HELP, 1 side of models black

[Arjanmaas91 0]

I have a problem. Not sure if it is just me? 1 side of my model is realy dark till the point its almost black and im not sure why.
Here is the picture and the assets:
https://postimg.cc/image/gkiebse7d/full/
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=664655402
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=664692807

Any1 had this problem before?

[Darf 1,439]

Hey Arjan, might have something to do with your normal map. Have you tried to import without it? 

[Avanya 2,605]

You might also want to try a few other color corrections (just the default ones like temperate, tropical) - some maps/LUTs have really bad lighting and with the games already very dark shadows that could be the problem here. I know the European color correction has some very strong contrast, which makes even the default buildings look strange.

[Arjanmaas91 0]

I did use the normal temperate profile.  So i dont think that is the issue.
Im gonna try it without the bumb map maybe that works 

[Arjanmaas91 0]

1 hour ago, Avanya said:

You might also want to try a few other color corrections (just the default ones like temperate, tropical) - some maps/LUTs have really bad lighting and with the games already very dark shadows that could be the problem here. I know the European color correction has some very strong contrast, which makes even the default buildings look strange.

 

1 hour ago, Darf said:

Hey Arjan, might have something to do with your normal map. Have you tried to import without it? 

It was not the bumb map or the LUT. Did not affect the black sides. 
O and another thing.... in asset creation it looks totally different in terms of lighting. (no black side at all)

[Darf 1,439]

What's the result if you use Boformers softer shadow mod?

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=643364914

[Arjanmaas91 0]

1 minute ago, Darf said:

What's the result if you use Boformers softer shadow mod?

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=643364914

Will try tomorrow. The weird thing is... i created a model before and that model does not have any black sides. Used the same method to import it and everything. anyways... thanks for the tips

[GC_Vos 714]

I know this problem, try flipping your UVs horizontally (the entire wall)...

[Arjanmaas91 0]

3 minutes ago, GC_Vos said:

I know this problem, try flipping your UVs horizontally (the entire wall)...

U mean all the uv maps? just flip them? I will try that. However, currently im trying to adjust the levels and saturation. Maybe that works too.

[GC_Vos 714]

Just the one dark tile, like Darf said, it's usually the normals rotated the wrong way.

[andreharv 1,197]

This problem has seriously plagued my life for months...I will have to try that myself!

[Darf 1,439]

A flipped normal should be transparent ingame I think, it indeed gives that result in 3ds.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

It looks like the diffuse was rendered from materials applied to the geometry. That was a rookie mistake I made.

[andreharv 1,197]

Yeah let's be clear.  Flipped normals will make your surface invisible in game unless you look at it from the opposite direction.  The thing I need to try (as soon as I get home) is flipping the UV map.

Just found this compendium of modding information HERE

[Arjanmaas91 0]

37 minutes ago, andreharv said:

Yeah let's be clear.  Flipped normals will make your surface invisible in game unless you look at it from the opposite direction.  The thing I need to try (as soon as I get home) is flipping the UV map.

Just found this compendium of modding information HERE

I just flipped the UV map (and thus also all the textures). I just did a horizontal flip... also made a new model (but same model, different name though) and removed all other maps but diffuse. Still... the side that is not in the sunlight (the shadow side) is super dark. If I flip the building the dark side is light. So basically, its not just 1 face. Its the face that is not in direct sunlight. Light the shadow is not rendering properly and itstead renders it super dark. its defenately a shadow problem. But all other models dont seem to be affected. For example another model i made works fine. I dont know if it has anything to do with the color options in the asset editor? I always disable color variance. Ill try to turn that on

[Arjanmaas91 0]

Well... that didnt work either

[Arjanmaas91 0]

So I figured out the problem but not sure how to fix it yet.
The problem is in the normals (not normal map which i think is a different name for bumb map right?) 
Basically check these links:

http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/VertexNormal

By playing around with the normals.... stuff seems to get better. But changing all the normals 1 by 1 is to much work. Is there a way to change all normals instantly?

[Arjanmaas91 0]

So basically this is the problem.
Something is wrong with the normals of the model. If I check the model in the asset editor window (before you press continue) there seems to be a problem.
If you check the lighting in that window (with texture on) my model (viewed from above) is very dark. Shadows seem $%&^!ed up.
However, when viewing the model from below the model is fully illuminated like it should. 

I know how to change the normals 1 by 1 but my model is quite complex and has a lot of normal vertexes or whatever you wanna call it. So it takes forever to change them
individually. Besides i know how to change them but not in what way. I just know how to get there but not the why of it. Maybe someone can help me?

(using 3DS Max) (PS: maybe using blender is a better idea?)

[andreharv 1,197]

@GC_Vos You are a miracle worker, dude!  Flipping the UVs horizontally totally fixed everything!

Before/After.  Nailed it!

LUTs might be different but you get the idea 

 

[Arjanmaas91 0]

7 hours ago, andreharv said:

@GC_Vos You are a miracle worker, dude!  Flipping the UVs horizontally totally fixed everything!

