CHRONO CROSS FILE EXPLORATION THREAD

[x_XTacTX_x]

Just popping in to congratuate everyone in the thread for the amazing work! Truly, you guys are like geniuses. There are no words that can describe how happy I am to have volunteered for a position ina project this will so greatly affect!

YOUTH POWER, HOOOOOOO!!!!!!

[FaustWolf]

Thanks Tact!

Luminaire, after looking at the Glenn model I wonder if the problem isn't with your script, but with the texture itself. Seems like his bangs, at least, might not have a proper 0,0,0 RGB color scheme, causing black to show instead of transparency. Would it be possible to try a .GIF file or some other format that supports transparencies for the texture? Not sure if that'll help his bandanna ties though.

[Luminaire85]

That is only one of the UV issues I was referring to. For examples of some of the others, see the attached images. There seem to be four underlying issues, possibly related:

(1) Model files such as Serge's that have black space at the bottom of the corresponding texture have UV data that extend  into the black space. That's what is causing the black spots near Serge's wrists.

(2) Some of the UV coordinates appear to be off by one pixel. This is what causes the line down Serge's back and Flea's face.

(3) Once in a while I find a face with UV coordinates applied to the wrong vertices. This has the effect of making the texture of that face appear rotated from what it ought to be.

(4) Blender is unable to handle transparency in texture data. This is what causes the black in Glenn's bangs.

Not sure yet how to fix these things.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[MDenham]

That is only one of the UV issues I was referring to. For examples of some of the others, see the attached images. There seem to be four underlying issues, possibly related:

(1) Model files such as Serge's that have black space at the bottom of the corresponding texture have UV data that extend  into the black space. That's what is causing the black spots near Serge's wrists.

(2) Some of the UV coordinates appear to be off by one pixel. This is what causes the line down Serge's back and Flea's face.

These two are probably caused by the same thing; try adjusting UV coordinates by a half-pixel.

[Dark Serge]

OH WOW this looks awesome!!! I can't wait to see the model for Lynx and Dark Serge!

[halkun]

The Transparency thing in Blender is a known issue. The 3d modeler does not understand "transparent" unless it is a transparent material. (Not a UV map). Blender was designed as a 3d movie renderer that used materials to describe surfaces. UV mapping is not "complete" by game standards.

[FaustWolf]

Could a skilled modeler theoretically "cut out" the black stuff somehow? That's a tedious solution, but hopefully not too many models are in Glenn's situation.

Dark Serge, you can find Dark Serge here, though the model will probably look a tiny bit different once it's run through Luminaire's improved import script:
http://www.chronocompendium.com/Forums/index.php/topic,5163.msg90513.html#msg90513

[syntax error]

Perhaps someone could make a intermediate seperate version of the python script
that does remove the black parts.For now this is OK.

[halkun]

Perhaps someone could make a intermediate seperate version of the python script
that does remove the black parts.For now this is OK.

The problem is that "the black parts" are part of the model. In a PS1, the black zones are understood as being transparent, and in blender, it doesn't understand that UV maps can have transparent data. You can't "cut out" the black parts. All blender knows is "Make a triangle here" and "cover with this texture". It can't "look" at a texture and figure out what needs to be "cut". Blender can't "cut" things. It only make or remove triangles that are already there.

[Unaisis]

Wow, amazing work @.@ brings a tear to my eye to see these simple yet marvelous models being uncovered from one of my most cherished games ^.^. Did anyone find the Dwarfs yet? :O those guys are my most favorite characters XD. they look like rotten peas with thimbles as helmets XD 

[Ozzie]

..or that "is it Johnny" thing that captivated everyone for awhile. Was it a polygon model of Johnny lying in the road, or part of the background? Perhaps unused models lying around in the game?

[secondrate]

Perhaps someone could make a intermediate seperate version of the python script
that does remove the black parts.For now this is OK.

The problem is that "the black parts" are part of the model. In a PS1, the black zones are understood as being transparent, and in blender, it doesn't understand that UV maps can have transparent data. You can't "cut out" the black parts. All blender knows is "Make a triangle here" and "cover with this texture". It can't "look" at a texture and figure out what needs to be "cut". Blender can't "cut" things. It only make or remove triangles that are already there.

So, you can't go back, and edit those portions into code "00", like back on page 12?
By the way- very well done! Reading this whole thread, was like trying to make sense of hieroglyphs...so to me, it was like magic!

[FaustWolf]

Shoot. Only thing I can think of is to "fake" the proper texture effect by replacing the black parts of Glenn's bangs with the very skin texture they're hanging over. But that would look ridiculous from certain angles, I imagine.

Unaisis, we've got all enemy battle models, including the dwarves. There's going to have to be some effort at sorting and labeling them, but it might be best to wait until we examine animations, so we can get the full packages, so to speak.

Ozzie, I *think* Johnny was part of the background, but now I'm unsure. At best it would be a field model (and not a battle model), but from what I've seen so far the formats are identical, it's just that the field models have less data and vertices and so forth.

[ZeaLitY]

It's a model. A sure way to tell is to compare how it looks to the NPCs in Guldove who help you use those...rope thingies to get around. They look horribly simple and ugly, but Johnny looks very crisp lying on the road.

[halkun]

Perhaps someone could make a intermediate seperate version of the python script
that does remove the black parts.For now this is OK.

The problem is that "the black parts" are part of the model. In a PS1, the black zones are understood as being transparent, and in blender, it doesn't understand that UV maps can have transparent data. You can't "cut out" the black parts. All blender knows is "Make a triangle here" and "cover with this texture". It can't "look" at a texture and figure out what needs to be "cut". Blender can't "cut" things. It only make or remove triangles that are already there.

So, you can't go back, and edit those portions into code "00", like back on page 12?
By the way- very well done! Reading this whole thread, was like trying to make sense of hieroglyphs...so to me, it was like magic!

Already been done.
 "00" == black color in blender.
 "00" == transparent color in a PS1.
Blender does not understand transparent UV maps.