Spring RTS Engine

If there is epic tiling, why is Mearth 55 megs? I mean, I know it's a huge map, but 55 megs is a lot. Is that just because of all the non-tileable blended areas?

Pxtl wrote:If there is epic tiling, why is Mearth 55 megs? I mean, I know it's a huge map, but 55 megs is a lot. Is that just because of all the non-tileable blended areas?

There are 16 texture layers blended all around the map, Im used to making very detailed textures on smaller maps, where size rarely becomes such an issue. The tiling is largely mitigated by the default detail texture, but you lose a bit of detail with that.

Epic tiling is quite relative tho, for me its enough that tiling is visible, because I know what the texture looked like before compression.

Pxtl wrote:If there is epic tiling, why is Mearth 55 megs? I mean, I know it's a huge map, but 55 megs is a lot. Is that just because of all the non-tileable blended areas?

I have understanding that tiling doesnt much affect on the size, but rather the decompression and loading time... It is just the size of the map that matters. If you look at the sizes of big maps even fugly maps, you see that they are huge in filesize...

So... Stop bitching about the filesizes if you want big maps !

Kernel Panic maps are generally only one or two textures and tile very nicely. For example:

http://spring.jobjol.nl/show_file.php?id=199

Map dimentions: 16 X 12
fize: 64.14 KB

Seriously, tiling helps.

Now, I wasn't going to bring up the filesize, but beherith said it was really well-tiled so I was surprised at the large filesize.

Pxtl wrote:Kernel Panic maps are generally only one or two textures and tile very nicely. For example:

http://spring.jobjol.nl/show_file.php?id=199

Map dimentions: 16 X 12
fize: 64.14 KB

Seriously, tiling helps.

Now, I wasn't going to bring up the filesize, but beherith said it was really well-tiled so I was surprised at the large filesize.

Oh, I see... Well what comes to mearth. There are actually no possibility that compression would tile up the texture since it has so many layers of textures blended up on each other.

This is when, yet again it becomes a matter of choosing between good look or small size... And hell yea, I'd pick good look. There are already too many shitty looking maps.(Not pointing out to this kernel panic map mentioned, since it has a specific style of being what it is...)

Mosh pit is only 5 layers in wiced, same mapconv compression ratio, same texture size (450mb) and yet it compresses to half the size of Mearth while still having no visible tiling.
Goes to show.

How is it,that most supcom maps take less than 10 megs yet look decent.

different technologies

was a rhetorical question.

Gota wrote:How is it,that most supcom maps take less than 10 megs yet look decent.

Lower resolution, better tools. Want something that generates heavily-tiled maps that look good? Write it yourself.

Tiling doesn't work how you guys think it does. The mapconverter does not pick up repeating patterns as it should and has almost jpg level of bad compression. even if you make a map with 1 pattern on it, the compressor will make several tiles for that one tile pattern when it really should only be one. Higher compression settings do not result in better tiling, it only results in more lossy tiling. Using a reptitive texture also does not do much as again the compressor will still use several tiles for what should be 1.


if you want a better map format find someone who can fix sm3 otherwise stop with the incorrect assumptions on the current map format. Sure repeating patterns reduce the texture size, they also look like ass and they are not truly detected properly. It is not worth the loss of quality.

Smoth, does it even pick it up more often if the texture is, say, a multiple of 32 and aligned?
Odd: when mapconv makes the .dds files, those take up about 100 megs for me. almost as much as the unzipped .smf file

it seems to.

This talk made me dig up the sm3 bounty thread.

Maybe we should discuss what we all want/need from a new map format and then put up a bounty for it?

I don't really think that will work out.

I think the best supcom maps are on the whole more ugly then the best spring maps...

Hear hear smoth.

Warlord Zsinj wrote:I think the best supcom maps are on the whole more ugly then the best spring maps...

at the end of the day its just a greyscale heightmap and xy-applied texture

features can set these rts maps apart though

^^ what hunter said.

SPeaking of this map, I don't like your lighting. It could just be a personal thing, but it looks kinda sickly and for some reason makes me not want to look at it... THat makes no sense whatsoever O_o, but meh.

Forboding Angel wrote:^^ what hunter said.

SPeaking of this map, I don't like your lighting. It could just be a personal thing, but it looks kinda sickly and for some reason makes me not want to look at it... THat makes no sense whatsoever O_o, but meh.

Please elaborate.
The lighting is from the wrong angle tho, 180 aroud
Also, it might be a tad yellowish.
Fix for many of these is coming, just dont wanna rush it.