Before/After.  Nailed it!

LUTs might be different but you get the idea 

 

I tried that and it didnt work for me. I flipped the UV map in 3DS max. but the side that was in the shade is still dark. I guess my problem is different. 

[boformer 3,169]

I still don't get what your problem is. Did you try importing the model? The shadows of this game are naturally very dark, but when you rotate the sun, the black face should become brighter.

Flipped normals would result in missing faces (holes in your model).

[Arjanmaas91 0]

5 minutes ago, boformer said:

I still don't get what your problem is. Did you try importing the model? The shadows of this game are naturally very dark, but when you rotate the sun, the black face should become brighter.

Flipped normals would result in missing faces (holes in your model).

Yea flipping does not help. What i mean is I can adjust the normals in 3DS max. (vertex normals) idk what the method is called. Just edit normals I guess. If I for example make them all point upwards, the model is a lot more bright and there are no dark faces. Shadow seems to be more normal. However, doing that results in other weird shadow effects. 

This video explains or shows what I am taking about. 
 

 

[boformer 3,169]

4 minutes ago, Arjanmaas91 said:

Yea flipping does not help. What i mean is I can adjust the normals in 3DS max. (vertex normals) idk what the method is called. Just edit normals I guess. If I for example make them all point upwards, the model is a lot more bright and there are no dark faces. Shadow seems to be more normal. However, doing that results in other weird shadow effects. 

I would not do that. In case of trees it is ok, but not for buildings.

Manually adjusting the normals makes the shadows very unrealistic.

Better get the Softer Shadows mod.

[Arjanmaas91 0]

1 minute ago, boformer said:

I would not do that. In case of trees it is ok, but not for buildings.

Manually adjusting the normals makes the shadows very unrealistic.

Better get the Softer Shadows mod.

You addon / mod does not fix my problem  I know it has something to deal with the normals thats all  just dont know how to fix it

[GC_Vos 714]

@ Andre: Cool, glad it worked! For symmetrical stuff I found the uv flip works 90% of the time. I have noticed the game has some 'bias' towards certain axis, it's sometimes noticeable even without a normal map.

@ Arjan: Could you upload your fbx/obj and textures, I can have a look if there's any obvious problems. Boformer is probably right though and it's just the game rendering dark shadows. Tweaking the specularity can help sometimes (add some glare).

[Arjanmaas91 0]

54 minutes ago, GC_Vos said:

@ Andre: Cool, glad it worked! For symmetrical stuff I found the uv flip works 90% of the time. I have noticed the game has some 'bias' towards certain axis, it's sometimes noticeable even without a normal map.

@ Arjan: Could you upload your fbx/obj and textures, I can have a look if there's any obvious problems. Boformer is probably right though and it's just the game rendering dark shadows. Tweaking the specularity can help sometimes (add some glare).

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BycWYMqi0cvieTlPLVNuU3dkSjg/view?usp=sharing

The model looks fine in 3ds max but i never used 3ds max untill 1 week ago so im not an expert hehehehe

[Koesj 659]

There are zero problems with your model in my C:S asset editor!

[Arjanmaas91 0]

1 hour ago, Koesj said:

There are zero problems with your model in my C:S asset editor!

Well, 2 things Try looking at it from the top (before you press continue) so in the window where you can turn on texture or lighting only. 
For me.... From the top it looks dark, from the bottom (below ground level) it looks completely bright. 
Also... in my asset editor it looks fine... but ingame when actually placing the model it has the dark faces (IT DOESNT HAVE THAT IN ASSET EDITOR).
at least that is the case for me. So only way you can rly see the model is if you add it into a theme (district style) and see them getting build. 

Idk... maybe it works fine for you no matter what. But I would RLY! appriciate it if yu could check it again At least then i know maybe it is caused by my mods?

[Koesj 659]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the asset as seen during the game. Those shadows are all regular C:S behavior. 

[andreharv 1,197]

@Arjanmaas91 watch this video:

To get to this screen, select the polys you want to mess with, go to the modifier list and select type 'Unwrap' and hit enter (Unwrap UVW).  Then in the right toolbar, select 'Open UV Editor...'  Once inside, the modifiers thingies (position, rotation, scale, etc) the 5th icon is the mirror tool.  Hold down on it until you get a set of options and click on the 3rd option (the one where blue rectangle is to the left of the gray rectangle).  Then select one of the polys in the UV map .  *Important* do one poly at a time as doing multiple polys will probably shift something.  To select a poly you can either select all the verticies associated with the poly or select the poly tool (buttons on the bottom left of the uv editor) and click on the poly you want to flip.  Once the poly is selected, simply click on the mirror tool that you had selected from the drop down menu earlier.  While you may not see a big difference in 3dsMax (be sure to check), import it into the asset editor to see if that fixes your problem.  This is what I did. PS...sorry if I included too much detail (or not enough).