Saints Row IV Format of normal map textures?

[scanti]

I've noticed in SRTT and SRIV you use 2 different formats for the normal map texture.

You have obviously swizzled the normal vectors and thrown away the z vector (as it can be derived using the Pythagoras' theorem).

Do you use 2 different shaders for each normal map type or do you use the so called Capcom normal map hack?

i.e.

Option 1 (2 different shaders):

Shader 1 (low quality normals using DXT1):

x=r, y=g, z=1-sqrt(r*r+g*g)

Shader 2 (high quality normals using DXT5):

x=a, y=g, z=1-sqrt(a*a+g*g)

or Option 2 (The Capcom hack):

x=r, y=g, z=1-sqrt(r*r*a*a+g*g)

(For low quality DXT1 normal r=x vector and a=1.0. For high quality DTX5 r=1.0 and a=x vector).

If you use the Capcom hack then the 2 normal quality methods will be interchangeable.

 

[jonh]

could you please tell me where the normal map for the female character is located so that i can extract it?

 

[scanti]

There are several in packed in the customize_player.vpp_pc file. They are:

Female_Asian.str2_pc / Male_Asian.str2_pc
Female_Black.str2_pc / Male_Black.str2_pc
Female_Hispanic.str2_pc / Male_Hispanic.str2_pc
Female_White.str2_pc / Male_White.str2_pc

Inside each of those there are several textures.

The age textures are for the age sliders. The heavy, ideal, muscular, skinny textures are blended by the body shape triangle.

 

[jonh]

wow. thats a little more complicated then i thought. what im trying to do is modify the normal map to remove the x axis shading (green color of the normal). I noticed that when the character is up side down, the bottom is always shaded because of the normal map. hard to explain but thanks for locating it.