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Buildings and Wonder Design

neener - is that alpha stuff done on the dds file or in max when you are adding materials? I'd like to get my trees to look "normal". Thanks
 
You should be able to get the transparency going by using an alpha channel when you create the texture. Are you using gimp or photoshop? In any case when you're working with the DDS you need to find the channels palette and add an alpha channel, then in it you use white to denote opaque and black for transparent (and greys in between). It's actually how the team color works only instead of making transparent it draws team color, but if you remove the teamcolor shader then units become transparent wherever they had team color before.

You shouldn't have to do anything special in max.

Oh and you do need to make sure that the settings/compression under which you save the DDS support alpha channel because there are some that don't.
 
Thanks Rabbit. Here's a screenshot of 6 buildings I've made so far.



So with my DXTBmp program I can open my dds file, add an alpha channel, make the changes you mentioned, and then resave it?
 
I have over 12 types of DDS types to choose from! Which one do I pick now?

I basically loaded my tree dds, created an alpha (green), (Black), and template (grey), and then when I go to resave it I have way too many choices. Normally I select DDS DXT1. Still?
 
Yeah it should be DXT3, and I'm not sure what you're talking about with the green and black but the file should have four channels - RGB which is the texture itself and the Alpha which would be greyscale and control transparency.
 
Rabbit said:
Yeah it should be DXT3, and I'm not sure what you're talking about with the green and black but the file should have four channels - RGB which is the texture itself and the Alpha which would be greyscale and control transparency.
Ooops I normally set it to black in dxtbmp but then I just noticed it's reassigend grey automatically for a reason I don't know so I guess why my skins still work normally is because of this. I never saw any function that set 4 channels in this program though:confused:
 
I'm giving up on this for today...

I could simply go back to using Firaxis dds file, but it's huge and I was trying to save space with a smaller one. Maybe tomorrow my lightbulb will click on. :)
 
I attached a zip with three small tree textures. I cut them from the tree_1024 files so they look exactly the same and have the proper alpha channels. You should be able to use those.

However, I think you should use the original file unless you want to create a different looking tree texture. The reason is that this file is in the shared folder and I'm pretty sure that if you use it for your trees, even if you're only using a small part of it (obviously) you will not be wasting memory (due to loading a 1024 texture when you only need 128x128 section of it) but rather conserving it by using a resource that already loads into the game.

Do a simple test, use the trees_1024 texture but when you add the house to the game do not put the texture into the folder with the house, in fact, don't put it anywhere. Now, if you were to load that file in NIF viewer the trees would show up pink but in game they should look fine. If that doesn't work, then use the files I attached.
 

Attachments

Hey all! sorry i havent been here for a while, ive been trying to focus on studying, i have exams in a few weeks and then im free!!!

@woodelf: those a quite good, but the leaves are a bit...bright green, and the trunks are a bit white.

also the Woodelf Palace i was working on is finished. i will upload it now and put a link here. i quite like it, its 1220 polys, but i think thats Ok for a palace, seeing as theres only going to be one of them. i dont know how to put buildings in game, so could one of you guys give it a try?

download here:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/71834/WoodelfPalace.zip
 
Thanks Rabbit. I was wondering if that dds file needed to be in each folder with the accompanying nif or not. I'll find out later this weekend.
 
After much stewing I am really going to be steamed if that dds file doesn't have to be with the nif. I reskinned the leaves in all of my later models and it may have been unnecessary. :sad::mad::sheep: ;)

The lighter gray trunks are all brand new though since Firaxis has 4 sided trunks that look horrible when you stretch them. I made mine 8 sided and they work much better.

edit - steamed at myself, not the game. :sheep:

Thanks Ploep for turning me onto the sheep... :p
 
Good call Rabbit on the tree_dds file not needing to be in the folder to have an effect. :) I unnecessarily made my life way more difficult, but all is good now.
 
woodelf said:
Good call Rabbit on the tree_dds file not needing to be in the folder to have an effect. :) I unnecessarily made my life way more difficult, but all is good now.
Good.

And I was thinking, it might be a good idea to try to apply this to as many other things as possible. Like for example if several units are using the same weapon that has its own texture (like let's say some axe or sword that I made) then instead of having the weapon's texture in each unit's folder, just put it in shared. At the very least it'll save a bit on space, and maybe will improve performance (if the engine is not smart enough to recognize on its own when a different object is calling for a texture it already has in memory).
 
Here's a new version with pine trees flanking the palace instead of cheesy towers. I'm not thrilled about the thatch roof, but honestly, that's minor ATM.



I know P_L didn't like the lighter trunks, but I hate everything being the same. Anyone else have thoughts?
 
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