New thread for my cloud texture issue

Setting the cloud texture to 255 has always worked for me. I admit we've always had some unknowns in the *.map files, but that's one thing that has always seemed to work.

Here's an excerpt from my old notes:

for each entity:
byte 0 = entity type ( see list 1 )
byte 1-263 = ASCII string, entity name (terminates in first 00, rest is meaningless filler ending in D7)
byte 264-271 = xvalue double-float
byte 272-279 = yvalue double-float
byte 280-287 = zvalue double-float
byte 288-291 = orientation1 float
byte 292-295 = orientation2 float
byte 296-299 = orientation3 float
byte 300-303 = yscale float
byte 304-307 = parent long
byte 308-311 = lpoint parent2 long
byte 308 = body type byte (see list 2) OR habitat model (see list 7) OR star type (see list 5)
byte 309 = habitat type (see list 3) byte, unused in body
byte 310 = habitat faction byte (see list 4), unused in body
byte 311 = population
byte 312-315 = body radius float
byte 316 = texture type (see list 6)
byte 317 = planet texture1 byte
byte 318 = planet texture2 byte
byte 319 = unknown, always "BF"
byte 320-323 = first texture red float
byte 324-327 = first texture green float
byte 328-331 = first texture blue float
byte 332-335 = second texture red float
byte 336-339 = second texture green float
byte 340-343 = second texture blue float
byte 344-347 = unknown color red float
byte 348-351 = unknown color green float
byte 352-355 = unknown color blue float
byte 356 = cloud texture byte (ff = no clouds)
byte 357 = ring number
byte 358 = cloud opacity?
byte 359 = always "00" (end marker?)

I looked over the Geog code. It looks like it just moves the byte value straight through. The code looks ok. And that part has not changed in forever.

Second chance, can you post your CSV line for a planet, and we can just take a quick double check? I guess now would be a good time to tamp down cloud opacity. The solid black texture idea is a good one!

-Gtrout

Sure, here are several lines from my map csv, each showing the different values I've tried for clouds. All of these permutations yield exactly this cloud formation. Even The Moon:



This is Uranus, which uses a solid blue texture map for the planet surface, which gives us excellent visibility of the clouds. The plane cutting across the center are the rings as seen from the side. All the cloud maps for every planet are exactly the same (index 1), even using all these different values. Perhaps someone can spot something I'm doing wrong. Have I missed something?

*edit*
Ok, weird things happening here. You may have noticed that I have a value of 1 for the ring number on all the planets. This is because I've found that using 0 causes weird texture issues; and since when a planet is designated as a rock planet anyway, obviously no rings actually show up.

On the off chance that this was what was screwing up the clouds, I changed the value to 0. Whoa! What stange things have happened to the planets. Each of the planets is now practically glowing with a solid color (like pure red, green or blue), and has had an atmosphere-like glow added to the outer edges of the planet. This is really strange, pics to follow.

**edit**
Ok, here are the pics of the planets. The only difference between each pair is the value of 1 or 0 for the number of rings. Observe the addition of an atmosphere halo. The clouds are definitely gone though!

Mercury: Ring setting 1, then 0
.

Venus: Ring setting 1, then 0
.

The Moon: Ring setting 1, then 0
.

Mars: Ring setting 1, then 0
.

Please notice that these planets are in the order they appear in the map, and in color order; red, green, blue, black. Also note that the texture 1 color (which controls the coloring of the planet surface maps) is always set to 100,100,100 for a neutral grey color (for use with maps that have their own color information).

I have always found that using an out-of-range value for the number of rings will result in weirdness, although I've never seen this before.

***edit***
I just realized that the colors of the funky planets correspond to the color values I assigned to texture color 2, which I had found controls the ring color of ringed planets. Apparently it also controls planet surface color when not using rings (because it doesn't control planet surface color when you are using rings, it controls ring color. As seen above. Each normal looking planet has a ring value of 1 assigned). Hmm, interesting. Let me try setting this color to grey and see what happens.

mailto:second_chance@cox.net
The Ultimate Guide To Modding: I-War 2 - Edge Of Chaos (on hold during SW MP mod)
cartoons.sev.com.au/index.php?catid=4
.

I did notice that all of my auto-generated planets set the rings to zero, and so did mdvalley. So it was a good idea to try it.

It is hard to tell from those images, did the clouds vanish when the rings were changed to zero?

-Gtrout

Yes, absolutely.
Here is a pic of Mercury with Texture Map 1 and 2 set to the mercury texmap, Texture Color 1 and 2 set to 100 (for grey; color 2 was inadvertantly set for red above), Cloud Texture Map set to 255, Num Planet Rings set to 0 and Cloud Opacity set to 0.
Contrast this with the Mercury with clouds pictured above.


Perfection! Almost. Now if I could just get rid of that rediculous atmosphere halo. Any suggestions?

Strangely, it doesn't show up when you do use clouds (i.e. an atmosphere), but it does show up when you don't.

*edit*
Oops, sorry. That should be: The halo doesn't show up when you use rings, and does show up when you don't (for a rock planet). Which is logical. What I want is no clouds and no halo. But if you set rings to more than zero to get rid of the halo, clouds show up.

Right now the bottom line seems to be; you can have an atmosphere halo and clouds, an atmosphere halo and no clouds, clouds and no halo, but you can't have no halo and no clouds. Which is what I want.

It has also become obvious that one of the reasons we've has so much difficulty in deciphering what the values do, is because they do different things depending on whether the planet surface texture is rock or gas. For example; Texture Color 2: On rock textures it affects the surface texture map color along with Tex Color 1, on gas textures only Texture Color 1 affects the surface texture maps, Tex Color 2 affects only the ring color.

mailto:second_chance@cox.net
The Ultimate Guide To Modding: I-War 2 - Edge Of Chaos (on hold during SW MP mod)
cartoons.sev.com.au/index.php?catid=4
.

Well, apparently none of the discussion about clouds applies to gas planets. Here's Jupiter set to have no rings and no clouds.

As you can see, setting it to have no rings didn't cause it to lose its clouds and gain an atmosphere halo like a rock planet.

mailto:second_chance@cox.net
The Ultimate Guide To Modding: I-War 2 - Edge Of Chaos (on hold during SW MP mod)
cartoons.sev.com.au/index.php?catid=4
.