luckybob9

Own/ purchase as in paying someone to do it or downloading from model sharing website (turbosquid, etc).

People might purchase models and then make the needed changes instead of starting from scratch but correct, plugins only allow for exporting, no importing or viewing within 3ds Max.

Oh, opening/ importing .edm files? No plugins support that

Plugins for 2008 are no longer supported; even if you found a version of it, they export into an older version of the .edm format

That tutorial was probably created when plugins for Max 2008 were available. I don't think Max 2008 has been supported for over a year now

For anyone else having this issue, my guess is that the newest ones are going through changes. Use version 115338 for now.

Because its not a simple DLL file. With each version of 3ds max the plugin format changes slightly; you cant run a 2010 plugin on a 2016 version of max and the plugins are not written for 2016. The installer is actually intelligent and contains plugins for versions 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014. It automatically detects what version you have and installs the corresponding plugin version in the correct folder.

right, the tools are ED's own and not available to the public

Do you have multiple layers? I would unlayer everything/ temporary delete any unused pieces You would have to make a Mod so you could add it as a static object in the mission editor. There is no way to have it 'automatically' be placed at a desired spot

1) In the world folder I think? I cant check on the PC im currently on. 2) .lsa4 - it is a specific format that only ED's engine can understand 3) Land textures are assigned to the mesh prior to exporting to ED's own format.

You might be able to do the same method as the guide. But the other way is pretty much identical, except you're just separating everything and the data in the ROOT LOD dummy, is what will be in the .lods file Im going off memory here, so for a model with 4 pieces, (tower_lod0, tower_lod1, tower_lod2, tower_lod3), you would export each one independently. Then you would need to make a .lods file which is just a text file. The information you enter should be in the following format: model={ lods={ {"tower_lod0.edm",250.000000}; {"tower_lod1.edm",750.000000}; {"tower_lod2.edm",2000.000000}; {"tower_lod3.edm",50000.000000}; }; collision_shell="tower_lod0.edm"; } The last part declares the collision file. Then numbers after declaring the model name is the maximum range in meters that the specific LOD will be rendered

In the past it is not just a different texture but, a different physical mesh AND texture. The mesh swaps out based on argument numbers using visibility tracks. It has 4 different levels. 0 = normal .01 -.25 - stage 1 .26 -5 - stage 2 .51 -.75 - stage 3 .76 - 1 - stage 4

Probably what Joey said. Make sure you have standard materials and have clicked the 'make cool' button in the ed plugins

I just wanted to clarify that while the tools might work, there is no support for them from the team and I would even say that most people have forgotten how they work

Lets put the brakes on this before it becomes a runaway train. The tools being talked about in this thread are old, outdated, unsupported, and have not been used in several years. The new tools are not available for the public. Please refer to Sith's post below:

I dont have the plugins installed anymore. They are very outdated and have not worked with any current DCS version in many years. But that looks like steps to export a runway.

as of now, i know of no plans for a public release

Those tools are very outdated and only work for FC1 and BS1 if my memory is correct. Current tools are not available for public use. However, the template file should be included in one of those .rar files

I havent heard of this or run into it either. Do you have any special settings or anything in max?

Is this for one airfield only? All airfields?

Just to expand on this, you can think of modelviewer value of -1 equaling -100 in Max. And a value of 1 in modelviewer = 100 in Max Yes, you can assign separate objects multiple things. For instance if the nose landing gear is argument 0, you could do the following: Rotation argument 0 on the landing gear door Rotation argument 0 on the strut (wheel and all pieces can be linked to the strut to follow it).

It only has to be redone when adding new mesh that doesn't have a material, or if you drag a new material to replace an existing one. Like others have said, its so the game engine knows what kind of shaders to apply to the mesh as well as additional parameters you want to specify. (certain parameters only work with certain material types).

It is known and reported internally, thanks

I believe LOD's are part of the visibility setting. Try changing that to a higher value and give it a shot. If not, try a repair in DCS

It was probably just some maintenance or something like that. All should be good now.