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alpha channels

Peter Willemoes

Peter Willemoes

Corsair
Storm Modder
Just thought I would hear you out on this one before experimenting further:
Is it possible at all to add an alpha-channel to a texture in-game? I am playing around a bit with split-flags and I am adding the alphachannel as background. This would be the way, I used to make textures for HL, only the HL-engine wanted the AC-area to be filled with a certain blue color. Tried that too, didnt work. The game still renders the whole flag, including AC areas.
 
I am of course converting to .tx as 16 bit(1 bit alphachannel, 15 bit) but the area still come out as white.
Maybe its my lacking photoshop skills - as multiple layers can not be saved with the .tga format in photoshop, I am first linking, then grouping them into a smart object. Wonder what am I doing wrong here..
 
I tryed adding alpha channels onto characters...
<a href="http://forum.piratesahoy.net//index.php?showtopic=11923&hl=naked" target="_blank">http://forum.piratesahoy.net//index.php?sh...23&hl=naked</a>

Didn't work.. Game shows alpha as white/grey or other color sh*t... On interfaces it works good... You can look at my those topics:
Interface Project: <a href="http://forum.piratesahoy.net//index.php?showtopic=12163&hl=interface" target="_blank">http://forum.piratesahoy.net//index.php?sh...mp;hl=interface</a>
New interface: <a href="http://forum.piratesahoy.net//index.php?showtopic=11920&hl=interface" target="_blank">http://forum.piratesahoy.net//index.php?sh...mp;hl=interface</a>

Didn't tryed adding alpha onto weapons/ships/locations... I'll try in some time today I think... And write result...
 
Hi,

I think it is only the characters that cannot have alpha channels.
 
Damski62 i´ll take it as it is possible to have i.e. flags, ships textures etc have alphachannels, then.
What I do is adding an alphachannel in "channels" to the parts I selected, that should be transperent (I actually deleted the part, so it turns out chessboard-like in grey/white). The part turns out black in the alpha1-chan.
But I also read in some tutorials, that tga-images with alphachannels should be 32-bit, and the game only handles 16-bit textures. Maybe thats why, dont know but I WILL find out!
 
HAH! A splitflags is now wavering smoothly on my ship!!
What NK says in the textfile to tx-converter must be wrong, i am afraid. Alpha-transperancy needs 32 bit to run. 1bit alpha with 15 bit textures wont do the trick.. You can tell you texture will be alphablended by the greyish color tx-converter shows, not any other color. And, RLE-compression will not work in PotC. I am going to experiment a bit with DXT3 compression now, as +1600 kb in 32-bit resolution for a flag is a bit much.
 
I am working on flags for pirate_kk different flag mod. I also made a danish and swedish flag (orlogsflag?) with those cutouts. And alpha channels work on them.
 
Oh thats really great, Thomas. Ye you´re right its the "orlogsflag". The naval version differentiates from the landbased militaryversion by a bit darker, more like blood-red color. There are official info and versions for download <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Denmark" target="_blank">here</a>. But you probably know that already.
Did you make those in flagall.tga and nations.tga? They are really good, you can have what I made once I get home from work, but they are not up to the quality of the others in there. Also, crest.tga was really hard and I can´t make the shields shine at all.
But I am getting better, and the learning process is actually the funniest part <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />
 
Nice to see you trying some texture work, Peter.
Be sure to post pictures of your work here so I can see it. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />
 
Ok. I initially didnt want to post it, as one is always the meanest critic in the world.
But then again this lead to some improvements, in order not to emberess myself <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />
[attachment=2062:flagall.jpg]
[attachment=2063:flagfrt.jpg]
[attachment=2060:crest.dk.jpg][attachment=2064:nations.dk.jpg][attachment=2066:s
ails_shiplet.jpg]
Thats it so far. The .tga files can be found on the PotC-ftp in my folder.
 
They are really good! I must say!Good work! Could you please provide me some pictures of Danish soldiers before 1700's? (I have enough pictures of them in the 18th century.
 
That indeed does look very good!
Just to let you know: those small flags on your bottom pictures are not used anymore.
They were originally used for the sails of the worldmap ships.
But not anymore since I made new ones.

BTW: Who's the meanest critic? Not me I hope? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blush.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":eek:ops" border="0" alt="blush.gif" />
 
Thank you very much <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />
I know that crests.tga could be better, I should have used the white shield as replacement-map, but it got distorted, so I just blended it in..
Anyway, improvements are welcome.

Pieter, I meant _me_ being my own meanest critic hehe


<img src="http://www.taarnbybib.dk/kulturjagt/images/96/586-1660.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />
No danish uniforms from 1600-1700 has been preserved. These soldiers represent the forces against sweden in 1660´s. They had to buy their clothes themselfes, I really dont think any country used alike-looking uniforms back then. Maybe Royal Guards and other official soldiers? Anyway, it must have been quite a view, watching a rag-tag bunch of colors storm the enemy on a field. In 1722, regulations came in: Red tunic, red down with metal buttons, and red kneepants, west, triangular hat and rapier.
<!--sizeo:1--><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->
<!--sizeo:2--><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo-->More info can be found on this site: <a href="http://www.thm.dk/udstil/rk_online/eske.htm" target="_blank">http://www.thm.dk/udstil/rk_online/eske.htm</a>
Besides this small info of the 1600-1760´s, I really cant help you. Visual documentantion is not very good. And, from 1760´s you know the site that Capt_Drow showed you.

But if you want, I can <b>describe </b>the uniforms from 1600-1760 for you?<!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec--><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
 
Nice pictures. Not every uniform was the same, but they had the same basis. Every regiment had its own colour back then, so did every nation. But because this is a game, it is easier to use 'uniforms' so you know who you are slaughtering/slaughter by.

Describing is also very nice.
 
A drawing of a Commandeur Captain around 1700:
<!--sizeo:1--><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:100%"><!--/sizeo--><a href="http://www.gladsaxegymnasium.dk/2/meyer/torden06.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.gladsaxegymnasium.dk/2/meyer/torden06.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a><a href="http://www.gladsaxegymnasium.dk/2/meyer/torden05.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.gladsaxegymnasium.dk/2/meyer/torden05.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /></a><!--sizec--></span><!--/sizec-->
Later, this guy was made General-Admiral Lieutenant, here in paradeuniform next to a Swedish Fort commander.
The guy with a pegleg behind him is a war-dressed schoutnynacht and the guy talking to the Swede is a parade-dressed schoutbynacht. Behind him, some highranking landofficer. Notice the Danish marines to the right.
You choose what uniform to use as a platform <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />
 
Nice uniforms, nice picture! This is something that I can use <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=";)" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />
 
Nice.
Hope you can make a shortcut in the process by using some of details in the images as a direct texture. Starting out from scratch and do manipulation pixel-by-pixel is never fun <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wacko.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":wacko:" border="0" alt="wacko.gif" />
I think the above pics cover the 1680-1739 period.
For the earlier period, 1600-1680, I found a high-resolution painting last night from 1644 and peeled some images out as a gallery of both marines, armorclad marines, naval officers and some landbased troops and their officers as well. All on the ftp in my folder, saved as .psd with no quality loss. They look very much alike the other nations in that period, the hat, the boots - you should be able to just reskin them <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />
Do you need sources for the later periods?
 
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