesome looking P-61's ! Must be Ankor's shaders that make them so life-like.
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