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The Undying Nephalim
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It doesn't get a glow map with that material, but a self-light that is based on the specular map (if I understand the shader code correctly). That means you need to apply that on a mesh that doesn't need a player color or other effects. (except specular since that is also added by the material). I'm actually not entirely sure what the alternative material tags defined in the materal file does though... :( (I need to check that with the graphics devs)

Nice building btw, is that effect on the terrain a decal?

Edited by niektb
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Basic_glow uses the specular map (defined by spec_tex) as a "self-illumination" texture, so you can use that to make your texture self-lit.

We don't support actual glow maps as so far the engine can only handle one light, though I think with the bloom post-proc shader you'd get some bloom effect.

If you need to, you could make your own custom material that uses the normal map too and still self-illuminates or something.

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So.... how exactly do you specify a texture to glow? Is it done in the actor's xml file like it's base, normal, and spec texture? I'm sort of confused on how to do that.

Nice building btw, is that effect on the terrain a decal?

The terrain is indeed a decal at the moment. I don't know if I can pull it off, but I want this race to slowly terraform (crystalform?) the land around their buildings into a web of crystalline, turning things like rocks and trees into the crystals that they mine. I'm not sure how doable it is in this engine though. Worst case scenario the land around their buildings will just look like that.
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So.... how exactly do you specify a texture to glow? Is it done in the actor's xml file like it's base, normal, and spec texture? I'm sort of confused on how to do that.

The terrain is indeed a decal at the moment. I don't know if I can pull it off, but I want this race to slowly terraform (crystalform?) the land around their buildings into a web of crystalline, turning things like rocks and trees into the crystals that they mine. I'm not sure how doable it is in this engine though. Worst case scenario the land around their buildings will just look like that.

I'm afraid that without coding, the worst case you have will be how it is...

Here is how it works :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><actor version="1">  <castshadow/>  <group>    <variant name="Base">      <mesh>structural/mesh.dae</mesh>      <textures>         <texture file="campaigns/structures/mesh.png" name="baseTex"/>         <texture file="campaigns/structures/mesh_spec.png" name="specTex"/>      </textures>    </variant>  </group>  <material>basic_glow.xml</material></actor>
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Hmm I tried that out, seems to have no effect. I am using it on a prop that the building uses, here's my .xml in case I made a different mistake:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><actor version="1">  <castshadow/>  <group>    <variant>      <mesh>structural/jev_anchor1_cry.dae</mesh>      <textures>		<texture file="structural/jev_crystal1.dds" name="baseTex"/>		<texture file="structural/jev_crystal1_spec.dds" name="specTex"/>	  </textures>    </variant>  </group>   <material>basic_glow.xml</material></actor>

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BTW because of what I'll call a bug for now you need to set the config parameter "materialmgr.quality" to more than 2.

Your "turn them into something else" feature doesn't sound entirely impossible depending on what you want, but it would require some engine changes. You could create your own meshes that have a special "transform" animation that you would slowly update to change their shape, but changing their texture dynamically is currently unsupported (it's not impossible to add though, might even be added as a mod-only thing, not sure).

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What does the xml of your decal look like?

Here it is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><actor version="1">  <castshadow/>  <group>    <variant>      <mesh>structural/jev_anchor1_cry.dae</mesh>      <textures>		<texture file="structural/jev_crystal1.dds" name="baseTex"/>		<texture file="structural/jev_crystal1_spec.dds" name="specTex"/>	  </textures>    </variant>  </group>   <material>basic_glow.xml</material></actor>
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I think there should be a way to get the look you are after. myconid was the last programmer (to my knowledge) that did some major changes/updates to the graphics engine. Here is the full evolution of his changes unfolding before your very eyes - post by post:

http://wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=16022

You should be able to get a glow effect like this you see in the bottom image:

http://imgur.com/a/oRHdk

After reading this... try playing with the alpha layer of the spec map:

http://wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=16022&p=242478

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I think there should be a way to get the look you are after. myconid was the last programmer (to my knowledge) that did some major changes/updates to the graphics engine. Here is the full evolution of his changes unfolding before your very eyes - post by post:

http://wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=16022

You should be able to get a glow effect like this you see in the bottom image:

http://imgur.com/a/oRHdk

After reading this... try playing with the alpha layer of the spec map:

http://wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=16022&p=242478

Wow this is so cool, It makes it possible to make illuminated windows :D Now I need to find a way to make the sun turn (day night cycle)

Edited by stanislas69
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