Templars Parallax Mod - Download n Details

[TemplarGFX]

http://www.moddb.com/mods/stalker-parallaxed

This is a combo mod, that includes a complete set of recreated parallax maps for STALKER:SHOC, and a personal set of shaders that take advantage of them.

The shaders are not required, however you will need *A* shader mod, and it will need to be modified (see bottom of post)

Replace all the textures in your gamedata folder with those included in the zip (only the bump# files are included, not the original textures) and replace the shader folder and all its contents.



What does it do?

Textures :
Every BUMP# file has been manually filtered so that the parallax height information is normalized between 0..1 on all textures, with all textures having the surface at 1.0 and not 0.6 like almost all mods include.
Textures are further separated into 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% offset. This allows profound mapping on some textures without overly distorting others. The result is a much richer, more detailed and more realistic zone. Couple this will PRZ or AA2 for an amazing experience!

Shaders :
My own personal compilation of shader files from all the current shader mods around, further modified and tweaked to allow more options and control. shader_control.script is not required for my pack, but it is supported for those mods with special weapon setups. Most weapons should be supported by DDOF without this file.
Key points
- Improved Lighting Model (Skygraphics 2.0 RC4)
- Improved DDOF (Dynamic Shaders 1.2b)
- Improved Parallax Shader (Unique to my mod)
- More Shader Jitter Options

[TemplarGFX]

Here we go, for anyone interested :

http://fbe.am/sLJ

Installation

Uncompress the contents of this file into your games installation directory.

If you are already using some form of shader mod, I suggest you backup your gamedata\scripts and gamedata\shaders folders so that you can revert back if you so choose.

When copying the files into your game installation, you will be asked to replace files. Replace them all, with the exception of bind_stalker.script. This file needs to be merged with your current one (see below) if it already exists.


Features :

Dynamic Depth Of Field - Fully working DDOF with near and far blur. Smoother blurring algorithm by Meltac
Better Lighting Model - From Dynamic Shaders 1.2 Beta
Better Shadow Jitters - From Dynamic Shaders 1.2 Beta
Better Parallax Mapping - Reconfigured the mapping values to properly "zero" out alpha maps and smooth out height mapping
Better SSAO - Tweaked to give almost 0 performance impact while still giving a good effect without banding
Sun Luminance Nuetrality - Forcibly zero'd r2_sun_lumscale, r2_sun_lumscale_amb and r2_sun_lumscale_hemi to allow shaders to control these without interference
High Performance - Designed to run on Integrated Graphics and laptops, without loosing any of the quality or features


Notes :
Motion Blur is disabled - I have tweaked the settings and this can be enabled if you wish in gamedata\shaders\r2\shadersettings.txt. The effect does not work well with DDOF, causing extreme blurring while moving due to out of focus surroundings
Sun Shafts are disabled - The initial implementation by Sky4ce is not very good (no offense Sky4ce, its still an awesome attempt) and Meltac's Dynamic Shaders sun shafts are still in development and so are not included.
Jitter settings exposed - I have exposed 2 settings for shadow jitters in gamedata\shaders\r2\shadersettings.txt. This allows you to control the scale or amount of blurring of shadow edges
DDOF values changed - DDOF_MINBARRIER value reconfigured to control the amount of near DOF blurring. This controls the distance that things around you are blurred when looking far away.
Low Sample Counts - Shaders use the minimum amount of samples possible while still keeping good looking effects. Greatly increases performance


Merging bind_stalker.script :

This is pretty easy. all you need to do is copy the following line from my bind_stalker.script into yours :

Copy line 268 from my bind_stalker.script :
shader_control.Update()

and paste into your bind_stalker.script under the line :
object_binder.update(self, delta)

Just search your bind_stalker.script for the above object_binder line, and then paste the shader_control line below it. Save and your done.

If you copy this into your game, and it says you already have a shader_control.script file, you can just not copy my bind_stalker.script at all, as yours is already setup!


All the above screenshots are still accurate, with the exception of smoother blurring of the DOF effect as seen in the below :
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=257803326
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=257805814

[TemplarGFX]

Parallax Mapping

Over the last week I have been messing with parallax mapping, and finally got decent results. But better yet, I understand how it works now!

