Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 2:04 am Post subject:
CNC Maps Renderer v2.0 – RELEASED
Subject description: Countless feature additions and bugfixes
I've recently continued work on my project, a tool to render RA2 and TS maps to fullmap images. Over the last two months countless changes were made to introduce new feature or fix bugs. The most important ones are listed below.
Feature additions:
[list]
* New voxel rendering method, they now look pretty good actually (thanks pchote)
* Greatly improved support for Tiberian Sun Firestorm, ini’s now properly parsed
* Fully reworked lighting system, every object should now receive the same lighting as ingame
* Tiberium remaps fixed, works for RA2 through rules tag MapRendererColor= (thanks Starkku)
* TS Powerup logic implemented
* Animations on tiles now supported (thanks Starkku)
* Tool can save a thumbnail of full map (-z option, optionally aspect ratio preserving)
* Improved cutoff-height detection method, now finally works really well
* Auto-detection of map type (TS/FS/RA2/YR) made quite robust
* Allow mod-mix overrides that the game would not originally load (i.e. twiins.mix)
* Start markers on preview map are now optional when injecting previewpack
* Support for rendering units on top of bridges
* GUI now has an auto-updater for the program + GUI
* GUI offers to send automatic bug-reports in case of failed renders
* GUI contains progress bar of rendering progress
* Custom palette support
* Support for multi-frame alpha images
* Support for lightsources other than lamps
* Support for InvisibleInGame=yes added
* Support for railroad tracks
* Support for rendering directly from archive (mmx/mix/yro)
* Added option to disable lighting entirely (-n switch)
[/list:u]
Bugfixes:
[list]
* No longer using buggy minilzo implementation
* Bridges and their shadows should now align properly
* TS veinholes now show
* Barrels and turrets on vehicles and structures are now rendered
* Improved drawing order, using filmation sorting method, causing less incorrectly overlapping objects
* [PreviewPack] when generated, now inserts in the ini after [Basic] (no longer behind [Digest]
* Better SHP frame picking system. Works with loops, damaged buildings, fires etc.
* Can now directly render from mix archives (.yro, .mmx, .,mix) instead of requiring extracting first
* Now uses bug-free MiniLZO 2.06 implementation
* Improved mission name resolution scheme for TS/FS
* No more registry accesses on Linux
* Now runs in 64-bit mode if possible, allows for larger maps to be drawn
* Desert-theater maps now work too
[/list:u]
A preview of the latest rendering batch of the tool is available at http://ra2maps.zzattack.org/ . You find all official TS, FS, RA2 and YR maps, and all maps from the Twisted Insurrection mod to demonstrate the tools compatibility with mods at this link.
Additionally, sometime in the future, I am planning to release a website dedicated to CNC maps where people can upload (and render of course), discuss and share maps.
Went to test it on some of my maps (mostly older ones) and I noticed that it doesn't render many of the vehicle voxels and for some reason my City Consumed map won't render at all...I keep running into a fatal error just after it gets beyond 'reading vehicles on map'
Quote:
0.0351 [Error] An unknown fatal exception occured: System.IndexOutOfRangeException: Index was outside the bounds of the array.
at CNCMaps.Map.MapFile.ReadUnits()
at CNCMaps.Map.MapFile.ReadAllObjects()
at CNCMaps.Map.MapFile.LoadMap(EngineType et)
at CNCMaps.Program.Main(String[] args)
It appears an error ocurred during image rendering.
Perhaps my only complaint in appearance, but it's very minor, is that the veins are still blocky on the preview like they would be in finalsun instead of how they'd appear ingame.
Another thing I noticed missing that would appear in-game are cliff shadows. When it comes to vanilla TS it's probably a good thing they're missing due to a single watercliff having no shadow which then if you have a lot of that particular piece...your preview would look bad. But i'm sure other people would want cliff shadows supported for their mods that fix that issue and what not.
A couple of previews I made... and yea i didn't want to post the full size images in here so I used the new IMG=600 bbcode thing.
all the full size megas are uploaded on a forum topic of mine on the tibweb forums I dedicated for this kinda use... ... .. . . . . .
_________________ Kalistia Crestland (2)
In Soviet Russia, grass grows on tiberium! Last edited by Ixith on Sun Sep 22, 2013 2:55 pm; edited 1 time in total QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 22 Nov 2010 Location: Iszkaszentgyorgy, Hungary
Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 10:12 pm Post subject:
He has own terrain. _________________ "If you didn't get angry and mad and frustrated, that means you don't care about the end result, and are doing something wrong." - Greg Kroah-Hartman
=======================
Past C&C projects: Attacque Supérior (2010-2019); Valiant Shades (2019-2021)
=======================
WeiDU mods: Random Graion Tweaks | Graion's Soundsets
Maintainance: Extra Expanded Enhanced Encounters! | BGEESpawn
Contributions: EE Fixpack | Enhanced Edition Trilogy | DSotSC (Trilogy) | UB_IWD | SotSC & a lot more... QUICK_EDIT
I have a map which is a enlarged modification of another map.
