Add reflections (PS1)

[Richard-L]

Reflective items:

• [ ] Snowmobile windshield (O_SKIDOO_FAST = 13, O_SKIDOO_ARMED = 51, mesh 0) See info below
• [ ] Rolling wheel blades (O_SPINNING_BLADE = 80, quads only not triangles, mesh 0)
• [ ] Wall mounted blades (O_BLADE = 81, mesh 1)
• [ ] Swords of statues (ID_KILLER_STATUE = 82, mesh 7)
• [ ] Flamethrower enemy masks (O_WORKER_5 = 34, mesh 15)
• [ ] Boathouse Key (O_KEY_OPTION_1 = 197, whole mesh #0, JSON defined for Venice level)
• [ ] Library Key (O_KEY_OPTION_1 = 197, whole mesh 0, JSON defined for Bartoli's Hideout level)
• [ ] Optional: golden DOZY Lara? (ID_LARA = 0, whole mesh)

Arsunt had an article on this: https://www.tombraiderforums.com/showthread.php?t=226585

Preparing the article about all of it. Here is a "teaser" for you. It's about how TR reflection UV mapping works. The square central area of the last rendered frame is taken as texture. Only the centred incircle area is used for reflection, everything beyond is never reflected. Let's suppose for now that radius of the circle is 1 and coordinates of its center is (0; 0).

For each vertex of the mesh, a view rotated normal vector is taken (vertex itself coordinate does not matter). Normal vector coordinates in the XY plane will indicate the desired point of the texture. Since the length of the normal vector is always equal to 1, and the Z coordinate is discarded, it is guaranteed to stay inside the circle.

So now the XY coordinates inside this "circle area" are in range -1..1, but for UV we want 0..1. This part is fairly simple: U = (X+1)/2; V = (Y+1)/2;

Bingo!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UV_mapping https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertex_normal

Note: Wall mounted blades occur in several levels (O_BLADE = 81): The Great Wall, Bartoli's Hideout, Barkhang Monastery, Floating Island, Temple of Xian.

Arsunt notes: "But there is a problem. It made reflective in two levels only: The Great Wall (only blade is reflective), Bartoli's Hideout (completely reflective). The developers didn't add the effect in other levels for some reason."

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Resurrected screenshots and details:

• Comparison of Venice keys: top PC, bottom PS1

• Visors of flamethrower guys in both base and Golden Mask:

• @walkawayy The snowmobile windshield is not entirely transparent. Arsunt:

  The red snowmobile (id 13) in Tibetian Foothills has single small reflective triangle in the left part under windshield. Looks like a speedometer panel or some other thing.

It actually may just be a leftover from them trying to make the windshield reflective (?).

• Curiously the Sword reflection from Bartoli is absent in Xian. But this may just be an oversight as well.

• The wall mounted blades, present in:

  • The Great Wall
  • Bartoli's Hideout
  • Barkhang Monastery
  • Floating Island
  • Temple of Xian

Arsunt:

But there is a problem. It made reflective in two levels only: The Great Wall (only blade is reflective), Bartoli's Hideout (completely reflective). The developers didn't add the effect in other levels for some reason.

• Pizza slicers. Sometimes their pointy end pts have different textures, based on the level.

[Richard-L]

Edited the OP with details and ressurrected screenshots.