Establishment Signs

[Koniption]

Originally posted by Xaeaix
Sound good, Kp.

Though, what I meant was that the sign part (the part I'm working on) has no normal map (yet). The rest of the sign textures all do, so you don't have to make any.

Ok, thanks for the clarifying.

Btw, check your inbox here on the forums. I have sent some samples of the fixes I have recently done to the sign. Check each sample in the game, and tell me which one is more visually appealing.

Koniption

[Xae]

I have a quick question regarding the UV mapping. Whenever I try to change the abstract shapes texture it ends up really small and blurry, regardless of size. Why does this happen?

[Koniption]

Originally posted by Xaeaix
I have a quick question regarding the UV mapping. Whenever I try to change the abstract shapes texture it ends up really small and blurry, regardless of size. Why does this happen?

That is because you need to scale up the abstract texture's UVMapping, and not scale up the actual dds texture. This is something you need to do in Nifskope.

How to go about scaling up the UVMap:

***Firstly, make sure you are using a seamless texture that tiles well. This is necessary for the steps below. With the below steps, you can even get away with using a seamless texture that is quite small, dimension-wise.

1) Right-click on the NiTriStrips of the abstract shapes --> "Texture" --> click on "Edit UV"
A window will pop up, with some white lines and such, that represent that mesh's UVMap.
2) In that pop-up window, hold down left mouse button and drag a box over all the UV lines that make up the abstract shape's mesh. The selected white lines should turn yellow.
3) Right click on the yellow lines somewhere, and click on "Scale and Translate Selected" in the other window that pops up.
4) Under "Scaling Factors", make sure that "Uniform Scaling" has a checkmark in the box. In the field to the right of "X", if you want to double the size of the UVMap, put a "2.00" in that field and click "OK". In the UVMap window, you'll see the white line outline of the mesh's UVMap increase in size evenly, two-fold. Also, the render window should auto-update the mesh, so you can see what the texture looks like now on the mesh, after your changes. Just keep increasing the size of the scale, until the mesh's texture in the render window looks right to you. To decrease the scale of the UVMap by 50%, or half, type in ".50" in the field to the right of the "X". So if you increase the scale by 2.00, but then need to revert the changes back to original scale, type in .50.

Koniption

[Ibsen's Ghost]

Great-looking stuff, Xae. I'm liking your work on the icons. :yes:

[Xae]

Ok, I've looked a bit at the abstract shapes texture. I understand how to edit UVs in NifSkope now, thanks Kp.

Now, before I start working on the individual icons, I've two questions. One, why is the sign part so dark, and two, would it be a lot of work to add a bevelled edge or possibly a thin round rim to the edges of the abstract shapes? I get the feeling the sharpness of the edges as they are right now look a bit too polygonal.

[Ibsen's Ghost]

It's probably due to limiting the fps....

[Koniption]

Originally posted by Xaeaix
Ok, I've looked a bit at the abstract shapes texture. I understand how to edit UVs in NifSkope now, thanks Kp.

Now, before I start working on the individual icons, I've two questions. One, why is the sign part so dark, and two, would it be a lot of work to add a bevelled edge or possibly a thin round rim to the edges of the abstract shapes? I get the feeling the sharpness of the edges as they are right now look a bit too polygonal.

I added vertex color shading to that part, and the dangle sign part as well. I didn't think it'd be too dark of a shading with the light sandstone texture I originally used there... but then again, I didn't realize that you'd use a dark texture for the sign part instead.

To fix this in Nifskope:

1) Click on the NiTriStrips of the sign piece that is too dark, then click on its NTriStripsData.

2) While NiTriStripsData is highlighted, go into "Block Details" section of Nifskope for it.

3) Expand the plus sign next to "Vertex Colors", and you'll see some fields revealed, some white and but most a shade of grey. You want to turn the grey-shaded areas into white, to eliminate the grey vertex coloring I added to that sign part.

4) Click on the colorful wheel next to each grey shaded field, and then drag the moveable dot within the triangle itself, towards the pure white corner of the triangle, until it can go no farther, then click ok. You shouldn't have too many of these fields to change manually.

5) Do not turn the "Has Vertex Colors" field to "No"...keep it at "Yes".

RE: beveling the edges to make them more round :

I could, but it'd increase the polygon count by possibly a lot. Do we still have that limit set aside for sign resources (meshes + textures) ?? If so, I think it's best to not round out the edges... Ibsen? Deeza?

Koniption

[Ibsen's Ghost]

I understand Xae's POV but if it really ramps up the fps, I'd like to play it safe. Big-scale mods like these can be troublesome in that regard.

[Xae]

There'll probably be only one of these signs being rendered at any given moment. A slight increase in poly count won't affect FPS. Adding a single polygon split on either side of the edge to make it two sets of 45 degree edges instead of one 90 degree edge I reckon isn't above vanilla Oblivion quality.

I don't think it's the vertex colouring that's making it dark. In NifSkope the sign looks fine and the texture is as bright as I made it in PS, but in-game it looks like the brightness has been killed. It looks like it's affecting the whole texture and just not certain parts of it. First I thought it was the lack of an _n map but adding one didn't seem to do fix it.

[Koniption]

Originally posted by Xaeaix
There'll probably be only one of these signs being rendered at any given moment. A slight increase in poly count won't affect FPS. Adding a single polygon split on either side of the edge to make it two sets of 45 degree edges instead of one 90 degree edge I reckon isn't above vanilla Oblivion quality.

I don't think it's the vertex colouring that's making it dark. In NifSkope the sign looks fine and the texture is as bright as I made it in PS, but in-game it looks like the brightness has been killed. It looks like it's affecting the whole texture and just not certain parts of it. First I thought it was the lack of an _n map but adding one didn't seem to do fix it.

Xaeaix,

I can try to add a single polygon split to both sides....but it's gonna be a while until I can do that....

I can't use my good ol modeling program anymore. Around the same time that I was upgrading my PC hardware and installing a new OS, my 3D disc is now damaged and no longer usable.

So I now have to learn Blender, me thinks.

Crap happens in life. When it does, all you can do is suck it up, and strive to move forwards.

As for the dark coloring on the sign, I don't know what could be causing it then.

Koniption