Damn bullet proof shrubs and sitting machine gun guys!

[Flanker15]

So this has started to bug me after a few days:  The shrubs!

They are really good at being bullet proof barriers!  Now hits to the trunk and sometimes in the leafy bits of plants are going to stop or deflect bullets to some degree but these guys are pretty much solid, they even change the flight or large shells.  On top of this one of the shrubs is bullet proof a good 2 meters above where the shrub ends.


Less buggy is the guys manning the maxim machine guns or AAA 40mm sitting down don't seem to die.

Can it be fixed?

[lockie]

So this has started to bug me after a few days:  The shrubs!

This is arcade feature - to protect stupid AI from the very smart user
In fact, AI doesn't see through the leafs, but user did. Usually, I go to the bush and shoot poor AI units almost without problems, except ricochet from bushes. At this moment flora has ~5mm of armor, which a way better to compare with a stock value - 70-100mm.
If u want to get rid off flora of armor then go to folder:
data\k42\loc_rus\armor_maps\objs\*.*
and paint all textures with a black color with RGB parameters 0,0,0.

Less buggy is the guys manning the maxim machine guns or AAA 40mm sitting down don't seem to die.

That question I didn't understand.

[Flanker15]

The man sitting behind the maxim machine gun, you shoot him with your machine gun and he just sits there unflinching.  I

[lockie]

The man sitting behind the maxim machine gun, you shoot him with your machine gun and he just sits there unflinching.

OK, I see what's the problem. It's a bug. The animation mgunner was changed, but didn't properly adjusted. Will be fixed in the MarchUpd.

BTW
I recommend to enclose a screenshot. During mission, press F12 and the game will make a screenshot. After the mission, open folder:
...\Steel Fury - Kharkov 1942\users\scrshots\*.*
and pick up the need one.

[Flanker15]

data\k42\loc_rus\armor_maps\objs\*.*
and paint all textures with a black color with RGB parameters 0,0,0.

Do you know which bush goes with which armor map and in what place on the armor map?  I would like to make the armor map match the bush, so have 5mm on the centre mass and 0mm at the edges.

[lockie]

Do you know which bush goes with which armor map

All bushes has the same value 5mm

and in what place on the armor map? 

Texture(i.e.  utrees1_armor.tga) contains the value of the armor.

I would like to make the armor map match the bush, so have 5mm on the centre mass and 0mm at the edges.

Armor thickness doesn't effect center mass. U need to paint texture(i.e.  utrees1_armor.tga) to get such result.

[Donken]

Im not shure but it could work if you add alpha channel to where you dont need armor, Or maybe .tga doesnt support alpha channels?

[lockie]

Im not shure but it could work if you add alpha channel to where you dont need armor

Of course, there is possibility to use alpha-channel. It's just slipped out of my mind! This method works also, as if u painted the texture with a black color(RGB 0,0,0).

[Flanker15]

So there are 2 armour maps for the shrubs then?  The solid 5mm square and another one that tells the game where the armour goes?

I 've changed the solid 5mm square to a random pattern of 5mm, 0mm and 1mm armour in tiny circles, I don't know how it'll work out though.

[Donken]

So there are 2 armour maps for the shrubs then?  The solid 5mm square and another one that tells the game where the armour goes?

No, texture and armor map is completely seperated from eachother, only thing in common is they share the uvw map =)

[lockie]

To avoid misunderstanding I recommend to work with a texture of the armor map.
1. Open in photoshop data\k42\loc_rus\armor_maps\objs\utrees1_armor.tga. It has 5mm armor (RGB = 5,5,5).


2. Change all RGB values to "0".


3. Check that texture has "0,0,0", then Save.

[Flanker15]

To avoid misunderstanding I recommend to work with a texture of the armor map.
1. Open in photoshop data\k42\loc_rus\armor_maps\objs\utrees1_armor.tga. It has 5mm armor (RGB = 5,5,5).


2. Change all RGB values to "0".


3. Check that texture has "0,0,0", then Save.

Yep I did this and one better as I wrote above I replaced the plane 5,5,5 square with a pattern that randomly has values of "0,0,0" "1,1,1" and "5,5,5" since shrubs are very complex and not solid.

What I'm also talking about and haven't fixed is that a shrub in the game has a shape and the armor map is a square so the area above/around the shrub which appears empty is blocking bullets.

[lockie]

What I'm also talking about and haven't fixed is that a shrub in the game has a shape and the armor map is a square so the area above/around the shrub which appears empty is blocking bullets.

In such case u've to work with alpha-channel, which is responsible for the texture transparency.
Where: white color - texture is visible, black - invisible.

[Flanker15]

The texture and the armour map share the same uv map right so I overlay the shrub texture on the armor map and 0,0,0 everything that isn't covered by the texture.

[Donken]

The texture and the armour map share the same uv map right so I overlay the shrub texture on the armor map and 0,0,0 everything that isn't covered by the texture.

Yes exactly! Was just about to tell you that but you where first

[Flanker15]

Ok I made new armor maps as per instructions for Bush 0-2 and utree.  Leafy bits are 5mm, central bush bit on bush_0 is 10mm and trunk bits on U tree are 30mm like the other tree armor map. Everything else is 0mm.  There are some errors there but it should be better than current.
edit wrong file....

http://www.4shared.com/zip/HXAn93c6ce/bush21.html

[lockie]

This is interesting.
Can u demonstrate new armor map to compare with old one on the picture sample?

[Flanker15]

With the new armor map on Bush3:
Bullets not hitting the bush (you can sort of see the dirt behind the bush, bullets are coming from the far right of the scope).




Shift aim and bullets hit the edge of the bush.



With the old black square armor map:

Bullets are hitting bush where there is no bush with similar aim point as before.




Bullets still hitting the bush way out here too.

[Flanker15]

Also the reason my armor maps are all blocky with no soft gradients is:

The closer you are to 0,0,0 the thinner the armor so if you use gradients the thickness around the object in the gradient area will be thicker than the object should be.  E.g A leaf with 5,5,5 will have pixels of say 14,14,14 around it as the gradient goes from dark to light to empty.

[lockie]

Thanks for explanations. I'll give it a try.