New Static Objects ?

[MBot]

A question for the mod gurus. When the ED plugins were released I read that it will be possible to create new static objects ( like the new ones implemented in FC ). And I mean actualy create new static objects, compared to the simple 3d model swap for aircraft/vehicles.

 

Has anyone actualy managed to do this and how is it done ? I have some time on my hand right now and would love to give it a go. There are tons of new static objects that would fit to LOMAC.

[VapoR]

Some new military installations would be a welcome addition.

[Trident]

I was working on the Sevastopol ABM radar a few weeks back, but couldn't finish it in time before my internship started. Now that I have a few days of time I could try to finish it - if my CAD-software licence hadn't expired 2 weeks ago :(

[Alfa]

A question for the mod gurus. When the ED plugins were released I read that it will be possible to create new static objects ( like the new ones implemented in FC ). And I mean actualy create new static objects, compared to the simple 3d model swap for aircraft/vehicles.

 

Has anyone actualy managed to do this and how is it done?

 

Yes :)

 

I have some time on my hand right now and would love to give it a go. There are tons of new static objects that would fit to LOMAC.

 

The challenge is to make the object, texture it, learn how to convert it to .lom format, make destroyed states, LODs etc :) . Adding it to Lock-on is the easy part and I would be happy to help you once you get to that point.

 

- JJ.

[MBot]

Actualy making the model is the easy part for me. At first a single box will do for tests, after that it will be most simple stuff anyway. Tents, bunkers, ammo crates, sandbags, dug-in positions, the possibilitys are endless.

 

So a little help on the other part would be greatly aprieciated.

[Alfa]

Actualy making the model is the easy part for me.

 

Cool :)

 

At first a single box will do for tests, after that it will be most simple stuff anyway. Tents, bunkers, ammo crates, sandbags, dug-in positions, the possibilitys are endless.

 

You may want to alternate your choice of objects a little - some of those are already "taken care of" if you know what I mean :) .

 

So a little help on the other part would be greatly aprieciated.

 

No problem :)

 

- JJ.

[MBot]

You may want to alternate your choice of objects a little - some of those are already "taken care of" if you know what I mean :) .

 

So my previous whining payed off :)

 

 

I just run some test and have my first colorfull boxes in game :)

[VMFA117_Poko]

It would be nice if ED could also add some new objects on the airfields like: levee or concrete thrust deflectors and lamp-posts row behind the aircrafts parking areas...

[MBot]

OK, nothing fancy here, just a little proof of concept. Next Im going to check out LODs and collision model.

[Shaman]

OK, nothing fancy here, just a little proof of concept. Next Im going to check out LODs and collision model.

 

Looks really nice. Set seazon to Autumn, I think the colors will blend better.

[EscCtrl]

This model doesnt replace other models does it?

 

We should make a long wishlist of things we want so the model makers like MBot can choose stuff off it when they want to do a project.

[Alfa]

OK, nothing fancy here, just a little proof of concept. Next Im going to check out LODs and collision model.

 

It looks good Mbot :)

 

Cheers,

- JJ.

[EvilBivol-1]

Nice!

 

ED is able to assign model textures based on the season. Can we do that with third-party mods? Would be great for something like this.

 

Also, you probably already know this, but most in-game objects have a significant undergroud area, to account for sloped terrain. Simple, but effective.

[EricJ]

Looks really nice. Set seazon to Autumn, I think the colors will blend better.

 

Yeah but when you make a BP (Battle Position), you turn up the ground around it. The only difference would be winter, but that's based on if the BPs are freshly dug, or they have been there for awhile.

[MBot]

LODs and collision model are working. I'm still trying to figure out the seasons textures. There is a reference to it in the arguments list for vehicles, but I can't figure out how to get it working.

 

Another thing will be the hitpoints. I have no idea where it is specified how much damage a object can take. Some of the static objects introduced in FC need bigger weapons to destroy, so this has to be somewhere.

 

Also I still need to sort out the "floating effect" my model has. The model is deep enough, continuing well into the ground. But the shadhow gets drawn strange so it seems the model floats above the ground.

 

 

Aside from that I had some nice tests with tanks duke it out from those battle positions. It realy increases their chance of survival. It still needs some tweaking to give the best possible protection for most units, but what I see so far is nice :)

[some1]

LODs and collision model are working. I'm still trying to figure out the seasons textures. There is a reference to it in the arguments list for vehicles, but I can't figure out how to get it working.

 

 

Maybe do something like Walmis did with his R-77 which changes texture after firing and add similar code to your objectName.skins file

 

argument
{
argument = 2;

skin
{
	value = 0.0;
	material = {"r77_nozzle", "per pixel specular", "r77_nozzle_burnt.bmp"};
}
skin
{
	value = 1.0;
	material = {"r77_nozzle", "per pixel specular", "r77_nozzle.bmp"};
}
}

[Alfa]

LODs and collision model are working. I'm still trying to figure out the seasons textures. There is a reference to it in the arguments list for vehicles, but I can't figure out how to get it working.

 

There are two sides to the arguments - the argument based animation in the 3D model and the code "calling" it ;) . E.g. if you make an F-14 model and animate the swing wings under the correct argument, they will only work if the 3D model is assigned to the F-14 entry...or another aircraft entry for which that argument is called :) .

 

Also argument values have different "assignments" depending on type of object - e.g. argument #1 activates nosewheel retraction on aircraft, but activates rotating radar antenna on warships :) . In other words arguments listed for texture change of vehicules may not work(be the same) if your object is integrated as(or swapped out as) a building object.

 

But come to think of it - the argument list is for Black Shark and IIRC the code for seasonal texture change of vehicules wasn't implemented yet in FC :)

 

Another thing will be the hitpoints. I have no idea where it is specified how much damage a object can take. Some of the static objects introduced in FC need bigger weapons to destroy, so this has to be somewhere.

