Hpl2:Tutorials:material editor:tutorial 1

Material Editor - Tutorial 1

The Material Editor is where you create and edit material files (.mat). These files tell the engine which textures and material properties each model uses.

For this tutorial we will go through controls, viewer properties and setting basic textures (diffuse, normal and specular map) for a tileable floor material.

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First open MaterialEditor.exe located in the game redist.
Since we will be working with a floor we need the preview window to display a plane instead of a box. Simply change Box to plane under "Model" to the right.
Preview controls:
Zoom: scroll wheel
Move lightsource direction: right mouse button+move mouse

There are a few options under the preview window and they are easy understand.

To add a diffuse texture check the "Diffuse" box under "Texture Units".
Under "File" press the button next to it, locate and choose a floor texture (example: redist%%\%%static_objects%%\%%mansionbase%%\%%floor%%\%%mansionbase_floor_boards.dds).
Keep the other options as it is.
Do the same thing again with "NMap" and "Specular". These should located at the same place and with _nrm and _specular as prefix.
This is a wood material so do not forget to set "Physics Material" to "Wood" at the top of the window.
Save!