Different rock mods at different heights

[r2brew2 1]

I'm guessing this is impossible, since every rock mod says in stern wording "DOES NOT" work with other rock mods, but is it possible for a single rock mod to change image at a certain height? I think the grassy rock mod looks phenomenal, but I like to play with low snowcaps, and the grass in the snow just isn't right. 

[rsc204 21,805]

You are right in saying you can't generally mix these types of mods. But usually that's only because the textures they replace have the same IDs, so one would override the other.

With a bit of tinkering, you could extract the textures you want to replace from one file, and replace those in the original you didn't want to combine them. But just sticking them together in your plugins folder isn't going to work.

[r2brew2 1]

Unfortunately, we're already pushing against the bounds of my abilities. But I'm willing to learn something new. Is this something that could be done in iLive Reader? If I open one of the rock mods, I see 5 different images there and a directory of some sorts. 

The 5 images are all variations on the rock image, though, so I figure they are randomly used at all height variables, not a specific image at each type of location. So I'm probably barking up the wrong tree. Any guidance would be appreciated!

[Ro-Bo 183]

That 5 images might be for the 5 zoom. Arent they the same image but just different sizes?

[rsc204 21,805]

They are not for different zooms, usually that's handled by the final digit. But there are only 5 rock textures, I'm not sure these textures are covering any textures with snow. You might need to look at your terrain mod to find those, in theory all mods should use pre-set texture IDs, but I couldn't say for sure, I'm no expert on this.

For example, I'm using Sudden Valley and the rock/snow textures are part of the file "SV Textures A.dat". It won't necessarily be obvious what texture goes where, but you should easily be able to identify which textures have snow / rock.

But the problem here, if somehow the rock mod and terrain mod textures are being combined (which it looks like is the case), then there is no way to separate the mossy rocks from the snow. @blunder would probably be the best person to ask I can think of.

[blunder 1,079]

Hi @r2brew2. Unfortunately i haven't tinkered much with reconstructing rock mods: they're one area of the game i've always been pretty happy with what's out there. 

To your original question: no.  Rock mods do not change texture with height. Whether or not the game uses the rock texture for each tile or a terrain mod texture is based on the slope of each tile and can be controlled in your terrain mod.  As for why there's 5 different rock textures..... i don't remember exactly, sorry, and my memory is really fuzzy in this regard.  I'm pretty sure it's for each zoom level as mentioned above, but it could also be based on the moisture value of each tile (which is a whole 'nother lecture) or used in the texture blending curve in the terrain mod (which you really don't want to touch). 

There are a couple ways you might be able to achieve what you're looking for, and you're on the right track with using Reader to replace textures.  Could we see a screen shot? The only pic i see is your shot of the FSH textures in reader.

-------

I pulled up a couple old threads to link in case you wanted further reading on tweaking rock and terrain mods.

Ennedi's MD, Lowkee's dev thread, Gobais' dev thread.

I found that all their pictures are gone.  This makes me really, really sad. 

[r2brew2 1]

Yeah I can certainly take some screenshots. What exactly do you think would be most helpful to see? The rock mod(s) or the terrain mod or all of the above? I'm pretty novice at tinkering into the mechanics of the game, but I'd love to learn more!

[blunder 1,079]

@r2brew2 where rock shows up in the snow at high elevations.

[r2brew2 1]

Oh, certainly. Here is the grassy rock mod by Heblem, full city and closeups:

 

And the same for dogfight's Dark Igneous:

 

 

Overall terrain is cycledogg's Meadowshire.

[blunder 1,079]

Hmmm. About the only simple thing i could suggest doing would be to open your terrain mod with Reader, find the variable "MaxNormalYForCliff" and adjust it down to .65 or even .60.  This will stop the rock mod from showing up on more gradual slopes and keep it on steeper slopes, but it will do nothing to change the texture blending.  It will take some trial and error to get an effect you prefer.  (also, if you have a Diagonal Jagged Edges Mod you will have to uninstall it.  A DJEM is just a copy of the terrain exemplar that changes the MNYFC to .77, so you can throw it away)

[r2brew2 1]

Alright, thanks for the thoughts @blunder and everyone else. I'm perfectly happy to use just one of the rock mods at a time, I just thought maybe there was a chance to combine. I'll fiddle around with the MNYFC to see if I prefer other settings. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!