Help with SOD Files

posted on October 31st, 2012, 5:14 am

I'm currently working on the Morte Navi. It's a bit of a blend of the Haze Mark-1 and Mark-3. My older model had a better look, but, as I cant get to it, this will have to do. I'm adding pictures so you all could judge the hull shape.

I'm making the textures for it now. I'm thinking a more plate-like hull with an actual bump map.

Opinions?

For Mr. Vulcan:
Also, am I allowed to apply the same material to multiple areas?

Attachments

Morte_Navi-1.jpg (21.89 KiB) Viewed 803 times

Morte_Navi-2.jpg (14.92 KiB) Viewed 803 times

Morte_Navi-3.jpg (13.59 KiB) Viewed 803 times

posted on November 1st, 2012, 6:21 pm

I'm working on the Destroyer Turret, but I am still having problems.

It's coming up with the same problem as before. It works fine, but the model is missing (aside from a few invisable lines) and the file size is about 15kb.

I have 4 meshes and 3 materials spread across them. I shouldnt be having this problem.

any advice?

posted on November 1st, 2012, 10:04 pm

Can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

I'll even post one of my models so you can tell me.

posted on November 2nd, 2012, 12:02 am

Not too sure what's going on.

Yes, you can apply the same material to multiple meshes.

I can take a look at what's going on if you can send me the model, or attach it to the post in some way. I will be able to look at it tomorrow in 3dsMax 2012, only have Max5 here.

In the mean time, I can only recommend looking over the documentation that's included with the exporter The first few sections should explain most of what you'll need.

[Destroyer92]

posted on November 2nd, 2012, 2:03 am

Last edited by Destroyer92 on November 2nd, 2012, 4:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Ok, im giving the TCF Turret Base. From this, several devices will be attached, such as a sensor pod, power core, and weapons that will actually turn to fire.

Once I know the problem, I can continue.

I'm also sending the Haze Mark-1 for review. I found that I forgot the shield generator, and, once I know the problem, I will add it later.

Also, give me your opinion on the second ship i'm sending you. I cant decide if it should be the Morte Navi or the Haze Mark-2.

posted on November 2nd, 2012, 4:05 pm

Unfortunately, I can't open the files you've attached. Which version are you using? If it is greater than 2012, can you please save the files in the 2012 version?

Save-As --> file type 2012

Thanks

posted on November 2nd, 2012, 4:27 pm

Sorry.

Try these.

I included all the files.

Attachments

3DS Max 2012.zip

(252.41 KiB) Downloaded 275 times

posted on November 3rd, 2012, 4:16 pm

Any luck, Mr. Vulcan?

posted on November 4th, 2012, 1:45 am

Sorry, not yet. I have 3dsMax 2012 at work, so I will have to wait until Monday.

If you could post a screenshot of the hierarchy in the mean time (fully expanded), I might be able to find something.

The general layout and naming should be similar to this, although the root node is not necssary:



I'm guessing that the problem might still be with materials. For Armada, I would recommend using the classic/standard material editor (not the new, nodes-based editor they added in 2012). You can change back to the old material editor in the "mode" menu.

posted on November 5th, 2012, 2:28 am

Sorry for waiting for so long.

Here's the node hierarchy of the Haze Mark-1 I made using 3DS Max alone, which somehow works , and the Destroyer Turret, which does not.

In the one for the Haze, it has the hardpoints under their node, but the geometry is attached directly to the root, as are a few of my other hierarchies.

The Turret has its geometry attached to the geometry node, though I forgot to add hardpoints to it. The computer detects the model, but says that its invisible.

Does this help?

Pictures below.

Attachments

Node-Work.JPG (137.6 KiB) Viewed 680 times

Node-NoWork.JPG (107.42 KiB) Viewed 680 times

posted on November 5th, 2012, 4:23 am

Those hierarchies look ok. Hmm, I will just have to look at them in 2012 tomorrow.

