Wierd shadows on my model

[officialsauron 33]

Hi!

So I was testing out one my 3d model in the asset editor when I noticed how my texture suddenly was all grey-ish.
I tried loading my asset in-game to check if this wierd shadow/texture bug was still there, and yes it was, but only at a specific point during the daytime.

Here's the building looking OK;

And here's how it looks with the grey shadows;

As you might see, there are still spots here and there which are still white.

I've checked in Blender so that I don't have duplicate faces on top of eachother or something like that.

I'll also add that these grey "shadows" does move around slightly when I change the angle of the camera.

This is not something I haven't stumpled upon before so I thought it might be a good idea to ask here if anyone knows what causes this and if there's a way to fix it.

 

 

[Avanya 2,605]

What kind of textures do you have? Just the diffuse, or do you have specular, color or normal map as well? It looks like something that happens as you zoom out - is that correct? If you can post your diffuse texture and a screengrab of the building in blender (so we can see the wireframe) that might help too.

[officialsauron 33]

Sofar I've only got a diffuse and specular map. 

It kinda happens at all times, kinda reflects a bit like if I had specular values on the concrete.

But from what I personally can see, I haven't accidently added reflection on the concrete.

Diffuse;

 

And here's the specular which I've slightly adjusted the reflection values since my last pics, but still shouldn't affect anything regarding the "shadows";

 

And lastly blender;

 

Also, both the diffuse and specular textures are 1024x1024, and I've controlled checked so that they both are the correct size.

 

 

 

[Avanya 2,605]

I think it's the specular map playing up. As you zoom out the game scales the textures a bit, so the edges aren't the sharpest. I don't have any experience with large skyscrapers like that, but I know of this guide to get sharp edges. It does increase tris count and needs more texture space. Ping @Koesj and @Cool_Z - they might have some good tips, they're great at goodlooking and optimized skyscrapers.  

[officialsauron 33]

The thing is that I've done a couple of skyscrapers before this and nothing similar to this has ever happened. And I've been checking over and over again  so that the windows and nothing else is specular.

Also, if I'd draw out each window as zedz tutorial showed, the tris-count would be far from healthy on the types of buildings I usually create.

But thanks for your help sofar!

[Avanya 2,605]

Np. Sorry I can't be of more help. Have you tried importing it without the specular map to see if that's what causes it?

[Darf 1,439]

I think it looks kind of realistic. Not everything is clean and shiny. These weird shadow usually happen, because of the normal map, but seeing you dont have any... Maybe try and upload it on Sketchfab and see how it renders with a 2 point light? Sketchfab has a better render engine than C:S though.

[officialsauron 33]

Avanya, I actually had not tried to import it without specular. But now after trying it I saw that it's defintely caused by the specular map, as the shadows are smooth without it.

 

Darf I haven't really had time to figured out sketchfab so I can upload textures with my model unforutnately. 

I personally don't think they look to realistic as they are placed kinda random as maybe seen more clearly in the picture below.

 

[Avanya 2,605]

At least you've figured out what's causing it - that's always a start. Looks like it's worse with the thin windows. Perhaps creating faces of the windows and move them just a tiny bit out from the building could work. On the texture you could just place them over a window in the larger sections. And then have the face behind it without the specular - the front face should have the sharp edges and shine like intented without the shadows (make sure the face behind doesn't have any shine). This will add 2 tris per window ofc, but it might get rid of the shadows without going alot higher than you'd like

[officialsauron 33]

Yeh, I might try that if there's no way to discover what's the cause and how to solve it. Might not be to bad to just leave as is and live with that it's looking like this during a couple of seconds during the day.

[GC_Vos 714]

These artifacts are actually familiar to me. Have you tried increasing the minimum specularity from black to say... 10 or 20? Sometimes the game can be bad at really contrasty speculars.

[officialsauron 33]

Thanks Vos for replying,

I've tried your tips and tested every value between 0 and 20. It's not going completely away, but it definitely gets a bit more discrete I'd say.

My guess is that as the building is slightly rounded, the game engine has a hard time understanding where to throw shadows and reflections together.

 

[GC_Vos 714]

Yeah, on some structures I still have the same issue but only at specific times of day. I have found it happens more whenever you mirror your textures, though for your building it seems to happen on both sides...

[officialsauron 33]

Yeh, it appears slightly after when the sun hits the buildings front. 

My whole building is mirrored in the x-axis, but how can that cause this problem?

But I'm alright with how it looks right now. It's definitely not perfect, but as it only happens during a couple of seconds I can live with it.

[GC_Vos 714]

Sorry for the late reply, but to answer your question, if you are using a normal map, this will also flip those normals. I've seen this happen sometimes even without a normal map (just specularity). Anyhow congrats on finishing the building, it looks really sleek!

[officialsauron 33]

Well I never imported a normal map, so this case happened with just specularity. 

But thanks for the help and I'm really happy you liked my building.

Especially since you've been one of those who really helped me when I started to get into creating 3d-models. So I really appreciate it!:)