Adding caubemap to anything?

shortbusheros4 · Post by **shortbusheros4** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 4:49 pm

How can you add a cubemap to something like the cliff walls of bloodgulch? I really just want to try swapping with existing cubemaps before I get into making original ones.

Pepsi · Post by **Pepsi** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:44 pm

most cubes can be swapped on the fly by extracting them and then injecting them over a existing ones. Getting a cube to show up on a cliff wall would require what ever bitmap you installed to have a alpha layer so the cube could reflect off of it. The cliff walls dont have alpha layers so they cant. Cliff walls are DXT1 and thoes so not carry alpha information. A exception to this are weapons, vehicles and bipeds cause their multipurpose has a alpha channel since the multi saving format is DXT3. When you see a weapons cubemap its simply a reference to the warthog cubemap thats used.

hope this helped.

shortbusheros4 · Post by **shortbusheros4** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 10:48 pm

will be helpful for future references. But theres no way to add alpha to the walls then?

Pepsi · Post by **Pepsi** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:35 pm

You can, but Halo wont recognize it.

Philly · Post by **Philly** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 12:40 pm

What? Can't you just swap the 'n'th depenency in HHT? You can give things details like this.

shortbusheros4 · Post by **shortbusheros4** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 3:11 pm

which dependancies would I have to swap to do that?

TAZZ · Post by **TAZZ** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 3:23 pm

Philly wrote:What? Can't you just swap the 'n'th depenency in HHT? You can give things details like this.

I'm sure pepsi's right on this, I've tried this before.. say if I want to put a cubemap on the tank, then I'd go to [soso] in HHT and swap the hull dependencies from 'nulled out' to something like 'pistol cubemap'?

If this is what you're talking about, then it won't work because the tanks multi is in DXT1, however, if you wanted to change something that shares the cubemap then this method works, for example, the Ghost and Banshee shares the banshee cubemap.

shortbusheros4 · Post by **shortbusheros4** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 7:43 pm

ok so do you know of any alternatives?

TAZZ · Post by **TAZZ** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:21 am

Not that I know of but, going back to this:

Pepsi wrote:Cliff walls are DXT1 and thoes so not carry alpha information. A exception to this are weapons, vehicles and bipeds cause their multipurpose has a alpha channel since the multi saving format is DXT3.

Don't the weaps use DXT1 and Vehicles use DXT3 on the multis?

The only thing I have been able to do so far with cubes in HHT are make things like the Ghost and Banshee not share the same ones and also null them out on things I don't want, I can't think of any other way to add them to other things.

Philly · Post by **Philly** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 3:39 am

Why does the multi need to be in DXT3? Why does there even need to be a multi?

TAZZ · Post by **TAZZ** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:12 am

The multi refers to how much shine there is on a weapon, well its for other reasons too, but, cover the multi in blue and its super shiney, I thought you already knew this Philly?

EDIT: forgot to say the shine is the cubemap.

Philly · Post by **Philly** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 6:21 am

Yes, I know that:

Red = Detail
Green = Glow
Blue = Shine

But, why do you need an alpha channel? The only place I've seen it is for colour change.

TAZZ · Post by **TAZZ** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 7:32 am

Well the alpha channel in the multipurpose controls the level of shine I think, correct me if I'm wrong but the whiter it is the more it shines and the darker it is the duller it is.

White= full shine
Black= Completely dull

Pepsi · Post by **Pepsi** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 7:38 am

>_>

the alpha controls how much the cube map comes in play on the item. its not "shine" its the cubemap.

TAZZ · Post by **TAZZ** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 8:00 am

^ There's your answer.

Philly · Post by **Philly** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 8:41 am

So? DXT 1 bitmaps have a white alpha by default.

Altimit01 · Post by **Altimit01** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 8:59 am

Philly wrote:So? DXT 1 bitmaps have a white alpha by default.

Is true. DXT1 format has "sorta" alpha. One of the colors in a 4 color texel can be transparent but that's about it.

shortbusheros4 · Post by **shortbusheros4** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 11:08 am

what if I swapped the meta or tag or whatever of like the tank skin(which is dxt 1) with something that requires a dxt 3 skin and injected my own dxt3 formated tank over it?