OK noob help required adding Mars CTX and PNGs...

[NeilF]

I've so far added a couple of things to Celestia, but for the life of me cannot seem to get a Mars addon working.

I've downloaded all the parts of the "VT Mars Surface Map":-
CTX
Levels 0-2
Level 3
Level 4, parts 1,2,3 & 4.

This has given me the following files:-
Mars.ctx
level0/*various .png files*
level1/*various .png files*
level2/*various .png files*
level3/*various .png files*
level4/*various .png files*

I've tried numerous setups but Mars always looks the same.

Can someone simply tell me where these files/directories should be added/placed?

Thanks!

[selden]

Have you looked through the VT Addon writeups?

One is at http://home.earthlink.net/~bobhegwood/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/Dummies.pdf

Another is at http://www.lepp.cornell.edu/~seb/celestia/textures.html#2.5
.

[essee]

Have you created an ssc file for this VT?
Example-
AltSurface "m46 shaded JPG" "Sol/Mars"
{
Texture "m46shaded JPG.ctx"
# NormalMap "m46Normal PNG.ctx"
}

[NeilF]

Have you created an ssc file for this VT?
Example-
AltSurface "m46 shaded JPG" "Sol/Mars"
{
Texture "m46shaded JPG.ctx"
# NormalMap "m46Normal PNG.ctx"
}

I suspect this is what the problem is... So I've created a ".ssc" file - which I suspect is completely wrong!?

This is my current setup:-

Code: Select all

extras/
        mars/
                  mars.ssc (see below)
                  textures/
                        hires/
                        lowres/
                        medres/
                                Mars.ctx (see below)
                                Mars/
                                        level0/
                                                *png files*
                                        level1/
                                                *png files*
                                        level2/
                                                *png files*
                                        level3/
                                                *png files*
                                        level4/
                                                *png files*

My mars.ssc file (god knows what this does):-

Code: Select all

AltSurface "Mars" "Sol/Mars"
{
   Texture "Mars.ctx"
}

My Mars.ctx file:-

Code: Select all

VirtualTexture
{
        ImageDirectory "Mars"
        BaseSplit 0
        TileSize 512
        TileType "png"
}

So what's wrong please? God... I'm a programmer by profession, so if I have problems....

[jestr]

I take it you know you have to right click on Mars and select 'Alternate Surfaces-Mars' ?Jestr

[Adirondack]

Have you looked through the VT Addon writeups?

One is at http://home.earthlink.net/~bobhegwood/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/Dummies.pdf

This link doesn't work (at the moment?). Try this instead:
http://celestiamotherlode.net/creators/bhegwood/Dummies.zip
This ZIP contains also a Mars VT example.

Adirondack

[NeilF]

I take it you know you have to right click on Mars and select 'Alternate Surfaces-Mars' ?Jestr

I do now!!

From playing around I see once you've selected an alternate surface, it uses it as the default from then on... Nice!

Thanks!

[John Van Vliet]

hi have a look at my solsys.ssc

Code: Select all

...........
"Mars" "Sol"
{
   Texture "Mars.ctx"
   NormalMap "MarsNormal.ctx"
   Color   [ 1 0.75 0.7 ]
   HazeColor [ 0.5 0.5 0.5 ]
   HazeDensity 0.25
   Radius 3396 # equatorial
   Oblateness 0.0069

   Atmosphere {
.................


and this is the texture folder

Code: Select all

c:/celestia/textures/hires
                 mars.ctx
                /mars
                       /level0
                       /level1
                       ...
                       /level5
               /marsnormal
                       /level0
                       ...
                       /level5


and this is the mars.ctx

Code: Select all

VirtualTexture
{
        ImageDirectory "Mars"
        BaseSplit 0
        TileSize 512
        TileType "png"
}


[NeilF]

hi have a look at my solsys.ssc

Code: Select all

...........
"Mars" "Sol"
{
   Texture "Mars.ctx"
   NormalMap "MarsNormal.ctx"
   Color   [ 1 0.75 0.7 ]
   HazeColor [ 0.5 0.5 0.5 ]
   HazeDensity 0.25
   Radius 3396 # equatorial
   Oblateness 0.0069

   Atmosphere {
.................


and this is the texture folder

Code: Select all

c:/celestia/textures/hires
                 mars.ctx
                /mars
                       /level0
                       /level1
                       ...
                       /level5
               /marsnormal
                       /level0
                       ...
                       /level5


and this is the mars.ctx

Code: Select all

VirtualTexture
{
        ImageDirectory "Mars"
        BaseSplit 0
        TileSize 512
        TileType "png"
}


Would using this "normal" be a means of using higher than 4K? For example, 8K bump maps make my video card really slow down!

[jestr]

He is on about using a Normal map Virtual Texture-using any Virtual Texture (VT) means that ,for example a 16k texture is cut up into smaller pieces (usually 512pixels or 1024pixels) which makes it a lot easier on your computer,Jestr

[NeilF]

He is on about using a Normal map Virtual Texture-using any Virtual Texture (VT) means that ,for example a 16k texture is cut up into smaller pieces (usually 512pixels or 1024pixels) which makes it a lot easier on your computer,Jestr

OK... So in the case of Mars for example, the only download in this category at Motherload is about 500megs worth? And this should run smoother on my card (Radeon 9800XT) than a 8K normal/bumpmap map?

http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/marsbump.php

[jestr]

I dont know which texture on the Motherlode you are on about,and I dont know if a normalmap will run any different to a bump map,but a VT will work on more limited machines (which couldnt load for example an 8k texture all in one piece).DDS textures will run the smoothest of all if your machine can use these.A Virtual Texture has different sized textures depending on how close you are to the planet so it may start off with a 2048x1024 pixel texture,then 4096x2048,then 8192x4096,then 16384x8192 for when you are really close,but as the texture is cut up into more manageable chunks you will only need to use a few 1024x1024 pixel tiles when you are really close to the surface.Hope this makes things a little clearer.Jestr

[NeilF]

I dont know which texture on the Motherlode you are on about,and I dont know if a normalmap will run any different to a bump map,but a VT will work on more limited machines (which couldnt load for example an 8k texture all in one piece).DDS textures will run the smoothest of all if your machine can use these.A Virtual Texture has different sized textures depending on how close you are to the planet so it may start off with a 2048x1024 pixel texture,then 4096x2048,then 8192x4096,then 16384x8192 for when you are really close,but as the texture is cut up into more manageable chunks you will only need to use a few 1024x1024 pixel tiles when you are really close to the surface.Hope this makes things a little clearer.Jestr

Well... There is only on VT normal map for mars... I'll download it and give it a go... All 500-600meg of it

http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/marsbump.php

[NeilF]

Works beautifully!

[John Van Vliet]

good to hear