Request for help - adding transparency to CAS items.

[Fecks]

Hi guys.

 

Experimenting adding areas of transparency to CAS attire items. 

I can get transparency to work, but the items look flat and dull in game. Have hit a wall, and now asking for help.

 

Desired outcome:

1. Add areas of transparency to CAS attire items,

2. Maintain how modded CAS items look in game - e.g. when applying materials and colors using the CAS menus.

 

Steps taken so far:

 

1. Prepare "_mods" folder by replicating the CAS folder structure and add modded texture files ("objectname_color.dds" and "objectname_normal.dds") to Textures folder

2. Open MTLS file for CAS outfit attire item using MTLs_Edit

3. Ensure ModelID is correct

4. Change shader type from yCS_gear to yCS_trans (my understanding is that transparency isn't possible with a yCS_gear shader )

5. Save MTLs file.

4. Add test area of transparency to alpha channel of  outfit_color.dds file (my understanding is "color" is the diffuse file for CAS items) - save file as DXT5.

5. Bake _mods folder

 

Result: Newly added areas of transparency render correctly in-game. However, the attire item looks dull and flat, with very little light reflection, even when applying materials like metallic or plastic in the CAS materials menu.

 

What do I need to change to make this work?