The problem it seems has everything to do with the textures, and nothing to do with sky4ce's implementation. Almost all the bump# alpha channels are modified color maps. This means that the height data actually lies around 60-200 on the alpha channel, and not 0-255. It also means they are innacurate representations of height. There are however a few textures with proper displacement maps in the alpha channel, such as the rock wall in Sidorovich's bunker, or the corrugated iron roofing.

This is what the CONTRAST_COEF variables by sky4ce are for. Anything below Q1 or above Q2 is ignored, what is left normalized.

What I did is use Linear Interpolation (lerp) to increase the control of this code so that no data is ignored, but instead the alpha channel is warped to enhance the center. I took values I derived and tested against many textures in GIMP.
The result is much better depth to almost all the textures that use Parallax Mapping in the game, with more defined details and better shapes.


Here is my parallax settings. I have added 2 variables to control the new code. I also updated the explenations

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//Parallax Occlusion Mapping
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

	//Basic Options:
	#define MAX_SAMPLES int(80)		//Maximum amount of samples done to a texture. TMP:Increase if you see slices, decrease for performance
	#define MIN_SAMPLES int(10)		//Minimum amount of samples done to a texture.
	#define PARALLAX_OFFSET float(0.012)	//Height of surface per sample. TMP:Displacement scale. stay low without a texture pack
	#define FINAL_INTERSECTION_LOOPS int(20)	//Amount of additional samples to increase accuracy. TMP:costly. can help with artifacts

	//Performance Options:
	//#define PARALLAX_FADE			//Parllax textures fade back to regular normals with distance; increases FPS and fixes anisotropic filtering. #Disabling this strangely gave me a much higher FPS.
	#define START_FADE float(0.0009)	//Distance the fading starts
	#define STOP_FADE float(0.0014)		//Distance the fading stops, and the texture returns to just using normals.
	
	//Other Options:
	//#define USE_TEXTURE_PACK		//Uses height maps built into texture files, rather than self generating them. 
  //TMP:Height map clearly comes from the bump# alpha channel.
  //#define CORRECT_PERSPECTIVE		//WARNING!!! artifacts will appear if defined TMP:actually incorrects perspective
	#define BRIGHTNESS_COEF float(0.0)	//Added to Texture Height Map before before below are used
	
  //How this works : The original Alpha channel on the texture is warped to enhance the center area of the map, without losing the lower and upper.
  //Most alpha channels are derived from the colour map, and work best with the below settings
  //However a few textures have proper displacement maps (corrigated iron roof) and suffer 
  //Height 0 -> Q1H = 0 -> Q1 from alpha channel
	//Height Q1H -> Q2H = Q1 -> Q2 from alpha channel
	//Height Q2H -> 1 = Q2 -> 1 from alpha channel
  #define CONTRAST_COEF_Q1 float(0.41176)	//alpha channel level normalized to 0..1 (0.35294 = 90 on alpha channel)105
  #define CONTRAST_COEF_Q1H float(0.15) //Height of this level on final map
	#define CONTRAST_COEF_Q2 float(0.62745)	//alpha channel level normalized to 0..1 (0.62745 = 160 on alpha channel)
  #define CONTRAST_COEF_Q2H float(0.85) //Height of this level on final map (Note-most brick textures' "surface" is between 160-200 on alpha channel, lowering this will increase shifting of the bricks)

Here are some screenshots (my steam account is open to public)

Brick Wall Corner
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=259434692
Brick Wall Angle1
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=259434646
Brick Wall Angle2
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=259434661
Tiles Closup
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=259434705
Wood Wall Close
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=259444840
Old Wall no torch
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=259434794
Old Wall torch
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=259434813
Rocky Ground no torch
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=259444854
Rocky Ground torch
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=259444868

Here is the corrugated iron roof with my settings
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=259434678
Here is the roof with the shader switched to work with full range data
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=259444828

[TemplarGFX]

I decided to go whole hog, and have spent the last few days fixing the displacement maps for all the textures in LURK.

The result is to be frank astonishing! The game looks entirely different with properly calibrated height data.

Parallax Offset at 0.02 with no "contrast_coef" modifications

Dirt/Rock Floor
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=261134024
Agrapom Underground
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=261122274
Agrapom Underground
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=261122300
Brick Bunker
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=261134001
The brick wall
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=261134060
Iron Roofing
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=261134087
Cracked Wall
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=261134112
Agrapom Tiles
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=261134139
Strelok's hideout
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=261134193


This is what happens when I incorrectly fix a texture!
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=261134169

Before I release a download for people, I am looking for working bump# files for the textures in VEH folder. All the mods I have tried (SMP, AA2, LURK, ZRP) are corrupt (for some textures) according to gimp. There are a few other textures that are missing maps I want to create also, but first I need to figure out the other channels do!



