Kupu's thread

[wanzer]

yea but when you put on the normal maps
the normal maps show "that don't look so dandy"
but not the light maps

for that you need to restart starmade

 

[kupu]

when you restart the game
it loads the right normal and the lights

i never made the connection of putting on the normal maps to get lights

Our diligent community seems to of pointed you to the correct setting.
As you have found, a restart is required to make the completed change, we should fix this ^^'

It's because the emissive maps are embeded in the normal maps

Correct.

The default normal maps don't actually line up properly. If you look at the texture files (Folder: Starmade > Data > Textures > Block > Default > Your choice of resolution) you will find four different file types for each normal map texture: A NRM.png, a NRM.tga, and a zipped backup file for each.
~snip~
Hope this all makes sense and helps.

No, sorry to be blunt but this is incorrect. I'll spoiler your post to avoid people misreading it as a working guide.

The *_NRM.PNG files should no longer be used by the game. You can remove them entirely from the directory and enable all normal map, emissive and specular maps. They are redundant and waiting to be removed from the installation we distribute. If for some reason they ARE being used... something somewhere has gone very wrong.

Normal maps are stored in the RGB channels of the TARGA file, with specular and emissive (glowy bits) being stored in the Alpha channel. Each using half the channel each, 0-127 and 128-255 respectively. No other file should be used for these map types.

If you have experienced issues with textures being misaligned, please provide a screenshot here or in the Game Support sub-forum so we can treat it as a bug.

It is quite possible that you have experienced a texture bug or something has potentially gone wrong when updating the game.

You can immediately check what is exactly being loaded in your most recent log file, probably logstarmade.0.log found in Starmade/logs.

[2016-11-10 01:58:10] ############## LOADING RESOURCE Defaultdata\.\textures\block\Default256normal
[2016-11-10 01:58:11] [TEXTURE] data/./textures/block/Default/256/t000_NRM.tga LOAD TAKEN: stream: 0 ms; data: 445 ms; create: 95 ms
[2016-11-10 01:58:12] [TEXTURE] data/./textures/block/Default/256/t001_NRM.tga LOAD TAKEN: stream: 0 ms; data: 531 ms; create: 82 ms
[2016-11-10 01:58:12] [TEXTURE] data/./textures/block/Default/256/t002_NRM.tga LOAD TAKEN: stream: 0 ms; data: 365 ms; create: 96 ms
[2016-11-10 01:58:12] [TEXTURE] ./customBlockTextures/256/custom_NRM.png LOAD TAKEN: stream: 0 ms; data: 87 ms; create: 13 ms
[2016-11-10 01:58:12] [RESOURCE] emission texture present: true
[2016-11-10 01:58:12] [TEXTURE] data/./textures/block/Default/64/t000_NRM.tga LOAD TAKEN: stream: 0 ms; data: 18 ms; create: 5 ms
[2016-11-10 01:58:12] [TEXTURE] data/./textures/block/Default/64/t001_NRM.tga LOAD TAKEN: stream: 1 ms; data: 20 ms; create: 6 ms
[2016-11-10 01:58:12] [TEXTURE] data/./textures/block/Default/64/t002_NRM.tga LOAD TAKEN: stream: 0 ms; data: 19 ms; create: 6 ms
[2016-11-10 01:58:12] [TEXTURE] ./customBlockTextures/64/custom_NRM.png LOAD TAKEN: stream: 1 ms; data: 5 ms; create: 1 ms

Should read something like this, load the tga files, not png, with the line; [2016-11-10 01:58:12] [RESOURCE] emission texture present: true

 

[Travesty]

No, sorry to be blunt but this is incorrect. I'll spoiler your post to avoid people misreading it as a working guide.

Hoo boy. I've outright removed it, because I don't want to mislead anyone. Judging by Wanzer's solution, I believe there was some confirmation bias at work. My "fix" also happened to involve restarting after the maps had been toggled on, and I mistook what part of the process had solved the problem for me.

 

[Crusade]

The game will use the PNG versions as a fallback if the TGA isn't found.

 

[wanzer]

tnx
say
bringing me back to the whole normal and light map thing

is it a valid idea to separate the two in the graphics menu ?
so a toggle for the normal map
and a toggle for the light map

or at the very least replace the toggle called "normal map" with something like "advanced materials" or "normal map & light map"

 

[Exozen]

Awesome work Kupu! <3

y no terrain tho. Wat kyoopoo bin busy with? :c

 

[Deleted Account]

I noticed that in the update video at 0:37, the rail pickup point texture seems to shift around when toggled.

 

[SkylordLuke]

I noticed that in the update video at 0:37, the rail pickup point texture seems to shift around when toggled.

basically unplayable

 

[kupu]

I noticed that in the update video at 0:37, the rail pickup point texture seems to shift around when toggled.

