Wierd Happenings on FC's F-15C

[+daddyairplanes 10,251]

so i'm working with the FastCargo F-15C from teh superpack. putting wing, squadron and ANG markings on as appropriate to RL. then i notice the intake decals are carrying through to the otherside

this is the better version of the problem, i made a patch.tga  to put over like i have a few times before. the decals do not smear like when discovered but rather chop off neat and somewhat recessed

the patch is solid (100% opacity) and covers the offending tga in LOD viewer

grey spot in red highlight near intak openings is the patch decal

finally, the patch decal is the last one in the decal.ini, yet doesnt totally cover the offending parts.

[Decal016]
MeshName=Fuselage
DecalLevel=2
DecalFacing=RIGHT
FilenameFormat=F15C\110\d\131TFW
Position=0.85,-0.175
Scale=0.40
DecalMaxLOD=3

[Decal017]
MeshName=Fuselage
DecalLevel=2
DecalFacing=LEFT
FilenameFormat=F15C\110\d\110tfs
Position=0.85,-0.175
Scale=0.45
DecalMaxLOD=3

......

[Decal024]
MeshName=Fuselage
DecalLevel=2
DecalFacing=BOTTOM
FilenameFormat=F15C\110\d\patch
Position=0.0,0.90
Rotation=0.0
Scale=1.75
//DecalMaxLOD=4

 

already tried playing with decalLevel and DecalMaxLOD levels (thats why its commented out here, best result so far). its odd, but not too bad so far.

same lods, same results but i did try this on FC's original F-15C_85 and the F-15C_91 from viper63a's pack. just to see. same result

due to arrangements and including Wing Kings, no i cant just put the marking on skin. not to mention those that know me know i dont usually anyhow

any ideas on whats up?

 

Edited June 27, 2021 by daddyairplanes

[+daddyairplanes 10,251]

fro reference, this is with the patch entry removed

[+daddyairplanes 10,251]

UPDATE:

further ini editing has gotten the offending doubles out of sight at least, moving them further back and up.

 

[Decal016]
MeshName=Fuselage
DecalLevel=2
DecalFacing=RIGHT
FilenameFormat=F15C\110\d\131TFW
Position=0.375,-0.05   <------------------------------- moved back and up from original
Scale=0.5
DecalMaxLOD=3

[Decal017]
MeshName=Fuselage
DecalLevel=2
DecalFacing=LEFT
FilenameFormat=F15C\110\d\110tfs
Position=0.375,-0.05
Scale=0.5
DecalMaxLOD=3

while this solves (ish) the issue with the current work, the questoin remains why did it do that?

[+Menrva 4,202]

27 minutes ago, daddyairplanes said:

the questoin remains why did it do that?

It's a known issue with custom 3d models, decal bleeding has been a thing since the early days of SF. We cannot modify LODs, that means we cannot solve all such issues on all custom models we have. Sometimes it cannot be solved, like on the new F-22 Raptor I was working on with few others, which is in hiatus unfortunately.

[+daddyairplanes 10,251]

decal bleeding im familiar with. a normal fix for me is to throw a patch on, listed further down in the decal.ini. the C-141B in ODS has this issue, each camo skin has a patch laid on to cover up bleed from teh other side (it was only the right side bleeding to left iirc)

it stands out, but not too badly if done right and certainly less so than a smearing, bleeding tga

however, this is the first time i have seen the patch not work, when made more solid than the other tga and called out after the other tga. also the patch does make the offending tga neater in the affected areas ( third pic in this thread vs first ), which adds to my curiousity

[+logan4 847]

Actually it is not decal bleeding. It is caused by the fact that there are 2 surfaces of the same mesh facing the same direction so the game applies the decal on the given coordinates to any surface section that faces the given parameters. 
If the model would have "left/right intakes" separated and not just a single mesh "fuselage", then the issue would be gone. I battled the same issue on the upcoming S37 also. Splitting the mesh did solve it, so there were no double "areas". That is why moving the decal onto a location that has no secondary sections "in sight" "solved" the symptom.

[+daddyairplanes 10,251]

logan, figured as much for the why two sets popped up. seen it all the time in some models

in the past, i have dealt with similar issues by using a solid tga to cover what i didnt want seen,

what baffles me this time is how that "patch" does not cover the other tga, and how it actually tidies it up. again compare the very first pic (with a patch tga applied)  with the third pic (entry for patch removed from ini)

yes the issue is resolved my a location change. but for future reference, why didnt a old solution work this time around?

example on old solution, without looked like a crazy ex taking a knife to the couches. by comparison this looks like some sheet metal work and new paint over it

[+Sundowner 4,837]

Ban decals....that's the solution............

[+daddyairplanes 10,251]

 

[+logan4 847]

9 hours ago, daddyairplanes said:

logan, figured as much for the why two sets popped up. seen it all the time in some models

in the past, i have dealt with similar issues by using a solid tga to cover what i didnt want seen,

what baffles me this time is how that "patch" does not cover the other tga, and how it actually tidies it up. again compare the very first pic (with a patch tga applied)  with the third pic (entry for patch removed from ini)

yes the issue is resolved my a location change. but for future reference, why didnt a old solution work this time around?

example on old solution, without looked like a crazy ex taking a knife to the couches. by comparison this looks like some sheet metal work and new paint over it

 

On your first pic without the patch.tga you would have 3 decals of the same type like you can see  on the 3rd. The reason you can only see 2 because the patch.tga did work, but it is set for =bottom. I assume that the Left/right side tga-s show up because that matches more the parameter of the mesh/decalfacing call out and the game just overrides the other one. 
I think the location of the decal and complex shape of the f15 fuselage behaves a bit different compared to the round C141 (I guess that is that bird). 

 

 

 

In the 2nd pic the area marked with yellow is due to the mesh curvature is behind the other mesh section from looking from the bottom, so the patch decal would probably not "cover" that.

 

 

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by logan4

[+daddyairplanes 10,251]

well complex shape vs regular shape does seem reasonable. still very odd, but as noted before problem solved by shifting tga location. might be showing up inside the model (have seen that plenty too over the years, esp. on transports) but anyone zooming that far in to see the inner walls of the model gets a bucket of rivets

and yes, its the C-141B

thank you for the input logan!

Edited June 28, 2021 by daddyairplanes