What I did was run a manual level filter over each bump# alpha channel in GIMP. I went with the idea that textures would fall into 25%, 50%, 75% 100% depth categories and ensured the hieghest point on the map was white. Textures like peeling plaster are 25% offset, while some bricks and rocky grounds are 50-100%.

[WaxxFetish]

Wow, just wow :)

[TemplarGFX]

Parallax Upgrade

Hello Everyone,

I decided to release this now, as it is taking me FOREVER to test the textures individually in-game myself!


http://www.gamefront.com/files/24243327/TemplarGFXs+Parallax+Textures.zip


This is a combo mod, that includes a complete set of recreated parallax maps for STALKER:SHOC, and a personal set of shaders that take advantage of them.

The shaders are not required, however you will need *A* shader mod, and it will need to be modified (see bottom of post)

Replace all the textures in your gamedata folder with those included in the zip (only the bump# files are included, not the original textures) and replace the shader folder and all its contents.



What does it do?

Textures :
Every BUMP# file has been manually filtered so that the parallax height information is normalized between 0..1 on all textures, with all textures having the surface at 1.0 and not 0.6 like almost all mods include.
Textures are further separated into 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% offset. This allows profound mapping on some textures without overly distorting others. The result is a much richer, more detailed and more realistic zone. Couple this will PRZ or AA2 for an amazing experience!

Shaders :
My own personal compilation of shader files from all the current shader mods around, further modified and tweaked to allow more options and control. shader_control.script is not required for my pack, but it is supported for those mods with special weapon setups. Most weapons should be supported by DDOF without this file.
Key points
- Improved Lighting Model (Skygraphics 2.0 RC4)
- Improved DDOF (Dynamic Shaders 1.2b)
- Improved Parallax Shader (Unique to my mod)
- More Shader Jitter Options


new shader_settings.txt configuration items :

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//Shadow Jitter - By Meltac, Sky4ce
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  	#define SJ_TORCHSCALE float(0.7)		// TEMP: Controls the scale of the blurring of torch/light source shadows (0.5 - 4 are good values)
  	#define SJ_SUNSCALE float(3.0)			// TEMP: Controls the scale of the blurring of sun shadows (0.5 - 4 are good values)
  
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//Parallax Occlusion Mapping
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

	//Basic Options:
	#define MAX_SAMPLES int(100)		//Maximum amount of samples done to a texture. TMP:Increase if you see slices, decrease for performance
	#define MIN_SAMPLES int(20)		//Minimum amount of samples done to a texture.
	#define PARALLAX_OFFSET float(0.017)	//Height of surface per sample. TMP:Displacement scale. stay low without a texture pack
	#define FINAL_INTERSECTION_LOOPS int(15)	//Amount of additional samples to increase accuracy. TMP:costly. can help with artifacts

	//Performance Options:
	//#define PARALLAX_FADE			//Parllax textures fade back to regular normals with distance; increases FPS and fixes anisotropic filtering. #Disabling this strangely gave me a much higher FPS.
	#define START_FADE float(0.0009)	//Distance the fading starts
	#define STOP_FADE float(0.0014)		//Distance the fading stops, and the texture returns to just using normals.
	
	//Other Options:
  #define USE_STEEPPARALLAX //TMP:Testing
	//#define USE_TEXTURE_PACK		//Uses height maps built into texture files. Uses Diffuse Map Alpha Channel. Only Sky4ce's Texture Pack uses this.
  //#define CORRECT_PERSPECTIVE		//WARNING!!! artifacts will appear if defined TMP:actually incorrects perspective
	#define BRIGHTNESS_COEF float(0.0)	//Added to Texture Height Map before before below are used
	
  /* Autumn Aurora 2 - No Modified Textures
  #define POM_LEVEL_BOTTOM_IN float(0.36)
  #define POM_LEVEL_MIDDLE_IN float(0.57)
  #define POM_LEVEL_TOP_IN float(0.68)

  #define POM_LEVEL_BOTTOM_OUT float(0.10)
  #define POM_LEVEL_MIDDLE_OUT float(0.65)
  #define POM_LEVEL_TOP_OUT float(0.90)
  */
  
