AltSurface and alpha embedded Specular

[Kolano]

When I use AltSurface I no longer see speculars, which do show when the same texture is used in the standard object definition. Specifically the "NormalEx9" surface does display the alternate normal map, but Earth then has no speculars.

Modify "Earth" "Sol"
{
Texture "BMNG.ctx"
NormalMap "BMNGNormal.ctx"

Atmosphere {
Height 60
Lower [ 0.43 0.52 0.65 ]
Upper [ 0.16 0.37 0.74 ]
Sky [ 0.40 0.6 1.0 ]
Sunset [ 1.0 0.6 0.2 ]
Mie 0.0005
MieAsymmetry -0.15
Rayleigh [ 0.00025 0.0009 0.0015 ]
Absorption [ 0.00018 0.00005 0.0 ]
MieScaleHeight 18
CloudMap "earth-clouds.ctx"
CloudSpeed 0
}
}
AltSurface "NormalEx9" "Sol/Earth"{
Texture "BMNG.ctx"
NormalMap "BMNGNormal-Ex9.ctx"
}

[selden]

AltSurface replaces all surface textures, including specular. They are not inherited from the original object. If you want an AltSurface to have specular properties, you have to explicitly declare it in the AltSurface specification.

See http://www.lepp.cornell.edu/~seb/celest ... s.html#2.4

[Kolano]

Ah I get it...

The AltSurface doesn't inherit the...
SpecularColor [ 0.8 0.8 0.85 ]
SpecularPower 25.0
...definitions from the Earth definition and needs them specified separately.

[duds26]

AltSurface replaces all surface textures, including specular. They are not inherited from the original object. If you want an AltSurface to have specular properties, you have to explicitly declare it in the AltSurface specification.

See http://www.lepp.cornell.edu/~seb/celest ... s.html#2.4

Something to let an AltSurface inherit from Celestia's default or Another AltSurface would be nice.
Using BMNG with a few different height maps.
and all other stuff can be the same, so this would speed things up for addon developers.

Something like the following

Code: Select all

AltSurface
     {
      (here come the things that the addonmaker has specified)   
      inherit AltSurface "Default"
     }