HPL3/Materials/Materials Overview

A material viewed in the Material Editor.

A material is a .mat text file that defines a two-dimensional surface. It contains all of the information needed for HPL3 to simulate the surface visually, aurally, and physically.
The main attributes of a material are:

• Material Type
• Corresponding Physics Material
• Texture Units
• Material Variables

HPL3 Material are created and edited using the Material Editor.

Tip: .mat files can be opened directly with the material editor application, if you set it as the default app in your computer's settings.

.mat file Example

The basic structure of a .mat file is as follows:

<Material>
    <Main BlendMode="Add" DepthTest="true" ForceFullScaleTextures="true" PhysicsMaterial="Bed" Type="soliddiffuse" UVSubDivs="1 1" UseAlpha="false" />
    <TextureUnits>
        <Diffuse AnimFrameTime="1" AnimMode="None" AnimStartTime="0" Compress="false" File="textures/detail/algae_detail.dds" MipMaps="true" Type="2D" Wrap="Repeat" />
    </TextureUnits>
    <SpecificVariables>
        <Var Name="HeightMapScale" Value="0.05" />
        <Var Name="HeightMapBias" Value="0" />
        <Var Name="IlluminationBrightness" Value="1" />
        <Var Name="FrenselBias" Value="0.2" />
        <Var Name="FrenselPow" Value="8" />
        <Var Name="AlphaDissolveFilter" Value="false" />
        <Var Name="DissolveLayer" Value="0" />
        <Var Name="DetailUvMul" Value="4 4" />
        <Var Name="DetailWeight_Diffuse" Value="1" />
        <Var Name="DetailWeight_Specular" Value="1" />
        <Var Name="DetailWeight_Normal" Value="1" />
        <Var Name="DetailFadeStart" Value="5" />
        <Var Name="DetailFadeEnd" Value="10" />
        <Var Name="SwayActive" Value="false" />
        <Var Name="SwayForceFieldAffected" Value="true" />
        <Var Name="SwayFreq" Value="1" />
        <Var Name="SwayAmplitude" Value="0.1" />
        <Var Name="SwaySpeed" Value="1" />
        <Var Name="SwayOctaveMuls" Value="0.125 0.25 1" />
        <Var Name="SwayForceFieldMul" Value="0.3" />
        <Var Name="SwayForceFieldMax" Value="0.6" />
        <Var Name="SwayYFreqMul" Value="0" />
        <Var Name="SwaySingleDir" Value="false" />
        <Var Name="SwaySingleDirVector" Value="0 0 1" />
        <Var Name="SwaySingleSampleVector" Value="1 0 0" />
        <Var Name="LiquidTrickleColor" Value="0 0 0 1" />
        <Var Name="LiquidTrickleSpecular" Value="0 0 0 0" />
        <Var Name="LiquidTrickleLoopFade" Value="false" />
        <Var Name="LiquidTrickleFadeSpeed" Value="0.5 0.5" />
        <Var Name="LiquidTrickleEdgeSize" Value="0.5" />
        <Var Name="LiquidTrickleDryness" Value="0.5" />
        <Var Name="LiquidTrickleBlendMode" Value="Alpha" />
    </SpecificVariables>
</Material>

• Main describe general material parameters. More on that in Material Editor General and in the different material types section in the main Materials category.
• TextureUnits describe different shaders maps the material may use. More on that in Texture Units.
• SpecificVariables describe further material configuration and unique variables. They vary from different material types. More on that in Material Specific Variables and in the different material types section in the main Materials category.

Finding Materials

.mat files can be found in several locations:

• Inside a sub-folder under the /textures folder of the game.
• Inside a sub-folder under the /static_objects folder of the game.
• Inside a sub folder under the /entities folder of the game.