Material.txt and bumpmat.txt help needed

[HornetUK]

I have been making my skin for a B29.

Do you need to have a bumpmat.txt file? Having one is causing me problems.

With out one my b29 remains shinny when engaging the bumpmat feature in the advanced graphics setting.

1st image As you can see below, with out the bumpmat on when having the bumpmat.txt file.
2nd image when engaging bumpmat feature.

As I say when I dont have the bumpmat.txt file it works fine do i need it and do i have to tell HTC that I dont want one?

[Greebo]

You need bumpmat.txt if you are including a specularity map with your skin for it to work properly, if you aren't including a spec map then you only need material.txt. If you are using a spec map, post your material and bump map.txt files and I might be able to see what is wrong.

[HornetUK]

that is interesting as the template for the bit map has a spec sheet but has no bumpmat.text file, why is that?

This is the settings I am using in the normal materials

0.600,0.600,0.600,1.000,Ambient
0.200,0.200,0.200,1.000,Diffuse
0.100,0.100,0.100,1.000,Emissive
1.000,1.000,0.950,1.000,Specular
50.000,Power

what should i be using to keep the shin on the surface as per the image below this is with out any bumpmat.txt file and it has the bump mat setting on. I am also getting mat finish from the spect sheet on the paint on the back of the aircraft (also as below) so what am i doing wrong?

[Greebo]

Are you creating new specularity and bump map files (B291_B_a.bmp and B291_B.bmp) for your skin? If you aren't then all you need is the material.txt file. If you include a bumpmat.txt file I would guess the game will assume you want those effects and as you haven't supplied new bmps it would use the default skin's bmps instead. This is not a good thing, as the default bmps would not match your skin and it would look rubbish.

Bare metal skins look far better with specularity and bump maps but only if they match the basic skin, i.e. you have to create new ones for each skin.

[HornetUK]

lol what does x mean?

[Greebo]

You added some more text which made the original post obsolete so I edited it.

[HornetUK]

no i have made all new sheets but my bumps are suttle as there are so many of them. each dot you can see has a small bum and also there is as slight ripple in the metal. the paint is mat where i want it and shiny as wellw here it is ment to be. I do not understand what I am ment to be doing with the bumpmat file? it just turns the whole thing mat. I really do not know how to set it for the shine.

you can see the bumps as per the image below. the mat paint as in the post before is due to my spect sheet as you can see.

So what should i do with the bumpmat? what setting should i use i don't really understand why i need it as it is coming out right on the program????

i do have another question why does the template for the b29 not have a bumpmat.txt file when it has a all those sheets?

[Greebo]

I don't know why there is no bumpmat.txt included with the default B-29 files, probably just an oversight by HTC.

If you include a bumpmat.txt file similar to the material.txt file you posted above it should work. I would suggest making the 0.950 on the bottom line a 1.000 and the RH number controls how much the skin reflects the environment i.e. 1.000 = chrome and 0.000 = no reflection at all.

With that bumpmat.txt anything that is pure white (255,255,255 RGB) on your spec map will be perfectly shiny, anything that is black will be totally matt. So if your skin is becoming duller when you add the bumpmat.txt file I guess your spec map's metal areas must be some shade of grey. Making these areas whiter should make it shinier.

[HornetUK]

No joy

0.600,0.600,0.600,Ambient
0.200,0.200,0.200,Diffuse
0.100,0.100,0.100,Emissive
1.000,1.000,1.000,Specular
50.000,Power

is what i have put in. I have actually to see if it makes any difference put in a pure white background in photoshop for the spec sheet and i still have what is below

[HornetUK]

I just cant get a refection out of the bumpmat.txt i get reflection bumps shinny bumps in the normal marterial which does use the spect and bumpmat sheets but i do not get any real shine with the bumpmat text file, will they except the images (b291, b291_b & b291_b_a) with b291_b_d or are you saying it is just wrong?

[Greebo]

If you are happy with the way the skin looks without the bumpmat.txt file then you shouldn't need to include it. The only file you have to include when you submit it is the basic skin bmp.

BTW it is the bumpmat.txt file that should have four rows of numbers and the material.txt that has three.

[HornetUK]

That is very interesting, if I switch it around the figures. As you say about the rows. It is only shinny when I have the bitmap ticked on an in no other way. Can I have both files with 4 rows as when I tick shading and move the mapping it shines or I just select bitmap the shin will come on to?

[HornetUK]

Hay greebo,

I think I understand what is going on now. It is htcs fault. They put in only the materials file which had 4 columns and no Bumpmat.txt file. Should the shinny effect only work with the environment slide when the Bumpmat option is selected?

[Greebo]

My understanding was that the environment mapping is only enabled on a skin when bump and spec mapping is as well. I haven't experimented to test this though, all my skins have had all the available effects incorporated since they were introduced. I'd only not add one of these files to a submission if it was unchanged from the default.

[HornetUK]

I am totally confused skuzzy says the figure go in the other way round but I can only get the bump map with the environment mapping with the 4colums in the Bumpmat.txt. So you are saying that the shadowning on and the environmental mapping you can use with that does not make it shinny?