Stock terrains update and new effects pack

[sockboy 0]

Sockboy I'm affraid it may be your card related. For long time it's been reported Thirdwire games work better with Nvidia GPUs.

 

You may try older drivers instead. If that doesn't work, the effects you have problems with are:

 

AircraftSmokeEffect.ini

LargeFire.ini

MediumFire.ini

SmallFire.ini

 

the last option would be deleting these files or use other ones available from download section

 

edit: A6Intuder, sockboy, try this attached version of aircraftsmokeeffect.ini, extract to you effects folder

 

Hi Stary..

 

Thanks for the help mate..ill try the attached file and see how that goes...

 

Best wishes...

 

Rab ;0)

[A6Intruder 1]

Hi Stary..

 

Thanks for the help mate..ill try the attached file and see how that goes...

 

Best wishes...

 

Rab ;0)

 

Same with me. Will report later.

Thanks for fast reply.

Best regards

[+malibu43 142]

Thanks for the buildings fix, CA_Stary. I'll give that a try later on.

 

One other thing I noticed, is that some of the flak guns were giving off really big clouds of white smoke when they fire. The clouds also seemed to disappear very rapidly (especially for a cloud of that size). To me, it looked a little strange from the air, but maybe it's realistic and intentional. Sorry, I don't have a screen shot.

 

Thanks again for the great mods!!!

[+quack74 329]

I dont think I'm getting that blue-green smoke problem with this terrain download. I'll have to check. Very cool seasonal transitions though I must say The terrain its self is amazing. The fields, rivers and roads look incredible!

 

But I'm going to have to be a d--k here and comment on the trees. They seem to be too dark and thick (to me). They appear to be like a watercolor painting. The edges of the trees are very thick and sharp. I feel like a big d--k for saying this I know how hard you worked on it, but I've been changing the trees back to the originals. I'm keeping all the terrain and seasons. Just changing back to the stock tree appearance. I know it would take a long time to fix the trees to make them more realistic, there are soo many tree files. Maybe try making the trees less thick, maybe more transparent? I dont know. Sorry for the comment. I love the rest of it though.

[A6Intruder 1]

The Fix seems to be working fine:

 

Thanks Stary

[+Stary 2,427]

 

But I'm going to have to be a d--k here and comment on the trees. They seem to be too dark and thick (to me). They appear to be like a watercolor painting. The edges of the trees are very thick and sharp. I feel like a big d--k for saying this I know how hard you worked on it, but I've been changing the trees back to the originals. I'm keeping all the terrain and seasons. Just changing back to the stock tree appearance. I know it would take a long time to fix the trees to make them more realistic, there are soo many tree files. Maybe try making the trees less thick, maybe more transparent? I dont know. Sorry for the comment. I love the rest of it though.

 

Quack, you're not a d--k here. I know, and wrote this in readme, not all will like the default for this mod look of the trees. Try the second settings from readme -should look more soft and light. Here's from the included readme:

 

2) Trees render settings:

 

If you don't like the look of the trees, there's way to make them look softer, but may cause slight rendering errors:

 

the settings adjusting the look of trees can be found in terrainname_data.ini (ie. wwiVerdun_data.ini), under the tab

 

[AlphaObjectTextureMaterial] :

 

this mod by default uses these settings:

 

[AlphaObjectTextureMaterial]

DepthBufferCheck=TRUE

DepthBufferWrite=TRUE

RenderedInOrder=TRUE

AlphaTestEnabled=TRUE

CullMode=TRANSPARENCY

LightEnabled=TRUE

SpecularEnabled=FALSE

EmissiveEnabled=FALSE

FogEnabled=TRUE

AmbientColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.00000

DiffuseColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.00000

ZBufferOffset=2.000000

BlendOp=BLEND_DST_ALPHA

NumTextureStages=1

TextureStage[01].TextureName=

TextureStage[01].MipMap=TRUE

TextureStage[01].FilterEnabled=TRUE

TextureStage[01].StageColorOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE

TextureStage[01].StageAlphaOp=TEXTURE_BLEND_TEXTURE_ALPHA

 

while these settings render the trees correctly, is makes them a bit solid and blocky when viewed from long distance,

 

so you may wish to use these settings instead:

 

[AlphaObjectTextureMaterial]

