#MakePath 2.0
12 messages in this thread
I have been playing with VistaPro 2.0 and my HAME and been having one
heck of a great time! I was blown away by those example scripts that
you guys have on the disk. Really cool stuff! I play them back on
my Amiga 3000 through HAME and they really look good! I am sure glad
you guys supported HAME! Question… I have 6 meg in my 3000 now.
What would say 4 more meg get me in VistaPro 2.0? Is it the more
memory you have the more detailed the image? I could't find anything
in the manual that mentions the benefits you get with extra memory.
Also in MAKEPATH, is there a way to load in those example scripts
that are on the VP 2.0 disk? One last question… What are these
really HUGE landscapes that you guys are talking about?
Nick
Nick:
Look at the leftmost menu on VistaPro 2.0. There is a Menu Item
called Landscape Size. Small landscapes are 258 x 258 data points, and are
the size you are used to playing with in earlier versions of VistaPro and
Vista. Large is 514×514 data points, and can be a single landscape or made
up of 4 Small landscapes. Huge is 1026×1026 data points and can be a single
landscape or made up of 16 Small landscapes. Our "X" series scapes are made
up so that the small landscapes will "lock" together to form a Large or
Huge landscape with VistaPro 2.0. A Small landscape will typically load in
a machine with 3 megs of memory, while a Large landscape needs 4.5 megs and
a Huge landscape around 8.5 megs of FAST memory. This is described in more
detail on pages 3-2 and 3-3 of the VistaPro 2.0 manual.
Unfortunately, there was not room on the disks to save the
Sessions from MakePath, however, these were very simple scripts made
with MakePath, and should be able to be duplicated in just a few
seconds. It was just "Load a landscape", "Set the flight mode",
"Point and click to make a path", "Select Loop", "MakePath", "Save
Script". MakePath will load Small, Large and Huge landscapes.
Ok Clint thanks a bunch for the info. Can I combine a few differnet
landscapes to make a big landscape or must they be a "X" series scape?
Nick
Actually, you can combine any of the Small scapes, but they won't
join together like the "X" scapes will. You'll get some very straight
cliffs where two scapes meet at different altitudes.
> …you can combine any of the Small scapes, but they won't join
> together like the "X" scapes will. You'll get some very straight cliffs
> where two scapes meet at different altitudes.
Yeah, but then you could fly directly from Devil's Tower to Olympus Mons,
or from the Grand Canyon to Valles Marineris….
That's true. Just wait and see… <grin>
I tried rendering a scene with clouds, and they look great except
that right around the horizon (aligning more-or-less to the edges of
the DEM file used to render them) there are hard edges to the cloud
mass. In other words, they don't extend all the way down. What's
the best fix?
Pete:
The clouds try to stay at least 500 meters above the highest point on
the landscape. There are several solutions:
1) Try to lower the cloud elevations.
2) Load the largest landscape area you can. If you are using a small
landscape, Enlarge it to fill the landscape area.
3) Try to have hills or mountains on the horizon. In small mode, the
horizon is only about 5 miles away at the best case, so you can suffer from
the "edge of the world" phenomena. A Large landscape is about 10 miles
wide, and a Huge one is about 20 miles wide. As you can see, the Large and
Huge give you much farther horizons, and make it harder to see off the
edge.
4) Sky Haze can cause the horizon to blend into the clouds. If you use a
low enough cloud elevation and large enough Haze (around 50 – 100 should be
plenty), you won't see the division between the bottom of the clouds and
the horizon.
Hmm… you mean we've discovered an FTL travel method??? <grin>
> Hmm… you mean we've discovered an FTL travel method??? <grin>
Only By The Power Of The Amiga… <grin>
. . . . . JimDoc
One other question that I think you forgot to answer. What kind of
improvements to image quality will I get if I add 4 more meg of ram to my
already 6 meg Amiga 3000? (2 meg chip 4 fast). Can the image on the cover
of the manual be done with a 10 meg 3000? Can you upload a JPEG of that
image?
Nick
Nick:
I think a JPEG of that image is already over in AmigaArts. That
was done with my 3000 when I had only 5 megs in it. It could
conceivably be done on a 3 meg machine. At 3 megs you can do Small
scapes up to 768x484x24bits. At 10 megs I've done 1024x768x24bits and
a Small scape. I tried a 1536x956x24bit, but I didn't have enough
memory even with 10 megs. On an 18 meg 3000 you should be able to do
2048x1536x24bit and a Large scape, or 1536x956x24bit and a Huge
scape. The theoretical maximum is 4096x3072x24bits and a Huge scape,
but that would require about 48 megs of FAST memory. We haven't
tested that high due to lack of memory ourselves, but the code is
supposed to handle it. We have done as high as 1536x956x24bits.
With 10 megs in a 3000 you _might_ be able to squeeze in a Huge
landscape if you have 2.0 in ROM, but you also might not. It's right on the
border. Most of the advertizing pics (except for the Devil's Tower) were
done with Small landscapes at 768x484x24bits. I've been working on some
Large scapes recently, and I'm definitely liking the results I'm getting. I
just did one of Yosemite Falls that came out beautifully. I have a few
ideas of ways to make it even better, and I'll upload a JPEG of it when I'm
done. There are already a few JPEG's over in Arts of some 2.0 renderings
that are quite spectacular.
Clint <VRLI>