Cheers mate. Will look at that again.

 

[Ghent96]

Awesome work Kupu! <3

y no terrain tho. Wat kyoopoo bin busy with? :c

He's too busy building a noob-speak translator.

...but seriously, back to the point of 64x textures & animations from earlier in the thread: this improves SP and server performance a ton, when animations are turned off. Of course this applies to lower end computers. As the game has become progressively slower and less stable post-rails, any amount of gain is worth the effort. I was especially surprised to see the server-side gains.

 

[nightrune]

tnx
say
bringing me back to the whole normal and light map thing

is it a valid idea to separate the two in the graphics menu ?
so a toggle for the normal map
and a toggle for the light map

or at the very least replace the toggle called "normal map" with something like "advanced materials" or "normal map & light map"

You can't its actually the same texture in Starmade.

 

[6nop6nop]

Great job on the textures. By the way, is there a way to turn the blurry off?

 

[Lancake]

Great job on the textures. By the way, is there a way to turn the blurry off?

Turn off "Use linear mag filter on Blocks (restart required)". You need to restart Starmade before the changes are applied though.
The option is in Settings -> Graphics

 

[nightrune]

Hey kupu,

I think artistically you did a great job with the new textures. The power aux really feels like its about ready to explode, all of the textures are cleaner and easier to look at. I'm not sure I expected the change to the more cartoony even from you screen shots. I was hoping you could comment on that, and personally there are two blocks that I don't agree with the changes on and I was looking for some insight maybe why they changed. Those two blocks are the Rail Mass Enhancer and the top of the scanner antenneas.

The scanner antenna's had a sweet cross pattern that made a fantastic floor, and the current top is nice as well but its less industrial and more sci-fi I suppose. The rail mass enhancer though... Granted these might be personal but I was using them as structural elements as well as some sort of moving element in many places. Where the movement was a little sub-duded and I liked that since it was behind a mesh within the texture. It could really give an area some depth with out a lot of blocks. The current block no longer does that, and I really miss it. I can provide screen shots if you like.

 

[Shadow2Lead]

Going to echo the complements on the new textures. I particularly am a fan of the logic blocks.

Regarding the increased cartoonification, I think I few pages ago that was addressed and the answer was something to the effect of "the game takes place at 1^3 meter resolution so everything is going to be cartoony anyway, might as well embrace it." Personally, I wish the meter cubes were realistic rather than cartoony, but as long as they are well done I think it can work. (And let me reiterate kupu: Well done on the textures.)

Did the nice galaxy graphic from the astrotech module just get removed, or was it moved to somewhere else? It was a nice detail for various bridge type interior rooms. The old astrotech module is between the two yellow/orangish blocks on the left:


Also, I love the way the darker and lighter rail and rail rotators blend together at the seam, any chance of the different grey hulls getting their seams to blend the same way?

 

[0ldSkull]

The side texture of the Gravity Unit now orients upside-down relative to how it was previously; is this intentional? The same is true of the Jump Drive Module though that is more subtle.

The new textures really show an incredible amount of work. The specular maps are especially impressive!

 

[kupu]

The side texture of the Gravity Unit now orients upside-down relative to how it was previously; is this intentional? The same is true of the Jump Drive Module though that is more subtle.

The new textures really show an incredible amount of work. The specular maps are especially impressive!

Thanks for this. Potentially yes... but i have to double check. We've been trying to squash the last of the texture coordinate bugs (like T68 texture faces need to be flipped or rotated) so i either made an error in the new coords, or should of rotated the actual textures to coincide with the new correct orientations.

Thanks for the kind words.

Hey kupu,

I think artistically you did a great job with the new textures. The power aux really feels like its about ready to explode, all of the textures are cleaner and easier to look at. I'm not sure I expected the change to the more cartoony even from you screen shots. I was hoping you could comment on that, and personally there are two blocks that I don't agree with the changes on and I was looking for some insight maybe why they changed. Those two blocks are the Rail Mass Enhancer and the top of the scanner antenneas.

Two good questions.
A few have noted a more "cartoon" or "less realistic" approach. I did anticipate some comment on this too.

As Shadow2Lead mentioned, i currently don't believe pursuing anything more realistic than what we have now would work within our voxel environment. It's not a rash decision either. Starmade over it's 4+ years has seen more texture styles than it has birthdays, each trying new things, building upon the former.

Having realistic, hard sci fi computer screens and systems would be cool, but only because hard sci fi computer screens and systems are cool in themselves. They're not going to look right in the wider world of Starmade. It won't look right next to Dave now, or later. Flora will forever look like it's in the wrong game, terrain will repeat far to frequently and at 216² pixels per 1 meter face in-game, it will probably look like a noisy photo. There are quite a lot of knock on effects which are countered with upping the fidelity of other / all assets, but that won't be good for performance in a game where efficient scaling is crucial.

