Reflex compiler v1

[Mace-x]

thanks a lot for that man, it`ll help a lot!

just for the record
i was trying to convert a 1024 disp map into a 2048 one, first time with a no hilly terrain worked nice, 2nd time with hills sucked, seems like you have to get whites and black`s from the heightmap of the track, nothing more or it`ll get those stairs...(dno if i explain myself well xD)
anyways, thanks a lot for the reply, the program will be so usefull!

edit:
it works very good, with smooth the jumps tend to preserve it`s form so im very happy with the results
why does the modified heightmap comes in green, brown and orange tones?

[DirtTwister]

On a regular gray scale you are really only using 8 bits (0-255) and those some 8 bits are repeated in all channels (Red, Green, Blue).  Reflex really wants at least a 16 bit gray scale. There are various flavors of that, but what Reflex wants is 24 bits where the Red, Green, Blue are now different parts of the value.  When I save your smoothed heightmap I translate it to 0 to 65535 and put those values in the Red and Green channels and I set Blue to 0.  The Reflex track compiler reads it as a 24 bit value.   It does the same with 8 bit gray scale but your 255 white ends up as (255*65536) + (255 * 256) + 255.  The next value down ends up as (254*65536) + (254*256) + 254.   That's a big step. 

If you could just convert your dispmap to a 16 bit that uses all 8 bits in a single channel then it would be better but it could still be stairstepped.   A straight conversion to 16 bit would be (255*256) + 255 and the next level down would be (254*256)+254.  A much smaller step.

What the ViewDispMap does is after smoothing instead of going from something like:

(254*256) + 254 to (255*256) + 255

Could go to something like:

(254*256) + 254 to (254*256) + 255 or  (255*256) + 10 

It gives you an additional 256 steps in between each step you have in an 8 bit gray scale.

Bruce (DirtTwister)

[Mace-x]

i think that i get it, thanks for the reply bruce
im pretty exited, disp done, im now getting into the textures

edit:
i cant understand this way of texturing, im used to the mx sim sistem, wich is decals, i believe that i gotta make a single big 2048 texture in ps using the disp map as reference and then save it as bmp and put it in the topdownmap rollout of the exporter?
i can see i at the distance and my ground now is brown instead of the grass but i still cant see my texture or trackpath or nothing.
i know a *#*#* of what is a maskmap and all the other things mentioned, could anyone be kind enough to explain how it works?
sorry for the noobness 

[DirtTwister]

You need to create a maskmap.  Use black where you want your track to go and use Red, Green, or Blue for other dirt/grass textures.  You need to pick 4 textures.  They are defined in these settings in the .track file.

;-- Detail texture overlays one per channel, overlaid using Mask texture
Overlay_Base=valleyride_Dirt01.bmp
Overlay_R=valleyride_Dirt02.bmp
Overlay_G=valleyride_RockTerrain.bmp
Overlay_B=valleyride_Grass01.bmp

Overlay_Base will go where ever you have black in the MaskMap
Overlay_R will go where ever you have Red.
Overlay_G will go where ever you have Green
Overlay_B will go where ever you have Blue

Your MaskMap controls where those textures get alpha blended together and that is what you see in a large circle surrounding your rider.  What you see in the distance is your topdown.

It is important to have a black alpha on your maskmap because otherwise it will default to white and it will be massively wet.

http://dirttwister.com/wiki/MaskMapTexture

[Mace-x]

aaaah, now it makes sense, thanks a lot for the explanation, i'll get playing with it as soon as i can, thanks bruce!

[Mace-x]

edit:
im about to cry, my chromlum map doesnt work also, even if i have almos 100% black on it all i see is shiny as white stuff, removed the textures thinking that that could be but nope
im feel such as a noob, any tips?

edit2:
the maskmap+textures is working, dont ask me why lol
i trying to get the chromlum map to wor now :S

[DirtTwister]

The crm_lum file has two purposes.  The main image lets you draw/blend stuff on top of your textures and the alpha lets you control the highlighting on your textures.   It requires an alpha and the alpha needs to be in the 50% or 100-175 range for best results.  If you don't have an alpha the compiler will make it white and you will get very shiny textures.

[Mace-x]

what do you mean with it requires an alpha?
i mean, i have the chromlum map but where do i tell the compiler to use the alpha, i cant set different layers on the .bmp...
and bmp doesnt support transparency isnt it?

[DirtTwister]

I mean it needs to have an Alpha or the compiler will put an all white one on for you.  Have you checked out the wiki?

http://dirttwister.com/wiki/ChromLumTexture

The compiler requires that you use extended Bitmap formats.  Photo Shop and GIMP can save them.  The best way to work with them if you use other programs is to use DXTBmp, which displays the image and alpha and lets you edit either one using the paint program of your choice (I use Paint Shop Pro).

http://dirttwister.com/wiki/GettingStarted

[Mace-x]

well, now i discovered that the extended bmp format does support alpha, now i have these 2 layers.



intensidad1 is the same base texture i use for the topdown.
capa 1 copia is thmy chromlum map at 60% opacity

i save it as a bmp but stills getting everything white...
sorry for all the questions bruce, it`s the first time i work with bmp formats and with this sistem of texturing :/

[DirtTwister]

Layers aren't an alpha.  If you download DXTBmp and open your BMP with it, the alpha will be displayed in the upper right corner. If it's white that is your problem.  In Photo Shop it is displayed under channels.  

