[DexX]

This mod will add "real reflections" and specular lighting to Vice City.

Download:
http://www.3dhole.com/gtafiles/vc_gfx.rar

Instructions:
dump both .asi files, and the ini file into the same directory as your gta-vc.exe. I only tested this on an american 1.0 exe!
There are no keys to press to activate the mod, it should be active as soon as you enter the game.

the "real reflections" are basically what you see onscreen while playing, but without vehicles sprites or a hud, projected onto the model, and scaled down to a smaller image size. the idea isn't new, it was mentioned as a candidate for SA:PC, but rejected. it did find its way into the psp and ps2 versions of LCS and VCS though.
The specular lighting is accurate for every light in the scene, and respects each lights position, color, attenuation and direction.

Important note on specularity: This uses the specular level defined in the materials, of each model. If the materials on a model are too shiny, or not shiny enough, it is preferable to re-export the model, with the corrected material settings. Pedestrians are a good example of this. but like you, i don't want to fix and re-export 100+ pedestrian models
however if you DO want to fix a ped model so it's not shiny, you can do it, just set the specular value to 0.0 for each material you want to disable spec on.

Other known issues/bugs/etc are listed in the included readme.

Still to do:
-enable/disable switch for reflections
-user-definable reflection map size (currently locked @ 128*128)
-reflection multiplier (true chrome, ("high blending" for zmodeler users) is possible and looks sexy)
-trails option
-optional "sphere" mapping for vehicle reflections
-water stuff
-culling stuff
-???

Screenshots:


"Self reflecting" issue i mentioned in the readme. note the grille of the escalade, reflecting on itself - doesn't look right.

Spec on the gun looks good too.

Spec reflecting nicely across the hood..
interested parties can find the escalade seen in these pics, here.

Q/A
Q:"Why is this in the vehicle showroom?"
A: Because most of the people who use this, will be using it to make their vehicles look better. But it will be moved to editing / Tools shortly after the initial post.

Q:"Why does your stuff look alot shinier / more reflective than mine?"
A: During development of this mod, i figured out how to stuff that isn't in this release, and will be added at a later time. increased reflections is one of those things, and my escalade was designed with that in mind.

Q:"Can you port this to SA?"
A: Not easily. Sa works very differently. It is also capable of more than VC, and i would like to take advantage of that if i can.

Q:"Can you port this to GTA3?"
A: I won't. Yes, the ideas and techniques this mod uses could probably be ported to gta3, but i have little to no interest in doing so.

Special thanks to Ak-73 and Modelingman for their help. this mod wouldn't exist without them.

[Squiddy]

I was wondering if you guys where still challenging with it. Seems like you have won. Nice work, will try it out right now.

But there really should be a better way to disable specular lighting for peds.

[iRloading]

nice werk dexx~

somehow got me interested in wanting my crap in-game

lol



spec on peds seem to work well in cinematics~

VC peds actually look good/well-modeled imo

[Ryder35]

thank's for this mod let me install vc the game will be more realistic

QUOTE

Q:"Can you port this to SA?" A: Not easily. Sa works very differently. It is also capable of more than VC, and i would like to take advantage of that if i can.

i hope you will port it !!!!

[[CTD]LaBan]

but it think that anti-aliasing for VC would be great, too!

[DexX]

ok, there's a updated version, me and modelingman have been poking at this morning, which should eliminate spec on the street pedestrians. it semi-works in cutscenes; they start out ok, but once the camera cut to a different view, spec is back. only in cutscenes though.

anyway, it's an improvement over before,
peds should now be as dull as ever!
download link is the same.

@ [CTD]LaBan - multisampling is low priority, since it can be forced through your video card drivers.

[ceedj]

Excellent job Dexx. Works with VC and LC, residing comfortably with VC and LC Studios. I saw NO performance hit using FRAPS to capture.

Awesome!

[AK-73]

Lol, you stole my name! VC:Graphics.

Kidding aside... does your .asi enable both setting of intensity of specular reflection (per R-G-B) *as well as* gloss level? If you'd care to remember - my VC:Specular used some system to specify gloss level *and* intensity of specular reflection with a single float. The way it did that required some familiarization but allowed fine grain detail upon export.

If you make the stuff open source, then I might add my own enhancements in time.

