About
The Ploppable Asphalt + (PA+) mod can be used to create props which use network shaders to display map theme textures such as asphalt, pavement, grass, gravel, cliff. You can also use diffuse, alpha, normal, specular maps depending on which exact shader you use. The props are also decal compatible.
This article assumes you are familiar with regular prop asset creation.
The official PA+ prop packs.
Script
To convert a prop for use with PA+ mod, you need to run one of these scripts using the ModTools console F7.
There are 3 different network shaders to choose from. In the official packs for PA+ they are used like this:
- RoadBridge for asphalt and pavement
- Road for grass and cliff
- TrainBridge for gravel
The prop will not appear correctly inside the asset editor, as the PA+ mod hasn't processed it, that only happens when you load the game normally.
Mesh
It's highly recommended to use only completely flat meshes, as the normals will not appear correctly when the prop is rotated - the lighting will "follow" the rotation.
There are size limitations depending on the shader, for example - the regular road shader doesn't appear correctly for a 32x32 meter prop.
To avoid Z-fighting for props placed on the ground, the mesh should be slightly raised, the official packs for PA+ are 2 cm above ground for main meshes and 5 cm above ground for LOD meshes.
Textures
The textures you need to import are similar to regular props, but the PA+ mod will convert the textures for use on network shaders.
Comparison between RoadBridge (left), TrainBridge (middle), Road (right) shaders. Imported textures are shown at the bottom.
Diffuse
Just like any diffuse texture
Alpha
Works like a regular alpha map for RoadBridge and TrainBridge but displays grass when black on the Road shader.
Color
White will display pavement for RoadBridge, gravel for TrainBridge, cliff for Road.
Illumination
White displays asphalt on all 3 shaders.
Normal
Works just like any normal map for RoadBridge and TrainBridge, but doesn't work at all for Road.
Specular
Works just like any specular map.