Alpha out parts of a PLT...

[Legacy_dusty.lane]

               Alright! Seeing as this got shunted back to Page 6 without an answer, I figured I'd bump it back up. However, my question is still about the same thing; I want to alpha out part of a PLT, so I can have details that would normally need to be fully modeled out (which would up the polycount an incredible amount), such as let's say eyelashes, or hair that has curls that would be an absolute pain to cut out. The texture is there, but it doesn't work as a PLT.

So does anybody know of a way to fix this dilemma of mine? It hinges some content on the line, whether I can finish it or not, so I'd like some answers, whatever they may be.

If I wanted visible eyelashes, I would make a shaped plane, add eyelash texture and alpha out parts of it, so I don't have to model each individual eyelash. But PLT is not working with me!

Perhaps there is some sort of TXI parameter you could apply to it, or a 2DA something or another, that would help this be possible?
               
               

               

                     Modifié par dusty.lane, 17 mai 2013 - 06:35 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_dusty.lane]

               

dusty.lane wrote...

The Original Post:

dusty.lane wrote...

Hello! I am currently going to be
engaging in a modelling war with a much more experienced modeller, and
we are going to be make heads for elves, and let folks elsewhere vote on
which is best. The point is however; I am wanting to use transparency
on parts of mine, but as far as I know plt files do not like to allow
transparency. So I was wondering, how do I achieve such effects? For
example, if I wanted eyelashes on the model, I would not want to
individually model each one, that would be too intensive! So naturally
using transparency to make the eyelashes would be preferrable.

Any
idea on how to achieve such an effect? Also would it work differently
for helmets than from heads? They seem to work about the same in my
eyes, but I am unsure. Thanks in advance! [smilie]http://social.bioware.com/images/forum/emoticons/w00t.png[/smilie]

Not in that challenge anymore, I sort of forgot about it and gave up on it, with no responses. Just now am I touching up on TXI stuff, which I am thinking MAY be my hope to getting this resolved, but I am unsure fully where to start. So any leads, would be helpful. And again, thanks in advance. :happy:

               
               

               

                     Modifié par dusty.lane, 17 mai 2013 - 06:35 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy__six]

               Ryuujin did some playing around with this and found the only way he could make transparent PLT textures was to remove reflection from the humanoid models completely by setting the environment map to **** in appearance.2da. This means reworking the actual PLT colour ramps to remove the metallic sheen (which would now be converted to transparency), as well as adding a special colour to the PLT ramps on either the extreme high or low end which would be 100% transparent, with other colours being 100% opaque. This way, punchthrough or 'alpha-test' transparency could be simulated, allowing the creation of lace clothing, strands of hair etc.

He'd suggested Q use the idea, as it had such significant implications for not only existing content but also our existing added PLT textures (requiring it be ensured that no PLTs used the special colour added except where intentional). We discussed it, thought the effect looked really really cool but ultimately didn't implement it as part of Q.

However, I still think it's a great idea for anyone who was making a module, say, and heavily invested in custom content for it.



There might be another undiscovered method to use, of course. But there's a blast from the past on that topic for ya. Feel free to ask if you need a specific set of instructions on how its implemented.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par _six, 17 mai 2013 - 07:28 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_NWN_baba yaga]

               I recall a cloak in the "fancy shmancy" cloak pak done by lisa has a one with an alpha. Definately lisa made one with a torn trim using a plt. And _six is right about the env_map. I´m sure the entry for this cloak has the env_map set to **** or the like!

Even creature textures with an alpha and an entry set to "default" is buggy and shows an ugly effect where it should be invisible so my take is thats the only way.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par NWN_baba yaga, 17 mai 2013 - 08:53 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy__six]

               Oh, cloaks.2da has an envmap column of its own. Every body part type -except- cloaks just uses the appearance.2da envmap for the creature it is equipped by. I wish every type behaved like cloaks.

Incidentally, envmap "default" uses the tileset's envmap.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par _six, 17 mai 2013 - 10:30 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_MerricksDad]

               If you can sacrifice the ability to colorize that portion of hair, you might try OTR's texture replacement using TXI. If not, these other ideas are the only ones I know about. I mean how many colors would you need for eyelashes? Most lashes show as black in photos anyway, give or take colorants. Likewise, if you could sacrifice the coloration benefits of PLT, you could also do lace edges on clothing very easily. I've got a side project involving sims hair you might check out next winter.