i'm pretty sure that the reason fl tiles it is in the file planet_earth.mat

contents of that file

Material Library
material count <--- in here is number of materials
planet_earth_atmosphere (stuff in here, but not relevant) <--- atmosphere info
planet_earth_cap (same) <--- info about caps (top and bottom of planet)
planet_earth_side1 <--- name of texture
Ac (contains: 1.000 <--- no idea
1.000
1.000
0.000)
Dc (contains the same) <--- no idea
Dm0_flags (contains: '@') <--- some info about next line
Dm0_name (contains: 'detailmap_rock01') <--- another texture of some sort (not sure which)
Dm1_flags (contains: '@') <-------------------{same as above
Dm1_name (contains: 'detailmap_ocean')<-{
Dt_flags (contains: 'J')<-----------same as above
Dt_name (contains 'earthlike01')<--- same, probably main texture
flip u (contains: 0) <--- how much to flip
flip v (contains: 0) <--- same
TileRate0 (contains: 10.0000) <--- possibly how many times to tile ( < or ^)
TileRate1 (contains: 4.0000) <--- same
Type (contains: 'Masked2DetailMapMaterial') <--- type of texture



What once was FL2, and now is ... *hmm what is it?*

pSYCHO,

I've noticed that the textures for planets are in the .txm files in the /data/solar/planets directory. You can yank them with the UTF editor with no problem. They are DDS files (MIPS) and there are three 256x256 images in each one. One is used as the top and bottom cap, one is used for the north/south orientation, and one is used for the east/west orientation. If you pull all three and start fiddling with them on a larger surface, you'll notice they seamlessly fit together along their orientations.

Hope this helps at least a bit.

-0sprey-

Psyhco - also, do you KNOW that those entries mean that, or are you just guessing what they mean by their names?:p (Just cause they all seem to be remarkably along the lines of guess due to the names, and not the result of checing is all

Uh pSYCHO, i once made a retextured planet. It can be found in the clanwars mod. It is the borg planet. What i did is just use a normal planet. Because borg have some tech/city like i use the planet_earthcity_3000.

For example:

What i did was firtst make up a name and copy the planet_earthcity.txm that is located in the data/solar/planets folder. I renamed the copy like planet_borgcity.txm. After that i started to use the UFT editor on that planet_borgcity.txm to extract the .dss (texture) files from it.

Like these in the uft editor:

-Texture library
-earthcitycap
MIPS ----->export this

-earthcity02
MIPS ----->export this

-earthcity01
MIPS ----->export this

I think it uses MIPS for .dds files, beacuse it has multiple pictures maps in it going from big to smaller. It should have to do something from what range a object can be seen in freelancer space. Otherwise it is MIP0 and the i believe it is in just tga format without those extra maps. I dont know exact so tell me if im wrong with this.

Now what you do is rename those 3 extracted files to .dds. After that you can open these files with the adobe photoshop progam (be aware it can only open the .dds files if you have a adobe photoshop dds importer/exporter for them, the importer can be downloaded from the internet). What i did in photoshop is just colorize those 3 files pictures and all maps green and draw some green lines on them.
Ok save the pics also as .dds again when your ready with texture editing. After that you can import them back into the planet_borgcity.txm (same way as you exported the files but then just select the MIPS and press import.
When imported the files just save/overide the planet_borgcity.txm in the UFT editor program and you done.

Ok the txm file is done now you only need a planet that you can put in the systems, i did the following:

Open solorarch.ini and copy the

[Solar
nickname = planet_borgcity_3000 -----> just make a nickname
ids_name = 60203
ids_info = 60204
type = PLANET
DA_archetype = solar\planets\planet_earthcity\planet_earthcity_3000.sph
material_library = solar\planets\planet_borgcity.txm -----> add your custom made .txm file
material_library = solar\planets\detailmaps\detailmap_ground01.txm
material_library = solar\planets\detailmaps\detailmap_city.txm
material_library = solar\planets\atmosphere.txm
material_library = solar\planets\planet_earthcity\planet_earthcity.mat
mass = 1000000
solar_radius = 3000
shape_name = NNM_SM_MEDIUM_FOREST_MOON

Then save the solararch.ini file and your ready. You can add them by using freelancer explorer. I hope the info is something of use for ya?

Let me elaborate:

my plan is to make an accurately textured planet earth.

problems:
I cant seem to convert my jpg texture into dds

not sure whether to replace an existing texture or add a new one

not sure which values to edit to use a single texture instead of multiple ones

or i could replace each existing texture with a corresponding one of earth, but even then i would have a tiling problem

What once was FL2, and now is ... *hmm what is it?*

anyone?

What once was FL2, and now is ... *hmm what is it?* (Tempest Studios)

Here is a link to a site where you can download .dds plugins.

NVIDIA Texture Tools.

I've been experimenting with this some time ago. Tried to use real earth satelite pictures. Looks awesome, the only thing I have not been able to solve yet, is to get the proportions right. I'll try to explain.
FL uses 4 tiles in the west to east direction, 1 tile on top and another tile at the bottom. From a disctance in space, your view covers roughly 1 tile. you could make 4 tiles, being tile 1 = Europe and Africa, tile 2 Asia and Australia, tile 3 the Pacific and tile 4 the Americas. If you implement this you'll find that in FL space you see only 1 tile and that part is stretched and therefore not realistic. In real space you will see actually one/third part of earth. So not only Africa but also a part of Asia. That is not the only problem. The tile is a square (256x256) but FL stretches it to fit around the sphere. The pictures I have are 2D pictures originating from satelite pictures. I need a better understanding of 3D modelling to solve the problem.
Check this link http://freelancer.mipu.de/freelancer-12.html#4
It is in German but the pictures help a lot.


BuckDanny