How do You Color a Canopy?

[Guest pfunkmusik]

What values govern the color and presence of a canopy? Is it a part of the aircraft's .LOD file?

 

pfunk

[Gunrunner]

IIRC, it's a TGA called from the LOD, at least it's the way I remember from the TMF F-16s.

[Guest pfunkmusik]

Hmmm. OK. There are quite a few addons that when put into SF2, the canopies disappear in the external view.

 

pfunk

[Gunrunner]

It might be that the TGA is missing; Either because the LOD calls for a TGA missing in the SF2 OBJECTDATA.CAT, or because instead of searching the TGA at the root of the airplane directory the engine now searches for it elsewhere.

I can't offer more without a list of which addons work and which doesn't.

 

One simple way to know which file the LOD calls, simply open the LOD in any good text editor or hex editor, and search for TGA, usually the first occurence of the string is the call made for the canopy.

Edited February 21, 2009 by Gunrunner

[+FastCargo]

Most stock/3rd party aircraft use a tga file called...you guessed it...canopyglass.tga. It's just a small file with a specified amount of transparency in the Alpha layer.

 

Also, if the canopies dissappear, it could mean the file they are calling for is completely clear (total masking in the Alpha channel). So you may have to make a new one with the amount of transparency/color that you want.

 

FC

[Guest pfunkmusik]

It might be that the TGA is missing; Either because the LOD calls for a TGA missing in the SF2 OBJECTDATA.CAT, or because instead of searching the TGA at the root of the airplane directory the engine now searches for it elsewhere.

I can't offer more without a list of which addons work and which doesn't.

 

One simple way to know which file the LOD calls, simply open the LOD in any good text editor or hex editor, and search for TGA, usually the first occurence of the string is the call made for the canopy.

 

OK, I'm attempting to use the MF F-16A Block 10 in SF2. The canopy is gone.

 

The file it uses is called, 'f16glass.tga' and it is in the aircraft's main folder. Using a hex editor, I found where it is in the .LOD file. Can I change it to use the standard canopylass.tga file?

 

pfunk

[Gunrunner]

IIRC, yes it is, but it would be even better to find out where the SF2 engine expects the TGA to be.

 

Or maybe asking TK might be fruitful, as it might also be a bug in the new engine that he can't know about (as he has little reason to expect TGAs outside of CATs).

Edited February 21, 2009 by Gunrunner

[Guest pfunkmusik]

Odd thing is, not all mods do this. Here's what I've noticed.

 

If a mod HAS a .tga for the canopy in the main aircraft folder, the canopy is missing.

 

If a mod DOESN'T HAVE the .tga for the canopy in the main aircraft folder, the canopy appears.

 

It sounds like the .tga files need to be put somewhere for the engine to find it.

 

pfunk

[Gunrunner]

That's what I was saying, let me recap things so far :

 

In SF1 :

 

a- /SFP1/Objects/Aicraft/MirageF1/MirageF1.LOD calls for miragecanopy.tga

 

b- SF1 engine searches for /SFP1/Objects/Aicraft/MirageF1/miragecanopy.tga

If it is found, then he uses it...

Else...

 

c- SF1 engine searches for miragecanopy.tga inside OBJECTDATA.CAT

If it is found, then he uses it...

Else...

 

d- It either crashes or uses a perfectly transparent canopy...

 

In SF2 :

 

a- /SF2/Objects/Aicraft/MirageF1/MirageF1.LOD calls for miragecanopy.tga

 

c- SF2 engine searches for miragecanopy.tga inside OBJECTDATA.CAT

If it is found, then he uses it...

Else...

 

d- It uses a perfectly transparent canopy...

 

It seems like either the b- step is missing completely from the SF2 engine OR the b- step is searching in another directory.

 

BTW, do any of you understand pseudo-code, it may be somewhat easier to use than trying something more verbose versions...

Edited February 21, 2009 by Gunrunner