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FPS Creator X10 / Tutorial on X10 Textures.

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Worf
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Joined: 30th May 2011
Location: Telford
Posted: 11th Dec 2011 14:28 Edited at: 11th Dec 2011 19:38
Hi.

EDIT: I found one.

I've done a search but not found what i was looking for. Are there any tutorials on creating textures for X10 _D _D2 _I _N ect. And what is the best methods to use and also which of thew _D _D2 ect to use.

I have some textures which i want to use in an up and comming game and want the textures to be top notch if you know what i mean.

Many Thanks

Worf.
srealist
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Location: Orlando, Florida, USA
Posted: 12th Dec 2011 00:21 Edited at: 12th Dec 2011 00:44
I know I have seen a good tutorial in the past but I can do a quick summary, for what it is worth.

Using FPSCx10 Default Shader:

The default shader in x10 is universe.fx. You do not need to specify any shader in the fpe file to make use of them. If you define the texture for an entity with an underscore _D, it will look for other image files (_S or _N) with the same file name. However, you do not have to have a _S or _N texture. You can just a _D, or just _D and a _N, or just a _D and a _S.

From my understanding, the _I texture is just converted to _S in the engine and as such does not need to be used. Everything you get from _I can be done in the alpha channel of _S. More on that below.

If you use specify bumpent.fx or illuminent.fx in the fpe file, x10 will convert this to universe.fx. However, it is not required or even meaningful to specify those shaders. In fact, if you try to add one of those shaders to the effects entry in the editor, it will generate an error. Why? Because those shaders do not work in x10 as they are PS2 shaders (or maybe PS1).

So, what shaders work in x10? PS4 shaders that have been specifically written to work in x10. PS stands for pixel shader, btw, and is a protocol developed by nVidia (or so I think).

Texture Formats:

Let's overview the textures that can be used. When using shaders, you must use .dds files. It is very common for folks to use DXT5 dds files. In photoshop, you must download the DDS plugin for photoshop from NVIDIA's website. I like to use a higher quality DDS export "8.8.8.8 ARGB 32 bit | unsigned" as this provides a less pixelated image but it does come at a cost as the files are much larger. I build mini-games so this is rarely an issue for me but for people building large FPS style games, you will want to use "DXT5 ARGB 8 bpp | interpolated alpha"

_D.dds
This is your color texture and should contain an alpha channel. If there's to be no transparency, the alpha channel will be completely white.

_N.dds
This is your normal map. Normal maps can be generated in a wide variety of ways. If you have downloaded the DDS tools from NVIDIA you will have, under the "filters" tab a plugin called NVIDIA Tools "NormalMapFilter". Your normal map should also have an alpha channel and it should be the same as your _D texture typically.

NOTE: The best way to generate a normal map is to first take the image and remove all the saturation so it appears as black and white. Then apply a light gaussian blur to the image (e.g. a depth of around 1 to 2 pixels at most). THEN use the normal map filter. THis will generate MUCH cleaner normal maps.

_S.dds
This is your specular map. It provides information about the shinyness of an object BUT ALSO contains information about self-illumination in the alpha channel. To generate a specular map, take your color map (_D) and remove all saturation. Then darken the image considerably. Spec maps in x10 are VERY sensitive and you will end up with a shiny nightmare if you don't darken this image.

If you don't want your entity to glow, leave the alpha channel black. Where you want an entity to have self-illumination, add grey or white to those areas on the alpha channel of the _S texture. The lighter the color, the stronger the glow.

______________________

In my experience, I do not think it is necessary to use a _S texture unless you want self-illumination. I would recommend only using _D and _N with most of your entities.

Below I show you an image of the same entities with _D and _N textures. On the left, they are dynamic, on the right, they are static.

srealist
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Location: Orlando, Florida, USA
Posted: 12th Dec 2011 00:51
Custom Shaders:

It is possible to make and/or use custom shaders in FPSCx10. However, you can not use Dark Shader for this purpose as it does not export to PS4. As such, Dark Shader is for FPSCx9 ONLY.

For a good example of a custom shader, find the CustomEffect folder in the Effectbank. The Wibbly shader is a PS4 shader that has been written specifically to work in x10.

However, in order to use the Wibbly effect, you must declare it IN THE EDITOR. If you declare it in the FPE file, it will ignore it and use the default shader.

You can modify the wibbly shader to create some bizarro effects.
http://vimeo.com/31433865

In the video above, I show three different versions of this shader each contain only slight modification of the float depth variable found near the top of the .fx file.
srealist
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Posted: 12th Dec 2011 01:01
Environmental Map Shader:

FPSCx10 does provide support for environmental mapping. You can apply this to an entity by declaring effectbank/cubeent/cubeent.fx in the fpe file of an entity. Note, this is handled in engine and is not referencing the actual .fx file. When x10 sees cubeent.fx in your FPE file, it ignores the shader file and applies an environmental map such as seen in this silly example below (silly because a crate should not be reflecting the sun and clouds).

Worf
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Location: Telford
Posted: 12th Dec 2011 01:38
Thank you srealist all that is really helpful.

I did find 'FPS Creator X10 – Texture Tutorial' which gives you two ways, one in Photoshop which i couldn't get the alpha channel to change white or get saved, so i have tried GIMP to create each map.

I have noticed that some use _D2. What is the difference between _D and _D2. Also, i have ShaderMap Pro v1.3.1. Would you recomend using this for creating the _N and _S files?

If you know of any good tutorials ect i would be greatful, although i have done some searching i have found it hard to get info regarding x10 as everything seems to be x9.

Again thank you for your help.

Regards

Worf
srealist
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Posted: 12th Dec 2011 03:00
ShaderMap Pro is very nice and does the work for you. You will notice that it makes a displacement map prior to making the normal (even if you deselect displacement map). So essentially, it takes your color map, makes it black and white, blurs it a bit and then generates the normal map.

The spec maps it creates are not dark enough for x10 in my opinion, that's why I prefer to do those by hand but you can change the settings in ShaderMap to make darker spec maps too.

I'll look at the source code again and get back with you on the D2 but in my experience it is not only unnecessary but seems to cause some problems. Most of my understanding of the shader system comes from looking at the the modders kit source code for x10. I discovered a few unsettling things while looking through the comments but it is better to know them than to not. Mostly it was unsettling 'cause I realized how much time I wasted in the past doing things that would never work. Combine that with being confused about whether what I was doing was actually working or not...and I was pretty aimless even after a year of working 80 or more hours per week in x10.

My hope is to help other people so that they don't make my mistakes. Sometimes you learn from mistakes but usually you just lose time and get more confused.
Worf
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Posted: 13th Dec 2011 13:59 Edited at: 13th Dec 2011 14:01
Thank you srealist, this has helped me a lot, now i can get on with sorting out the textures and see if i can get someone to create some doors ect for me using these textures.

Once again thank you, you've been a great help.

By the way, what are dynamic and static.


Regards

Worf
budokaiman
FPSC Tool Maker
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Playing: Hard to get
Posted: 13th Dec 2011 14:41
Quote: "By the way, what are dynamic and static."

Dynamic are entities that can move and be interacted with, static cannot move and are just part of the scenery.


reauirentem
Worf
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Location: Telford
Posted: 13th Dec 2011 14:44
Thank you bubokaiman.

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