Hello All,

Hopefully someone would help me with my problem.. I have here two models which are the house and the windmill but I've got a problem with regards to it's visibility issue, I can still see the windmill even if it should be block by the house on the view. I've read something like z-depth sorting with the engine but I have no clue how to implement this one. I'm using a dds file texture with alpha channel..



Anybody who knows how to solve this issue?

Thanks..

Get rid of the alpha channel in your textures unless ABSOLUTELY necessary.
Its a well known DirectX(?) issue.

Yeah I've tried to use 24bit tga file texture but the transparent part will be seen on my trees models..



Ahhhhhh... Is there any other way to solve this one?

Anyone who has any knowledge about this stuff??? please...

Another way Ive HEARD of, but never tried...
Ditch the alpha from the TGA, but where there was alpha, make the texture black.
Black-black. r=0, g=0, b=0.
Then for the models needing it, turn on the OVERLAY flag. Black-Black will go invisible...
OR
Set the "d3d_autotransparency" to 1 in main, and make sure pixel Zero (top-left) is the color you want transparent.
Then for the models needing it, turn on the OVERLAY flag. Whatever color pixel Zero is will go invisible...

TRY THIS SMALL SCALE FIRST. Results can sometimes look CRAP! According to other members of the forum.

If you end up HAVING to stay with alpha, wait for further responses.
I dont know of a way around the z-sort errors, but I havent dealt with them so I could easily be unaware of a fix...

Thanks for that work-around EvilSOB.. I'll try this one...

One way to solve the problem is to create a 3D tree trunk object and then utilize sprites of the limbs/leafs using 32 bit alpha placed around the tree within wed (no geometry used for limbs-- only sprites placed/rotated by hand in wed). Then group the tree trunk 3d object and all it's sprite leaf/branches into a single object.

Groups (your tree) can be duplicated easily in wed. The great thing about this method (besides fixing your sorting issues) is that you have the opportunity to "scope down" and change each tree (group of trunk and several branch sprites) so that it doesn't have the exact same branch arrangement creating a wide variety of trees. (You can also change scale of the individual elements to create variety. )Create 3-4 trunks and no tree will be the same.


With your mdl house, try and avoid concave elements and assemble your house like the tree in parts within wed i.e. the chimney could be another object. Is this ideal? No, I'm sure a technical fix exists, but it does solve the issue.

Or for a structure-- use map brushes (wmp wed created polys) instead of a model.
(Got a house with exterior and interior? Closing the house entirely (no windows) and providing a twisting foyer so that you can't see the interior from the outside or the outside from the interior should help the engine optimize rendering speed.)

You could also use the improved overlay material from the wiki.

quoting wiki:


However, the script has still to be converted to lite-C.

all you really need to do is make a material with alpha testing, and that's it.

@Enduriel
Sounds simple but any advise or example how to implement it?

@vertex & kombucha
Thanks for the advise and the link..