Eliminating Lowrez.

[{TcF}Dr.Penguin]

IS there any way I can eliminate low rez models, so that they are all high quality? I'd really like to know if you all have any information on this, thank you!

[Snake]

Nope. 1. it'd probably overload your game causing a crash. 2. I've tried putting the regular msh as the lowres but it turns out funky like the Desert Town map.

[Phobos]

sadly i have had to hex dupe the high res mesh and use as a low mesh for several aliens since the majority do not have lowres meshes in this case they tend to "spike out/mutate" at long distances.  eliminating low res entirely will not function properly since it is required for unit models

[{TcF}Dr.Penguin]

Nooooo...

[SleepKiller]

I have a theory on how to get around low-res  but as I have told jdee I am currently away and don't have the time to sit down and write it down. Once I get back I will write it down to it's fullest. And we have a modding section you know SWBF1 Mod Factory, you should probably start putting your modding questions there.

[jdee-barc]

Shall I move this into the modding thread?

[tirpider]

Just stopping in to say hi

When the game calls a low res model (in reference to ai and player units, I don't know about the rest,) it is also calling up the low res skeleton and animations.

So if you simply replace the low res refs in the odf to the names of high res msh's, you will get a mess as it tries to match the envelope of the normal msh with the skeleton used by the low res animations.

Without modifying the program, to get high res models to be displayed instead of low res, you would have to make a highres model and set it's nulls and bones up like a low res msh. Then use it in place of the lowres msh.
Basicly, 2 identical models, but with different envelopes and skeletons. (Now that Ande's exporter is working, this would be a fine test of a would-be modeler's skills in a proper modeling program.)

A catch there is that the game might ckoke on the extra poly's.

Another catch is that I believe (I can't remember exactly) that modelmunge.exe might choke on the high poly cout as well, but I might be thinking of shadow volumes here.

The only practical way I can imagine getting out of using low res models would be to alter the distance SWBF tries to swich the models and set that to an impossibly large number, effectively disabling low res.

I would, of course, have no clue how to do that, or if it can be done at all.

[Kit Fisto]

The only practical way I can imagine getting out of using low res models would be to alter the distance SWBF tries to swich the models and set that to an impossibly large number, effectively disabling low res.

I would, of course, have no clue how to do that, or if it can be done at all.

Hi tirpider!
Ok so n00b modder here but when certain models are high texture, it triggers low res for the other characters around you.
For example, in the mod Sereja made for me the Clone Commando has a nice high res model, but even when I'm right next to a person the person next to me goes into low res. Same with the Commando Droid. Try it if you don't believe me. So I don't think it is the distance that SWBF tries to switch the models, rather how much high resolution stuff is on the screen ( Sorry if I'm unclear but I hope you get the drift of what I'm trying to say ).

[tirpider]

I follow what you are saying.

I have seen simular effects with large groups of soldiers swapping in and out of low res.

Sometimes (if the numbers are great enough,) they just don't render at all but are still attacking and taking damage.

I think you are right about the effect being related to how many poly's are on the screen. Perhaps adjusting  one or more of the memory pool sizes would help mitigate the erratic popping in and out of low res?

[Kit Fisto]

Perhaps adjusting  one or more of the memory pool sizes would help mitigate the erratic popping in and out of low res?

I think that if someone were to try to get rid of low res then they should start here. Seems like ou best bet at the moment.

[{TcF}Dr.Penguin]

I hope some one finds a way.

[SleepKiller]

Okay, I'm not back but I will try to explain how I think it can be done quickly while I can.

Okay problem A. is the low-resolution models them self. I have counted no-more than four high-resolution models being rendered in the game. But as long as you have good semi-modern hardware you should be good to go I think. I'm talking a graphics card with a good clock speed and 512MB+ Video Ram. Okay now I would say you define in the ODF to call at both geometry defining the models. Now for the part that I can't write a complete tutorial of until I get back. You need to make a new low-resolution animation bank, that has all the high-resolution rifle animation in. Simple if you know how.

Now here is a problem using this method that can't be fixed. It will only be a single animation bank, in this case rifle. Although I have a theory about getting round this as well I want to test it first.

The second problem is no weapons rendering while a low-resolution model is active. To get around this you would need to hex edit the weapon onto the high-resolution model that you would use as the low-resolution model. So you would have still have two different models one with the weapon hex edited for low-resolution and one without.

[{TcF}Dr.Penguin]

Sweet! I hope it works.

[Kit Fisto]

Would this work online? Or would it be "disabled" when you play online...
Would it work with mods? ( example: main play mod ) 

[{TcF}Dr.Penguin]

I don't want to annoy any one about this, but does any one have any idea when we'll find out if no-lowrez is possible for SWBF1? (It's for business purposes)