Alex

[SteaVor]

Yep, it does work like a charm (but not at all on non-standard EXEs, but that's the least issue I think), but I'm in serious trouble because it gets more and more difficult to maintain the VC root dir . Thanks to AK-73 in particular there are many ASIs and accompanying config files cluttering up the dir*, but that's possibly a good thing because it means that there are many hardcoded aspects of VC freely modifiable now. So for you! Looks very good now.


*AND I'VE NOT EVEN DOWNLOADED SQUIDDY'S MP3CONTROL YET!

[Squiddy]

Excuse me for beeing a little bit offtopic now.

SteaVor, that's a good point you're mentioning. If more and more DLLs are developed, we might think about agreeing on some kind of standard? Maybe creating a directory called "plugins" or "config" and moving all config files there. So at least the config files are easy to find and all in once place.

Just a thought.

[SteaVor]

I've been thinking about that for quite some time; XP displays 34 files in my VC root dir - most of them are LC-specific of course, but your MP3 mod would be the 6th non-LC-ASI in there, so it's maybe no urgent matter, but since all the ASI makers are here there could as well be an agreement about a shared subdir used for the configs.

[[DRuG]NikT]

This is an awesome addition dexx... thanks heaps - mods like these breath a little more life into a game that deserves it.

[iRloading]

I like a slight sheen to the peds, so I just lowered the multiplier a bit

makes em look more... dynamic?

[dertyjerzian]

Made it to a release <3 I'm so proud

Your escalade looks fIcking vIcious with it!

[AK-73]

QUOTE (SteaVor @ Jun 13 2007, 19:22)

I've been thinking about that for quite some time; XP displays 34 files in my VC root dir  - most of them are LC-specific of course, but your MP3 mod would be the 6th non-LC-ASI in there, so it's maybe no urgent matter, but since all the ASI makers are here there could as well be an agreement about a shared subdir used for the configs.

It's an idea I have had quite some time ago already - being the main source of all the clutter myself. I had been thinking of the folder name "custom content". All that is necessary in the VC dir is an .asi that scans through all the folders within "custom content" - that enables developers to bunlde their mods in an appropriate way.

But I have been too busy with other stuff to create that one. Sounds like a fitting job for someone with decent c++ or whatever skills to have shot at creating a simple .dll.

Alex

PS Dexx, I think there *is* a way to introduce specular lighting (+normals) to all desired models without re-export but via coding and a .cfg file.



This post has been edited by AK-73 on Thursday, Jun 14 2007, 11:48

[Monitor57]

Awesome mod man, only 1 problem. instead of being able to see realtime reflections, all the cars with reflection display some weird sort of funny discoulered refmap which never changes or moves...

- M57

[Ben]

QUOTE (AK-73 @ Jun 14 2007, 21:45)

QUOTE (SteaVor @ Jun 13 2007, 19:22) I've been thinking about that for quite some time; XP displays 34 files in my VC root dir  - most of them are LC-specific of course, but your MP3 mod would be the 6th non-LC-ASI in there, so it's maybe no urgent matter, but since all the ASI makers are here there could as well be an agreement about a shared subdir used for the configs. It's an idea I have had quite some time ago already - being the main source of all the clutter myself. I had been thinking of the folder name "custom content". All that is necessary in the VC dir is an .asi that scans through all the folders within "custom content" - that enables developers to bunlde their mods in an appropriate way. But I have been too busy with other stuff to create that one. Sounds like a fitting job for someone with decent c++ or whatever skills to have shot at creating a simple .dll. Alex PS Dexx, I think there *is* a way to introduce specular lighting (+normals) to all desired models without re-export but via coding and a .cfg file.

I agree as well. It'd certainly be more "user-friendly" for people who are less experienced in the world of modding, and it makes logical sense. Not that I could program anything that would make it work, but I hope someone out there can.



@DexX - looks great, I'll be sure to check this out when my uni holidays start next Wednesday.

[MasterK]

Got the same problem az Monitor57...

Plus there isn't any reflection on peds :S

[[CTD]LaBan]

QUOTE (Monitor57 @ Jun 15 2007, 00:41)

Awesome mod man, only 1 problem. instead of being able to see realtime reflections, all the cars with reflection display some weird sort of funny discoulered refmap which never changes or moves... - M57

/me has same problem

is it possible to add blur effect to VC like THAT
It have been done with San Andreas...

[iRloading]

seems to work fine on mine



notice the faggio

reflections are like specmaps I bet, like if they're stretched or something across a polygon etc. they'd look funky