Alpha layers not working properly?

[DragonLady Merlin]

I've been out of the game for a while.  My computer died, and now I'm using an older one that can't handle the higher graphics the other could, so I've turned them all down.

I was working on a pair of shoes, when I decided to turn the graphics back up to make sure they looked good at a high resolution.  But when I did, the alpha shoe base disappeared, leaving my heel visible through the shoe.

I can't figure out why it disappears as it should at lower graphics levels, but not at the higher ones?

I'm using the latest version of Firestorm, and have "render alpha masks" checked for "advanced lighting model" both enabled and disabled.

I don't have the official client installed right now, so I haven't tested to see if the problem is isolated to Firestorm. 

Is anyone else having this issue?  Has something changed in the last few months I just haven't been aware of?

[Syo Emerald]

Are you even sure you are wearing an alpha layer? Because this sounds like you have old shoes that use an invisi-prim. This thing will work on low graphic settings, but does not at anything slightly better. Thats why you still see so many newbies and people without a shopping budget who run around with shoes that have their feet sticking out.

[DragonLady Merlin]

Yes; the shoes have an invisiprim.  Should I edit them and remove it?  I have a freebie package of alpha hiders for heels, but none of them are shaped right for these shoes. 

[DragonLady Merlin]

Even without the invisiprim, none of the shoe bases I've tried now actually hide my foot.

I *detest* mesh clothing and shoes, because I don't want to edit my avatar.  I'm sure I'm not alone in that, so there must be some way people are getting around it now?

[Syo Emerald]

You do not necessary need mesh feet or shoes to archieve what you want. Yes, removing the invisiprim is the first step, than you have to find and wear an alphalayer that will hide your feet. A shoebase alone will not hide your feet.

Primbased shoes are not the primary thing you will find in new releases, because in many cases (such as for long boots) mesh actually solves a few probelms and mesh shoes that work together with mesh feet from slink are on the rise. I have yet to find a mesh shoe that required editing my shape to fit it. Its not as complex as to have a dress made of mesh that has to fit multiple areas at once. Mesh also comes nearly always with a demo version, so you can try it on and test if it fits you.

But if you want to stay with prim shoes...I'm not sure if its still up, but last week or so I think N-core announced a retirement sale for their old primshoes, so this might be worth a look.

 

Edit: One thing about invisiprims, they got broken years ago and alpha layer had already replaced them in nearly all new products, so its not a "mesh-thing" that they don't work anymore or get used.

[Pussycat Catnap]

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Syo Emerald wrote:

 

Edit: One thing about invisiprims, they got broken years ago and alpha layer had already replaced them in nearly all new products, so its not a "mesh-thing" that they don't work anymore or get used.

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Noooooo....

must.

blame.

everything.

on.

mesh.

 

I have actually found all of one mesh boots that wouldn't fit my shape - they were an early fitted item, so no matter what shape I used, they readjusted to be 1% skinnier than me... I never did solve that.

I'm surprised invisiprim is even working on lower graphics settings. Alpha maps replaced that almost 2 years before mesh showed up.

If you have Gimp (free) or Photoshop (slightly non-free), you can make your own alpha maps very easy. Its basically just making a PNG image that is transparent in some parts. Those parts will end up 'alpha'd' in SL.

I'm always annoyed at merchants that don't include the alpha-map texture (not an alpha map object, but the actual texture) as a full perms item.

- When they DO include it I download it, take it into photoshop, and merge it with any other alphas I wear in that same location.

SL limits you to only 5 or 6 alpha maps at a time, and I find I usually need about 372 of them...