Cirrus density shader crash - user error?

[Harvey Birdman]

I'm playing around with atmospheric settings, and with a brand new world, I select 'Atmosphere', 'Add Cloud Layer/Cirrus 2D'. Then I select 'Cirrus Layer 01' for a density shader for the new cirrus layer and boom! TG2 crashes.

So is this a known issue? Am I doing something I shouldn't? (Selecting 'cirrus layer' for a density shader?)

[child@play]

hi!

i guess you just have to connect the second cloud layer to the first cloud layers density fractal, and not to the layer itself.

hope this helps

cheers...

[Harvey Birdman]

The cirrus layer was the first cloud layer.

[Volker Harun]

The cirrus layer was the first cloud layer.

Still you might want to plug the first's density shader into the second's input - not the cloud layer itself.

[old_blaggard]

You shouldn't use a cloud layer as a density shader - if you look in the node network, you will see that your cirrus shader has a fractal breakup, which is actually what controls the distribution.

[child@play]

ah, missread, sry


yeah, using the layer itself as density for the layer you're just trying to configure sounds very much like crash to me

you should use the cloud fractal shader for defining cloud density instead, don't know if others like power fractal work too

p.s.: volker and o_b been faster

[Harvey Birdman]

Right. Cockpit error, then.

Still, a note to Planetside - if this selection isn't appropriate given the context (cloud density shader, I mean) and will lead to a crash if selected, it probably shouldn't appear in the list.

[rcallicotte]

Harvey, have you checked out the intro PDF to TG2 written by Oshyan?  This helps a lot, though some might believe it is beneath them to go over it (I have no idea why, since it rocks). 

Another thing - the node system is considered where the rubber meets the road in TG2 and my understanding is that as time progresses there will be more and more interfaces to the node network until a person could potentially use TG2 without touching the nodes.  I never want to get to that point, though, since I (and I'm sure many others) want to be able to play with as much as we can at the node level.  What this means, though, is that our level of understanding must match the complexities of the "underworld of TG2".     Not saying, by any stretch of the imagination, I'm in the know.  Still burning brain cells on this great stuff. 

But, part of playing with the nodes is understanding some of the "don't plug in here" fubars we could try.  I've blown it up a lot trying stuff, but it starts back up pretty easily.  LOL.

[Harvey Birdman]

Do you mean tg2tp_overview.pdf? If so, I was actually working my way through the 'First Scene' tutorial when this happened. And I didn't touch the node network directly - I was working through the 'Density Shader' selector on the Cloud Settings panel.

No biggy. As you say, it fired right back up. I still say that option shouldn't be in that particular dropdown list if it crashes the system, though.

[Oshyan]

The node network currently has fairly little in the way of automated "safety checks" to ensure "sane" connections. Thus looping conditions and other inherently unstable configurations are easy to create and will usually cause crashes. The network will certainly be made more robust and foolproof in the future, although there will still be connections and settings that will cause problems, of course. It's impossible to account for all potential issues.

- Oshyan

[Harvey Birdman]

Yes... well.... hmm. It wouldn't be the first time my sanity had been called into question.