How to make textures look good ingame?

[x3kj 1247]

Edit: For everyone - Altis/Stratis have extremely dulled down lighting. The VR map however has much more vibrant look, there you can see your normals/specularity a lot better

So i have made a track texture, made primarily using DDO.

I know that the previewer is PBR based rendering so it looks nicer then in Arma. However when i put my textures ingame i was shocked at how awefull they look in Arma.

It looks like shit ingame... Specular and Gloss seem nonexistant/ get overwritten by specular setting in RVMAT (apparently) , Diffuse looks like a dulled down version of the texture, Normals dont seem existant either. No idea what is happening there. I'm new to texturing in Arma so maybe i'm missing something? Is there a way how i can improve the look, or something i have to keep in mind when creating the textures?

RVMAT:

class StageTI
{
texture="k40_v_main\vehicles\data\imp_tanktrack_01_ti.paa";
};
ambient[]={1,1,1,1};
diffuse[]={1,1,1,1};
forcedDiffuse[]={0,0,0,0};
emmisive[]={0,0,0,0};
specular[]={0.137255,0.137255,0.137255,1};
specularPower=50.400002;
PixelShaderID="Super";
VertexShaderID="Super";
class Stage1
{
texture="k40_v_main\vehicles\data\imp_tanktrack_01_nohq.paa";
uvSource="tex";
};
class Stage2
{
texture="#(argb,8,8,3)color(0.5,0.5,0.5,1,DT)";
uvSource="tex";
class uvTransform
{
	aside[]={10,0,0};
	up[]={0,10,0};
	dir[]={0,0,0};
	pos[]={0,0,0};
};
};
class Stage3
{
texture="#(argb,8,8,3)color(0,0,0,0,MC)";
uvSource="tex";
class uvTransform
{
	aside[]={1,0,0};
	up[]={0,1,0};
	dir[]={0,0,0};
	pos[]={0,0,0};
};
};
class Stage4
{
texture="k40_v_main\vehicles\data\imp_tanktrack_01_as.paa";
uvSource="tex";
class uvTransform
{
	aside[]={1,0,0};
	up[]={0,1,0};
	dir[]={0,0,1};
	pos[]={0,0,1};
};
};
class Stage5
{
texture="k40_v_main\vehicles\data\imp_tanktrack_01_smdi.paa";
uvSource="tex";
class uvTransform
{
	aside[]={1,0,0};
	up[]={0,1,0};
	dir[]={0,0,1};
	pos[]={0,0,1};
};
};
class Stage6
{
texture="#(ai,64,64,1)fresnel(0.45,0.35)";
uvSource="tex";
};
class Stage7
{
texture="a3\data_f\env_land_co.paa";
useWorldEnvMap="true";
uvSource="tex";
};

Edited February 4, 2015 by Fennek

[roberthammer 582]

Ye arma has problems with specular and mainly with gloss - try it without gloss it should look better

also test various specular powers and higher speculars

[x3kj 1247]

Do the values in the rvmat

specular[]={0.137255,0.137255,0.137255,1};

specularPower=50.400002;

reduce/increase the specular map? Or do they just overlay it somewhat? I use _SMDI, whereas Green Channel= Specular and Blue = Specular Power [=Gloss]

[roberthammer 582]

Specular power is Glossiness and Specular is a hotspot > https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/ArmA:_RVMAT#Basic_surface_setting also https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Super_shader

just for a test - in SMDI , make that blue channel pure white and save it , then in rvmat specularPower=100.0; - specular[]={1.0,1.0,1.0,1};

it should be shining alot , after that you can just experiment with those speculars , i suggest to use watch it in Buldozer (Object Builder's 3D viewer) how it looks

Edited June 18, 2014 by RobertHammer

[kiory 404]

Specular power is what changes the gloss of your texture, how "wet" or glossy something appears, the numbers you see in specular is your 3 colour channels, the 4th is your alpha, the higher the 3 colour channels the more it will reflect light, I generally keep these quite low if I'm messing with gloss as well.

Looking at the numbers you're using, they are quite low, increase them a bit.

I'd say definitely play around with your specular settings like Robert has mentioned, and remember that you're only really going to notice it depending on where the sun is, or if it's dark and there are multiple light sources.

Oh and don't forget to play with the fresnel settings, that can add some real punch to your specular, but it's a pain in the arse to get exactly right.

It sucks when this engine butchers your work right?

Edited June 18, 2014 by Kiory

[teacup 2]

It's true, your diffuse is off colour: it's all brownish instead of cold metallic grey with brownish rust spots, specular is dead, but normal maps work fine.

Do the values in the rvmat

specular[]={0.137255,0.137255,0.137255,1};

specularPower=50.400002;

reduce/increase the specular map? Or do they just overlay it somewhat? I use _SMDI, whereas Green Channel= Specular and Blue = Specular Power [=Gloss]

Yes, those numbers are meaningful, they are multiplied with colour from your maps.

To get your diffuse back on track, i would first set ambient and diffuse in the RVMAT to neutral grey (0.5, 0.5, 0.5) instead of white like you did.

Specular is the tricky bit. I noticed you put the same image in both channels, which is not how it works in ArmA usually. Try this: leave the Green channel as it is, and in the Blue channel, put the inverted Green channel (like white-hot FLIR, black-hot FLIR). There's no rule saying it has to be the inverse of it, but it usually/largely is. Green is specular map (white is shiny, black is matte), Blue is specular power (black gives flat/dull "highlights" (more like no highlights), white is a blinding/sharp higlight).

For metal shining through thinned and chipped paint i would raise specularPower in the RVMAT to 100. That will give you sexy highlights. On the downside, you will have a hard time getting matte surfaces, because the divide between matte and shiny is squeezed down to very low ranges: between 2 and 15 (i mean pixel values in the map) it goes from matte to shiny, and i can't see in that range, it all loks black to me. Instead of working in a 0-256 range, I fumble in the dark, reading pixel values at the tip of my pointer in Photoshop.

So balancing the specular map is not easy, but you can get the hang of it. Look at some of the game textures and materials for cues, specially the older ArmA2 ones, ArmA3 vehicles are mostly new looking, all shiny.

Edited June 19, 2014 by teaCup

[x3kj 1247]

To get your diffuse back on track, i would first set ambient and diffuse in the RVMAT to neutral grey (0.5, 0.5, 0.5) instead of white like you did.

But that way they look even less then the diffuse

I noticed you put the same image in both channels

No, but its a bit hard to see on the picture. Gloss is different.

But it seems to me as if you just dont get anywhere if you try subtle textures... I cranked up contrast of spec and gloss by 100%, adjusted the rvmat and finally did i see some differences in specular behaviour... I guess i have to do the same with the diffuse map, as there is no slider/option to make it look better... oh well.

[kiory 404]

Welcome to Arma modding Fennek, you will be consistently ripping your hair out and getting frustrated, just to get a look that's not even half as good what it would appear in most other engines, it's fun!

[Yano 18]

Try these values:

emmisive[]={0,0,0,1};

I dont exactly know what dir/pos values in rvmat represent (offset?), but try to set it to 0 for your AS and SMDI stage.

class uvTransform

{

aside[]={1,0,0};

up[]={0,1,0};

dir[]={0,0,0};

pos[]={0,0,0};

};

Also it is no so bad as Kiory said. :)

You can make a realistic looking tracks in PS without plugins or external tools, no highpoly - only bump map.

http://img855.imageshack.us/i/buldozer201110132002450.jpg