Atomic Systems

Hi all,

A quick question - which shader would you recommend for a wood bodied wagon? From the shader descriptions that appear in 3DsMax I can't see any that allow for a seperate shadow map, which is what I've used for buildings. If shadow maps can't be used then I guess I have to bake the shadows into the diffuse texture - is this right?

I ask as I'll have to remap and retexture an old GMax Trainz model if I can't use a shadow map... lots of work which I wouldn't want to do for nought.

Also is bump mapping on basic wagons advisable or is it a waste?

Any thoughts are welcome.

Cheers.

Jon

Hi Jon

I reckon that bump mapping is exellent in the game especially for things like wood that has a well defined surface texture.

The Shader I use is TrainBumpSpecEnvMask.fx
I think I am correct (least I do it anyway) but you will need a texture in the enviro slot, I use a 64x64 pure black Bmp and call it enviro1.bmp.

I work in 3dcanvas so these may not be relevant
Diffuse Colour...... white
diffuse...............20
ambient.............40
specular..............1
Your chosen texture........ 2 versions(bmp for your 3D program and TGA adjusted for brightness & contrast for converting ToAce)
Your chosen nrm (normal) bumpmap
Enviro texture
TrainBumpSpecEnvMask.fx shader

Keep specular values low
The alpha channel in your main texture, black is matte------ white is high gloss... save as TGA before connverting ToAce to preserve the alpha channel.
you main texture will probably need to be a lot darker than you think, Rail Simulator lightens them up a lot ( convert a Default TgPcDx to DDS and have a look in PSP or Photoshop)

To darken I just use the Brightness contrast tool and apply -30 darker -11 contrast

Have fun

Sly

PS I don't think you will need a shadow map with the fx shader