What is wrong with my water?

[jngrow]

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/8870/wtflawlshaderscd8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Shot at 2007-08-04

Here is my shader info, using kornman's bitmaps. It is the vindication_shader from flyin rooster

template: water_pool
material_name: liquid_thin_water
bump: water (the bump map type)
reflection_map: water (cube map)
refraction_map: none.. :/
lightmap_translucency_map:lightmap_translucency

It will not animate, and has those weird lights on it's edges.

By the way, I know that is not the proper way to do the geometry for water, but regardless, it is not animating or rippling correctly.

[et_cg]

Could be two possibilities:

A) You UVWed your surface incorrectly

B) Your shader is messed up somehow


That's all I can think of, atm.

[Roostervier]

I am pretty sure this type of water is meant to be flat. In any case, make sure that in bump_map_index, you make it have an identity function spanning from 0 to 16 with a time of .5 seconds.

[jngrow]

Aha, I didn't UVW it properly, because water is weird. Ok, I fixed the shader, made a flat surface and all. I have two problems:

1) The water is VERY dark
2) it only reflects the sky cubemap (and when i look closely, i can actually see the cube's corners)
3)The ripples are extremely small, almost unnoticeable.

[et_cg]

Your ripple scales are set too high.

Remember to UVW any surface correctly.

You may have the UVW spanned out a large distance, if so, you have to fix that in 3ds Max. If not, it's just setting the scaling right in your shader.

The water may be dark because of what's underneath it, remember - water is a transparent property. Adding a fog plane underneath may add some color.

And of course, the only reflection that water does in Halo 2 is cubemap reflections. At least the water that you're using.

[jngrow]

What is/where can I find the "ripple scale", or is it just have to do with UVW.

[Kornman00]

sewage.


Having UNUSED checked in the bitmap wouldn't do this?

[jngrow]

i have no idea what you just said or talked about. And all of my bitmaps have UNUSED unchecked, so, yeah..

[et_cg]

... just experiment Jngrow. You really don't seem to be trying whatever you can possible. I barely have enough time to be on the forums for long. It seems you're quite dependant upon help. Just test. Test, and test again.

It's called scale. X_scale... y_scale... that usually affects your ripple. Gah, you should know that from testing/tutorials. :P


And Korn, your Unused property wouldn't affect how it looks in game. It just affects whether the texture makes it in or not. Or how the map compiles. Map compiling likes to crash if there's a bitmap with the unused setting checked.

[CrippieBoy]

did you set your water plane to +media in 3ds max?

[et_cg]

and those open edges will cause other problems

That's due to his choice of method. (Plane with a water! shader. That's how I'd do it to start off with) He may have also instanced an object that just collides and didn't have any special instancing characters set for it.

[jngrow]

... just experiment Jngrow. You really don't seem to be trying whatever you can possible. I barely have enough time to be on the forums for long. It seems you're quite dependant upon help. Just test. Test, and test again.

It's called scale. X_scale... y_scale... that usually affects your ripple. Gah, you should know that from testing/tutorials. :P


And Korn, your Unused property wouldn't affect how it looks in game. It just affects whether the texture makes it in or not. Or how the map compiles. Map compiling likes to crash if there's a bitmap with the unused setting checked.

Sorry to waste your time so much, but you don't have to answer me if you don't want to (although it seems pretty much you and Conscars are the only ones who answer them). I am testing a lot, despite what you might think, but I haven't been testing very well. I pretty much only change stuff I already understand, (which isn't very much). I need to experiment more, yes I agree. I promise not to ask anymore questions for a while.

[et_cg]

You can ask, but just be sure to go over various materials that are here! I'm glad to help... Earlier, I was just sort of perterbed and brought my feelings out in a bad way on the forums.

I'm sorry to have done that.

Anyways, I do hope that you are learning! If in the future you can't find any material covering your topic, or can't find the question that's been/being answered, then go ahead and feel free to ask.

[Bastinka]

Looks like your water broke :-3 wow no one has made that pun?
EDIT: Done, did, and gone.

And also, learning is good. Questioning is a way of learning.

[jngrow]

Thanks, its just the "three letter rule" in the search function REALLY gets on my nerves.

[et_cg]

Me too. But I know google spiders check this site quite often, so if you can use an advanced google search. I've had good luck with that before. :D

And hey, don't be afraid to ask after what I said.

