<pre> look, I've already spent 100+ minutes fighting with Krita (and yet coudn't resize the font), that's why this article will be short.</kthx>
DISCLAIMER: all of the following is true for FWGS version of Xash3D, other forks, ports, bundles and flavors are on their own.
Many of you heard of Xash3D engine and some even tried running it in their daily lives. So, what benefits it could offer to XDM? The answer is: plenty. But there are pros and cons.
Today I'll be focusing on the fullBRIGHT textures, a feature originally planned but never implemented in the original Half-Life engine. In short there are special textures in HL1 models, distinguished by their flags. Notable flags are: CHROME, ADDITIVE, MASKED and FULLBRIGHT. Chrome textures were used extensively from the very beginning and gave certain parts of models a very polished and pseudo-reflective look.
The X control point logo model uses chrome texture and the tree branches - masked mode.
(this screenshot is ooold)
The two transparency modes were only added for the Day of Defeat mod f*k you it is a mod game, via slight modifications of the proprietary closed-source anally locked DRM-infected GoldSource DLLs. Which we could thankfully use with Half-Life until this became a mainstream feature with the first VGUI2 (a.k.a. Steam) release.
So, what about FULLBRIGHT flag? I'm not sure if it was cut away or coudn't make it to the deadline, but this feature I've been craving since I started modding: it makes triangles glow in dark. No, not in the modern day shadery glowy blur-hdr-bloom way. Just always drawn at maximum brightness. I.e. not shaded at all. Sounds easy, right? And it is. But watch just how gorgeous it can look!
fullbright and additive textures in XDM rendered with Xash3D engine
These screens and buttons of these weapon models are "glowing" using special texture flag that only works in Xash3D. In Half-Life they're just usual textures.
Additionally, look how it blends in when the model is lit by a dynamic light from inside.
Fun fact: I've added support for this feature into my studiomdl compiler (that produces finished HL1 .mdl models) veeeeeeeeery long ago, made a few test textures, had a few I AM DISAPPOINT moments and totally forgot about it. 15 years later, someone showed me XDM on Xash3D and... LCDs on C4 charges were glowing! It was amazing. This is what happens it you do things properly and thinking ahead with compatibility in mind. Two projects jsut connected together like puzzle pieces.
But back to the ugly reality. Xash3D still doesn't read .scr-files, doesn't generate its server configs properly, doesn't display map preview images and has "DONE" button instead of "OK" in "Create LAN game" window. Luckily, XDM has its workarounds like sv_generategamecfg (or smth.). Don't (want to) know how others are managing without it. So, unfortunately, right now it's more like XDM is inventing more hacks to support Xash3D rather than the opposite. :(
Oh, right: DM_Tropic also doesn't overflow under Xash3D. To this day no one really knows why HL starts reloading all models every second all of a sudden and eventually causes MAX_GL_TEXTURES crash. I've spent days repainting static models to optimize them, but that did not help at all.
That's it for today.
And take a moment to appreciate my hand-made bandwidth- and RAM-saving image previews which ModDB refuses to generate. :D
Niiice (oops, just slipped a bit).
I forgot to mention that I've redrawn most of the weapon models to optimize texture usage and lighting, while also smoothing polys here and there. Looks way sharper and nicer.
Really cool stuff! I wanted to make glowing iron sights for my guns but fullbright feature doesn't work in vanilla hl( I heard some modders do this using two view models (gun + glowing parts) which are rendered simultaneously. I think it's too complicated =/
They use additive textures, yes. And I also do. But those still depend on lighting - you won't see them in a dark room.
I've seen some people just copy-paste the whole model with another texture to give it lame shiny effect. Horrific. X(
Я не могу поверить, что читаю это в 2024-м...
Ну ты человек-ракета! А я не могу поверить что уже 2024-ый...
Me very nice to read this. Me do have a hope the next XDM version, 4.0.4.0, 5.0.5.0.. n.... whatever will be released out soon. Just wanna play and see everything myself.
I bless you not to stop and keep doing what are you currently doing, without any regrets what is the year today. Time does not matter, only the passion is appreshiated!
I'm not a Gloogle! Not in a hurry to pump up release versions like Chrome :D
Passion? More like addiction ;D
In case of addiction probably you should look for another drugs. Perhaps, more social :)
>> Xash3D still doesn't read .scr-files, doesn't generate its server configs properly, doesn't display map preview images and has "DONE" button instead of "OK" in "Create LAN game" window
Probably they need "a small donation" to fix this issue or you should find how to make them (FWGS team) interested to do their job properly or both or something else.
Did anyone give me "a small donation" for supporting their engine? I'm pretty sure no one did. Some even refused to acknowledge bugs I reported, I'm not even talking about fixing.