Let's do some grass

[dpabrams]

I was thinking of updating some of the foliage in the old sim. I have piles of it in my train sims that convert easily to .dds. Some textures need to be built as they contain textures for numerous shapes in the sim, but it's easy enough. I have a series of maps that I use that are of a western US feel, so I added some sagebrush to the mix of grasses.

Edited January 23, 2018 by dpabrams

[Captain_Colossus]

steel beasts needs a wheat field. there are textures for wheat in the textures directory, but the program doesn't appear to actually use them.

 

i tried replacing some grass types that i don't use very often with the wheat files, but it didn't give very good results (that is, instead of dense wheat blocks, it looked more patchy like the grass in your last screen shot).

Edited January 23, 2018 by Captain_Colossus

[Ssnake]

Be aware that with the next major update we'll switch to single-bit transparency for foliage/ground clutter (to enable instancing).

[dpabrams]

8 hours ago, Ssnake said:

Be aware that with the next major update we'll switch to single-bit transparency for foliage/ground clutter (to enable instancing).

Ssnake for a man who prides himself on his CS (customer service) you should know better than to talk over the heads of your consumers. I would like 100 words of WTF all the above means in layman terms. I looked it up on Google and got a migraine.

[Rotareneg]

14 hours ago, Ssnake said:

(to enable instancing)

My antique CPU is happy to read that.  Dpabrams, it just means texture pixels are either 100% transparent or 100% opaque, no partially transparent pixels. Instancing is where the program tells the video card to draw this clump of grass in every location in this list, which is much more efficient than the way it works now which is to say: draw this clump of grass in this one spot, draw another clump of grass in this next spot, and so on, one clump of grass at a time.

[Wax Savage]

On ‎1‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 3:20 PM, Rotareneg said:

My antique CPU is happy to read that.  Dpabrams, it just means texture pixels are either 100% transparent or 100% opaque, no partially transparent pixels. Instancing is where the program tells the video card to draw this clump of grass in every location in this list, which is much more efficient than the way it works now which is to say: draw this clump of grass in this one spot, draw another clump of grass in this next spot, and so on, one clump of grass at a time.

Okay Rotareneg,

 

thanks for the technical. So , armed with all that knowledge , can you incorporate your cool grass graphics or not?

[dpabrams]

6 minutes ago, Wax Savage said:

Okay Rotareneg,

 

thanks for the technical. So , armed with all that knowledge , can you incorporate your cool grass graphics or not?

It is I, who has created the cool grass and yes they work splendidly .

[Wax Savage]

On ‎1‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 9:23 AM, dpabrams said:

Ssnake for a man who prides himself on his CS (customer service) you should know better than to talk over the heads of your consumers. I would like 100 words of WTF all the above means in layman terms. I looked it up on Google and got a migraine.

Geometry Instancing just increases performance in games where you encounter many similar/same polygonal models (usually trees or grass).

[dpabrams]

I am getting close to a release. I have done the TIS files and am just tweaking a few things. It amounts to a complete redo of the grasses, lily pads and some bushes. Only those experienced with mods, map editing and theme editing should mess with this but I promise the results will be impressive. ALL of your maps will look different, so you should understand that your themes will have to be adjusted to correspond with the new grasses. I mess with it all including the ground textures to get a look I like.

[Wardog]

Looks excellent. Good stuff dpabrams, sure it took some doing. Would like to try it out. Nice one. Cheers for keeping us in the loop, look forward to a release. 

[dpabrams]

Here is a folder with tis and woodland replacement grasses and bushes. This is a BETA test if you will. You will be placing the textures in the X:\Documents\eSim Games\Steel Beasts\mods\textures. Understand that your themes will need to be adjusted on your maps as this vegetation will no doubt change the look of your maps and usual themes. This is typically an exercise designed for those that are comfortable replacing files and editing maps and themes. I promise however, that your immersion in the sim will be greatly enhanced.

 

 

XDocumentseSim GamesSteel Beastsmodstextures.zip

Edited April 27, 2018 by dpabrams
fix

[Splash]

I'm curious about the recommendation to put these in the Program Files installation folders. I've been using your earlier drafts of these files (thank you) and they work just fine when placed in the mod folders.

[Wardog]

Personally im happy with backing up and replacing files etc but as Splash has said if we can use via mod folder even better, especially for those who may be uncomfortable replacing files. Either way i am looking forward to using your files they look great.

[Gibsonm]

Just now, Wardog said:

Personally im happy with backing up and replacing files etc

The only downside to this is remembering when 4.xxx comes out to re-install these, because if they are installed in the Installation folders they will be destroyed in the upgrade process and need to be re-installed.

 

"Caveat Emptor".

[Ssnake]

Also, 4.1 does away with the gradual (8 bit) transparency for foliage. What's more, 4.1 will bring the option to have map-specific texture sets. This is a prime example where this would be hugely beneficial.

[Rotareneg]

5 hours ago, Splash said:

I'm curious about the recommendation to put these in the Program Files installation folders. I've been using your earlier drafts of these files (thank you) and they work just fine when placed in the mod folders.

Yes, I just tested and you do not need to overwrite the originals, just the new textures in the equivalent mod folder and it works (and looks) good.

Edited April 27, 2018 by Rotareneg

[dpabrams]

53 minutes ago, Rotareneg said:

Yes, I just tested and you do not need to overwrite the originals, just the new textures in the equivalent mod folder and it works (and looks) good.

No shit? I thought I tried that. Great to here Rot, thanks!

[dpabrams]

6 hours ago, Splash said:

I'm curious about the recommendation to put these in the Program Files installation folders. I've been using your earlier drafts of these files (thank you) and they work just fine when placed in the mod folders.

I edited and updated the Beta offering. Thanks for the input Splash and Gibs. As for 4.1 I eagerly await....................

[dpabrams]

I also forgot the grass_dry woodland texture. It's in the updated zip.

[Wardog]

Good to hear. Mods folder it is then. Happy with that. Cheers

[t3redundee]

I've placed the your files into c:\users\username\documents\esimgames\steelbeasts\mods\textures\tis  and woodland ...originally tis was empty and woodland had a lot of empty folders. I don't see any difference. What am I missing?

Thanks

Allan

 

[dpabrams]

6 hours ago, t3redundee said:

I've placed the your files into c:\users\username\documents\esimgames\steelbeasts\mods\textures\tis  and woodland ...originally tis was empty and woodland had a lot of empty folders. I don't see any difference. What am I missing?

Thanks

Allan

 

place the CONTENTS of the woodland folder here (not the folder): X:\Documents\eSim Games\Steel Beasts\mods\textures\woodland

place the CONTENTS of the tis folder here (not the folder): X:\Documents\eSim Games\Steel Beasts\mods\textures\tis

[Rotareneg]

Found a little problem: the nettles and grassy.dds files are mismatched/swapped so that the grassy one is a nettle plant and the nettles is grass.

[dpabrams]

28 minutes ago, Rotareneg said:

Found a little problem: the nettles and grassy.dds files are mismatched/swapped so that the grassy one is a nettle plant and the nettles is grass.

Can't explain that one, except that grassy.dds is a stand alone plant and nettles.dds is a bunch of grass clumps. You will have to play with your theme. I switched them to check and it just din't work.

[TSe419E]

Tried these out today during the Kanium multiplayer session.  Looked good and seemed to cause no issues with frame rates that I could see.