.MOS Damage Mask Texture

[gecko]

I am trying to work on the damage mask texture (xxx_t_damage.dds) for the Spitfire VIII. I'm a bit confused as to how they work. Could someone who has done one before please explain? Thanks!

Daniel

[MajorMagee]

It's a binary (black or white, no grey) Alpha Layer mask that lines up with the xxx_t.dds file.

They do not need to be the same size, but they do need to be laid out in the same pattern.

Damage will show up in the areas that are black.

[hairyspin]

Best way I found is to import an existing .mos file into the MOS editor and see how the bits work. Use the MOS editor from the Terrain SDK – it has some limited help files – but it's an essentially visual process. Nigel is the expert in this.

[gecko]

OK, so I have it working. The black areas on the alpha sheet are aligned with the endcaps of the model everywhere a part can break off. All of them are working except the wings. Wing a wing comes off, the associated damage decal shows up, but only with the clean line of where the model breaks, and not the jagged edge I made in the alpha sheet. When the nose is shot off, it displays its decal and alpha correctly, but also claims the alpha from the wing break, though it doesn't show the wing break decal. Any ideas how I can get the wings to claim their damage alphas?

[Daiwilletti]

Hi gecko, do you have Firepower aircraft? I seem to remember that the Me410 has engines that drop off and it may also have good examples of _damage.dds files?

Not to sure, but worth a look.

[hairyspin]

Ah. Endcaps and .mos textures are not the same. The .mos file overlays damage textures on to the model's main (or only) texture sheet as it takes degrees of damage from hits. Endcaps only show when damage is sufficient to break things off and the xxx_t_damage.dds file is the texture file mapped to these endcaps. I think you need to check with Steve how he's done them, they'll be model-specific.

[gecko]

Well, not exactly, but maybe I misunderstand. The xxx_t_damage.dds is not the endcap texture, damage_raf.dds is being used to texture the endcaps. The model is built with clean, straight break lines where the nose and tail and wings detach. These are augmented be the visible bulkheads and twisted structure modeled with the endcap, but the external skin lines are perfectly straight. The xxx_t_damage.dds is the black and white alpha mask called in the .mos file. The black areas of the sheet are placed over the areas where the breaks occur, and allow you to create a jagged break line in the external skin as opposed to the perfectly straight lines of the model without an xxx_t_damage.dds applied. The mos file also uses decals (not the same thing as the bullet holes) over these break areas to add some damaged texturing to the breaks. All works well except for the wing breaks, where the decals appear without the corresponding jagged lines applied by the xxx_t_damage.dds.