Fog density is different between Oa and Q3

[Falkland]

I've already noticed that the fog of the map dc_map12 , which is quite q3tourney5 with white fog instead of yellow fog , seems more dense than in q3tourney5.

But the problem is not the fog itself . Another italian player ( Berseker ) makes me noticed that the fog of dc_map12 is quite normal in Quake3 while it's more dense - so dense to compromise visibility - only in OA.

[Falkland]

A follow up to point that it's the same for the map dc_map09 ( which regular quake3 correspondant map is q3dm4 ) which has fog around the location of the RA : the fog is much more dense in Openarena than in Quake3 that (and that's the new thing I've experimented ) it's impossible to see enemy even with (very) brightskins !!!.

Is there anything that can be done for this issue ?

[Neon_Knight]

Manipulating the fog shader in order to make it less dense. It's the same shader used for the map q3tourney5. I can't remember the name, and where it's located.

[sago007]

One should be aware that some maps (maybe czestctf2) need an update if the shader is changed because they need the dense version.

[Gig]

Thus, we should be sure (how?) of which OpenArena maps currently use that shader, create a copy of that shader with another name, modify the original shader to make it look more similar to the Q3 one (restoring Q3 maps "compatibility"), and then modify the OpenArena maps to make them point to the copied version...

Quicker to say that to do, but I suppose this would be an important fix to put in the next release...

[Falkland]

Thus, we should be sure (how?) of which OpenArena maps currently use that shader, create a copy of that shader with another name, modify the original shader to make it look more similar to the Q3 one (restoring Q3 maps "compatibility"), and then modify the OpenArena maps to make them point to the copied version...

Quicker to say that to do, but I suppose this would be an important fix to put in the next release...

Fog shaders ( there are many of them , as I see :/ ) are grouped in the file scripts/oa_fog.shader while they are grouped in scripts/sfx.shader in Quake3 but how to know the original name of the fog shader used in q3tourney5 and q3dm4 ?

There's no reference to those maps in oa_fog.shader while other quake3 maps are referenced , eg q3tourney3 , q3dm9 , q3dm14

[pulchr]

i would guess that the fog shader used in the q3tourney5 is "textures/sfx/fog_timdm1" and the one in q3dm4 is "textures/sfx/xdensegreyfog".
feel free to cut out the shaderlines from quake 3 if i'm not allowed to paste them here :/

quake3 "fog_timdm1":

Code:

textures/sfx/fog_timdm1
{
surfaceparm	trans
surfaceparm	nonsolid
surfaceparm	fog
surfaceparm	nolightmap
//fogparms ( .615 .309 0 ) 1800
fogparms ( .615 .309 0 ) 616
}

openarena "fog_timdm1":

Code:

textures/sfx/fog_timdm1
{
	surfaceparm trans
	surfaceparm nonsolid
	surfaceparm fog
	surfaceparm nolightmap
	cull disable
	fogparms ( 0.67059 0.48235 0.21961 ) 500
	
	{
		map textures/liquids/kc_fogcloud3.tga
		blendfunc filter
		tcMod turb .01 .5 0 .05
	}
	{
		map textures/liquids/kc_fogcloud3.tga
		blendfunc filter
		tcMod scroll -.02 .02
	}
}

quake3 "xdensegreyfog":

Code:

textures/sfx/xdensegreyfog
{
// Don't mess with this entry please.
// I use this for my dense low-lying fog
// -Xian
surfaceparm	trans
surfaceparm	nonsolid
surfaceparm	fog
surfaceparm	nolightmap
qer_nocarve
fogparms ( 0.7 0.7 0.7 ) 1700
}

openarena "xdensegreyfog":

Code:

textures/sfx/xdensegreyfog
{
        surfaceparm trans
        surfaceparm nonsolid
	surfaceparm fog
	surfaceparm nomarks
        cull disable
        fogparms ( 0.4784 0.4784 0.4784 ) 128
}

[Udi]

but how to know the original name of the fog shader used in q3tourney5 and q3dm4 ?

You can extract DO NOT LINK[/b]) h t t p s : / / openarena . wikia . com/wiki/List_of_missing_textures_and_shaders_of_Q3_and_TA_maps]all the shader names from the BSP tree, then check DO NOT LINK[/b]) h t t p s : / / openarena . wikia . com/wiki/List_of_Q3_and_TA_shaders]which shaders were in which Q3 shader definition file. The lists I've linked were made with a Perl script I published earlier (GPLv2). Although there's something wrong with the script, it doesn't extract all the shader names, so I used maps.clanarena.org more, but that site seems to be down. But maybe pulchr has another way.

