Support for Alpha channel graphics

Post by **Lunever** » Wed May 21, 2003 4:32 pm

Ok, I'm one of those people who installed the framework because WinUpdate recommended to do so. So what does it actually do (I didn't have the time recently to busy myself with it)?

Post by **cowsmanaut** » Wed May 21, 2003 5:19 pm

well not that it matters to most gamers. However, the use of DX9 that actually is legitimate and that Tom either does not know about or simply neglected to mention is in the new iterations of Maya an XSI. (3D software) advanced support for real time pixel shaders and the like have been added to these programs and depend on. Now granted much of the pixel shader support is there in DX8 however it's simply a matter of the refinement done in DX9 that they suggest it.

The geforce 4's and FXs as well as the radeon 9700s are the series of cards that most support the DX9 framework right now so again it's a small select group. (but ati still sucks)

I just felt I should mention that since otherwise I would be coupled in with the *moron* group for installing dx9.

moooo-ieeee!

Tom Hatfield · Post by **Tom Hatfield** » Thu May 22, 2003 12:40 am

Yes, I'm glad you mentioned that. I use 3dsmax5 myself, and the new driver supports both DX8 and DX9. I was just talking about games. The GF4 has remedial support for DX9; it doesn't fully support Cg as far as I know.

The .net framework is designed primarily for corporate network applications. If you were to take a look at Visual Studio .net, you'd see right away that major changes have been made in the way developers write their Windows applications. .net supposedly deprecates the existing Win32 API model. I haven't used it at all yet, so I can't give you any personal opinions.

Post by **cowsmanaut** » Thu May 22, 2003 3:26 am

yes that's right.. max5 has new realtime support too.. I'd forgotten. I hate the Max interface so I often forget about it

Anyway, I'll be putting together some relevant alpha based graphics in the next few days so as to provide you with something to work with George. As with the book stuff, I will make sure it's in the style of old DM so it works with your current graphics set.

moo

Post by **Gambit37** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 12:40 am

Bumping this post near the top again, though I really don't think it'll help...

Lack of alpha channel support is the one thing that's prevented me from developing anything serious for RTC up to now. Having been around here for four years or so but with no real progress on this issue, I want to actually build the dungeons I always dreamed of.

I loved the purity of DM and its tile-based engine. It's perfect for puzzles and I still think there's a lot of mileage in it yet. I still want to build scenarios that use this approach.

I could go the whole hog and learn 3D map making, and with Half Life 2 coming out soon, I'm very tempted. But while these tools make it possible to realise gorgeous realistic landscapes, I still have a DM style scenario in me trying hard to get out.

I could build this scenario right now for RTC and work around it's limitations. But visually, I don't want to compromise. It's so frustrating because RTC is the only engine that came anywhere close to re-creating the proper feel of DM. I really want to use it! But this alpha channel thing keeps putting me off.

Is there any hope for sad old timers like me to think that RTC might ever get alpha channel support? I really look forward to a definite answer, either yes or no.

Thanks.

Post by **cowsmanaut** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 2:56 am

Damn.. I even forgot I was going to do those images.. work snuck up on me again. Now I feel like a heel. Anyway, I figured I should make good on my statement. So.. here's (I think it's the same colour as the smoke.. it was picked from the dungeon greys anyway) a smoke graphic. TGA with alpha channel embedded. I checked it to be sure it worked.

http://dmweb.free.fr/Stuff/files/smoke_alpha.tga

it's 135x135 but you can resize it if you like.

if you wish to go the other way with seperate mask files I can make a bmp greyscale of this ones alpha channel and send you that instead.

moo

Post by **Gambit37** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 1:43 pm

Is this reply for George? It doesn't make much sense to me!

Post by **cowsmanaut** » Mon Jan 26, 2004 2:52 pm

yes read the ooooold reply above your revival post..

George Gilbert · Post by **George Gilbert** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 2:21 am

Done for V0.35

Post by **Gambit37** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 1:22 pm

As I noted an another thread -- freaking awesome! I had no idea you had implemented this, you kept very quiet!

Now we rally can make a state-of-the art DM update! Beautiful!