Yes, I think that's all exactly right.

On the transparentcy issue. A version of Glidos I have here, but haven't yet released, doesn't respond to the magic 966432 colour if you use png files. That colour (and all the ones close to it) actually give solid visible texture. You can instead use alpha to define a mask. You can also define grey scales in the alpha to give partial transparencies, but it is best not to overuse that feature, since it has an overhead, and doesn't order the rendering of textures correctly in all cases.

Alpha channel masks would be really great 😀

Shouldn't be too long before I can release that.

I love the new textures, they rock!

How are you going about doing this, anyway? I'd love to help--I'm pretty good with texturing--or to simply experiment on my own. Could this be done with TR2, since it's essentially the same engine?

The best way to modify TR2's textures would be to use TRe3D or even Rview from Turbo Pascal. TRe3D is a full-blown alternative level editor (compatible with TR1-5 and TRLE); Rview is a 'level viewer' that can actually be used to modify the textures and lightings.

Instructions for the method for TR1 using Glidos are here http://www.glidos.net/retext.html?lang=en

TR1 and TR2 engines are very different in the platform they targetted. Tr1 is a DOS program, whereas TR2 is Windows.

Heh, I'm back after a long Christmas break, and ready to start doing some more TRx stuff (though finding a job is rather more important right now).

I just want to get some input on an issue that was raised: Capturing textures in normal mode results in different folder names than if you capture in Mipmapping mode.

TRX textures were captured in Normal mode, but I'm wondering if it might be better to go back and capture them in Mipmap mode instead. It would make more sense for the end user if Normal=Old Textures and Mipmap=New Textures.

What does everyone think?

I'd need to understand the whole mipmapping subject in the first place.

Apart from a different folder structure, is there any difference in terms of display quality? I would tend to believe so, but activating mipmapping in OpenGlide makes my display extremely blurry in the distance and doesn't provide any framerate improvement at all.

Anyway, what has the TextureOverride feature to do with mipmapping (since it works even with mipmapping disabled)? I'm quite lost on this matter.

From what I can tell, OpenGlides mipmapping (which is enabled in it's INI file), is entriely different from the mipmapping setting within TombRaider.

If I switch between normal and mipmap mode within the game, with no high res textures enabled, the only difference I see is a slight darkening of textures. Actual mipmapping only works when enabled in OpenGlide's INI file.

So from the point of view of TRX, using Normal and MipMap modes makes no odds, other than the folder name issue. It could be seen as the Orginal/High Res switch rather than the Normal/MipMap switch.

I'm sure Paul can clarify further.

Hi welcome back.

Yeh, the mipmapping in TR and in OpenGlide are different. The setting in TR causes it to generate mipmaps (copies of the same texture, but at many different resolutions). It passes them to OpenGlide via the Glide interface, but OpenGlide ignores them. The setting in OpenGLid.INI causes OpenGLide to generate its own mipmaps, from the base texture that TR passes.

Texture capture only grabs the base texture, so you don't get to see TR's mipmaps, however the mipmapping process seems to make a slight difference to the base texture, so what you capture looks very slightly different. Also, since the folder names are derived from the texture contents, you end up capturing textures in different folders.

I see what you mean about making mipmap=high res, but I don't have a strong oppinion ether way. I think if pushed for an oppinion, I'd go for normal=high res, because that way fresh installs of TR would find high-res enabled, giving one less thing to confuse users. In any case, I think mainly people would do the on/off thing with F4, where they can't see which state its in.

Did you get a chance to try the new Glide.exe I left for you, BTW?

Kaminari, mipmaping isn't supposed to be a speed optimisation. It is supposed to make things a little blurry, to avoid interference effects. I'd just assumed it would be universally prefered; good job its an option, so those that don't like it can turn it off. The bluriness may be worse at lower screen resolution. I tend to run at 1280x1024.

Thanks for the explanation, guys. Now it makes much more sense 😀

I'd prefer to see the current TR mipmap setting left as it is. Indeed, I forsee that many people would overlook the F4 key and just ask why the new textures don't work by default.

I've started a Vilcabamba texture set. I'm hoping to have a beta out in a few weeks. 😁

Will you be doing this from scratch or using any of my textures as a base?

I respectfully ask that you refrain from doing the latter.

From scratch. I may use your passport images, and one of your doors (just for continuities sake), but they will not be modded in any way, and you'll be credited, as asked at your sites.

Maybe using the door is okay with Matthew, have to see what he says, but you do actually need his permission. Copyright is automatic.

I'm not trying to beat anybody with a stick here, but I thought that that was worth mentioning.

Also, if someone is going to start up independently of Matthew, it might be worth jumping to the 4th level (forgot the name), where the textures are very different. Matthew obviously has a big head start on Level 2 & 3, because of texture reuse.

Oh yeh: also you should wait just a little before doing anything with textures that have transparency, until Matthew and I get are act together releasing Glidos v1.26 with updated TRX textures.

OK, no problem. BTW, I'm not happy with that door image, and it'll probably change, so bear that in mind before you go too wild! 😉 Paul's point is a good one -- you might want to jump to another level set entirely due to the texture reuse.

As for the project in general, it's great to see that other people want to make their own textures. I'm all for it -- but regardless of what other people produce I still intend to do a complete replacement set for the entire game. 😀

Thanks for the suggestion, but I see no point in not doing a level simply because there's (admittedly awesome) textures in place, especially since you're going to stick with your own, regarldess of what else is produced. Besides...all my photos I took of Chichen Itza and Tulum work really nice on the 2nd level. The Devs used more Mesoamerican than Peruvian textures on that level anyway 😉 so there's a precedent 😁

Great to see someone who knows about this stuff also wanting to do new textures. The thing that always bothered me about the Peru levels was how Core Design mixed all kinds of meso-American cultures together in their level design. Still, they look good and that counts more than being completely accurate.

As for the TRX project in general: I'll be working on this again soon. Too much stuff going on in Real Life right now to think about it.