Materials

[TattieBoJangle]

Ok guys this may sound like a rant but its more of a please change it/fix it lol i will post it here so the whole world wont see also don't take offence i just want skyline to be the best it can be and get people using it but if it is a way for a reason just tell me

I don't know what you can do but some stuff lose there textures even after you have it in working fine then you would reload skyline and the texture is gone and you cant edit the material to put it back on tells you to buy the original model/textures hahah below is a video i made to show you ways it could be improved

You will see that there are 2 models that use the same textures and it creates 1 material file per defuse unlike skyline that uses per mesh file and if you add the normal and spec it puts it on every single model that uses that texture/material where skyline you have to do every single one individually you could imagine if you have say 30+ trees how long it would take in skyline where that other way is seconds most engines do it this way is there a reason why skyline does it per mesh also its a bit as it then creates 2 material files or 30-40 if its stuff like trees rocks ect and the files are identical apart from the mesh names.

[Shando]

[SolarPortal]

[TattieBoJangle]

[SolarPortal]

[SolarPortal]

New Update: We have removed the prefix from the materials the FBX files create which means two meshes like your statues spit out the same material like shown in the video, but we came across a problem of adding the mesh to the scene to reference the materials as it loads the material with the same name as the mesh. So we have decided to upgrade the material system entirely. This will be done over the next couple of weeks as it is a big job. It has too be done as too many people have stuggled getting materials onto their meshes.

Instead of having a single material file that can have many sub materials inside it which is awkward for anyone to edit or upgrade. We are now going to split and make sure that each material is using its own .material file and expose in the properties panel each submesh belonging to the main mesh and create the ability to apply a material to a specific sub. For example, a statue has a rock material and a metal base. You could assign a new metal material to the base which currently is not possible. The only way at the moment is to make it unique on that material belonging to the mesh. (with meshes that have 2 or more submaterials).

When dragging the mesh file, it will be easier to add the material we require to the submesh.
It is a big change but it will fix around 4 or 5 errors that currently exist in the material system as well as allowing lods to reference the same materials as can other meshes which should reduce batches and draw calls and will speed up performance in some scenes.

@Tattie, i will give you a quick workaround for now until this system is in play

[TattieBoJangle]

You have hit the nail on the head with this one m8 this is exactly what we need and even better it will improve performance which is a big + for everyone

Cant thank you guys enough i know i am a pain but i like to have a nice workflow not that i am lazy its just i like the engine to do all tedious work that you can spend weeks and weeks just setting up

[SolarPortal]

well yes exactly. It's a toolset to make games, not take all the time managing assets.
You are not being a pain, workflow is essential to any title having success. Skyline is meant to be easy to use and take care of the hard work for you.

Glad we agree on this It will take a little while as it is a bit of a material system rewrite but even we are looking forward to this being done. The current system has not changed since the start and its time it was advanced to the standards of other features inside skyline.

[lordalmighty1]

this sounds great, I think :S not really know much about it haha

but if it makes things easier its got to be worth it

[StarFire]

Its is going to make swapping out sub object materials a breeze especially when we get the new character designer tools made

[TattieBoJangle]

Hi guys i read the blog and that great news with the vr i also will be getting one when it comes out but can i ask that the material/file name be done in time for this as i know you will need to take time out to integrate it so i would like to finally get started building if possible

[SolarPortal]

Hi tattie. This is still the plan. The OSVR was integrated a couple of month back. That was just the official partner release.Getting the materials and plugins are the current priorities to get you making games and shando making plugins and scripts as seen on the forums.

[TattieBoJangle]

[SolarPortal]

ok, we have brought ourselves back up to speed with the material system rewrite and are beginning work on it again

[TattieBoJangle]

just as i was giving up hope

[SolarPortal]

lol, i hope not hehe .
Another update: i have now rewrote the FBX Converter to spit materials out separately instead of one large file.

[SolarPortal]

I have been working on the ability to edit the submesh materials and have managed to have a success. I can drag any singular material file onto a submesh and alter the entities material displayed only on that submesh.

The next set of jobs will be to be able save/load a scene with the submesh materials and be able to save/load a preset and apply all necessary materials to the right slot.

If i have the time, i will write up a blog and create a video on the development

Edit: I have moved this into the Skyline users forum to make it public. I am not worried about the top post as it is very constructive. I think letting other users see this thread will generate more interest

[SolarPortal]

We believe we have come up with a system/idea where the older material files are still usable and function just as they did. This means backwards compatibility on all already setup materials and meshes and you will be able to edit their sub materials also

[TattieBoJangle]

Nice for others i guess as i don't have a single model converted for skyline i would rather wait for the update.

[StarFire]

[TattieBoJangle]

[StarFire]

lmao

[SolarPortal]

lol after 24hrs(or is it just 12hrs .... ) the code will become a dyslexic mess hehe I swear i was hitting all the right keys apart from one letter over on the keyboard

[TattieBoJangle]

you are probs right 12hrs but i am sure it will be great when its done

[SolarPortal]

quick update: Material Editor upgrade is going well. The selection, editing of multiple materials attached to a single entity is complete. The Saving code for the material editor is now mostly done but i have run out of time for tonight to test this new featureset. But once i know that is working; a video will most likely be made showing the next few features since the last update