How to make arrows stay?

[Grimaldus]

What do i have to edit to have permanent arrows stuck in the ground in Rage of the dark Gods? Actually i did manage them to stick in the ground with editing the fade_time and playtime of arrows_impact_ground in the descr_effect_impacts.txt but they were too transparent, you had to go very near to see them. Like if they already have started fading away but then decided otherwise sticking in the ground half-faded-away.

So i changed the model from arrow_impact_ground.cas to arrow.cas
That did work but now the arrows do always stick in the wrong direction in the ground. So when my archers shoot in the ground in front of my enemy it looks like they came from my enemys archers. Same thing when they shoot at me, them arrows stick in the wrong direction.

Can someone help?

[Gigantus]

fade_time is the way to go - if your GPU can handle it is another matter altogether.

Wrong way round arrow - it's most likely the way the model is pointing in the CAS. Have you tried to darken the texture for the arrow_impact_ground.cas file? Simply open the CAS file with Notepad and check in the bottom for the name the texture involved.

[Grimaldus]

Will try that out asap. Thanks.

[Grimaldus]

The arrow_impact_ground.cas says texture/siege_rocket_launcher.tga
But i can only find siege_rocket_launcher.dds and .texture.
If i change the cas into texture/arrow.dds or texture/arrow.tga my game crashes.

Isnt it strange that an arrow uses the texture of a siege rocket launcher?

[Gigantus]

The game automatically looks for DDS graphics if TGA is specified - best example are the textures for the strat models. Use the DDS file and experiment with it, do you know how to edit DDS files?

[Grimaldus]

I guess with gimp? Cant try it out yet.

[Gigantus]

GIMP DDS plugin

When opening the DDS file with GIMP untick the 'Load mipmaps' field.
When saving (exporting) as DDS do it in compression BC3 / DXT5 and Mipmaps set to 'Generate mipmaps'

[Grimaldus]

I can open and edit the dds file. But where can i change compression and tick "Generate mipmaps"?

[Gigantus]

Choose 'file\export to' - that option will bring up the choices that I mentioned.

[Grimaldus]

Ah. It shows up when i click on "export". Now i got it.

I completely darkened the texture, but its still transparent. I think, there is no change at all. Maybe its something with that Alpha-Canal...
After that, i clicked on "remove all transparency" in GIMP but again, no change at all.

[Gigantus]

I am just going through the steps:

descr_effect_impacts.txt

effect arrow_ground_impact
{
    type projectile
    {
        model        models_effects/arrow_projectile_ground_impact.CAS
        sort_for_speed
        clr_adjust_by_ambient_intensity

        fade_time    3
    }
}

CAS entry: textures\siege_rocket_launcher.tga

Converted siege_rocket_launcher.texture file


My unpacked game actually doesn't have either DDS or TGA. So maybe it's best to have a TGA, DDS and TEXTURE file of the same name. You can find a DDS<->TEXTURE converter here.

Removing (put a semi colon in front of the line) this entry may also help - I actually have no idea what exactly it does: clr_adjust_by_ambient_intensity

[Grimaldus]

So i have to edit the .texture file? If yes, how?

[Gigantus]

No, not edit - merely convert your edited DDS file with the linked converter. Then place it in the same folder.

[Grimaldus]

I did just as you said and it worked. Thanks a lot, my battlefields looking better then ever.
(I did not put a semi colon in front of clr_adjust_by_ambient_intensity, so that was not the problem)

PS: Would you post this in the submod section of CoW? And, if not, do i have the permission to do so?

[Gigantus]

I am not in charge of that forum (admin wise but not modding wise) but I don't see a reason why you couldn't post a thread in the sub mod section. Did you determine which graphic format was the correct one?

We do have a general M2TW forum for text based tutorials where you may wish to post your findings instead (or as well).

[Grimaldus]

I dont have a clue which one was correct. I think it was the .dds, because i converted the .texture (unedited) to .dds and then it worked. The .texture is still there, so im not quite sure.
Maybe the original .texture had no transparency and thats why it worked? Dont know.

[Gigantus]

Simply remove two of the three files and then try one file at a time.

[Grimaldus]

The .texture file is the correct one.
Again, thanks for helping me out that patiently.

[Gigantus]

Thanks for confirming.