Possible Better Worded Question About Block Textures

[bobrpggamer]

My other post did not get a reply so I decided to reword it, possibly the original topic might have been confusing.

So, how can I have a blended block texture? I am thinking if making asfault road between 2 trader where one does not exist and I would need to have at least a 45 degree blended block to make a turn in the road else it will look pretty lame.

I am good enough with photoshop to blend 2 textures (bitmap or DDS) with transparent layers. The problem is I cannot find the textures I need in the game data folder.

 

[khzmusik]

I meant to reply to your original topic, but by the time I double-checked my answers, it was days later. I thought it was probably moot at that point but I was obviously wrong.

The short answer is that it can't be done.

Here's the long answer. The textures that you can paint onto blocks (including terrain blocks) are not individual textures. They are part of a single texture array. (Think "CSS sprites" in web design.) The block only stores the index in the texture array. The texture array can't be made any larger, because the block's data bits are already full, and TFP can't spare another bit for a larger array index.

Additionally, the way terrain works, it wouldn't be possible for the game to tell when one block "blends" with another. (At least not from what I've been able to dig up in the code, which is admittedly very little.)

Also, the paint brush (even in dev mode) doesn't allow all textures to be painted, and in particular, the terrain block textures are not allowed. I'm not sure why. I suspect it's related to an issue that is notorious among POI builders: if you paint a block with a texture that is the "native" texture of a craft-able block (say, painting a wood block the same texture as concrete), then performance drops dramatically.

If you were allowed to use terrain textures, then I'd recommend just using a regular trim block with the asphalt texture, but unfortunately that's not an option.

There is another option, which is to use a single non-square block (like a ramp) on the boundary of the terrain, and maxing out its density by selecting it and hitting <shift>-<up arrow>. The block itself couldn't have a terrain texture, but you can put it next to any terrain block you want, including an asphalt terrain block. TFP have used this technique to make things like sidewalks that blend into the streets.

 

[bobrpggamer]

I guess I am used to polygon level design which this kind of thing was possible. Source Engine Hammer Editor, Thief 3 Edit (Unreal Engine) and The Dark Mod (Doom 3 Engine) are level editors that allowed textures to be blended easily.

Besides, the time necessary to make a road is a bit ridiculous anyway, so it is a small blessing I cannot do it.

Thank you for your reply.