  #define POM_LEVEL_BOTTOM_IN float(0.25)
  #define POM_LEVEL_MIDDLE_IN float(0.50)
  #define POM_LEVEL_TOP_IN float(0.75)

  #define POM_LEVEL_BOTTOM_OUT float(0.25)
  #define POM_LEVEL_MIDDLE_OUT float(0.50)
  #define POM_LEVEL_TOP_OUT float(0.75)

Additional Shadow Jitter options allow control of the blurring factor of the jitter effect
Fully functioning level filter added to parallax mapping to control how the parallax maps are processed by the shader. An extreme amount of control is exposed with this filter, allowing greater control over detail height and spacing.


Combine with another shader mod :
This should be really easy to do. the files that you require are common.h, sload.h, shadow.h and shadersettings.txt Replacing should be fine for any mod that already contains a shadersettings.txt file. For Skygraphics, you will need to merge the files together due to the include lines for shadersettings.txt at the top of each of mine.

Combine with another texture mod :
Really simple. install the texture mod, then install my mod. As my mod only includes the parallax maps, you should be safe to replace all the files without issue. Obviously if your chosen mod replaces textures with new ones (not modified original) then things could look funky!


A request to you all :
If you try this out, please not just let me know what you think, but take screenshots of any textures that have bad parallax mapping (I know I got a few with too much offset) so that I can fix them. Simply telling me where you were will not help, as I don't have a level editor to check.

[TemplarGFX]

A few more images :
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=261694730

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=261694750

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=261492781

[TemplarGFX]

I found an archive of parallax maps for every vehicle and prop in the game and have just finished converting them over. Not ready for any pics just yet, but WOW is the game looking different with parallax mapping on everything!

[ru55lee]

Keep up the good work ;)

Maybe give us a video of it all?

[TemplarGFX]

I will make a video once the next set of texture updates are complete!

More screen shots (without bloom finally!)

Concrete Construction Area (looks absolutely different to normal. Everything is rough and construction-y)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262060625

Extreme Window Details (window edges are now clearly defined)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262060630

More Windows and Tiles (again clear definition)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262060640

This wall is actually just a flat plane (except the brick corners) (gotta love no fall-off to parallax mapping)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262060646


I have completely recreated the textures (again) for STON, DOOR, CRETE, PROP, VEH, TREES and GLASS. I still have a few hundred textures to go (sigh) before the next update release. I mostly re-adjusted the levels for a large number of the textures after investigating them in-game. Things are really starting to look awesome.


Here is a couple more screenies (before I fixed the blur)

Even the boxes look better!
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262214381

Brick Wall (angle 1)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262214554

Brick Wall (angle 2)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262214573
This brick wall, with its (yet again) recreated texture looks absolutely fantastic! 1000x better than Vanilla

Inside of a train carriage
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262214590

Scenic Shot (showing off no fall-off to parallax with my shader)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262214609

Another Long Shot
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262214624

Even grates are displaced to give the illusion of a solid object
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262214647

Another awesome train shot
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262214660

[TemplarGFX]

First draft of the MTL textures are finally complete. So far the new fixes look fantastic. The vast majority had a selective Gaussian blur used on the alpha channel to clean them up.

Metal Barrier
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262263538

Metal Steps
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262263553

Safe
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262279992

Beams
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262280005

Train Tracks (greatly improved)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262280017

Metal Door
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=262280029

[TemplarGFX]

Here is a short video :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpXuhoqhVvg

[WaxxFetish]

Looks very, very good, how does it affect your performance ?

[TemplarGFX]

With Parallax Fade actually turned off entirely I lost from 5-10 fps depending on the amount of Parallax going on in the scene (which can be ALOT, due to the vastness of the zone)

However quality of Parallax mapping can be tuned if you dont mind it being a little less smooth. I play on an Intel HD4400 integrated graphics card at 1366x768 with 25-40fps with those settings included in the download

[WaxxFetish]

Any chances for parallax overhaul of AA2 mod ?

Pretty please xD

[TemplarGFX]

The download will work with AA2 right out of the box (another update is coming in a few hours)

I have tested these with Vanilla, AA2, ZRP and LURK

There is only 1 texture I have found so far (in LURK) that is actually different to the Vanilla texture, a brick wall. As a result my parallax map does not line up with the texture. Its only noticeable close up luckily.