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Topics - tirpider

#41
Released Maps and Mods / ATPT - Podwalker Protoype
November 14, 2013, 06:12:46 PM
ATPT - Podwalker Protoype
ATPT_pre-alpha040507.zip

http://www.swbfgamers.com/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=1048

Readme:
QuoteATPT/Podwalker Protoype

This was a prototype vehicle prepared for BF1


For privacy protection purposes the name and address of the element's
creators can be obtained by contacting psych0fred@hotmail.com


THESE LEVELS AND ELEMENTS ARE NOT MADE, DISTRIBUTED, OR SUPPORTED BY LUCASARTS,
A DIVISION OF LUCASFILM ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY LTD.
ELEMENTS TM & (C) LUCASARTS, A DIVISION OF LUCASFILM ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY LTD.

QuoteTeancum's Secret Files

uploader's notes:

I am Pretty sure I got these files from various links on GT (www.gametoast.com)
Teancum is still active over there if you have any questions about them.

A good number of them were produced with SWBF2 in mind, so they may require some
modification if you plan on using them in SWBF1. For the most tht wont be an
issue.

I haveen't had an opportunity to go over all of the files by hand, and some of
the attribution is lost to time. Many artists contributed to these files, from
old Jedi Knight community members, to the guys at Ravensoft and Pandemic, to
modern Battlefront modders and artists. If you know a particular asset was made
by someone, give thanks if you use it, and let me or someone on-site know so we
can give proper credit to their work.

I've attached the credit list as I found it below.

~tirpider
tirpider@yahoo.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since I'm more-or-less retired from SWBF modding I thought I'd upload my unused
assets that most of you have not seen. I'm at work now, but I'll be upping this
stuff sometime tonight. It's 400+mb when compressed with 7-zip so you can bet
there's some good stuff. I don't remember where I got everything, so if you made
something in this list, let me know

Included **Note: some files aren't really a secret
*Rodian model Made by: Ravensoft
*TIE Tank model Made by: AceMastermind
*+123 source files Made by: ]v[
*Magnagaurd explosion chunks Made by: Qdin
*Clone Commando sources Made by:NeoMarz
*Clone with cape
*B1 Battledroid Commander
*Commander Cody Made by: NeoMarz
*SWBF1 prototype command post Made by: Pandemic
*Dantooine grass, ground and sky Made by: Lord_Bandu?
*SWBF2 source world files for Bespin Platforms, Kashyyyk Islands, Naboo
Prototype (two editions, dunno the difference), Tatooine Dune Sea and Yavin
Temple (two editions, dunno the difference) Made by: Pandemic, Teancum, TAW
Clan
*B-Wing, V-19 Torrent, Naboo N-1 explosion chunks Made by: DarthD.U.C.K.
*V-Wing Airspeeder Made by: Caleb1117
*My SWBF1 A-Wing - much more detailed and has a full cockpit
*My SWBF1 Sullust map source - I had a really, REALLY simple port in the works
for SWBF2. It's nothing special, but it's good for ideas
*MY SWBF1 Haruun Kal map source
*A two man Swampspeeder - another cut item Made by: Pandemic
*Flash Speeder Made by: Pandemic
*Some Geonosis assets (previously released) Made by: Pandemic
*Some Thule assets (previously released) Made by: Pandemic
*Some Rhen Var assets (previously released) Made by: Pandemic
*Some Raxus Prime assets (previously released) Made by: Pandemic
*OOM-9 Made by: AceMastermind
*Nein Numb Made by: JKA Modeler?
*Rattatak Gametoast side Made by: Lord_Bandu, Vyse
*Light Attack Speeder Made by: Pandemic
*Naboo N-1 side Made by: psych0fred
*Security Droid Made by: AceMastermind
*Zam Wassell (alpha test) Made by: NeoMarz1 and Moooa

I've got other stuff in there too. Honestly I don't remember what all there was,
I think there's a Rodian and some other stuff. But hey, I'm a firm believer in
"If I'm not going to use it, someone else should." I'll start uploading late
tonight. ETA is sometime Saturday during the day. I'm uploading to my personal
server, so it won't be on there for more than a month or so.

--Oh, and once you have the files if you want to upload them individually
elsewhere that's fine. I'm sure not everyone wants to download 400mb files.
FILES REMOVED - I NEEDED THE SPACE

http://www.pwnhq.com/downloads/swbf2/teancum/


#42
Released Maps and Mods / 2 Man Swamp Speeder
November 14, 2013, 06:08:49 PM
2 Man Swamp Speeder
*A two man Swampspeeder - another cut item Made by: Pandemic

http://www.swbfgamers.com/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=1047

QuoteTeancum's Secret Files

uploader's notes:

I am Pretty sure I got these files from various links on GT (www.gametoast.com)
Teancum is still active over there if you have any questions about them.

