http://dragonlanceni...2012/04/13/271/
1. Transparency and Translucency and when to use what. The two terms are really interchangeable when it comes to NWN2 and there isn't much lying around on these topics, although I have a post on my blog about these (see link below).
http://dragonlanceni...d-translucency/
I have found the following:
a. Transparency - This is when a texture has parts of it completely invisible. This is normally (in 3dsMax) accomplished through masking the texture with white (visible) and black (invisible) in the alpha channel of the Diffuse Texture and then exported as a 32bit .TGA or a DXT3 or DXT5 .DDS. I cannot say for sure that there is a need for DXT5 Textures in the game at all. The main difference being DXT3 is either white or black and DXT5 has various shades of grey in between. When it comes to Transparency, NWN2 only supports all or nothing so why use the bigger texture for diffuse transparency? Bottom line: Use Diffuse Alpha Channel Transparency for things like leaves, particles, fringe, grass, etc, etc.
b. Semi-Transparency - This is when a texture has parts of it partially see though. This is normally (in 3dsMax) accomplished through masking the texture with white (visible) and black (invisible) as well as various shades of grey to partially mask sections. Again, in the alpha channel of the Diffuse Texture and then exported as a 32bit .TGA or a DXT3 or DXT5 .DDS. The final result would be things like glass, but with a variation of visibility across the same texture. Again, NWN2 doesn't support the shades of grey from DXT5. It will simply work like a DXT3 so why use the bigger texture?
If you need to have a Semi-Transparent model, there is only one way to do it, and that is through and SEF (Special Effect) in the NWN2 Toolset. You cannot get various levels of transparency per se, but you can cheat and accomplish that through a trick. To have a Semi-Transparent model, open the Visual Effects Editor in NWN2 and create a new SEF. Go to "Add Event" and then select "Game Model Effect". In the "effects" roolout, select the second line. These will most likely be blank spaces unless you created a name. No go down to properties and under "GameModelEffectType" select "Change Alpha" and then under "Alpha" choose a range in decimals between 0 (invisible) and 1 (opaque). Hit the play button and the NPC should go Semi-Transparent. Save the file and then apply it in the Toolset. THE EFFECT WILL NOT BE VISIBLE IN THE TOOLSET!
** One last note on Transparency:
a. You cannot animate the alpha transparency. I.E. You cannot get the transparency to scroll. If you need this to happen, then you might want to look at an effect instead. EDIT: Actually it will and it won't. You will get sort of a "double transparency". You will see you model with the outline of it as defined in your alpha channel of the diffuse. The visibility of this model will not animate. However, the texture will animate. So if you have a square plane with a circle alpha map and you set it to scroll, you will see a circle scrolling inside a circle. Its difficult to envision. I think there must be some way to make this useful but as far as I know, you can't get UV scrolling to work in a normal fashion. You can fake this, as I alluded to above, with variations in the diffuse texture and then applying a semi-transparency effect as described above. For example, I made rain dripping down a window one time. Slight variations in the rain texture were enough to make it seem like the texture had different levels of transparency. I was also able to make that scroll.
b. You can combine "Glow" and both types of transparency, however, semi-transparency (SEF) pretty much mutes the effect. It makes it dark.
c. You cannot apply a transparency SEF to a Static Placeable. It will not show up in game.
3. Shiny and Reflective Textures - NWN2 doesn't do environmental maps that I know of. Placeables.2da has a column called "Reflection" but I have not been able to get it to work. I have tried every combination of material settings and 2da settings I can think of. If someone knows how to do it, please email me. All is not lost though. In 3ds Max, simply use the Specular Power and Glossiness in the Material Editor and then use a Specular Map in the Alpha Channel of the Normal Map. I believe NWN2 recognizes the shades of grey here and so sometimes, I will use a DXT5 on the Normal Maps. Not that often though.
Shiny textures will scroll and can also be applied to transparency and semi-transparency.
Modifié par PDubulous, 18 avril 2012 - 10:14 .
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