Additional way for the game to find normal/specmaps

[haggqvist]

I mentioned this in the upcoming tracks thread but thought I'd post it here as well for good measure...

I've run into a problem with the ways the game locates the normal/specmaps for trackobjects.

When I place objects in Blender I end up with several differently named .jm files, with different texture filenames as well, that could use the same normal/specmaps.
However, with the current method it seems impossible to do this without having specifically named normal/specmaps for each object e.g. including loads of copies of the same maps.
For the high-res version of Sevlievo this would mean an increase in file size of at least 40MB and the engineer in me can't help but feel a bit bothered by the inefficiency.

For example, the fences with KTM and Monster banners on Sevlievo are named gp.fence_ktm.jm and gp.fence_monster.jm and use the textures gp.fence.banner_ktm.png and gp.fence.banner_monster respectively.

Here's a screenshot from Blender with the KTM and Monster banners selected to illustrate how they are placed.


Would it be possible to include an additional way for the game to find the maps e.g. by dropping everything after the last underscore in the texture filename and replace it with _norm/_spec?
I wouldn't mind having to define the normal-/specmaps specifically in the statues file either if that's easier to implement.

[m121c]

Not to change the topic but I didnt know you could put your tracks in blender? Are you able to make the jumps and everything in blender? If thats possible it would be awesome for a tutorial on how to use blender for track making.

[jlv]

I ran into the same problem with the supercross stadium parts. The different section models use the same normal map, but when you have multiple seat colors you have to have duplicate normal maps for each color. I plan on fixing it some day but I'm not sure what the best syntax would be.

[DJ99X]

Some sort of reference in the image comment?

[jlv]

That would be a little ugly since the texture would have to know every model that might use it. The options I can think of are let the jm file specify the norm/spec maps or make an extra file that lists the color/norm/spec maps. There will be some extra complication either way.

[wheels1758]

That would be a little ugly since the texture would have to know every model that might use it. The options I can think of are let the jm file specify the norm/spec maps or make an extra file that lists the color/norm/spec maps. There will be some extra complication either way.

waitaminute......I thought you could name the normal map the same as the JM and it would work...

[haggqvist]

You can. This problem only arises when you have objects that could use the same normal/spec maps but both the .jm filenames and the texture filenames differs.