[Weapon] Flak 18 (8.8 cm) [WIP](WW2)

[Ratface]

Thank you, sir! Didn't think about that with the barrel, just didn't come to mind with the rifling, that will save a bit of space and tris.

So, next step will be going back to a slightly older copy where I haven't resized anything, organize things that require the most detail and enlarge them, pack in an efficient way (as you have described), then I'll post again in a few days. Thanks for the quick reply Rhino!

[Rhino]

BTW encase you aren't doing this I myself do my packing in full scale into a square or rectangle and only down size my UVs at the last second as this way you can rejig your UVs as much as you like to get the right fit without having to rework it from scratch each time

[Ratface]

Quick question, is it better to have the sight (reticle and the plane w/ circle cut out) UV mapped to its own small sheet, or is it better to put it on the sheet with the rest of the cannon? Thank you!

[Rhino]

Reticles should really be modelled into the sight rather than a large transparent texture.

Got a ref of your reticle then I can give you some better feedback on how to do it as there are different ways to model them but in most cases, its best just to model each line.

[Ratface]

Fast as always, many thanks Rhino ^^

I did model everything, I remember that comment from earlier in this thread, here is what I have right now (Atm everything is enlarged UV wise, hence the small squares on the test UV map)

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 3324_n.jpg

https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hph ... 9933_n.jpg

Sight will be pretty much all black as far as I know, but I will have to check with CT on this, not many good pictures on what the zoomed in scope would look like.

[Rhino]

If its all black with no details it should be UVed to your main texture sheet taking up only a few pixels, basically using the some of your free space on the sheet.

EDIT: for the outside, don't you have the sight modelled on the main model? If so you should use it's model for the outside of the scoped in model, the same way a handheld weapon's scope is done.

[Ratface]

That sight itself a little complex, so as far as the main model goes it is just some eyepieces and a fake outgoing sight. The player-viewable sight is modeled completely, and I've UVed it to a tiny spot as you and a few other suggested that I've talked to.

It's been a while since I've posted an actual model update, so here is (pretty much) the final model after I've added and modified a few things. Note that there is also, for lack of a better term, "iron sight" built right off the main sight. This is not functional in this model, but I thought it was interesting when looking up references for the sight itself.

p3d.in - flakfinalshield

Edit: Ignore some of the smoothing groups missing, still getting certain parts prepped, etc, but I will go through and fix those things after UVs are done. Should have another UV draft shortly this week or next.

[Rhino]

Cool, it would also be worth doing a 1p model, using the 3p textures but basically making the things right in the gunners view higher poly and making that "Iron Sight" (take its that tube to the right of the sight?) functional as well in it, but keep it as it is for 3p. Also for the 1p it might be an idea to hollow out the scope so you can see though it like Handheld weapons:



3p:



But ye make that after the 3p model is 100% done with UVs etc and then make it off of it

[Ratface]

Alright, revive of the necro thread!

I have an export ready, however I'm running into a slight problem with LOD3. All other parts in all other LODs/geoms export fine, however for whatever reason the pivots seem messed up for the gun mount/ cannon when exported. When exported, they are off to the side and a bit lower than they should be.

I have checked all the pivots and everything is how it *should* be, so I'm not sure what's going on. The pivots for these aren't at 0,0,0, not sure if that's an issue, but it does work fine how it is for other LODs.

I'm not at my PC right now but I will post pics later today to show what I mean (I'll also post the hierarchy). Is this something anyone is familiar with, or can this be fixed in the BF2 editor once it is exported as long as the pivots are correct? Wasn't sure if you can move pieces in the editor or not. I've exported plenty of statics, but this is my first bundlemesh, so I want to make sure I'm doing it right ^^

Thanks! Again, will post a few WIP pics to show what I mean specifically shortly.

EDIT: Hierarchy coming later, but this is what is happening. Obviously at a long distance you can barely see this, but it is still noticeable. Also, no feedback on anything as this is obviously still WIP, this is purely a "I need help D:" post!

[Rhino]

Make sure you fix an objects pivot before you attach it to an object since its parent's pivot will otherwise influence the child's one.

Can't give you more help without more info/pics etc.

[Ratface]

May edit this if I find more, but here is the hierarchy. Not much to give in the way of pics other than what I've posted, the only issues are in the 1P and the last LOD of Geom1. Will give more info as I delve more into this.

Ignore sight camera, just forgot to hide it when I took the screen, it isn't attached to anything, just a reference for myself.

If I can't figure it out I'll just remake the LOD and 1P mesh fast and see if it works. Not that it would take long anyway, might be the easiest way to solve this atm.

EDIT: So it's happening when I delete an object, just as the elevation wheels. Any idea why? They are the lowest on the hierarchy and *shouldn't* affect anything when deleted, and yet they do. This is why they have an issue, because Geom0 has less objects and LOD3 has 2 less objects than the other lods. Any idea what to do for this?

[Rhino]

Ye the problem is down to your hierarchy.

Basically every sub part is given a SubGeomID in order of how it is alphabetically in the export scene setup. If you look in your .con's file code you can see what SubGeomID each part has.

