Model Importer & Exporter, Milkshape 3D

[Fulby]

This is the only plugins we have for creating / changing UFO:Aftermath models. It is made for Milkshape 3D that you can download from https://www.swissquake.ch/chumbalum-soft/

 

 

Click here to go to the download page.

[sigget]

What about textures? How do you support materials in the import/export?

[Fulby]

The vertex UV coordinates are imported, so add a material in Milkshape and add the texture the model should have. Then select the mesh and assign the material to it. I think there are some problems with it but I'm not sure.

 

Fulby

[sigget]

Well i was thinking more of what information is lost in the transition, what aspects of materials are imported? not uv-coords but settings such as texture filename, base color and so on. How much information is lost in the import and what parameters are set in the export?

 

Im asking cause this is one of the issuse that kept me from writing a plugin, there's not one game title or 3d program that uses the same format as another title. They always differ, so settings are bound to get lost in the transition, unless you write your own editor of course :-)

 

On the other hand, milkshape reads alot of formats so perhaps its got some smart format independent way of dealing with these things.

[Lurker]

Martin, at Altar, was the one who was hinting how easy it would be. I wish I could find that thread where Martin was talking about how easy it would be to do a format converter or a 3d model plugin.

 

Anyway, it might be time for Slaughter to try to get Martin's attention. If we could get Martin or one of the other developers at Altar to participate, they might be able to quickly and easily point Fulby and sigget in the right direction.

 

So, Slaughter, do you still have that email address for Martin? If so, please link Martin in and see if he is willing to help in some fashion.

[Fulby]

sigget,

 

Milkshape doesn't have the ability to store arbitrary data, so things like pivot points are never going to be imported/exported. That's why it exports what it can to an Intermediary file so the user can put the modified data back in the model file (or a copy of it).

 

What I'm saying is that information will always be lost in the transition; copying the modified data into the original file is one solution to that.

 

Fulby

[Fulby]

Regarding bone support, it should now be possible to edit characters and other models with bones. Even though the bones don't display in Milkshape the vertices keep the info of which bone they are attached to, so when you export and copy into the original the animation should still work. In-game pics of modified armour, reticulans of mutants requested

 

Fulby

[Lurker]

Someone will have to PM Aralez and let him know that he can now create new armor and new aliens one bone at a time.

 

Aralez has been asking for a model editor for the longest time, and it sounds like Aralez will have some free time next week, so it will indeed be interesting to see what Aralez can create.

 

No bones about it, Fulby is definitely deserving of our thanks!

[Slaughter]

This is excellent Fulby! Keep up the good work! I'll send out a newsletter in a day or two, and I'll tell everyone about this. That should bring back some modders I believe. And if there's any info you need from ALTAR, I'm sure it could be possible to obtain. Is there?

[Aralez]

Yeah !!! I'll take a look at those new aliens right away. Atm, BlackAlmaz and i agreed to split up the work a bit. BA will do the models of the weapons and maybe a tank (nice screenshots at his site), i will do textures , new aliens, and new armours. (If possible).

[Slaughter]

Looking forwards to the results!

[Aralez]

Gulp, me too ???

 

Later that day:

 

Well, i had some success and some disasters:

 

-Edited head-models work

-edited weapon-models work

 

But:

 

-Popper with smaller height works, but is invisible.

-Edited Spitter (head actually looks 99% like a spitter now) crashes the game.

-Edited berzerk armour CTD, despite a lot of work (copy'n'paste, carefully checked names etc.)

 

I think i will have to wait what BlackAlmaz delivers, he seems much more succesful and talented with his models. (I think I will only add my muton/sectoid-heads and weapon models to his stuff)

 

It seems i'm more of a craftsman and BlackAlmaz is an artist. So i better stick to what i can do.

[BlackAlmaz]

i will send them to you today...i want you to test the feamle head.....

and if it dosent work..i will add the head com to the light helmat

[Slaughter]

You are indeed very talented BlackAlmaz! Keep it up!

[Fulby]

Aralez,

 

Could you please send me your starting berzerk armour, the exported file and the final model file and I'll check it over.

 

Also, if you import the armour then export and copy into the original, but make no changes in Milkshape does the game still CTD?

 

Thanks,

 

Fulby

[Aralez]

Files are on the way. and no i didn't try the last one.

[BlackAlmaz]

fulby i rember you tring to make hostile humas....i think now we might be able to do so

[Fulby]

Well the humans could certainly be improved and more variations added, though from the looks of the trailer you could just wait for Aftershock

 

Fulby

[BlackAlmaz]

fulby i added one of my models...but is turned up invible...it was a modle of the 16/m203...how can a avoid that.???..