[jngrow]

EDIT: Nvm, hella weird timing. It works pimpsauce now. I don't have any animations or ripples on it, but at least it actually behaves like water and has reflections and is transparent. Nope, Nvm. Looks fine in Sapien, no splash or anything in-game.

All I did was directly apply my water shader to a plane, with the % modifier for the material. I got this:http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/8838/water1111rn1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Shot at 2007-08-08

[Vicky]

I still can't make my water to animate either, it looks like water it acts like water but still no moving ripples. A complete discription, including what bitmaps are used, how to UVW (planar?face?), and shader settings, would be appreciated.

[Roostervier]

If you downloaded my shader, those are the settings I got to work. I never UVW'd my plane, and it shows up fine. The only thing I can think of is that you are not using the correct water bump map. If you download kornman's bitmap pack, it looks red, green, yellow, and black. That's the one I use.

[armoman92]

i got my water to work in sapien, but when i package i keep getting this error. I have made sure that all my bitmaps have unused unchecked. What wrong here...

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/5334/errorwaterwe5.jpg

[jngrow]

dunno about the package error, but I did use kornman's bitmap pack. Ok, I won't UVW mine. So, just make an instanced plane, and give it my water material? Oh, and one more question: Should the bump map's "use" be on default or height map?

EDIT: Well, it behaves like water and everything, but still no ripples and I cannot go "in" it.

[et_cg]

Should the bump map's "use" be on default or height map?

Bump = Height. Height = Normal. Therefore we have three words that mean one common thing. Visual aid to a textures depth, calculated by three different channels to control how light is spread across it's surface. Dur.


EDIT: Well, it behaves like water and everything, but still no ripples and I cannot go "in" it.

You must not understand instancing, or perhaps the use of render only characters. Please, review the help documents section that is reffered as "Materials Overview."

There's a nifty search feature there, so don't be afraid to use it.

[jngrow]

Well, first of all, my bump map has been on height map, but because it is not working, I asked if it should be changed. Second of all, my main problem right now is not really how the water interacts, but the appearance. I have made my water plane instanced (% sign in front), and applied my water material to it, with a two-sided(%) modifier.

I am going to announce the EXACT properties of my water shader, and I would REALLY appreciate it if someone could tell me what is wrong with it.

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/9917/watershaderxn2.th.jpg (http://img524.imageshack.us/my.php?image=watershaderxn2.jpg)

identity is set on bump_map_index, 0-16, in 0.5 seconds.

[Vicky]

Shouldn't that be 0-15 in your identity settings? I'm no expert but that would make 16 frames in total.

[Roostervier]

No, it would be 0-16. There are 17 frames total. In all honesty, jngrow, I haven't a clue as to what is causing your problem. Though, an easy fix to make it so you can go in your water is adding "!" to the end of your material in max. My material in max looks like this (though I'd ignore the first two letters), "nm vindication_water!?"

! - collisionless object, render only
? - two sided transparent object

[jngrow]

Thanks for the tip on properties, flyinrooster, it now acts fine, but still looks like fail.

[johnnyblaz20]

as you can see below my water looks fine but i cant make it act like water. i need to know how to make it splash.. do i need to start the shader with a certain template or something? in max i used map_wat water!? so i used both of those symbols. my water plane is 5 max units above my fog plain.. what are some pointers please.

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/1748/waternm0.png

and i was reading alot of posts and it sounds to me like they just needed to mess with the water propertys on the bottom of the map's bsp file in guerilla. i know somebody already said it but just pointing that out..

[Con]

In your shader tag, there should be a place for you to set the material type. There's stuff like concrete or wood for making different effects when shot or different sounds when hit. You need to make it a water material.

[soccerbummer1104]

times like this i wish halo could just do water like the new cascades demo for the 8800gtx cards. just click and the water starts pouring out of that spot and automatically makes puddles and flows like it should with physics and gravity applied. its beautiful to look at too :)
here is a sample
all i did was click 4 times.
http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/6446/coolnessly4.jpg

[Vicky]

Yeah, nice DX10 feature :)

[johnnyblaz20]

ANYWAYS. i used the water_pool shader template. and now that i think about it your probably right cuz i used water_pool_thin or something like that for a description. i'll try that when i get home..