The small map gets rendered perfectly, but the bigger one doesn't... I think I sent you an email about that, or rather, the tool did that itself.
I'm not sure what it is, I cut out the map mods and triggers, but still no luck. _________________
I can't get this to work with DTA. I'm guessing this is because it can't work with DTA's file structure.
Twisted Insurrection has the same file structure, although I think Aro just tosses all of his files in twiins.mix to get the program to work. Although that would also be an option for me, I'd rather not do that since it partially defeats the purpose of creating DTA's current file structure (and also TI's) in the first place (which is to not constantly have to insert mix files into other mix files every time new content is added, while still keeping the directory clean and organized).
So is there anything that can be done to make the maps renderer find all of DTA's files (there's currently no way to tell it where DTA's INI files are for instance).
It'd be easiest if there was just some sort of ini file in the pogram's folder which lists all of of the INI and MIX files the program looks for so that people are manually able to point the program to all files it should look for if necessary.
So I loaded the Map Renderer up today and noticed there was already a new update. Once updated I could render the one map I wasn't able to render before. Which is awesome!
However, I think I ran into another issue. While the map renders, it seems to render red transparent squares (similar to the ones used to indicate starting positions) around Negative Red Light posts. In my City Consumed map these red squares are either a single cell in size or 5 cells total in the shape of a + sign.
I also rendered another map which I knew also used the Negative Red Lights to see if it was just that map, however upon rendering the other map I saw larger red sections around where the Negative Red Lights are on the map. I think they are larger as the values for the ones in this map are larger for the light itself, though i'm not positive on that.
I can upload an example if you need me to.
EDIT: I also just noticed that it does not render TS's Alpha Light Posts and their light. If this could be added that'd be epic. _________________ Kalistia Crestland (2)
In Soviet Russia, grass grows on tiberium! QUICK_EDIT
Note the ] where a number is expected.
Next version won't throw up on that.
@Bittah: Support for the DTA structure is somewhat more troublesome, but I think it would work if you could have multiple "mix" dirs. Then just have one point to your ini dir, and another to your mix dir.
@Ixith: a picture would probably help, yeah. I didn't know cliff shadows existed, and naturally I also have no idea how they work either. I'll investigate that later. QUICK_EDIT
Sent another report, I changed the ] to sleep, but there's still an error.
Wouldn't it be better if you'd show the user where the error was found? I don't know how you've implemented the logging/error handling, but it saves some topics
EDIT: There appeared to be an 's' somewhere too, changed that and now it works until loading houses.. _________________
Here's a picture concerning the red transparent blocks on my Negative Red Light posts (which are invisible ingame)
You can see them in the blue tiberium fields. If you need it larger then just click the picture.
IMO cliff shadows aren't THAT big of a deal as they only add a little bit more depth to it but if it's not too hard to get added in then that'd be cool. I can provide a screenshot for this as well if needed.
Alpha light posts are more of a concern to me really as they are used vastly and add larger area of lighting change and thus effect the map's feel much more.
Also love how you're working on adding stuff and fixing things immediately based on our input. That's much appreciated. _________________ Kalistia Crestland (2)
In Soviet Russia, grass grows on tiberium! QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 22 Nov 2010 Location: Iszkaszentgyorgy, Hungary
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 9:04 pm Post subject:
http://www.tiberiumweb.org/forums/uploads/monthly_09_2013/post-27-1379966418.png This is Ixith's pic. _________________ "If you didn't get angry and mad and frustrated, that means you don't care about the end result, and are doing something wrong." - Greg Kroah-Hartman
=======================
Past C&C projects: Attacque Supérior (2010-2019); Valiant Shades (2019-2021)
=======================
WeiDU mods: Random Graion Tweaks | Graion's Soundsets
Maintainance: Extra Expanded Enhanced Encounters! | BGEESpawn
Contributions: EE Fixpack | Enhanced Edition Trilogy | DSotSC (Trilogy) | UB_IWD | SotSC & a lot more... QUICK_EDIT
If it's my picture that's giving the 404 then I suppose I could upload it direct instead of hosting it on a Tibweb topic and then linking it. Trying to avoid too many picture posts in here though especially large ones. And since I hate PPMs attachment system well yea...