 

same name....what wrong?

tetical\models\weapons\h_ar-m4_3d

i replaced all the mash in the original....it seems eather i cant use cylanders...or it wont let something into the game

 

aralez did you do anything other than scale...and i think we are way out to actually geting new stuff in....or i'm just bad at exporting and importing files

[Fulby]

Please upload the original model, the intermediary exported file and the final model file somewhere and post a link. I'll take a look and try to work out what's wrong.

 

Thanks,

 

Fulby

[Aralez]

My scaled weapons did show up, edited heads too, but scaled aliens not (invisible). The new berzerkarmour (edited original model with some points deleted) crashed the game. And no, i did not try to add a completely new model yet. I received the first bunch of your models i will try to make them work. But i can start work on them not earlier than sunday (i have some other work to do atm). But if they work i will send them to you asap. Oh and don't be surprised if i don't answer mails too quickly, my DSL-modem has some problems lately. Should work now (resetted it) but just in case...

[Fulby]

Aralez,

 

I took your exported intermediary file and pasted the data into the HM_HeavyIntegral_1 model and it worked OK. I've uploaded the model file

here. So unfortunately I'm not sure why it crashed the game when you did it. Pasting in the new data was confusing, I kept track of where I was up to be cutting (not copying) each list out of the intermediary file and pasting it over the equivalent list in the original. Things to check:

 

Erase all the original vertices or at least make sure you paste over all of them so the number of vertices in the list is correct. Same for triangle lists.

Your files where using "\n" for new lines not "\r\n". I seriously doubt this would make a difference since some of the files use "\n" on some lines and still work, but it may be important.

Make sure you're copying the correct meshes into thier respective places - yes I know that's insulting but please check anyway

 

Blackalmaz,

 

Check you're not pasting in the END_OF_MESH from the intermediary file into the original.

Paste this:

COUNT 60
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 2 9 0 1 10 11 12 5 13 11 2 1 10 14 15 16 13 17 15 11 10 
8 18 6 19 20 21 20 22 23 21 24 19 5 12 3 22 25 26 23 21 20 13 16 12 
17 27 16 26 23 22 

not:

COUNT 60
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 2 9 0 1 10 11 12 5 13 11 2 1 10 14 15 16 13 17 15 11 10 
8 18 6 19 20 21 20 22 23 21 24 19 5 12 3 22 25 26 23 21 20 13 16 12 
17 27 16 26 23 22 
END_OF_MESH

 

I did this by mistake and found it made part of the model invisible.

 

Fulby

[Aralez]

Ok, thx i will re-check that. And i don't feel insulted , i already thought that it was a copy-n-paste error of me. As you said yourself this is a VERY confusing act and needs very careful working.

[BlackAlmaz]

fulby...before count i have this

WVERTS 604 what is it...

and i have

COUNT 2268

for the next

it a complitly new model of the uzi....

 

"this is straight after"

END_OF_GROUP 0

END_OF_MESH "m_h_uzi"

HELPER "point-f"

TYPE POINT

LINKINFO

LINK_TYPE NORMAL "i think this migth have something to do with new models"

PARENT "m_h_uzi" "and maybe this is what th mach mnt to be called"

PIVOT

-0.1259 0.0000 -0.0000 8.3606 -0.0000 0.1259 0.0000 2.9099 0.0000 0.0000 -0.1259 -0.9459 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 1.0000

END_OF_PARENT

END_OF_LINKINFO

PIVOT

-0.0000 0.0000 1.0000 28.1484 0.0000 1.0000 -0.0000 8.8669 -1.0000 0.0000 -0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000 1.0000

END_OF_HELPER "point-f"

END_OF_MODEL

 

i also found out that alians that use invsible weapons end up dead in a funny way...virticly...half under ground

 

with a fly i could only see the bottom part sticking out from the ground

 

 

 

plus with new models..in the text it starts each new mash with (mash"cylander 2")

nad end mash ateach end.....and there is nothing between the mashes....plus it start verts with a "w"...eg "wverts"

 

it also spilts up the counts and mashes...wich is strange....maybe thats because i havent regrouped the hall model?

 

with the uzi i had no such problem...but its still is invisible

[BlackAlmaz]

ohh and fulby the files you asked for..there on the second page of my web site..you cant miss it

 

i think this is it https://au.f2.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/blackalmaz

if not there is a link in the news