[B3.1][Stadium] Transparent textures for modders

[HawkGer]

BliNNeMaNs....do you know for sure that transparency in custom blocks is possible right now?
I am asking because the last thing I read was this post from damien: http://forum.maniaplanet.com/viewtopic. ... 00#p124654
Even if binary alpha will be supported some day (or is supported right now) it is still a dramatic downgrade from TMNF. Most RPG mods relied on gradual transparency and not just transparency on/off.

[JumperJack]

...so in one sentence: All the really important stuff already is more than perfect (not talking about little bugs, but the big picture)...

i must agree with you here, occam. very well put, all your posts. nadeo did an awesome job, no doubt about it! even the smaller things like different pipes and ledges might even lead to new rpg-tricks!

nevertheless, i think it would be great to be able to make the blocks (partly) transparent with mods. it would be such a shame to miss this feature, especially to be able to create some light in dark rooms.

[Omnixor]

how about inventing new styles of RPG?.. objects are cooler than transparency.

[eie]

how about inventing new styles of RPG?.. objects are cooler than transparency.

This is just like trying to build a house with no windows. It can be done. It can certainly be cool. But it won't be a real house without windows.

Having glass in a map is a really really good way to make good scenery which makes the map appear bigger than it is and is good way to block the way without using a wall. Image in you're in a room with a window, that makes for an infinitely more interesting room than a room without windows. And making things interesting really make the atmosphere of a map. It is very useful if you want to give a hint of a hint of what's to come later in a map, if you're able to peek through a window to see what's coming.

Windows also gives a more natural light into a room than glowing lightbulb, and in general just makes things more aesthetically pleasing. You can create a window with just a transparent block or no block, but it would feel unnatural to just crash into an invisible barrier, and it would be unnatural a window with no glass(unless it's an ancient pyramid map of course)

And this isn't just about windows: ice, water and similar translucent object will be hard to replicate without transparency. Or think of a futuristic material(a light barrier etc.), or ghosts. The fact is, transparency is actually important to create many of these features.

RPG will certainly have to reinvent itself, such will all the other track styles do as well. And not just for this one reason, but because copying our past makes the future boring. We have to do it because of all the new features and changes of Stadium 2, but the lack of transparency and transparent object just makes for too limiting changes, and overall might decrease the potential of a lot of nice maps.

[xt3]

will certainly have to reinvent itself, such will all the other track styles do as well. And not just for this one reason, but because copying our past makes the future boring. We have to do it because of all the new features and changes of Stadium 2, but the lack of transparency and transparent object just makes for too limiting changes, and overall might decrease the potential of a lot of nice maps.

So true! I feel like if we could have that one thing we'd be able to make amazing maps

[JumperJack]

will certainly have to reinvent itself, such will all the other track styles do as well. And not just for this one reason, but because copying our past makes the future boring. We have to do it because of all the new features and changes of Stadium 2, but the lack of transparency and transparent object just makes for too limiting changes, and overall might decrease the potential of a lot of nice maps.

So true! I feel like if we could have that one thing we'd be able to make amazing maps

very well put, i completely agree! all the other changes might actually be nice improvements, but to have transparency actually is a must for a very big variety of possibilities.

[xt3]

True so why cant we just have some. StadiumFabricStructure, StadiumFabric and StadiumPlatformFloor are some Key images that most RPG tracks use for transparency

[JumperJack]

any news from people testing stuff regarding this? i heard that there would be the possibility to add binary alphas, but also for the standard blocks?

in the end, i still think transparency in mods is a very important feature in stadium, and i think many others agree with me. hopefully it will be made possible in some way, or that there would be a couple of blocks added which are partly transparent by default. at least i think this topic deserves some attention, still.

[HawkGer]

I believe binary alpha is already enabled for custom objects. Else I don't see how the transparent tube in this video could have been created: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV80JMUs ... e=youtu.be
As for the standard blocks I'm pretty sure that we won't get to see transparency on them.
What we could do would be to recreate the standard blocks (not all...just the ones that really need transparency) in a Title and add a mod to it so that they have an alpha channel.
One problem with that would be though that objects can't be moved freely in the vertical direction....building tracks would be made a bit harder by that.

[JumperJack]

still that would definitely be tough... nevertheless, i still don't really understand why transparency was possible in older trackmania games, but not in the newer ones. how come the decay?