DepthBufferCheck=TRUE

DepthBufferWrite=TRUE

RenderedInOrder=TRUE

AlphaTestEnabled=TRUE

CullMode=NO_CULL

LightEnabled=TRUE

SpecularEnabled=FALSE

EmissiveEnabled=FALSE

FogEnabled=TRUE

AmbientColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.00000

DiffuseColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.00000

ZBufferOffset=2.000000

BlendOp=BLEND_SRC_ALPHA

NumTextureStages=1

TextureStage[01].TextureName=

TextureStage[01].MipMap=TRUE

TextureStage[01].FilterEnabled=TRUE

TextureStage[01].StageColorOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE

TextureStage[01].StageAlphaOp=TEXTURE_BLEND_TEXTURE_ALPHA

 

makes them look softer, slightly fading in the distance, but slight white outlines around them may appear, engine renderer error

 

finally, here are default First Eagles settings, causes rendering order errors (further trees look as in front of the closer ones, no scene sorting):

 

[AlphaObjectTextureMaterial]

DepthBufferCheck=TRUE

DepthBufferWrite=FALSE

RenderedInOrder=TRUE

AlphaTestEnabled=TRUE

CullMode=NO_CULL

LightEnabled=TRUE

SpecularEnabled=FALSE

EmissiveEnabled=FALSE

FogEnabled=TRUE

AmbientColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000

DiffuseColor=1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,1.000000

ZBufferOffset=2.000000

BlendOp=BLEND_SRC_ALPHA

NumTextureStages=1

TextureStage[01].TextureName=

TextureStage[01].MipMap=FALSE

TextureStage[01].FilterEnabled=TRUE

TextureStage[01].StageColorOp=TEXTURE_MODULATE_DIFFUSE

TextureStage[01].StageAlphaOp=TEXTURE

 

feel free to experiment with the settings, maybe you'll discover setings that suits you the best

 

these in red should do it for you , matter of personal preferences

 

edit: I've tried making them semi-transparent (about 75-90 percent) at some point during making it, but I think they don't look that good then. Also remember we're limited by terrain engine, that's basically unchanged since 2002, except water and noise shaders, but I might be wrong, I'm with the series just four years now

Edited August 27, 2009 by Stary

[+quack74 329]

Thanks for the nice reply there Stary. I thought you or someone else would chew me out. I did see that stuff in the readme. I'm going to try it out. I would like to keep all of your terrain work. I was going to work on the trees myself. But I'll give your other settings a go first.

 

 

[sockboy 0]

Hi Stary...

 

Thanks for the fix file mate, it has worked a treat, Green Colour in smoke has gone leaving cool looking thick black smoke..your help is very much appreciated and thanks again for making such a fantastic mod...

 

All the best...

 

Rab Watson

[OlPaint01 0]

Stary

 

I am having the same problems with the trees that Quack is reporting as well. They look like cardboard cutouts to me from the air. They appear to have no shading or texture to give them the appearance of 3-D shapes.

 

OlPaint01

Edited August 28, 2009 by OlPaint01

[FalconC45 162]

WOW! Stary, my man you outdone yourself. I'm gonna d/l this and test it out with my HDR mod.

 

Falcon

[+Stary 2,427]

@OlPaint01 -we can't have "true 3D" trees I'm affraid. Terrain Editor and engine limitation. I'll try making better shaded textures for them. But these would be still two crossed faces.

[+sinbad 27]

@OlPaint01 -we can't have "true 3D" trees I'm affraid. Terrain Editor and engine limitation. I'll try making better shaded textures for them. But these would be still two crossed faces.

 

There are always compromises. We just get better at it.

 

We can't smell the pine needles either.

 

No need to apologize - you are doing very impressive work.

[+Stary 2,427]

Thanks for the buildings fix, CA_Stary. I'll give that a try later on.

 

One other thing I noticed, is that some of the flak guns were giving off really big clouds of white smoke when they fire. The clouds also seemed to disappear very rapidly (especially for a cloud of that size). To me, it looked a little strange from the air, but maybe it's realistic and intentional. Sorry, I don't have a screen shot.

 

Thanks again for the great mods!!!

 

Have success with the fix?