Also, Just noticed as I looked at that render compared to the screenshots I originally took for the map release topic. For some reason on that map it didn't render the other invisible light posts either. There should be a good bit of invisible green throughout the map over the green tiberium and green mold.
The overall map lighting is also brighter than the original screenshots i took upon releasing the map. I think this may be due to the fact that this was during the time I was experimenting with the GroundLighting in the map file. GroundLighting is essentially another Ambient Lighting value and since probably no one actually edits the GroundLighting from its normal 0.00000 value, it shouldn't really be that big of a deal. It's just something I noticed and figured what might be the likely reasoning behind it. _________________ Kalistia Crestland (2)
In Soviet Russia, grass grows on tiberium! QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 22 Nov 2010 Location: Iszkaszentgyorgy, Hungary
Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 11:00 pm Post subject:
The 404 is caused by the fact that TibWeb with the com domain works only if you have overrid it in hosts/etc to Revora. _________________ "If you didn't get angry and mad and frustrated, that means you don't care about the end result, and are doing something wrong." - Greg Kroah-Hartman
=======================
Past C&C projects: Attacque Supérior (2010-2019); Valiant Shades (2019-2021)
=======================
WeiDU mods: Random Graion Tweaks | Graion's Soundsets
Maintainance: Extra Expanded Enhanced Encounters! | BGEESpawn
Contributions: EE Fixpack | Enhanced Edition Trilogy | DSotSC (Trilogy) | UB_IWD | SotSC & a lot more... QUICK_EDIT
I don't know about that GroundLighting tag. The red crap doesn't look good either. Could I take a peek at that map Ixith?
Of course, the map has been released for a few years now and can be found Here
as for the Ground Lighting tag, it doesn't show up in FinalSun but is present in the map file in the lighting section when you open a map in a text file. It's easily skipped over and doesn't seem to have any real use other than as a secondary ambient light setting though I think it does have some differences that separate it from just a strict ambient modifier. But again, doubt many people use it if any at all so I wouldn't worry about it. It's just something I noticed on that map render in particular and looked to see if that was perhaps the reason and seems it likely was.
@ Graion, thanks. I always forget about that. For future knowledge...if I use .org instead of .com will others be able to see the images then, even when using the IMG tag? Don't wanna make that mistake again. lol (and want to make sure the images I have posted can be visible to all) _________________ Kalistia Crestland (2)
In Soviet Russia, grass grows on tiberium! QUICK_EDIT
The red goo issue was due the the red multiplier reaching below zero for these tiles, causing an overflow back to near-maximum red. Clips at 0 now. The ground lighting as I had it was affected negatively, but I've changed it to be positive now instead. QUICK_EDIT
fantastic work zzattack. Definitely one of the best tools released in the last 10 years.
With your insight into the ingame lighting, could you give us an explanation how the blocky tiled lighting occurs and how it is in some mods stronger than in others?
Do you have tips on how to reduce blocky lighting or improve light posts quality?
It's quite a common rule, the smaller the LightIntensity of a light post, the less blocky it gets. Though maybe you have some infos how the best lighting can be achieved. _________________ SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings
I'm afraid not. My lighting is not a perfect mimic of the game. I based it off of some reversed code that DCoder put together for me at http://dc.strategy-x.com/src2/CellClass/GetColourComponents.cpp.
The effect of lamps for the ambient lighting of a cell is basically intensity*(visibility-distance)/visibility.
With low visibility, this value differs relatively more per cell than when you're having a larger distance. To compensate for low visibility, a high intensity can be used. It's likely way intense around the lamp, but gets clipped.
I do think you have much more granularity by touching only the red/green/blue tints instead. QUICK_EDIT
I have notised that 1-height-high-ramps are using wrong tileset. There is a special artwork for it in rmpfx. I can't tell for sure which one is but rmpfx have been made for smooth transition betwin ramps and flat terrain and it have grafic for top part, bottom and 1height ramps _________________ Gangster is a Project Perfect Wuj (c)Aro QUICK_EDIT
Two things I noticed that should probably be addressed at some point. Used v.2.0.8615.0.
1.) Structure artwork loading/NewTheater logic assumes that the first letter of the shp filename is either G, N, C or Y (last only in YR). With Ares, however, you can use just any letter. The tool refuses to render any such buildings.
2.) Renderer does not render structures with light emitting code (LightVisibility et al). That is, the light is visible but the building itself is not. Hiding of the lightposts should rely on presence of InvisibleInGame=yes rather than the light-emitting bits. _________________ QUICK_EDIT
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