 

When you put the object into Lock-on, did you just swap out another object? ;) .

 

- JJ.

[MBot]

But come to think of it - the argument list is for Black Shark and IIRC the code for seasonal texture change of vehicules wasn't implemented yet in FC :)

 

But it must be already in FC. The Comms Center and Ammo Bunker objects change textures with seasons.

 

I will have to look at that arguments stuff again. The list from lockonmodels says it is argument 24 to change seasontextures on vehicles ( wich might be different on static objects ). But I haven't figured out yet how to set it up in the model. The values specified are 0.25, 0.50, 0,75 and 1,00, while in 3d max animations are done with whole frames ( 1,2,3 etc. ). Also I haven't yet managed to change object materials with animations.

 

When you put the object into Lock-on, did you just swap out another object?

 

Yep, currently I am just substituting the bunker model ( dot.LOM ). So obviously it uses the bunker damage attributes currently. Does this mean that object hitpoints get specified in the meinit.xlm ?

[MBot]

I gave it a go again, but not with much success.

According to lockonmodels.com I am now using frames -30 till +30 to create the argument values -1 till +1.

 

I managed to animate the material change in 3d max by creating a blend material wich includes both the summer and winter material. Unfortunatly this doesn't work in LOMAC, as I it displays summer and winter camo at the same time on the model ( some polygons with summer camo, some with the winter one ).

[MBot]

Ok, I just found something interesting.

 

Even by checking the first 70 arguments of the Comm Center in the modelviewer, I couldn't observe the model to change camo.

But of you enter the game and exit again, then start the model viewer the Comm Center will have the camo of the season last selected in the game.

It's the same as with the satellite view in the mission editor always showing the season you last played with, not the one you selected.

 

This leads me to the conclusion that the season textures in FC are somehow hardcoded and can't be modified by the enduser.

[some1]

So try this:

 

(I'm just quessing, not sure if it will work) :

 

create a file named your3DmodelName.skin if you haven't already done this and place it in the Shapes folder.

 

Edit this fiile with notepad. Add something like this:

 

argument
{
argument = 24;

skin
{
	value = 0.25;
	material = {"materialName", "standard", "Summer_texture.bmp"};

}
skin
{
	value = 0.50;
	material = {"materialName", "standard", "Winter_texture.bmp"};

}
skin
{
	value = 0.75;
	material = {"materialName", "standard", "Spring_texture.bmp"};

}
skin
{
	value = 1;
	material = {"materialName", "standard", "Fall_texture.bmp"};

}
}

 

where materialName is the name of material assigned in 3dStudio to the part of model which have to change color.

[EscCtrl]

Ok, I just found something interesting.

 

Even by checking the first 70 arguments of the Comm Center in the modelviewer, I couldn't observe the model to change camo.

But of you enter the game and exit again, then start the model viewer the Comm Center will have the camo of the season last selected in the game.

It's the same as with the satellite view in the mission editor always showing the season you last played with, not the one you selected.

 

This leads me to the conclusion that the season textures in FC are somehow hardcoded and can't be modified by the enduser.

 

Not worth asking Chizh about this?

[Alfa]

But it must be already in FC. The Comms Center and Ammo Bunker objects change textures with seasons.

 

Yes but you mentioned arguments for texture change of vehicules - the list includes arguments that weren't relevant for FC.....in fact it includes arguments for future application that aren't even used in Black Shark :) .

 

I will have to look at that arguments stuff again. The list from lockonmodels says it is argument 24 to change seasontextures on vehicles ( wich might be different on static objects ). But I haven't figured out yet how to set it up in the model. The values specified are 0.25, 0.50, 0,75 and 1,00, while in 3d max animations are done with whole frames ( 1,2,3 etc. ). Also I haven't yet managed to change object materials with animations.

 

Well the animations I have done so far all have to do with moving mechanical parts, so I don't know how to do this either, but the "0.25" etc values are just "steps" - so if you e.g. have the frame scale in Max set to go from -40 to 40(just an example) then...

 

Max animation scale: -40_........................0.....10.....20.....30.....40

LO argument value: -1,00.........................0...0,25...0,50...0,75...1,00

 

....argument value "0,25" would correspond to "10" on frame scale in Max.

 

Yep, currently I am just substituting the bunker model ( dot.LOM ). So obviously it uses the bunker damage attributes currently. Does this mean that object hitpoints get specified in the meinit.xlm ?

 

No I think it is specified in the "structtable.sht" file in the "Bazar" folder....more specifically by the value stated for the "Life =" attribute.

 

To take the "Dot.lom" as example, this entry in the structtable.sht looks like this:

 

shape

{

file = "dot";

desrt = "dotdestr";

vis = 1.6;

life = 500;

classname = "lStandartStructure";

fire = { 60, 0};

positioning = "BYNORMAL";

username = "Bunker";

index = 503;

 

There is also a "Rate=" attribute in the Meinit.xml, but I believe that may be for something else - points awarded for destroying the object perhaps?.....don't know :hmm: .

 

Cheers,

- JJ.

[Alfa]

Wow slow to respond there I see :D .

 

I think Some1 has a point about the .skins file - the colourscheme change doesn't seem to work for e.g. the Su-25T when moving the slider in the Modelviewer for the argument, while it does for aircraft using the old .cmd format.

 

So maybe you need to follow Some1's suggestion......still not sure about whether the argument #24 is valid for building objects though.

 

Edit: There is no associated Dot.skins file for the Dot.lom, so the texture change must be done in some other way.

 

 

 

- JJ.

[some1]

There should be "standart", not "standard" in the material type. Sorry, my mistake.