 

As for the artillery fire effect (used by all AAA guns in game) yes, I doubled the muzzle cloud size, the particles life time was unchanged IIRC.

But new, smaller, longer lasting version is in the works, together with updated, more realistic light grey puff hit clouds from onboard guns, and new baloon fire effect, among other things. See attachment for new balloon fire. Now tt falls slowly burning to the ground, much like in should.

[+malibu43 142]

Have success with the fix?

 

As for the artillery fire effect (used by all AAA guns in game) yes, I doubled the muzzle cloud size, the particles life time was unchanged IIRC.

But new, smaller, longer lasting version is in the works, together with updated, more realistic light grey puff hit clouds from onboard guns, and new baloon fire effect, among other things. See attachment for new balloon fire. Now tt falls slowly burning to the ground, much like in should.

 

Haven't had a chance to try the fix yet. Maybe this weekend.

 

And that burning balloon effect looks great!!!

[OlPaint01 0]

Hello Stary

 

I think if you could please add some shading to the crossed flats textures, that should do the trick IMHO. I agree with Sinbad, your efforts are outstanding. A vast improvement over TK's defaults. Your trees/leaf detail is unsurpassed. And yes, I CAN almost smell the Pine Needles. LOL!

 

OlPaint01

[Bandy 3]

... See attachment for new balloon fire. Now tt falls slowly burning to the ground, much like in should.

 

"It burst into flames! It burst into flames, and it's falling, it's crashing! Watch it! Watch it, folks! Get out of the way! Get out of the way! ... It's crashing terrible! Oh, my, get out of the way, please! It's burning and bursting into flames, and the — and it's falling on the mooring-mast. ...this is one of the worst catastrophes in the world. Ohhhhh! It's–it's–it's the flames, oh, four- or five-hundred feet into the sky and it ... it's a terrific crash, ladies and gentlemen. It's smoke, and it's flames now ... and the frame is crashing to the ground, not quite to the mooring-mast. Oh, the humanity ... " Herbert Morrison

 

Looks great! Any chance this will work on the L63 zep? On a large scale of course

Edited August 28, 2009 by B Bandy RFC

[VFC_Baxter 19]

Thank you Stary. Flew a couple of missions over your new terrain this morning. Great work and very much appreciated.

[A6Intruder 1]

Hi Stary,

after your great effects pack there are two effects i would like to change.

First, the gunshots looks like "sidewinders" with a rocket tail. Second the inpact effect from bullets, when finding a plane.

Please check the screeny:

 

 

Would you please tell me which files i should tweak?.

Thanks in forward.

 

Best regards

Edited August 29, 2009 by A6Intruder

[+Stary 2,427]

Many effects are under rework, including the bullet impact effects I wrote this in my previous post

the tracer smoke is defined by both TRACERSMOKE.tga and tracersmokeemitter.ini

[A6Intruder 1]

Many effects are under rework, including the bullet impact effects I wrote this in my previous post

the tracer smoke is defined by both TRACERSMOKE.tga and tracersmokeemitter.ini

 

Hi Stary,

thanks for your fast reply!

Best regards

[FalconC45 162]

Hi Stary,

thanks for your fast reply!

Best regards

 

Actually dude, that's what a tracer does when fired. It leaves a faint smoke trail.

 

Falcon

[A6Intruder 1]

Actually dude, that's what a tracer does when fired. It leaves a faint smoke trail.

 

Falcon

 

Yes i know, but before his effectpack, it did not look like a "Sidewinder Rocket tail". Will say the smoke did not stay as long as now.

Best regards

[+quack74 329]

The tracers could be toned down a bit. I like them though. The only problem I find with them is, from the cockpit view, as they pass the pilots face they appear as a whole bunch of squiggly lines (small wavy lines). I know thats the way the .tga file has to be. But is there a way to make the gun barrel smoke ( like Latons version) appear first then the tracers. The smoke effect is missing now from the gun fire. The wavy lines only is weird looking from the cockpit.

 

 

[+Stary 2,427]

Quack74, to be honest I like a lot the ROF tracers and tracersmoke, so I tried to implement similarily looking ones in my pack

[+quack74 329]

I like them. I just dont like the wiggly lines that fly by in cockpit view. Can that be changed some how?

 

It looks better in motion ofcourse.

 

 

Edited August 31, 2009 by quack74