Specularity maps for races?

[Seaglen]

Hello all
this is just a quick question.

i am using spec maps on races such as eldar, guard and both loyal and traitor marines, however, it would be nice to see some specularity on races such as orks.

I am fully aware that orks are not too fixated on cleanliness, but i think a glint of a power klaw or axe blade would look lovely in game.

also, some areas of warboss or mega armoured nobz may look good too (not lota of reflective bits, as orks are generally gritty and dirty)

and maybe a slight reflection in the eyes? i think the fluff says that orks eyes are like cats eyes, and can see in the dark (thus i imagine them to become reflective too)

any info would be appreciated, as my specularity skills are nil.

[IBBoard]

I think shine in the eyes would be overkill as you won't see it most of the time and specularity is known to give quite a performance hit on some machines (and not just old ones). Given that the rest of the texture for the Boyz isn't likely to have any reflection, I'm not sure if it'd be worth your while.

With regards the general "how to do it", it revolves around RSH files, which use DDS images rather than TGAs. Photoshop and The Gimp have DDS plugins, depending on which you use. To make an RSH specular you need to create a specularity mask layer and a reflection layer.

Take a look at the Necron Monolith for pointers, but from what I remember the specularity layer needs to be white where you want most of the reflection showing and black where you don't want it to show at all, and shades of grey are varying levels of reflection. The size of the spec map needs to match the size of the main texture. The reflection is then normally smaller and is not absolutely positioned on the texture, but is moved in relation to you spinning around the model. I've not experimented to find what reflection image gives the best effect.

To create the file you've got to build one RSH at once. When you make an RSH by selecting a single file it will then ask if you want to add additional layers. Say yes, select the specularity and reflection images and then make sure the paths are in the right boxes.

Hopefully that vague description helps. It's been a while since I wrote the functionality and I've never used it "in anger", as it were, as I'm not keen on specularity.

[stfas]

i've added it to SHWT, its not as speculary as other skins (i made the reflection map darker)

[Seaglen]

wow 3 uploads?

is it just the boyz unit youve doine the mapping on stfas?

In answer to IBB, yeah i do agree that some specluarity is overkill, but used sensibly it can make the game look beautiful. spec maps on sisters of battle for instace make the armour look very slick.
however, looking at DoW2, it looks like specularity is in!
even going as far as reflective ork skin!

specularity is a dangerous tool. use it wisely!

[stfas]

actually, i did most of the race <.< (i was seriously bored), and i needed to upload three because it got to big otherwise (the 1024 mb upload limit) and it isn't as much specularity as other races (its very weak specularity because they're orks)

[Seaglen]

wow thank you stfas!

i'm impressed at the speed you work at!

[IBBoard]

however, looking at DoW2, it looks like specularity is in!
even going as far as reflective ork skin!

And I'm sure that if it remains that way then myself and Hangar-8 will be some of the first to try to remove it! Shiny ork skin? That's the worst and most stupid idea ever, closely followed by the marketing guy who went "we've got a load of addresses, I think it would be great if we sent them loads of stuff because no-one is ever going to complain about advertising being sent to them"!

Stfas: Check your email - I've got a couple of questions about the pack. For files that are too large for the upload limit (~2MB) you need to email them to a special address, or use something like YouSendIt.com, send them to yourself and then send me a copy of the link.

[stfas]

i sent a reply to you IBBoard.

[Seaglen]

haha yeah i agree with the lame shiny ork skin on DoW2!

orks should be big, tuff and leathery! not all shiny like dem eldar mincers! waaaagh!

[stfas]

Seaglen, for now, download it from here: http://files.filefront.com/OrkSpecrar/; ... einfo.html (includes all three parts)

[Seaglen]

just had a go with the spec stfas.
it looks lovely on the ork axes! well done.

a few quirks though:
-boyz hut is perma-red
-meks workshop is perma-red
-waagh banner texture issues

aside from these tiny bits, the specularity looks wonderful, just how i imagined the power klaws to be well used, and sharp!

[stfas]

well, you can remove those skins if you want too (they should have the name of the buildings in the skin name)

[Seaglen]

ok, gotcha.
oh just a quick question:
if i am making a spec map rsh on photoshop, do i then need to save it as:
RGB no alpha
ARGB 1 bit alpha
or ARGB explicit alpha?

also, is it the 'reflection' part that does brightness of specularity, or the brightness of the speclar layer?

[IBBoard]

if i am making a spec map rsh on photoshop, do i then need to save it as:
RGB no alpha
ARGB 1 bit alpha
or ARGB explicit alpha?

That depends

If you don't use alpha, then RGB is equivalent to DXT1 with a fully opaque transparency (which means a maximum of two colours and two mid-point colours in a 4x4 pixel area).
If you do use alpha then ARGB 1bit alpha is equivalent to DXT1 with on/off transparency (which means a maximum of two colours and two mid-point coloursin a 4x4 pixel area, expect where one or more pixel is over 50% transparent at which point it becomes two colours and one mid-point plus transparency in a 4x4 pixel area).
If you want more gradated and subtle alpha channel (which also doubles the size of the final image) then ARGB with explicit alpha is probably equivalent to DXT5 (which means )

More on the technical differences between DXT1/3/5 is on Wikipedia. In general, unless you want an alpha channel then you want RGB, and depending on the complexity of the alpha channel then ARGB with one bit might be sufficient.

As for reflection, I've not played with it but from what I remember of making that part of the code then the specularity layer controls its visiblity and the reflection layer controls what is shown in those areas. Each will play their own part in brightness, but in slightly different ways. I'd check out the Necron Monolith as the "official" reference texture.

Hopefully that makes sense and helps

[stfas]

err... i might fix the rsh problem someother day instead... and for the reflection, it has its own texture, if its lighter it have a brigther reflection, if its darker... its pretty self-explionatory (might not be correctly spelled)