The screenshots look interesting, too bad its taking so much trouble getting the models exported

Normally, when the exporter encounters an error, the model will not be readable in Storm3D. Do you mean that you can load the model in Storm and see the mesh object in the hierarchy, but it doesn't get drawn on screen? If so, are you sure that you're using the A2 export script and not A1.

posted on November 5th, 2012, 4:48 am

It doesnt appear in either Storm3D or FO. When I try and build the Turret, I can see the bees focusing on a single point, sometimes 2, and these points will sometimes flash with the build sparks. Most of the time, I'll even see the small sparks that go between vertexes, but nothing appears. IDK if the hardpoints work when the ship is 'invisible', but I know you cant see anything.

are you sure that you're using the A2 export script and not A1.

Unless the scripts are mislabeled, I'm hitting the right one.

posted on November 5th, 2012, 1:20 pm

Try exporting it with no textures. It sounds like you might be exporting it with the wrong alpha settings, and therefore your alpha layer is instead making the whole thing invisible.

posted on November 5th, 2012, 3:56 pm

It wont let me. It keeps coming up with an error, stating that it needs textures.

I actually didnt think about the Alpha. Let me play with that for a few minutes and see what happens.

posted on November 6th, 2012, 1:27 am

Ok, here's what I found. Might be any one of these that give you problems. However, the script seems to export it ok.


1. You have invisible meshes for hierarchy items like "root" and "geometry" and so on. Although I don't see any reason for why this should cause big problems, there are good reasons for using point helpers instead. They are much easier for Armada, as well as model creator, to work with and render. These are under the "create" tab -->"helpers" menu --> "Point" item.

2. Those invisible meshes do create a problem in another way. It seems that they are all collapsed meshes (faces with less than 3 distinct vertices). A good face has 3 vertices, but it is possible, for unknown purposes, to have a face with 2 or even one vertex. This happens when you select multiple vertices and use the "collapse" function in the edit menu. I would just delete those collapsed meshes and replace then with normal point helpers. Collapsed meshes/faces are guaranteed to cause problems in Armada.

3. You do not need to define any points or nodes for mesh objects (read: joints if you're familiar with Milkshape). Also, you do not need to give meshes any special names with "m_". Not critical, but saves you unnecessary work.

4. Materials should have a unique or well defined name. For example, use "fedhull" for all your federation ships that use this material identically. Similarly, if you have a ship with a unique material, give its material a unique name like "fedship5a" or somesuch. Don't leave it at the default "Material_##" or "Default_##" as this will cause material name conflicts in Armada.

5. Use smoothing groups where you want the mesh to have curved appearance. Even if you do not wish to have curved appearance, you should still use smoothing groups between two triangular faces of a larger face (planes). This will improve performance, and could make it easier for you to work with your model. You can auto-assign smoothing groups in 3dsMax based on the angle between adjacent faces. To do this, select faces ( in face, polygon, or element subobject edit modes), then in "surface properties" menu, click "autosmooth".

6. Try to combine meshes that use the same material. This significantly improves performance in Armada. Note, however, that you can't combine meshes when at least one mesh is animated. That is, meshes that have animation must be separate from static meshes.

7. Some advanced materials like baked materials are not supported by Armada. I'm not sure whether this will cause problems, but I suspect that any non-standard material will have to be converted to a .tga and used as a diffuse map.


Not trying to overwhelm you here. Most of these are just meant to be helpful tips. However, I do advise that you read the readme.pdf file included with the download, or the SOD creation section of the FleetOps modding guide. it contains most of the info you'd need to avoid certain pitfalls with creating SODs. It also covers some of the stuff I mentioned here.

I modified your turret model with the suggestions I have posted above. Attached below.

PS: I may have found a bug with the script. This shouldn't cause the model not to export.. but just to be safe, please find and edit the following line in the script(s)

Code: Select all

setTVert obj i2 uvw[1] uvw[2] 0

replace with

setTVert obj i1 uvw[1] uvw[2] 0

Attachments

Destroyer Turret2.zip

(21.63 KiB) Downloaded 257 times