A good number of them were produced with SWBF2 in mind, so they may require some
modification if you plan on using them in SWBF1. For the most tht wont be an
issue.

I haveen't had an opportunity to go over all of the files by hand, and some of
the attribution is lost to time. Many artists contributed to these files, from
old Jedi Knight community members, to the guys at Ravensoft and Pandemic, to
modern Battlefront modders and artists. If you know a particular asset was made
by someone, give thanks if you use it, and let me or someone on-site know so we
can give proper credit to their work.

I've attached the credit list as I found it below.

~tirpider
tirpider@yahoo.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since I'm more-or-less retired from SWBF modding I thought I'd upload my unused
assets that most of you have not seen. I'm at work now, but I'll be upping this
stuff sometime tonight. It's 400+mb when compressed with 7-zip so you can bet
there's some good stuff. I don't remember where I got everything, so if you made
something in this list, let me know

Included **Note: some files aren't really a secret
*Rodian model Made by: Ravensoft
*TIE Tank model Made by: AceMastermind
*+123 source files Made by: ]v[
*Magnagaurd explosion chunks Made by: Qdin
*Clone Commando sources Made by:NeoMarz
*Clone with cape
*B1 Battledroid Commander
*Commander Cody Made by: NeoMarz
*SWBF1 prototype command post Made by: Pandemic
*Dantooine grass, ground and sky Made by: Lord_Bandu?
*SWBF2 source world files for Bespin Platforms, Kashyyyk Islands, Naboo
Prototype (two editions, dunno the difference), Tatooine Dune Sea and Yavin
Temple (two editions, dunno the difference) Made by: Pandemic, Teancum, TAW
Clan
*B-Wing, V-19 Torrent, Naboo N-1 explosion chunks Made by: DarthD.U.C.K.
*V-Wing Airspeeder Made by: Caleb1117
*My SWBF1 A-Wing - much more detailed and has a full cockpit
*My SWBF1 Sullust map source - I had a really, REALLY simple port in the works
for SWBF2. It's nothing special, but it's good for ideas
*MY SWBF1 Haruun Kal map source
*A two man Swampspeeder - another cut item Made by: Pandemic
*Flash Speeder Made by: Pandemic
*Some Geonosis assets (previously released) Made by: Pandemic
*Some Thule assets (previously released) Made by: Pandemic
*Some Rhen Var assets (previously released) Made by: Pandemic
*Some Raxus Prime assets (previously released) Made by: Pandemic
*OOM-9 Made by: AceMastermind
*Nein Numb Made by: JKA Modeler?
*Rattatak Gametoast side Made by: Lord_Bandu, Vyse
*Light Attack Speeder Made by: Pandemic
*Naboo N-1 side Made by: psych0fred
*Security Droid Made by: AceMastermind
*Zam Wassell (alpha test) Made by: NeoMarz1 and Moooa

I've got other stuff in there too. Honestly I don't remember what all there was,
I think there's a Rodian and some other stuff. But hey, I'm a firm believer in
"If I'm not going to use it, someone else should." I'll start uploading late
tonight. ETA is sometime Saturday during the day. I'm uploading to my personal
server, so it won't be on there for more than a month or so.

--Oh, and once you have the files if you want to upload them individually
elsewhere that's fine. I'm sure not everyone wants to download 400mb files.
FILES REMOVED - I NEEDED THE SPACE

http://www.pwnhq.com/downloads/swbf2/teancum/


#43
Released Maps and Mods / +123source
November 14, 2013, 06:04:05 PM
+123source

Source files for a rather large SWBF2 mod.
*+123 source files Made by: ]v[

http://www.swbfgamers.com/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=1046


QuoteTeancum's Secret Files

uploader's notes:

I am Pretty sure I got these files from various links on GT (www.gametoast.com)
Teancum is still active over there if you have any questions about them.

A good number of them were produced with SWBF2 in mind, so they may require some
modification if you plan on using them in SWBF1. For the most tht wont be an
issue.

I haveen't had an opportunity to go over all of the files by hand, and some of
the attribution is lost to time. Many artists contributed to these files, from
old Jedi Knight community members, to the guys at Ravensoft and Pandemic, to
modern Battlefront modders and artists. If you know a particular asset was made
by someone, give thanks if you use it, and let me or someone on-site know so we
can give proper credit to their work.

I've attached the credit list as I found it below.

