More information needed for new documentation

[MTres19]

Hello. As you may already know, I'm working on a rewrite of the current documentation on the website. I have it hosted on GitHub here. The current Track Maker's Guide is not only aging organizationally, but is outright missing content, especially about some of the features of the new engine. I'm creating this thread in the hopes that members of the team might be able to answer some of my questions. Right now, I only have one:

Are objects with transparency (alpha) still required to be exported as separate objects? It seems that Antediluvian Abyss doesn't have any problems with this.

[MTres19]

Another question: Does the "Cone (Z)" shape for animated objects have its base facing positive or negative Z? In other words, is the cone along the Z axis like this: /_\ or like this: \¯/ ?

[Auria]

For transparent objects, exporting them separately may help with sorting issues, but is not strictly necessary.

For the cone, I'm pretty sure the pointy bit is up, otherwise the object would fall pointy bit up would be useful for road cones for instance

[MTres19]

About transparent objects: Okay, thanks. I'll add that to the troubleshooting section.

About cones: Thanks, I've added that to the decorations page.

[MTres19]

Another question: is the "time between two frames" option for step-by-step-animated textures in seconds or milliseconds?

[MTres19]

Also, how is "End camera (Look ahead)" different from the default built-in end camera that simply faces the front of the kart? From looking at stk_object_parameters.xml, it looks like this is the same as the built-in camera, but behind the kart instead of in front?

[Auria]

"time between two frames" would be in milliseconds

"End camera (Look ahead)" is indeed identical to the default one, it is only useful if you want to switch between fixed and lookahead (i.e. at the end of the race you have some parts where the camera is fixed and other parts where the camera follows the kart)

[MTres19]

Thanks. By the way, I've started transferring things to the wiki. You can see them here.

I'm also wondering, what is the difference between "Glow (bloom)" and "Glow (outline)" for objects in the object properties menu? I know that items use an outline, but what does enabling bloom do?

Thanks,

—

[MTres19]

Also, do karts support vertex coloring?

[MTres19]

Also, is the normal map mapping the same as Blender?

Normal maps in Blender store a normal as follows:

Red maps from (0-255) to X (-1.0 - 1.0)
Green maps from (0-255) to Y (-1.0 - 1.0)
Blue maps from (0-255) to Z (0.0 - 1.0)

[MTres19]

And is tangent-space exporting still needed for normal maps? It's commented out in in stk_object_parameters.xml but the built-in documentation for normal maps says it's needed.

[MTres19]

And, does the solid shader really support transparency via an alpha mask, or is this a mistake?

[samuncle]

And, does the solid shader really support transparency via an alpha mask, or is this a mistake?

They "don't", but a very similar shader is alpha testing (meaning it's either 100% transparent or 100% solid). The effect is mainly used for things like trees, vegetation.

[MTres19]

Thank you, samuncle, but what about my other questions?

[Auria]

And is tangent-space exporting still needed for normal maps? It's commented out in in stk_object_parameters.xml but the built-in documentation for normal maps says it's needed.

This should no longer be necessary as the information is now automatically calculated as necessary

[Auria]

Thanks. By the way, I've started transferring things to the wiki. You can see them here.

I'm also wondering, what is the difference between "Glow (bloom)" and "Glow (outline)" for objects in the object properties menu? I know that items use an outline, but what does enabling bloom do?

Thanks,

—

Hint: a tooltip will appear on mouse-over with more info.

[quote]
Enable a bloom effect on this particular object, making it glow
[/quote/]

So this forces an object to use bloom

[MTres19]

Thanks for your responses.

I'm aware of the tooltips, however enabling/disabling bloom didn't change a thing when I tested it myself, which was why I was asking here... It seemed that only outline was what affected the appearance.