in tool i type in:

"tool bitmaps levels\newmap3\bitmaps" and my bitmaps get "compressed with color-key transparency"

then I go to guerilla and click show bitmaps
I click show alpha
nothing shows up there
so I change the bitmap's format to explicit alpha like i was told to in one of the tutorials
I then run it in tool again after saving the file and it still says

"compressed with color-key transparency"

I think something is wrong here because when I open it in sapien and run radiosity the bitmaps do NOT show UP.

anybody have any idea on what might be going wrong?
Edited by genebit on Oct 16, 2010 at 05:11 PM
Edited by genebit on Oct 16, 2010 at 05:47 PM

Well, lets see, bitmaps will NOT show up on their own. They need a shader, i would assume your tutorial said to make them? if not, i can try to track down a tut on them :P.

yes i made shaders before i ever posted this. i did what he told me to in order to make Shaders in guerilla.

im coming to you all as a last resort.

I guess i should mention that I'm not even using custom bitmaps, I'm just using the bitmaps that i found while searching through the halo custom edition files
Edited by genebit on Oct 16, 2010 at 10:55 PM

If you are using the bitmaps that are found in Halo CE Files then no shader creation is needed ( from what I know ).. just make sure to copy the bitmaps to your folder data/your map named folder/ bitmaps and it should be fine..
If you are using custom made bitmaps:
First create a folder named bitmaps in the Halo CE/Data folder
Second.. place your bitmaps in that folder and compile them with Tool

This is a tutorial I found a while ago about creating simple shaders.. I do not take credit for creating it as the tutorial is old and had no author name on it. Hopefully it will help.

A simple tut to create shaders.

1) Save your images to the correct path that you want in your data folder.
2) Run bitmaps with tool. Command is: tool bitmaps folderlocation
3) Open up the newly created bitmap in guerilla. It will be in the same directory as your image but in the tags folder.
4? (not sure if this is required)) Under format, the second box down, select compressed with explicit alpha.
5) Save your bitmap.
6) Still in guerilla, go to file, new, and create a new shader of the type you want. (.shader_enviroment for your map).
7) Under the second box down, select the type of material you want (the physics properties box).
8) Scroll down a bit to "diffuse properties" and under "base map" click on the ... and select your recently created bitmap file.
9) Save your shader.

Notes:
a) This is a way to create simple shaders. More advanced methods can be used to make them look a lot better
b) Your material name in (g)max must be EXACTLY the same as your shader name.
c) For the above reason, I recommend creating your shaders before you build your map. That way, you know something is wrong if tool gives you a message about your shaders. If no message is given, they are set up properly.
d) Your shader(s) do not need to be in your map folder. The HEK will automatically find the shader no matter what folder it is in aslong as it is in your tags folder.

thank you for you're very detailed comment, ill be using what you have said for future use.

I tried doing what you said for the Halo CE files. (becuase im using bitmaps from the halo ce folder).

I ran a test with what you said and tried just putting the bitmaps in the bitmaps folder that I created under my data/levels/example name/bitmaps. and then i built the scenario with guerilla and loaded it up with sapien. im still not getting my bitmaps.

but i have an idea and will work on that tomorrow since right now its 1:23 AM.

my idea is to create the tags for the bitmaps but not the shaders. and see if that works.

edit: nevermind about the doing it the next day, i just did it now at 1:34 AM. still no bitmaps. i must be doing something very wrong here........
Edited by genebit on Oct 19, 2010 at 02:35 AM