Fix attached, only xdensegreyfog needed a change (distance to opaque increased to 1500), tested on q3_dm4, dc_map09, dc_map12.

[Falkland]

Thanks a lot guys for the useful infos and Udi for the useful infos and the fix.

[Falkland]

I tested this fix a bit and I found that the value 1500 makes the fog a bit too light ... so I've tried scaling it ...

The best compromise is to have it at 900-1000

[Udi]

Sorry, forgot about this one . Value changed to 1000:
package: z_fogfix_v2.pk3
Please test it, then it can be sent to the SVN commits thread.

[Falkland]

Sorry, forgot about this one . Value changed to 1000:
package: z_fogfix_v2.pk3
Please test it, then it can be sent to the SVN commits thread.

I've already tested with values between 900-1000 , so 1000 is OK for me

[Gig]

Is this the patch that will fix fog in maps designed for Q3A and will "mess up" fog density in maps previously designed for OA?

[Udi]

Is this the patch that will fix fog in maps designed for Q3A and will "mess up" fog density in maps previously designed for OA?

It fixes only one fog shader: xdensegreyfog. You can find that for example in q3dm4 at the red armor or dc_map12 (dreamcast version of q3tourney5). Are there more messed up fogs?

[Gig]

This post talked also about "fog_timdm1" shader, but I don't know if it needs a fix, too..

[Udi]

This post talked also about "fog_timdm1" shader, but I don't know if it needs a fix, too..

It wasn't as bad as xdensegreyfog before, but while I'm at it, I tweeked it a little:
Screenshot: fogfix_v3.jpg
Package: z_fogfix_v3.pk3

[Gig]

A friend of mine created a Q3 map where the fog looks white/grey in Q3A, and yellow/orange in OpenArena. I asked to him, and he said that he used a texture called "fog_timctf1", in the "sfx" folder. If this may help...

[Gig]

If you want to make a full check... I searched for all files called *fog* and for all .shader files that contained the word "fog" inside the pk3s of Quake3 and Team Arena:

In quake3 pak0.pk3
textures\liquids\kc_fogclud3.jpg
textures\sfx\portalfog.jpg

\scripts
base_floor.shader
common.shader
eerie.shader
gfx.shader
hell.shader
liquid.shader
sfx.shader
sky.shader
test.shader

In quake3 pak5.pk3
scripts\gfx.shader


In team arena pak0.pk3
textures\liquids\kc_fogcloud3.tga
textures\sfx\portalfog.tga
textures\sfx\ouchfog.tga

\scripts
base_floor.shader
common.shader
gfx.shader
jk_dm1.shader
jk_tourney1.shader
liquid.shader
sfx.shader
sky.shader

[Gig]

Udi, are you still there?

[Udi]

Udi, are you still there?

Yeah, I just didn't have time to make a full check. I'll do it until Friday.

[Udi]

Version 4 is ready. I've checked all the fog definitions, but I left out those which were broken in Q3 too (missing textures). I've moved the Q3 compatible definitions out of the oa_fog.shader and oasfx.shader, all the fog shaders should be at their original places. I did not count it, but approximately 8-10 shaders were fixed. All the Q3 maps and 3rd party maps should be fine now, please test it!

Screenshot: fogfix_v4.jpg
Package: z_fogfix_v4.pk3 (if you got the old fogs, be sure to remove 3rd party packages which have another sfx.shader file)

[Gig]

I tested my friend's map, and now the fog is correctly white there! ^_^

[Graion Dilach]

I can confirm it works. Also, I applause the fact that with this, dc_map12's fog don't look sliced from above.

Great work.

[Udi]

Here's a small update, the previous one had a regression. I've worked on the portal which can be seen in the basements on both q3dm7 and q3dm11, but the new images would have made the fog patch unnecessary big, so I rather removed them, but I left the shaders in, which made the previous somewhat working portal unusable. So now I removed the shaders affecting the portal, but the all the fog shaders are the same. (The new portal will eventually included in the next missing texture pack.)

Package: z_fogfix_v5.pk3 (remove previous version)

Now if no other bugs or regressions are found, it can go to the SVN commits thread, so please give it another try !

[Gig]

My friend's map continues to work correctly.  

PS: You got a cake.