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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 2nd Sep 2007 at 11:35 PM
2 problems in my objects
Ok I was making this LavaLamp object. The base has parts of it that are transparent and parts thet are not transparent. Base and coloured water is 1 mesh. The animated lava, the lava textures are not transparent and the background of the texture is completely transparent. When I tested this in the game, the base and water mesh were not transparent and the same was for the lava inside. Do I need nivada DDS to make functional alpha maps and if so how do I do it?

My second problem, well question. How can I create recolors of my custom mesh objects. I took a look at numenor's tutorial and it only shows how to make recolor options with maxis made objects. If you or someone else has a tutorial for this, please let me know.

Blue alien back on track.
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The ModFather
retired moderator
#2 Old 4th Sep 2007 at 10:39 PM
Moved to Object Creation and Texturing.

Astaroth, the "Modding Discussion" forum is for discussing more theoretical problems about modding in general, not for asking help for a specific creation of yours.

Regarding your question, I suggest you to download and examine one of the existing Lava Lamp (I myself made one for the Retroville set, you can find it on POST #11 in the Retroville thread). Of course, you can't clone any custom object without the creator's permission, but looking into the package is always allowed (actually, recommended!)
In particular, see how the texture is in DXT3 format, and contains an "alpha channel" (i.e. a transparency map); also, notice that the TXMT for the transparent texture have the stdMatAlphaBlendMode parameter set to "blend" (and not to "none", like the non-transparent textures).

As for your last question, I've replied many time about this subject in the tutorial you mention. The only thing you have to do is to open Object Workshop and click "Open..." instead of "Start"; then load your custom object and proceed as usual.

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Field Researcher
#3 Old 6th Sep 2007 at 2:42 AM
I think the dds is probably the best idea for a clean look rather than creating a png with a separate alpha, those get really messy really quick once the game has mangled them. I used a separate glass material for the outside part which has no texture, just a transparent material and the shiny env cube, then a regular non-alpha metal texture for the top and bottom.

If you're making your middle wax animate then you might find it easier to clone a lamp that animates already. My lamps are clonable if you give up in a fit of frustration sorting out a base yourself, its nowhere near as cool as the Retroville ones here but has that classic Astrobaby look to the thing, unfortunately I've had to make some compromises on recolourability so they're not 100% ideal so if you can work out how to do it properly yourself then you'll probably wind up with a more successful object than I've managed, http://www.parsimonious.org/furnitu..._Inc_Shop.shtml

It took me about 3 weeks of pulling my hair out trying to sort all the different materials and the custom lighting!

www.parsimonious.org
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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#4 Old 7th Sep 2007 at 12:53 AM
Thanks guys.

p.s. numenor, I wont steal your objects dont worry.

and about your lavalamp. The finished product I was thinking of had recolorable bases, water and lava. I had to make the water part of the base.

Blue alien back on track.
Field Researcher
#5 Old 7th Sep 2007 at 1:13 AM
yeah, that's where I came unstuck with mine because the wax required 2 separate parts because the alpha blending didn't sit well with them both sharing the same texture, so iirc those are the only recolourable parts in the whole effort, the glass and the metal are just as they are because you can't have 3 recolourable parts.

www.parsimonious.org
Artists - Get your own Studio! Always be featured!
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#6 Old 7th Sep 2007 at 2:00 AM
no what I mean by base and water recolors, the base is part of the water. I made all water colors with silver bases and with black bases so the whole object is recolord but it looks like only the water is recolored.

Blue alien back on track.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#7 Old 9th Sep 2007 at 2:25 AM
Default Thanks Guys!
Hey thanks for helping me out! I thought youd like 2 see the end result
Screenshots

Blue alien back on track.
The ModFather
retired moderator
#8 Old 9th Sep 2007 at 8:41 AM
Very beautiful! I can't wait to see it "in action"

I've finally started my Journal. Information only, no questions.

My latest activity: CEP 9.2.0! - AnyGameStarter 2.1.1 (UPD) - Scriptorium v.2.2f - Photo & Plaques hide with walls - Magazine Rack (UPD) - Animated Windows Hack (UPD) - Custom Instrument Hack (UPD) - Drivable Cars Without Nightlife (UPD) - Courtesy Lights (FIX) - Custom Fence-Arches - Painting-TV - Smarter Lights (UPD)


I *DON'T* accept requests, sorry.
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