Hi Forboding,
Forboding Angel wrote:... I just wanted to know if anyone else had had this problem before.
Oh yeah, I fixed this a while back. It was some dodgy coordinate bounds in the attributes map generation. Unfortunately there's no way to fix that short of upgrading.
Forboding Angel wrote:BTW the original problem is the attributes map. I didn't see that it was off because the crosshairs didn't show up untill I clicked the zoom tool. That's when I noticed it.
Yeah, that's how this bug got past me. I think I noticed it because it produced errors in the alpha maps generation, though I could be mistaken.
Forboding Angel wrote:All maps size were 8192x8192. Yes I use 1:1 ratio. If you haven't noticed spring ppl tend to be very critical of maps so everything has to be 1:1
The high-res (non 1:1) options are much better now. If you generate your heightfield at, say, 1024x1024, then generate your attributes map, light map and texture map at 8x, you'll get the same quality as your 1:1 8192x8192 map. In fact, the texture should look better using 8x because of the fractal texture-combiner and bump-mapper that don't get applied at 1:1 (these are new to v2.4+).
Forboding Angel wrote:I am probably one of the biggest supporters of L3dt, yet I'm probably the only person who's been afraid to upgrade. I have about 15 climates, and hell. I dunno maybe it's a combination of lazyness, niggling fear in the back of my mind, both, or jsut me being a wuss.
I think you're probably one of the few people who really got into the climate system before I changed the formats with v2.4 and added the climate editor. Thus, it wasn't such a big issue for most other people, because the changes didn't affect them much. Anyway, let me assure you that the new system is very similar to the old, so you don't have to un-learn or re-learn much. Most, if not all, of the parameters behave just the same. There are a few extra optional parameters for things like perlin noise, which you don't have to use if you don't like. The texture settings are a little different; before there were up to two textures and two bump maps for every land type, whereas now you can have any number you like. There is a feature to automate the setting of these texture layers, however, so it's pretty straightfoward.
Anyway, I recommend you give the latest version a try. The latest installers don't overwrite or break the old versions, so you can install (and install) the very latest dev build without affecting your v2.3d install. The download link is the same as it always was (consult your reg. email.)
Now, it's been a while since I converted a climate from v2.3 to v2.4, so I don't exactly remember all the gotchas in the operation. However, I'm pretty sure that L3DT will lose the texture/bump-map file names (unfortunate, but necessary), and it may mess up your low-res/high-res texture blend ratios. Everything else should be OK. Anyway, if you like, you can send me a climate or two and I will return the 'upgraded' versions, along with a list of the steps required to 2.4-ify them. Otherwise, you might like to have a look at the 'making a new climate tutorial' (or the first two chapters thereof):
http://www.bundysoft.com/wiki/doku.php? ... climate:01
http://www.bundysoft.com/wiki/doku.php? ... climate:02
I think if you give it a try you'll find that it really is worth the upgrade. The new climate system is better, and the climate editing interface makes it easier to edit/tweak climates. On top of that, you'll also benefit from the other improvements to L3DT, which have been many and varied.
Best regards,
Aaron.