Okay, im totally confused with the shader thing

[Ki11a_FTW]

ok well i made all my shader files and saved them to tags\scenarios\shaders\multi\unamed

Heres what im totally confused about-

Shader collections- do u make 1 per shader or 1 per shader folder?
(i made one thats saved in tags\scenarios\shaders that has this in the file:

unamed scenarios\shaders\multi\unamed)

3DS Max material ID: i named my material names the same as my new shaders but tool cant find them.

(Example: material 4 is named - plate )

i think that is it.

i read the help file but it made me even more confused lol

So could some one please point out what im doing wrong?

+rep if you do, lol

[Roostervier]

Ok, first off, I'd just edit the already made shader collection tag. Add in the address to the folder containing all of your shaders. In front of that, place something that will signify that. Like for damnation, I put dam. In front of all of the materials in max, add the "dam" plus a space then the shader name.

Also, if you put that "-" as part of the name, those usually go behind the names. Like, "water!", not "! water".

[Ki11a_FTW]

- isnt a part of the name

Oh and thanks, so in the head name ill put sid, and but sid before every shader name (btw i cant find the already made collection >_>

EDIT: IT WORKED! thanks yo ;-) + rep when it lets me give it to you again lol

[DominionOvrU]

Ok I was really confused too..but i got mine to work and now its actually really easy to use and I love it. Here is how you do it.

In Max make sure you name your textures the same as what your level is and then add a space and the texture name. Like what i did with my Chiron map(i used actual map name of putput for my working file)
Example: putput plate_floor_ex

Now that would be for a texture named plate_floor_ex. As far as the shader collection is concerned you only have to make one per level period. All it does is tell the engine where to go to look for your shaders and your bitmaps when its working. You will find one that you can edit in here: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Halo 2 Map Editor\tags\scenarios\shaders"
In that folder there is a document called "shader_collections.shader_collections". Open this up in Notepad and edit the info to reflect your current level and then save it in that same folder as your levels name.shader_collections. Now you have to make sure you create a new folder in the this path for your shaders as well "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Halo 2 Map Editortags\scenarios\shaders\multi\putput" now replace putput with your level name. If i remember right..i had to actually create the folder multi in the shaders folder and then within that folder create the one for your level. I hope i didnt confuse you any more.

[jstatz]

You should be able to make a new shader_collection, and the game will automatically parse it. That was the original intended functionality anyway, as you really are better off not editing existing files if at all possible... that way if you download somebody else's custom materials or something they don't stomp on each other.

Like in Dominon's case, make a putput.shader_collection with just that one entry in it. It'll get read in and added to the list.

[Snaver]

.shader_collections

[Roostervier]

Yes, the s is a big necessity. One can go on for hours wondering why their shaders won't ref because of it.

[jstatz]

Hah. Yeah... I actually picked that file extension so you can blame me.

[MetKiller Joe]

I looked through this thread, and I have actually become more confused. I tried using DominionOvrU's method, but it didn't work.

How does one modify the shader_collections.shader_collections?


Where does one place shader_collections.shader_collections?


What names does one HAVE TO and/or SHOULD USE (syntax-wise) while naming a material in 3DS Max?


How does one use default shaders for the premade textures and link them to the shader_collections.shader_collections?

Where does one put default shaders and premade textures so that tool will recognize them?


Thanks for any help,

-MetKiller Joe

[Roostervier]

Why don't you read the chm that came with it? Search shader collections... In any case, notepad, you MUST, and you place it in scenarios\shaders.