Input on Effects - Light Washout of Spec

[Vraciu]

It's the POST LIGHTING.  When I enable it then things turn gray in the shadows.   

So now what?   This is a strange effect.

[oboe]

Dunno why but I just lost the response I thought had posted OK.

In a nutshell, try playing with Specularity and see if that affects the shadow side.   I'd worry more about how it looks in the sun, because that's what will show in screenshots, etc.  But you do have to balance it because of the dark when the sun goes down, or when clouds come overhead and remove that bright, direct lighting.

Not sure what most people play with as far as settings go.

[Vraciu]

Here's some input.   

At least in AH2 we could control Bumped vs non-Bumped to mitigate some of this stuff.   Darn...

Post lighting is not something that can be controlled by the skinner. You just have to make a decision whether to edit your skins so they look how you want with it turned on or off. Unfortunately its not possible to make your skin look the same for every player's settings, its always a compromise.

[oboe]

I noticed the same problem Vraciu refers to in one of the skins I'm working on, and did a little experimenting to see if I could determine the cause.   

The problem is that black or very dark areas show up correctly in direct sunlight but in shadow show up as a dark grey with a little bit of shine to it.   Here's an example using the P-38 nose gear:



Interestingly, initially I also had this effect on the sunlit side, but it went away when I changed the _E map to a pure black bitmap (x'000000').  It went away on the sunlit side only, however.

I continued to change the support files to pure black one by one and noticed any change - but nothing else made a difference.  The screenshot above is made with _E, _S, and _P maps all pure black, and a completely blank _N map.

I'm wondering now if this is a limitation of the graphic engine?  I don't seem able to affect how the shadow side is shown.

The screenshots were taken on CraterMA, A55, 10:00 am game time, at the SW runway spawn.

EDIT:  This effect is not present in the default P-38J skin.   I tried removing all my support files (_E, _S, _P, _N maps) and copied the _S and _N maps from the default skin folder - however my skin still has this effect.

[bustr]

Who created the default skin and how is their creation method different from yours? Or are they using programs different than yours or the same programs but, choosing different file formats than yourself at key junctures? And if you know that person, can you allow them to take your skin project files and see what is different between how they create the project files versus your choices?

Or are the default skins reviewed by Waffle and further processing applied because of their singular importance as the game's default skins?

[oboe]

The default '38J skin was one of Fester's which got promoted to the AH3 default skin.  It was created before AH3 so its been through the AH2 to AH3 skin conversion process.  Dunno if Fester is around anymore.

I'll see if I can get a better picture - when I switch to my 13.3 laptop I can't even see the detail of what I'm referring to in the picture above...

Don't know the extent of Waffle's involvement with the default skins...

EDIT:  As another experiment, I went in to the default skin and grabbed the entire wheel rim and overlaid it in my skin.  I deleted all my support maps so I was using only the default _N and _S maps.  The problem disappeared.  Then I made my own _N map and checked it out, problem is still gone.  So its something of a head scratcher.   

[bustr]

Depending on the .xxx type of the file in question. You can probably find free on the Internet applications that will analyze the file and come back with a very lengthy read out of it's composition. Then compare read outs. I had to do that to figure out why a Photo Shop 32bit alpha file worked during the closed alpha as a gunsight mask versus a Paint.Net 32bit alpha plugin generated file.

I'm amazed at the small nuances of internal structure differences between art files that can be created while the output is the same .xxx extension.   

[Vraciu]

I noticed the same problem Vraciu refers to in one of the skins I'm working on, and did a little experimenting to see if I could determine the cause.   

The problem is that black or very dark areas show up correctly in direct sunlight but in shadow show up as a dark grey with a little bit of shine to it.   Here's an example using the P-38 nose gear:

(Image removed from quote.)

Interestingly, initially I also had this effect on the sunlit side, but it went away when I changed the _E map to a pure black bitmap (x'000000').  It went away on the sunlit side only, however.

I continued to change the support files to pure black one by one and noticed any change - but nothing else made a difference.  The screenshot above is made with _E, _S, and _P maps all pure black, and a completely blank _N map.

I'm wondering now if this is a limitation of the graphic engine?  I don't seem able to affect how the shadow side is shown.

The screenshots were taken on CraterMA, A55, 10:00 am game time, at the SW runway spawn.

EDIT:  This effect is not present in the default P-38J skin.   I tried removing all my support files (_E, _S, _P, _N maps) and copied the _S and _N maps from the default skin folder - however my skin still has this effect.

Glad it's not just me.   Well, sorta.   Lol

The default Pony (the excellent OD/NMF by Cactus) suffers due to the same phenomenon.   It is just odd...    Looks out of our control.   Skuzzy?  Any thoughts?

[oboe]

I think I've noticed it now in the default P-38 too.  Shows up but its more subtle.  I might play around more to try to find out if I can influence it somehow but not going to worry about it too much.

[Devil 505]

I'm seeing the same thing on the skins I'm working on too, V.

[Vraciu]

I'm seeing the same thing on the skins I'm working on too, V.

Thank you. 

Maybe there's a fix.  Hoping Oboe stumbles on something--or Skuzzy tweaks the effects.    It really looks bad on my 52nd FG/4th FS skin because of the black contrast on NMF and bright yellow.   I haven't dared look at the Checkertail yet. 

(I still can't use the skin viewer so progress on my end is super slow.)

  

[Devil 505]

Quite honestly, the slight graying out of black areas is the least of my concerns with the new engine.

[Vraciu]

Quite honestly, the slight graying out of black areas is the least of my concerns with the new engine.

It is driving me barking mad...   

[Vraciu]

On the default map with default lighting even reds have a gray hue with post lighting enabled.   This is on my end. 

Is ANYONE getting that?

I wonder if I have a driver issue. 

If anyone is willing to try my 52FG/4FS P-51D under these conditions and let me know what it looks like I would be grateful. 

(When I start the engine the smoke coming out of the exhaust makes the colors look right as it blows past.   Maybe this card hates my computer.)