Machines: Wired for Spring

[Pxtl]

Nice. Seems like every time I touch blender I find out that the beta version is 10X better than the main version they try to push on the website. Last time it was the beta version had an algorithm for automatic texturemapping that made skinning almost painless compared to the original algorithms.

[Wombat]

Use the blender 2.5 beta. The UI is much improved and a lot easier to use.

Ok i will.
The blender website lied and said that 2.49 was easier to use -_-

coz it is in my opinion :D but oh well

just google tutorials, i spent most of my time at the beginning watching tuts than modeling

[CarRepairer]

Use the blender 2.5 beta. The UI is much improved and a lot easier to use.

Ok i will.
The blender website lied and said that 2.49 was easier to use -_-

Unfortunately, Kloot's Blender script which exports the lua partner file that you need to put with your obj file, is only compatible with 2.49.

http://springrts.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=22635

[MidKnight]

Use the blender 2.5 beta. The UI is much improved and a lot easier to use.

Ok i will.
The blender website lied and said that 2.49 was easier to use -_-

Unfortunately, Kloot's Blender script which exports the lua partner file that you need to put with your obj file, is only compatible with 2.49.

http://springrts.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=22635

Just do all the work in 2.5, open it up in 2.49, and export! It's still easier than upspring!

[Beherith]

Just a thought: maybe parsing the models.bin for consecutive float3's inside a sane range could be a way start extracting...

[knorke]

hehe uhm yea, maybe.

I still dont understand the Blender/obj thing. So that saves the use of Upspring. But how do I ie set pieces names + origin? In Blender?

[MidKnight]

ehh, use the fields provided by blender by default?

[hoijui]

decompile the binary that usually parses models.bin?

[knorke]

might as well patch the binary to work on newer systems...

[CarRepairer]

hehe uhm yea, maybe.

I still dont understand the Blender/obj thing. So that saves the use of Upspring. But how do I ie set pieces names + origin? In Blender?

Piece renames: In the outliner, ctrl+click on your piece name and material name (name the piece and the material the exact same name).

Hierarchy: Select two pieces and press ctrl+P.

Origin: Select your piece. Use the 3d cursor to choose a spot (left clicking a few times in different rotations) and go to object > transform > Center Cursor.

Find more info in the thread (hobojoe helped with some of these). Yes, blender is damn hard to learn. But once you know this stuff it's not so bad.

[DjDec]

OK so today i didn't have any coursework so i managed to get a bit of practice in using blender.
This is the Eradicator unit

The Crusader would be next but for some reason blender wont let me come off of object mode.

[MidKnight]

Press tab?

[DjDec]

Press tab?

didnt work
it started after i messed with the camera,rendering and then saved.
ill try copying the whole lot into another file tomorrow. im going bed now :)

[MidKnight]

Sleep well, best of luck.

...if you want, you could upload the .blend file here, and I could take a look at it and try and see what's wrong...

[knorke]

looks close to the original :)
I hope the wheels are not over 9000 polygon cylinders? Just a few are enough, Spring will will smooth them to be round if you set edges to soft.

The attack will be a challenge though...
For those who did not play Maschines:
It creates a growing black Ball of dark matter or something that sucks stuff into the voooooooooid.

[DjDec]

looks close to the original :)
I hope the wheels are not over 9000 polygon cylinders? Just a few are enough, Spring will will smooth them to be round if you set edges to soft.

Lol yeah i though they would be. But when i get better ill reduce the polys on everything. The wheels are quite high i think, they're default mesh cylinders.
Does it matter how big i make the models? can they be made smaller/bigger at a later stage?

[knorke]

you can scale stuff later in Upspring or maybe even during export. but it requires some trial & error to get the model in correct size. Sometimes they are tiny or huge like xbox. Mine are always really small at first

[Wombat]

dunno if u fixed it, but i suppose u selected camera or lamp in object mode :> thats why tab wont work

[DjDec]

Ok i made 2 more models 2day. But i forgot to save one -_- so ill have to make that again.
Crusader:


BolterScout:

[DjDec]

So if i want to put a unit into the game where would i start?
I read the guide on modding, didn't totally understand it but i saw that you need to convert it to a .3DO and i heard upspring does this but if you use blender you dont need upspring. Can blender do this or do i actually need upspring?
I looked at the export menu and it only has .3DS