Object Shadows...

[choronr]

I've posted this issue once before but never received a remedy. Issue: Tree population objects do not produce shadows although 'set on terrain' is checked. Any solutions to this problem would be appreciated.

   Bob

[old_blaggard]

Make sure that you have shadows enabled in the lighting section and "Objects cast shadows" set in the objects node.

[choronr]

Thanks o_b; both are checked; however, still no shadows. As a matter of fact, the 'sun side' of the tree should be brighter than the opposite side - but, it is not. All the trees in the populations look flat; without shadows.

   Bob

[choronr]

Here is the .tgd file. A number of image map shaders are contained therein; just disable them. The scene is based on the DEM: Navajo Point.

Bob

[Kevin F]

Hi, From just a quick look and without the terrain file it seems to me that your trees are incredibly small - 0.4 Meter tall and the tree population set to 0.18 of a meter. In addition if you scale them up to realistic sizes, they're not sitting on the terrain- they're in mid air. take a look at "illusive grass clumps" in the general discussion area. Good luck!
Regards
Kevin.

[choronr]

Thanks Kevin; the trees were made to that scale so as to match the terrain size and point of view. If they were larger, they would be out of scale. I will go through the 'illusive grass clumps' thread to see if I can pick up on the remedy to resolve my problem ...thanks again.

   Bob

[Buzzzzz]

Hi Bob,

Just noticed that this problem has set here long enough and you haven't receive a response from Planetside about your problem. I know from talking to you  on the phone every couple of days that you have tried everything suggested and then some. This seemingly lack of concern for your problem sends me a bad message. What the hell is going on here?? You have been a TG user for a long time and have done this software company great justice with your Superb landscape creations. I feel if anyone deserves help, you certainly do. Not trying to stir things up, or maybe I am because this irritates the hell out of me. If this is a Bug, tell us it's a Bug, if it's something we are doing wrong please tell us how to do it correctly. Is that so hard to do?

I guess this will get me in trouble because anytime something negative is said about Planetside the "Yes Men" get their dander up and run to the rescue. So be it! But let me warn you, there's no viable excuse as far as I'm concerned for this behavior. When Customer support goes out the window so do Customers. And let me make it perfectly clear, Bob didn't know I was going to post this complaint so don't be upset with him, this is all my doings. No I'm not a yes man nor very diplomatic, I just tell it like I see it. Something not many have Balls enough to do.

Sorry Bob, I just had to say something.

Jay

[Oshyan]

Nothing sinister is going on, the thread simply slipped through the cracks. It does occasionally happen and I do apologize.

We do our best to provide regular support here and it is one of the official support methods we offer. However if immediate support is needed or an answer is not forthcoming the absolute best, most guaranteed method of contact is through direct email to support@planetside.co.uk. Registered users are entitled to priority support through this method.

I will take a look at the .tgd file and respond further as soon as I can.

- Oshyan

[Buzzzzz]

Thanks Oshyan, you handled that well. Sorry but the reason I was upset is that Bob has been asking for help with this since April 30th.  He has been fighting this problem for a Month with no satisfaction and that's quite a long time.

[Oshyan]

As far as I could see the questions in his first thread had been answered by the time I read it so I didn't think it needed further investigation. I didn't make the connection that this thread was an extension of that one, but it does indicate the same problem. However he never responded after having tested it in the previous thread so I wonder if the fixes suggested (and apparently tested by others) really worked, or what exactly is going on.

I'll see what I can find in the provided file, although without the objects in question it may be difficult to figure out.

- Oshyan

[Buzzzzz]

This might sound far fetched but is it possible for tgd's to react differently on different machines?

[Oshyan]

Technically yes and it has happened before to some degree. Generally it would be a cross-platform issue, but I don't think that's the case here (is Bob on a Mac?). It's also not something that I would expect to be effected by those differences. Nonetheless it is possible...

- Oshyan

[Buzzzzz]

No, he runs a PC with XP like most of us. The reason I ask is because others including myself worked with his first tgd where he was having problems and thought the problem was fixed. I mean I saw shadows on my end but when he loaded the supposedly corrected file he still had no shadows on his end. I wonder if it could be his monitor gamma settings and not TG? I'm probably not helping here so I will shut up. 

[Oshyan]

No, this is worthwhile discussion and a valid part of the troubleshooting process. Of course without his input it's all speculation.

- Oshyan

[Buzzzzz]

No, this is worthwhile discussion and a valid part of the troubleshooting process. Of course without his input it's all speculation.

- Oshyan

I just talked with him this afternoon and he is still having problems. I think he just gave up on using the forum for this problem.