If I look in the RHIB's .con file for example I will highlight the geom parts:

Code: Select all

GeometryTemplate.create BundledMesh boat_rib
CollisionManager.createTemplate boat_rib

ObjectTemplate.create PlayerControlObject boat_rib
ObjectTemplate.saveInSeparateFile 1
ObjectTemplate.creator EDMUNDFOVARGUE:Edmund_Fovargue
ObjectTemplate.collisionMesh boat_rib
ObjectTemplate.mapMaterial 0 col_armour 0
ObjectTemplate.mapMaterial 1 col_glass 0
ObjectTemplate.mapMaterial 2 col_rubber 0
ObjectTemplate.mapMaterial 3 col_cloth 0
ObjectTemplate.mapMaterial 4 col_card 0
ObjectTemplate.hasCollisionPhysics 1
ObjectTemplate.physicsType 3
ObjectTemplate.hasMobilePhysics 1
ObjectTemplate.geometry boat_rib
ObjectTemplate.addTemplate boat_rib_gunpod
ObjectTemplate.setPosition 0.0178/0.2274/2.7609
ObjectTemplate.addTemplate boat_rib_Steeringwheel
ObjectTemplate.setPosition 0.0545/1.2827/-1.3876
ObjectTemplate.setRotation 0/1.5727/0

ObjectTemplate.create PlayerControlObject boat_rib_gunpod
ObjectTemplate.hasMobilePhysics 1
[color=Red][b]ObjectTemplate.geometryPart 1[/b][/color]
ObjectTemplate.addTemplate boat_rib_Gunmount
ObjectTemplate.setPosition 0/1.4606/0.0016

ObjectTemplate.create RotationalBundle boat_rib_Gunmount
ObjectTemplate.hasMobilePhysics 1
[color=Red][b]ObjectTemplate.geometryPart 2[/b][/color]
ObjectTemplate.addTemplate boat_rib_mount
ObjectTemplate.setPosition 0/0.0264/0.0057

ObjectTemplate.create RotationalBundle boat_rib_mount
ObjectTemplate.hasMobilePhysics 1
[color=Red][b]ObjectTemplate.geometryPart 3[/b][/color]

ObjectTemplate.create RotationalBundle boat_rib_Steeringwheel
[color=DarkOrange][b]ObjectTemplate.collisionPart 4[/b][/color]
ObjectTemplate.hasCollisionPhysics 1
ObjectTemplate.physicsType 3
ObjectTemplate.hasMobilePhysics 1
[color=Red][b]ObjectTemplate.geometryPart 4[/b][/color]

include boat_rib.tweak

The same also goes for sub part col meshes.

The order is also designated by your Geom1, LOD0 Mesh, providing you have all three Geoms like you do here.

As such if I'm working this out correctly from your pic, your:
Carriage is Part #1
Elevation Wheel is Part #2
Gun Base is Part #3
Traversal Wheel is Part #4
Gun is Part #5

As such for your 1p mesh, its using your Elevation Wheel's cords for your "gun" since that is the second sub part on your list, and the sight, well most likley using #3 if created at all since you need to really have the parts, with their same names in geom1 as well as geom0. This is also the same reason why your final lod is screwed up too.

It is also important to note that you should list your smallest parts, which wont be missed from the LODs (or at least, moving) at the end of your list so then you can remove them from your LODs ASAP to save on draw calls and if you still need something there, but not moving, you can just attach them to what was its parent mesh, providing that hasn't been removed in the lod too.

I tend to try and name my parts alphabetically as such, or if there is no names that work, prefix the last parts with a "z_*" (* being the items name if that isn't clear) so then its listed at the end, and counting backwards from z if need be for the parts to go before it. Might look a little odd in the code but it works perfectly fine
I would have thought your "wheels" are the smallest, most insignificant items and they should be on the end of your list, and wont be missed beyond lod2, possibly even lod1 if they are not turning.

[Ratface]

That's just damn weird, but ok! Thanks for the info! I'll keep workin on it and with any luck I'll get something working soon! Thanks Rhino

EDIT: I think I got it working, may have to re export later if something went wrong, but I've got everything looking better now, thanks again!

[Rhino]

Sorry maybe I didn't explain it fully so to add what I said above, for your Geom1 LOD3, the Carriage is using Part #1's coordinates, which is correct, but since the Gun Base is second on the list, its using Part #2's coordinates, where it is Part #3 in Geom0, LOD0 where it was created and defined. Hope that makes a little more sense.

[Ratface]

Alright, been a while since I've posted on here but a quick question for Rhino or whoever knows a fix. Currently the scene is exporting backwards when compared to other cannons in the mod. Thus, when we go to fire the gun, the cannon fires the wrong direction, sights are messed up, etc.

Anyone know any way to flip this around? I've tried redoing the hierarchy several times from scratch flipped the other direction, resetting xform and then flipping, etc. I can provide screens if necessary but I don't think it has anything to do with the hierarchy itself, as this is a rotation issue.

If I can't figure it out in Max, do you think there is any way to fix this in the editor by chance? Or does it have to be the export?

Thanks!

PS: Thanks btw Rhino, hadn't checked back and forgot but your tips got all the hierarchy stuff working as soon as I took your advice, cheers!

[Amok@ndy]

unlink all parts from the hierarchy and reset Xform on all parts (dont forget to Colloapse To)

this should fix the issue

[Ratface]

Alright, I'll go ahead and try that. Just to clarify, after unlinking everything and resetting Xform on all parts, would it be fine then to flip everything around, recreate the bundlemesh links, and export?

Thanks Amok

[Amok@ndy]

you mean your faces are flipped aswell ? or do you mean rotate ?

[Ratface]

Rotation, sorry. Faces are fine

Basically just needs to be rotated 180 degrees. I'll try that out tomorrow when I get a chance and hopefully that'll fix it up. Tried it before unlinking the mesh from the helpers, but not from eachother (still had a mesh hierarchy), so hopefully that'll do the trick when I completely unlink everything.

[Amok@ndy]

Rotation, sorry. Faces are fine

Basically just needs to be rotated 180 degrees. I'll try that out tomorrow when I get a chance and hopefully that'll fix it up. Tried it before unlinking the mesh from the helpers, but not from eachother (still had a mesh hierarchy), so hopefully that'll do the trick when I completely unlink everything.

rotate it before you Reset XForm, vehicles should always face positive y-axis