I spent much of the morning today trying to figure out why the little triangles you sometimes see around map tiles in som_db.exe were showing up in DarkDestiny with Ex in some modes.

It turns out whether intentional or accidental, under som_db.exe colorkey is disabled for map tile textures, even though the textures themselves are colorkeyed. But in a som_rt.exe game (built game) colorkey is enabled.

Sometimes there are little triangles embedded in map tiles, either intentionally or accidentally. They may work like control points, or just be visual cues. I thought sometimes they were yellow, but they seem to be black... at least in a som_rt.exe game. They may well have a yellow texture under som_db.exe.

Anyway, what this means is when you're working on your project (normally) if you make a map tile and wanted to knockout some texels like the way you can with objects by making them black, that would not work. But after you build your game, the texels will be knocked out. And in fact if they are not there are many map tiles which have those little triangles which if visible in a final game would be bad.

Anyway, what this means is you should be able to use transparent texels just fine with your custom map tiles, even though I'm not sure any that come with Som do so (probably not)

With Ex I'm tempted to just always apply the colorkey even under som_db, but may just add a do_colorkey option so you can get the same effect while working on your project until we can figure out if there is any significance to the way Som handles this. If the little triangles are indeed yellow under som_db.exe then colorkey would probably not apply to them anyway (not being black)

Another thing to keep in mind is the colorkeying under Ex actually looks really great, because it is filtered (smoothed / not jagged) when your texture is done correctly.

Overall percentage completion of assets: 79.4

Updated at 12/06/13
Estimation is based on everything being 95% cert making it into the final cut.

Items 82%

Armour 65%

Helms: 19

Body armour: 12

Arms: 3

Legs: 2 basic pieces so far. Most body armours will make up for basic leg armour.

Shields: 2

Weapons 95%

Total weapons: 34

Consumables 80%

Total health consumables: 13

Sellables 75%

Total sellables : 16

Misc rings and amulets 95%

Rings: 9

Amulets: 2

Enemies 80%

Total enemies: 18

NPCs 65%

Total NPCs: 15

Misc NPCs: Training dummy and barrel.


Soundtrack 95%

Total tracks: 24

2d Images 75%

Menu background complete
Main menu incomplete
Credits complete
No maps complete, none created for any level

Map pieces havent been included, because there are too many to factor into the final %

Some enemies have not been included because of reworking or uncertainty.

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[size=14pt]The Rathmor 'bin it!' section[/size]

Culled original items over 3 years development : 100

Culled original enemies over 1.6 years: 10

Culled original NPCs over 1.6 years: 4

Culled individual lengthy SOM projects : 4

Culled BGM : 19

Culled map pieces: over 250

Despair not. ‎  I will be creating 'the culled thread' at some point with images of my culled assets, which I can possibly give anyone who could find a home for them.

Does anyone know how far mhm data will stretch? I've been making the regular grid set from metaseq.

I'd like to make a full room or a full model that doesnt need to be broken down into single map pieces. It'd be far easier for me ‎ 

I could use some help/direction as I?m stuck at the moment. I?m sure some of these are related and will relate to each other.
Here?s the last few things I?ve done;

Obtained the eclipse and guardian swords, talked to the dragon, got the 12 crown something (for teleporting to verdite), & got all 4 elemental weapons. I also have 14 of the 15 magics. Now here?s what I?m stuck on;

Is there anything I have to do directly after obtaining all 4 elemental weapons?

When using the dragon shrine keys I'm sure the symbols have to be lined up in a certain pattern but I haven't found any place that shows the order.

Where do I get the key for the red/gold chests? Like the one on the pirate ship.

How do I unseal the white chests?

How do I get through the passageway that?s blocked by brittle boulders? (right by the dwarf who asks you to get his pickaxe) I?m guessing it?s an item as I?ve tried every single weapon and magic spell.

How do I remove the crystal stuck in the wall in the miner?s guild mine wall? I?m guessing a pickaxe but I don?t have one.

How/where do I use the 12 crown thing?

How do I unseal all the doors in the coliseum hallway?

How do I get the blue crystal that?s sitting on the pile of rocks on the mine cart track in the undersea castle? I can?t interact with it at all.

Where in the heck are all the pedestal crystals at? I see the pedestals everywhere but I?ve only found 1 crystal and that was for the undersea castle.

How do I unseal the door (it?s pretty close to gigi?s house, in the dark, purple cavern)

What is the dark magic (wada? ritual sheet for) It?s still in my inventory after I finished the quest so I?m guessing it?s used for something. ‎ 

What can I do with Mel Morris (the tree monster) that wants to see Gigi?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Are map tiles allowed more than one texture?

I'll be posting Rathmor screenshots here as i go along. Theres a few here to get started on.
Feel free to post your screenshots when you have the game.

Produce! The screenshot isnt 100% clear as its a jpg.


Look around for stems in the ground...



... They may yield mighty treasures!

Please state your vote folks! Question being... The weapon and armour models will be displayed outside of the shop menu.

Looking thru the DATA/ENEMY/ folder, I see TEXTURES.

In there there are .txr and .bmp files. Neither of which are necessary to .mdl files.

So I'm curious... when you re-skin a monster for example. Does it not create a new .mdl file? Or is there a new way to associate textures with .mdl files

If you can texture a .mdl file with a .txr file somehow, that would really open up some possibilities. The most basic of which is better colour depth.

Thoughts?

I noticed today Som wasn't producing the object lighting to match up with the lamps (with my drivers/Windows 7)

I knew that before if you changed your display settings in the options mid game the object lighting had a tendency to disappear, but this is new.

An example of why this sucks is if you have say a lamp near a false wall (secret door) the door object will have no lighting but the walls around it will. Of course the object lighting and map piece lighting have never meshed correctly so your secret door would still be pretty obvious either way but it kind of cramps the atmosphere for it to not be lit to at least match.

The lamp lights are never even created. The directional map lights are however. The ambient map light isn't actually a light, its a global render state I learned about only the other day while researching the Direct3D lighting model.

Anyway I know for certain these were working before, though it may've been a year since I last payed attention to them. I'm assuming there is some device capability that Som expects to be reported just so which is not.

I'm pretty confident it can be fixed (with Ex...) in fact in theory it definitely can be. I'd forgotten about the lights being lost after leaving the options screen. Hopefully that can also be remedied in the process, though there is a possibility that bug might present more trouble... or at the least require a less than eloquent approach.

I have been seeing on some SOM games this issue of transparent object.I realize my pc is E-Machine with intergrated graphics card and shared memory.So I dont expect very much out of it yet on Trismegistus,Diadem of Maunstraut both work perfect.I have no visual problems,no framerate issues,no black areas or bleed thru.not even an issue with the memory just a quick flicker at beginning.I have been drawn in as others to start working with SOM and my project has now just run into this issue.I had seen no sign of transpareancy till adding the sky after this no matter the settings (even option ie resolution,texture mode) no change.I have change every setting in map mode also alters appearance not situation any help here?Now to my question i realize if I wish to continue I will need a new PC I have gaming machine.i do not wish to put this on that to many hour of play time!So what would be the best set up for this ie:video card,memory. I be thankful for any help would really like to dig into SOM