Simviation Forums

I've been redoing a Gmax aircraft file I retrieved off the net, which came with the finished product of the aircraft.  Unfortunately, the aircraft wasn't alpha-channel compatible (did the "ghosting" thing), wo I thought I would recompile it and see if I could get it to work.  No such luck.  I recompiled using my Gmax setup (checked "has reflectmap" in MakeMDL) but it still refuses to accept ANY alpha mapping (DXT3, 32-bit).  Stuck with DXT1.

Could someone please remind me of the reason for this?  I know I've read it on here before, but I just don't know what to search for to find the relavent information.

1.  If in Makemdl, you have HASLIGHTMAP unchecked/off:

If your textures end with _T, these will be transparent, even with a light map because it is ignored.

Fix is to turn on HASLIGHTMAP in Makemdl or change the texture names to drop the _T in material assignment and FS folders.

2.  If in Makemdl, you have HASLIGHTMAP checked/on:

Then _T textures need a _L lightmap to keep them from being transparent.

If you want reflections, the main texture file needs to have *_t.bmp added to it [i.e.: MainTexture_t.bmp]. That way, it will appear reflective in FS. However, without a lightmap, it will appear transparent at night the moment you turn on the lights. This drawback only happens at night.

To avoid seeing transparent textures at night with the lights on, go back to Gmax. Open the material editor and link the light map [the texture with the *_l.bmp] to the main texture under the name "Illumination" and leave the box next to it unchecked.

That is it. When transporting, check the "has reflect map" and "has light map" boxes and you're set. Remember that the light maps blend in with the main textures they are linked to.

Example of how the textures appear in the Material Editor:

I. Material #1
---A. Maps
------1.
------2.

Just after this and just before exporting, import the alpha channel into Main_Texture_t.bmp and save as DXT3.

I don't think you have to convert the lightmaps. I think the format of the main texture would be your concern.

This way, you have both reflections in the day and operational lights at night without* the annoying tranparent side effects. Just look at the textures on the Chevy addon I made as an example.

If you want transparency, just take out the *_t.bmp and restart the process. Correct me if I'm wrong. I'm always open to constructive criticism.

Boy am I an idiot . . .

I was trying to get the dang thing to have a reflect map - and not adding the _T!  The model wasn't reflection compatible to begin with, so the author never deigned to put in the relfectable names for the textures!  Talk about a lot of running for no gain!  Oh, well, its all fixed now.  Thanks, Milton, Jessy.  Going back to do some more, now.  Be back with another problem in a few hours . . .