Miscellaneous: Plate helm graphic broken for human/half elf.

Anuril · #1 05-28-2010, 10:05 PM

Is there anyway to fix the plate helm graphic for humans and half elves? You know what I'm talking about. The visor is permanently welded shut right now which really makes it hard to perform a variety of tasks including hunting, bashing, slaying, and traveling around Norrath in general.

I know what your thinking... "Why doesn't this newb just turn off that ugly bucket helm graphic in the first place?"... but I don't care I want my classic plate helm graphic back if at all possible!

For reference here is what human plate helm should look like on the right.
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guineapig · #2 05-29-2010, 11:38 AM

I thought the half-elf plate helm was always a closed visor?

**nilbog** · #3 05-29-2010, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by guineapig [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I thought the half-elf plate helm was always a closed visor?

:P

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I found the file needed to fix this in the global_chr.s3d. I suppose it *can* be fixed, but people would need to fix it for themselves individually, as we can't distribute client files.

Anyways, the problem is here. helm24.bmp. I'm not a graphic artist, but I assume if you can make this portion transparent, when it wrapped around the models head, it would make the visor open. I assume there is a similar file for human hats.
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guineapig · #4 05-29-2010, 01:01 PM

Wow, I have never seen the graphic look like this!

My bad...

Anuril · #5 05-29-2010, 01:43 PM

So there is hope! Where are the graphic artists at?

Skaff · #6 05-29-2010, 05:08 PM

Yeah, I forget when all the visors all "shut".

Typically a transparent color is something strange like a magenta or a neon green. I have looked around for any information related to it and have come up empty handed.

Winston · #7 05-29-2010, 05:41 PM

OK I'm looking for a photoshop plugin @ nvidias site called Texture compression, but can't seem to find it, anyone have any idea on how to go about this?

http://developer.nvidia.com/object/n...ure_tools.html

is where I'm looking...I think someone told me once that s3d's are really 3ds max file formats, but just a changed format to decrease anyone trying to fuck with the zones/textures?

doacleric · #8 05-29-2010, 08:32 PM

The problem is that around 2001, or the era of the DX8 upgrade, many forms of transparency in EQ were broken. If you look at a tradeskill oven, you will no longer see the fire inside. Many lanterns ingame no longer show the flame inside. And, as you've noticed, the helms don't appear correctly.

This might be fixable by editing the texture file itself. But the texture files themselves have not changed since 1999. Only the way the game "recognizes" these transparent areas has changed. Even physically editing the files may not help.

And as many things, this is client controlled, and not something we can really fix.

Gamkek · #9 05-30-2010, 03:11 PM

The only problem with this is that editing the bitmap to add transparency isn't going to work, assuming EQ needs the file in .bmp format, because bitmaps don't have channels for transparency!

If we can make it a .jpg without the client getting all fussy then we might have a chance (if someone can get me a copy of the raw helm24.bmp file, I can do this), but otherwise this is just something we'll have to live with. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Skaff · #10 05-30-2010, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gamkek [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

The only problem with this is that editing the bitmap to add transparency isn't going to work, assuming EQ needs the file in .bmp format, because bitmaps don't have channels for transparency!

If we can make it a .jpg without the client getting all fussy then we might have a chance (if someone can get me a copy of the raw helm24.bmp file, I can do this), but otherwise this is just something we'll have to live with. [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Like doacleric said, a lot of these textures have not changed since they were put out in 99'. However, either though DX changes or possible internal client changes... something, other than the texture files, changed.

In terms of the bmp file format, you can get transparent behavior from them. That is all determined by the software working with the bmp. Though that is only speaking from a win32 application standpoint and using pretty primitive graphic controls. I am unsure once any DX junk is added to the mix.