Funnily enough, the new texture is close to what i originally aimed for with the Default 1.0 set. I just wasn't good enough to make it happen. I think the first image i posted of it showcases that a little.

In summary, the juxtaposition of cubes and upcoming low poly models with attempted realistic textures would be far to harsh to find immersive in my opinion. It may even make it harder to apply the full range of blocks on any ship style.

With all that said, i'm not stubborn. It's a difficult balancing act, with room for improvement i'm sure. So once we're all acclimatised to the changes, as usual i will be looking for feedback to better the set. Once received, we can spitball alterations.

Hey kupu
The scanner antenna's had a sweet cross pattern that made a fantastic floor, and the current top is nice as well but its less industrial and more sci-fi I suppose. The rail mass enhancer though... Granted these might be personal but I was using them as structural elements as well as some sort of moving element in many places. Where the movement was a little sub-duded and I liked that since it was behind a mesh within the texture. It could really give an area some depth with out a lot of blocks. The current block no longer does that, and I really miss it. I can provide screen shots if you like.

Yea, pretty cool pattern, think the conduit shared it too. Always thought it was a shame you had to place a conduit or scanner in that one orientation to obtain it though right? I love that people use blocks as a multi purpose decorative option, but something like a diamond metal flooring should probably be added as a decorative panel. Not on top of a scanner array. Now is a good time to make those steps forward.

On the enhancers; While i can appreciate the change may have compromised it's specific visual use in a build, i'm wary to alter it to be more in keeping with the old. The old texture was one i actually began to hate for a variety of reasons. While changes are not off limits, i would very much doubt it would be in the direction of the old one.

Did the nice galaxy graphic from the astrotech module just get removed, or was it moved to somewhere else? It was a nice detail for various bridge type interior rooms.

Also, I love the way the darker and lighter rail and rail rotators blend together at the seam, any chance of the different grey hulls getting their seams to blend the same way?

Yea, the astrotech now has a barrel similar to other weapon outputs. I think in terms of recognising a blocks general function at a glance this works better by grouping outputs together a little more cohesively.

As i mentioned previously, it's great to see a double use out of a block, but this one really wasn't something i would preserve.
It's way beyond the intended use, to a point where i think your simply making the best use out of a poor texture. Sorry for removing a bit of your bridge!

Hulls may actually get another pass. This is something i'll be sure to remember, along with the previous discussions on hull improvements a few pages back.

 

[Ithirahad]

Most of the textures are somewhere between alright and good... but something about the factory enhancers bothers me. They feel like a rather forced use of the height and specular mapping to create depth, without the mesh there to obscure them...

Also, while I understand that the astrotech output needed a change as the old one made no sense, I think this means we ought to have a dedicated "decorative galaxy map" or "decorative galaxy screen" block with something similar to the old textures. Now all of my nav consoles are going to have strange lozenge-shaped holes where their location map used to be, and in general, I'm going to miss that third "navigation"/"cartography"-themed block. Just the scanner computer and orange deco block will never quite replace it...

 

[Shadow2Lead]

Yea, the astrotech now has a barrel similar to other weapon outputs. I think in terms of recognising a blocks general function at a glance this works better by grouping outputs together a little more cohesively.

As i mentioned previously, it's great to see a double use out of a block, but this one really wasn't something i would preserve.
It's way beyond the intended use, to a point where i think your simply making the best use out of a poor texture. Sorry for removing a bit of your bridge!

Hulls may actually get another pass. This is something i'll be sure to remember, along with the previous discussions on hull improvements a few pages back.

Heh, yeah, this makes way more sense as a barrel. I'll miss the old double use, but I can't argue with changing it to a more sensible texture!

Great to hear about hulls. I can't remember if this problem was something you were hoping to address in this texture pack or was due to something out of you control (or due was local settings...) but advanced hull still make seams. Here are a few screens (apologies for the build mode, I had thought f6 hid the block placement, wups):


Again, to make sure this doesn't get lost in the hopefully constructive criticism, the new textures are awesome and a big improvement!

 

[Criss]

Heh, yeah, this makes way more sense as a barrel. I'll miss the old double use, but I can't argue with changing it to a more sensible texture!

Great to hear about hulls. I can't remember if this problem was something you were hoping to address in this texture pack or was due to something out of you control (or due was local settings...) but advanced hull still make seams. Here are a few screens (apologies for the build mode, I had thought f6 hid the block placement, wups):
View attachment 36415 View attachment 36416 View attachment 36417 View attachment 36418

Again, to make sure this doesn't get lost in the hopefully constructive criticism, the new textures are awesome and a big improvement!

I believe that is completely intentional. I personally do not want advanced hull to be seamless. I can't imagine any other way of differentiating it from standard without drastically changing the texture or hue of the block.