If you send me your crm_lum and mask map I can check them out.

Even if you are using GIMP or Photo Shop I think that DXTBmp is the easiest way to deal with the Alpha and the different extended bitmap formats.

[Mace-x]

someone might need to check this.
http://www.fsdeveloper.com/wiki/index.php?title=Alpha_channel_creation_with_Photoshop#Drawing_the_alpha_channel

now i get what do you guys mean with alpha channel, wich is not the same as opacity .
now i got my rgb. r, g, b, and alpha1

now`s working, thanks a lot and sorry, never used this type of stuff so i where a little bit lost
thanks for the constant suport bruce 

[Miki]

Hi! My "test track" is almost finished and I just wanted to say that it might be a good idea to make the zone file images before you start fine tuning your disp map. I guess you're driving on grass or something before you specify what your track is made of. What I mean is, I spent a ridiculous amout of time on my disp map trying to make "perfect" jumps but as soon as I made the zone files I noticed that all that fine tuning was pretty much all for nothing. My bike accelerated faster and jumped considerably further, almost like bouncing into the air from the bigger jumps... (I chose sand (zone 1) and normal drag (zone 2) for my track btw.) I think next time I'll just make a dirt zone file right from the beginning and make changes to the file when needed.

ps. Thanks to the hard work of you "computer people" this game is now 10 times better! How long would people have played MCM2 without the custom made tracks?

[VMX_SKYmx99]

I know what you mean Miki.  I am having trouble getting the zone files to work.  When I try and load a zone map my rider keeps resetting like I ran off the track (if there was a spline).  Could someone explain how to create the zone file a little better.  I have read the wiki countless times and still can't get it right.  I know it has to do with me not having a clue how to make an indexed bitmap.

[DirtTwister]

In Paint Shop Pro you just create a new image and select "Index - 16 color palette" for color depth.

I don't know how to do it in Photo Shop, but I think you just switch to indexed and select 4 bit color.

The easiest is just to start with one that is already indexed.  It's important to preserve it so don't increase the color depth or switch file types.

I have uploaded sample zone files from Kingston Round 1 which has the sandy sections.  I put them in the wiki and you can get them here:

http://dirttwister.com/images/reflex/wiki/Sample_Zone_Files.zip

[Miki]

When I try and load a zone map my rider keeps resetting like I ran off the track (if there was a spline).

That same thing happens to me if I save the zone files as 4 bit files. But if I save them as 8 bit files the game doesn't crash anymore. But my particles and sound images (zone3 and zone4) don't seem to work quite as I hoped so I'm not really sure how to work with them. I used this web site as a guide of some sorts: http://www.awitness.org/delphi_pascal_tutorial/source3/palette_16_color.html. It's mentioned that the RGB values on that page are in BGR, so I just flipped them over. At least my color palette looks right.

0 black      0 0 0   
1 redbrown   132 0 0
2 green      0 132 0
3 browngreen   132 132 0
4 dark blue   0 0 132
5 purple      132 0 132
6 bluegreen   0 132 132
and so on...

edit: my rgb values seem to be different from those sample images. I guess I need to do some testing, when this "real life" thing doesn't interfere...

[DirtTwister]

Use the images I linked to as a starting point.  They need to be indexed bit maps.  The colors don't matter.  It's the index that matters.  If it's a 4 color zone file (Zone 2) you can only use index 0 to 3.  If it's an 8 color zone file ( Zone 1, 3, & 4) you can only use index 0 to 7.

In Paint Shop Pro this is how  you see color 2 when you use the eye dropper.  The I: 2 is what matters:



In Photo Shop this is how you see color 2 when you use the eye dropper. The Idx: 2 is what matters:



Bruce (DirtTwister)

[DirtTwister]

I have updated the wiki and have put links to sample files from several of the tracks.  The files are located in each texture type.  Samples are from Grassland, Lost Meadow, Moto 448, Sugar Ridge MX, Kingston Round 1, Manchester Round 2, & Lago Dell Orlo (Halifax, it's the truck track with snow).

http://dirttwister.com/wiki/MaskMapTexture
http://dirttwister.com/wiki/ChromLumTexture
http://dirttwister.com/wiki/SoftnessMapTexture
http://dirttwister.com/wiki/DirtTextures

Bruce (DirtTwister)

[VMX_SKYmx99]

Thanks guys.  I'll see if I can get this working finally.

[mcm2boys]

Here's an update for the compiler. It fixes a problem with the scene file, which will get the start positions to work again and will also fix an issue with bump mapping, where the main bump map may have been swapped with one of the channel overlays.

To install just unzip wherever you want it. You won't need to update the MXTable files, they remain the same.

Reflex Compiler 1.08

You can also get this from the first post.


Laurie