Legacy (Nebula & Detail Textures) Help Please

[Misunderstood Wookie]

First, I have read the modding documentation and produced six 2048x2048 textures which in Photoshopt CC which can be exported as .PNG or .DDS. I followed the instructions making them as follows "starsX-0.png" I did this for each six until I ended up with "starsX-5.png" where X is a number from 1 - 4 referencing the colour of the system for the texture to overlay.

I got them into the engine no worries the trouble lies with the alpha as orginally I saved with a black background layer however this did what I was expecting might that being the new images all had ugly square backgrounds opposed to being overlaid onto the star backdrop.

My understanding is that in Legacy the nebula and details are a separate layer on-top of the skybox cube map textures.

I used the existing Nebula Mod for Evhchron Merc as a reference for the size and export method this mod had all the stars with black background so I thought maybe the black was the opacity layer used in the engine I am starting to think I was wrong.

Can anyone confirm exactly if the Nebula/Detail textures have be exported with just the ALPHA background (no background) in order for correct transparency to occur in engine?

Does anyone know the correct format for these images as they obviously have changed since EMerc format.

Thanks in advance!

P.S I am working on creating an Environment overhaul mod

[Marvin]

Well, IIRC, the "X" is also a place-holder. Each set of six must be numbered. If you notice with the default background nebulae (not the stars), they change as you move from one star system to another ... sometimes even from sector to sector. You need a designation for each set.

[Vice]

The game takes care of transparency itself internally, so you don't need to contend with alpha blending/sorting. It will use a transparent additive blend for the nebula layer and a solid background layer for the starfield.

The cube map structure referred to in the customizing kit is required for both and they use the same formatting.

[Misunderstood Wookie]

Well, IIRC, the "X" is also a place-holder. Each set of six must be numbered. If you notice with the default background nebulae (not the stars), they change as you move from one star system to another ... sometimes even from sector to sector. You need a designation for each set.

Yes X is a range from 1 - 4 Going from Blue-Brown this I did do

The game takes care of transparency itself internally, so you don't need to contend with alpha blending/sorting. It will use a transparent additive blend for the nebula layer and a solid background layer for the starfield.

The cube map structure referred to in the customizing kit is required for both and they use the same formatting.

Thank you, I figured as much as I downloaded a new Nebula reference material for the engine of EM2.x and the thread on that one suggested the engine changed back then but also used the cube map however you don't actually need to put an image in each side of the cube, So what I did was make the cube for each five of the colours, blue, green, purple, brown.

I ended up with this.




[Edited on 28/03/1987 by Misunderstood Wookie]

[Edited on 28/03/1987 by Misunderstood Wookie]

[Marvin]

That should work. The trick is to put the images in the correct boxes ... depending on where you want the images to show up (north, south, top, etc.)

[Misunderstood Wookie]

The trick is to put the images in the correct boxes ... depending on where you want the images to show up (north, south, top, etc.)

Thanks, the set of textures above I did blend manually I think they look pretty good. Saved them outside the PSD file to test and for fine adjustment as the PSD file is really only what I made for layer control so I could add new nebula and or blend them around easier. Final pass I am doing by hand as I have a stylus, unless you think they are crappy in which case I will do them again .

Where they are North, South etc I can play with and rotate that is the easy bit haha. What you see was just my export of the first texture pass to test if they would show up at all correctly.








P.SI had some ideas I want to throw around if these work correctly, like adding trail marks or non Nebula details to some of the other faces of the cube. Thanks again for your help much appreciated, I'm working on a complete environment overhaul.

I have a question though, the Mod Kit and its resource files don't cover examples of ship hulls. Do you happen to have a copy of the original hull textures used otherwise I have no idea where to draw.

[Edited on 28/03/1987 by Misunderstood Wookie]