Up until now I have used an edited version of the example.mtr file (that was released a good while ago) when creating materials files for Fancy Map (PBR) textures -
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// Specification of shaders to use.
// See the notes.txt for further details.
customshadervs vslitc_nm
customshaderfs fslit_nm_rhi
// Assures that tangents are generated for the associated models.
renderhint NormalAndSpecMapped
////////
// Standard texture inputs
// Add/remove the '//' in front of the texture* to enable/disable these.
// 0 - Diffuse / albedo map.
// If omitted, it defaults to pure white.
//texture0 example_d
// 1 - Normal map.
// If omitted, it defaults to all normals facing directly away from the surface.
//texture1 example_n
// 2 - Specular map. Grayscale.
// Should be in the 1% to 10% for non-metals and close to 100% for metals.
// If omitted, it will set a default value that fits most non-specular materials.
//texture2 example_s
// 3 - Roughness map. Grayscale.
// Determines the softness of specular reflection highlights to simulate smoothness of a surface.
// If omitted, it will scale roughness with specularity
//texture3 example_r
// 4 - Height. Grayscale.
// Determines displacement and occlusion.
// If omitted, the surface will be rendered as if flat.
//texture4 example_h
// 5 - Glow / self-illumination map. Grayscale.
// Makes the surface light up.
// If omitted, it defaults to no self-illumination.
//texture5 example_i
////////
However, recently I came across this page on the wiki -
This is where a little confusion sets in. There are two things on there that can lead to such confusion. Let’s deal Normal maps first. Now I was aware that NwN EE now only uses the red and green channels, and that it is alright to pass NwN EE three channel images. This does raise a number of questions though. Does anyone know of any programs that will allow you to save 16 bit images (2x8 bit channels)? I certainly am not. All image editing software that I am aware of only save greyscale, RGB and RGBA images and not RG. So if we have to save as RGB, what are the recommended values to place in the blue channel?
The other map that causes me confusion is the Glow / self-illumination map. Now in the example.mtr file it clearly states that this to be a greyscale image (e.g. black, whiye and grey). But the wiki page (written by @Soren, so should be good info), it says that this map is 3 channel (RGB). Thing is, while I clearly remember reading in the patch notes some time ago now about the change to normal maps, I don’t recall ever seeing this change being mentioned. Up to now I have been diligently making sure that glow maps were greyscale including for
which contains quite a few glow maps. In a lot of cases they were greyscale in the original authors maps too. So what happens to the glow when too few channels are presented to the engine now? Does it glow at all or perhaps with the wrong colour?
Any answer(s) would be appreciated.
TR
