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FPSC Classic Product Chat / Some questions with all the new FPSC advancements and mods.

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Peke
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Posted: 25th May 2018 16:40
Right! So, I'm getting back into FPSC. Which, at this point, seems a reasonable decision considdering I had nothing but bad luck with GameGuru. So, Scouring around the forums, I came across a bunch of things, and I'd like to ask some questions regarding things I saw, and some personal questions.

1) So. I came across this thread by Uzi idiot. (https://forum.thegamecreators.com/thread/217263) I litterally have no real idea how to implement them. At first, I thought just having them overwrite the .fx files present in the PBS folder, would be enough to do that. However, it turned most of my models, using said effects, really weird (See attached screenshot - See question 2)

2) If you look at the attached screenshot, you'll notice a difference between the left and right entity. The left ones, are dynamic (Which is how they appear after selecting them in the entities list) and the right one is the static version after pressing Y. What happened here? I'm trying to understand what the difference is even though there isn't much going on except that one is dynamic, the other is static.

3) This thread (https://forum.thegamecreators.com/thread/217274) by Uzi details some awesome effects that I really enjoy but it nowhere states on how to actually implement those things. Am I missing out a place where to put this .fx file? or can somebody explain to me on how to implement them?

4) When creating a new entity/segment using the shaders ect named above (or BlackIce In general) what are the texture files I need to create? When I look in the segment texture folder of the PBS segments, I see _d2, _I, _N which, from my understanding are derived from diffuse(2?), Illumination and Normal. Where are the specular maps? Or the metalness ect?

I hope my questions are clear, and I hope someone can take his time to educate this rather ablivious-to-the-new-practises person!
Peke
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Posted: 25th May 2018 18:14
Since the post had to be approved first, here's the screenshot mentioned as attachment

ncmako
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Posted: 25th May 2018 22:45
Peke Nice to see you here again. Some very good questions indeed. I will wait to answer the first three and hope Uzi Idiot see this.
He can answer them much better than myself since he work on these shaders.

But for the last question (#4) most of the shaders in fpsc require at least 4 textures ( D2, I, S, N ) Sometime if you open the .fx file
it will tell you which are needed for that particular shader ( not always ) Now the "Specular" texture is very easy to make, it's usually
just a B/W of the D2, then some contrast added so the shader can reflect light .
Bootlicker made a great tutorial awhile ago. Here is the link...https://forum.thegamecreators.com/thread/187966

From looking at your picture ( barrels on the right ) I've had this problem before. It's either the wrong shader attached to
the wrong kind of entity ( Static or Dynamic) Certain shaders require the entity to be one or the other.
Second, or a missing texture ???
My games never have bugs. They just develop random features..
Lots and lots of random features...
Peke
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Posted: 25th May 2018 23:03
Thanks for the anwser ncmako. I figured it has something to do with the dynamic/static state of a entity, and since you think the same, the chances are it might be true.

I know how to make textures. I use Crazybump for GIMP, so I can generate them almost automatically. Lets hope Uzi comes around and sees it so I cna get working on the rest
uzi idiot
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Posted: 26th May 2018 08:24 Edited at: 26th May 2018 08:42
The post effect shader can just replace the default post-bloom.fx in the PS_2_0 folder. Or you can use a script to use it from the postprocess folder.
Open the fx file and change the variables to change how it looks. Sadly you can't buy Darkshader anymore so you'll need to rebuild the game every time to see the changes.

The PBR shaders are based on Bond1's shaders and I didn't change the way textures are handled with the static and segment shaders much, so his tutorials should show you how to use them.
In the original thread I specified what shader needs what textures and what certain channels do.
You need to use the correct shader with different entity types. A static entity cannot use the same textures as a dynamic one. You will also need to change the textures.
This means you need different textures and FPE files if you want a static and dynamic version of the same entity.
Character and props shaders are both dynamic. Characters can use prop shaders but I'm not sure if that's a good idea as it means the skinning is not driven by the shader.






Quote: " Now the "Specular" texture is very easy to make, it's usually
just a B/W of the D2, then some contrast added so the shader can reflect light . "

For the love of god never ever do this. It looked terrible with traditional shaders and will look even worse with PBR.
Make a gloss/smoothness texture manually.
Bond1's tutorial is a bit basic but should be a good starting point.
Block out values for the different parts of a model then add details and highlights. Bond1's edge highlight technique might not work too well with PBR though and is not realistic.
Just keep in mind that the texture is based on roughness, not visual brightness as with traditional shaders, so it will react differently.
You also cannot have colour in a roughness map. Coloured reflections are because the surface is metallic most of the time.
(coloured specular textures used to be used to balance out the diffuse because the shaders were not gamma correct, see Doom 3)
The thread for the shaders should have plenty of links to forums and wikis with dozens of tutorials for PBR asset creation. If not, google is your friend.


Here's a gif showing how the shaders respond to gloss/roughness in increments of 0.2
Notice how it isn't quite linear in brightness falloff.
I've found that setting the roughnesscurve variable in the shaders from 2 to 6 can look more linear like old shaders, however it still looks rather different because it's still using a PBR specular BRDF.
If something compiles on the first try. Something is terribly wrong.
Peke
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Posted: 26th May 2018 10:37
Sweet. Thanks for the help Uzi! I'll be sure to check everything out. I've also ran into a new issue, and I am really unsure as to what causes it.



This is the .fps of a segment I created in Firma. However, for some reason, When I load up the created segment and want to paint with it, the texture is the default one of the segmentmesh it uses. Any idea as to how and why? or is there a better tool to make segments?
uzi idiot
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Posted: 26th May 2018 16:25
Huh, maybe it's because they're in TGA?
That shouldn't be a problem as FPSC converts them anyway but change it to DDS
If something compiles on the first try. Something is terribly wrong.
ncmako
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Posted: 26th May 2018 19:04
@ Uzi idiot
Quote: "For the love of god never ever do this. It looked terrible with traditional shaders"

Lol.... I know it's not the best method But it does work kinda... sorta.
I agree the specular is one of the hardest to get right.
My games never have bugs. They just develop random features..
Lots and lots of random features...

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