specular problem

[fLUnKnhaXYU]

anybody know ?

vewr 3.9 , sky box with time of day , axis tilt is 80 degrees , specular from the sun is showing on the water while the sun is beneath the terrain .

[fLUnKnhaXYU]

Here Im using skatter sky and just the skatterskies' sun , and there is no such issue .

Perhaps there is some issue with the sun object . Im using v3.9 here so , maybe the sun settings can be adjusted at certain times as a solution ?

[Duion]

I encountered this problem before while using dynamic day and night cycle, there was a short time when the sun has set that the sunlight specular is still visible.

No idea what it is, I just worked around the issue so it does not happen in my case.

I don't know if the skybox and sun object is needed at all, it is kind of confusing to have scattersky and skybox and regular sun, it should be more modular.

You can also workaround that issue, by using a scattersky, setting it to night, choosing a skybox you want and then setting the night colors so that it appears to be regular day colors, that way you can have scattersky with skybox and work around your specular issue.

Probably a dirty hack, but that is how I solve such issues, but maybe someone with a bit more talent in programming could just fix it for real. Maybe someone can just copy the working code from the scattersky into the regular skybox/sun object. So it is only half a workaround.

[fLUnKnhaXYU]

seems a lot of things are attainable through scripting I would agree if I could , but nice smooth interaction with water seems standardand equipment these days , maybe Im wrong , and since 3.9 , which is the version Im using , isnt very many updates back Id be concerned for the status of such matters as these .Dont get me wrong , for the money's worth Im certainly not complaining . but is there some issue with transparency here . Is it still a problem ?

this is a walkway using transparency , more than a hundred meters away

SunFlare

player showing through the splash image

player showing through the splash images and specular

this is straight down and looks good to me however a view straight ahead from the player is ver clear for tens of meters as seen in the first couple of images .

[Duion]

You are using transparency wrong, you are not supposed to use transparency, but to use alpha treshhold, then you will get no issues.

The problem with the different transparency algorithms is not of the engine, but on how those work. I remember transparent glasses in halflife1 that could not receive shadows, so they were always bright, similar to your first image.

Another issue with transparency is, they cannot be occluded by other transparent objects, since the engine does not know how, things are either solid or transparent and water is transparent, you would have to make the water solid in order for it to cover a transparent object.

[fLUnKnhaXYU]

I played with the transparency settings in the material editor with no beneficial results , I tried making a couple images using more grey , jpeg and png no benifit . so I dont know .

[Duion]

I just told you to not use transparency, but alpha treshhold and jpegs do not work for that. Transparency is for things like glass and I don't think your bridge needs glass.

[fLUnKnhaXYU]

Im sorry Duion , yes it isnt glass but it is transparent , a transparent energy field and there is no compromise . as for the splash or foam textures I guess they must be transparent as well . seems the only resolution at the moment is no underwater action in close proximity to transparent objects , but what about other crafts with widows or glass or windows and glass!?? But really I know this version is getting old , Im not really concerned .

[Duion]

You can try going through the different blend modes in transparency settings until you find something that is decent and/or make underwater fog so dense that it hides the thing, just go creative in making workarounds.

There are so many ways you can do it, for example you could disable transparency and use glow in the material editor, it will look very energy fieldish as well.

[Bloodknight]

since 3.9 , which is the version Im using , isnt very many updates back Id be concerned for the status of such matters as these.

 

3.9 release July 2016, number of updates since that time ~1000, assuming you consider each commit as an update, since most of them even if trivial fix something or other or add something or other.

I'd suggest you update your assumptions at least, if not the engine, depending on your needs (probably requires either excruciatingly reading commit notes or asking a specific question in here or discord), I'd go with that latter, commit notes are amazingly non-helpful

[fLUnKnhaXYU]

Excuse me Bloodknight , I think what I meant to say is , not that many versions back . The problems mentioned above appear in 3.10 too . That is to say if you would see them as problems and not just limitations and I thank you for your suggestions .