~tirpider
tirpider@yahoo.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since I'm more-or-less retired from SWBF modding I thought I'd upload my unused
assets that most of you have not seen. I'm at work now, but I'll be upping this
stuff sometime tonight. It's 400+mb when compressed with 7-zip so you can bet
there's some good stuff. I don't remember where I got everything, so if you made
something in this list, let me know

Included **Note: some files aren't really a secret
*Rodian model Made by: Ravensoft
*TIE Tank model Made by: AceMastermind
*+123 source files Made by: ]v[
*Magnagaurd explosion chunks Made by: Qdin
*Clone Commando sources Made by:NeoMarz
*Clone with cape
*B1 Battledroid Commander
*Commander Cody Made by: NeoMarz
*SWBF1 prototype command post Made by: Pandemic
*Dantooine grass, ground and sky Made by: Lord_Bandu?
*SWBF2 source world files for Bespin Platforms, Kashyyyk Islands, Naboo
Prototype (two editions, dunno the difference), Tatooine Dune Sea and Yavin
Temple (two editions, dunno the difference) Made by: Pandemic, Teancum, TAW
Clan
*B-Wing, V-19 Torrent, Naboo N-1 explosion chunks Made by: DarthD.U.C.K.
*V-Wing Airspeeder Made by: Caleb1117
*My SWBF1 A-Wing - much more detailed and has a full cockpit
*My SWBF1 Sullust map source - I had a really, REALLY simple port in the works
for SWBF2. It's nothing special, but it's good for ideas
*MY SWBF1 Haruun Kal map source
*A two man Swampspeeder - another cut item Made by: Pandemic
*Flash Speeder Made by: Pandemic
*Some Geonosis assets (previously released) Made by: Pandemic
*Some Thule assets (previously released) Made by: Pandemic
*Some Rhen Var assets (previously released) Made by: Pandemic
*Some Raxus Prime assets (previously released) Made by: Pandemic
*OOM-9 Made by: AceMastermind
*Nein Numb Made by: JKA Modeler?
*Rattatak Gametoast side Made by: Lord_Bandu, Vyse
*Light Attack Speeder Made by: Pandemic
*Naboo N-1 side Made by: psych0fred
*Security Droid Made by: AceMastermind
*Zam Wassell (alpha test) Made by: NeoMarz1 and Moooa

I've got other stuff in there too. Honestly I don't remember what all there was,
I think there's a Rodian and some other stuff. But hey, I'm a firm believer in
"If I'm not going to use it, someone else should." I'll start uploading late
tonight. ETA is sometime Saturday during the day. I'm uploading to my personal
server, so it won't be on there for more than a month or so.

--Oh, and once you have the files if you want to upload them individually
elsewhere that's fine. I'm sure not everyone wants to download 400mb files.
FILES REMOVED - I NEEDED THE SPACE

http://www.pwnhq.com/downloads/swbf2/teancum/


#44
SchMEe Board / Changing yet again.
October 20, 2013, 01:03:16 PM
If you have been following this program, then you know I have changed and rewritten it many times over. This is because of a couple of things. I'm not a great programmer, and I don't know a lot about what I am doing.

That said, I am changing it again. :P

This time, it will be in conjunction with an Object Orientation course I am following. It will be In C++ and I will chronicle and keep it's code and such here in case anyone wants or needs it for anything.

It will carry over some of the mistakes I have made with AutoIT, but I believe making the MSH addressable as a class will be better for the future of MSH editing in general and offer more flexibility in repairing my broken design decisions. It may even allow for the building of plugins for other software but my focus will be as a standalone MSH manipulation tool.

The new design will continue to carry the name SchMEe and I will still maintain it in the spirit of the EULA from the BFBuilder licence. So while I will make my code open, it should really only be used for SWBF stuff. This may change it needs to but not without due cause.

As for the AutoIT code, I'll attempt to correct any errors or whatnot till the C++ version is feature compatible with the old one. Then I will make a final build of the AutoIT SchMEe and pack it and it's source and an archive for historical record.

As always, ideas, criticisms, and general feedback are encouraged, and I will address it all as best I can.
#45
SWBF1 Modding / [Tool] Self Cleaning Side Builder
September 15, 2013, 05:26:23 PM
This may be redundant and/or silly, but I find it useful.

It's a batch file that builds a side.lvl and cleans up after itself.

It is inspired by the side builders released by Bamdur and the revised ones in Phobos's toolbox.  But I based the actual contents on the various munge.bat files in BFBuilder. Not sure if the commands are different across the versions.  Didn't check.

I did this cause the side builders are un-necessarily complex and redistribute the exe's from the BFBuilder folder.
Why do that when the tools are already there?

This doesn't change any of the known things about building a side. You still need the MSH, ODF, munged, folders and such, as well as all the properly named and set up REQ files. All this does is put the build process into a single, no-download, batch file.

FEATURES:
- puts all the side munging steps into one file so you don't have to follow threads through bat files to see what's happening.
- creates it's own _build and _output folders as needed.
- Operates exactly like the BFBuilder munge.bat without having to build an entire map to test/build a single unit/side
- doesn't care where you run it. It sets it's own path so you don't have to put it in a particular place.
- 0 size download. Just paste into your bat from the code tag below.

REQUIREMENTS:
- Must have the SWBF1 mod tools installed somewhere
- Must be able to edit the bat file. (any text editor will work.)
- A side folder setup exactly like you would for BFBuilder or any of the other builders.

USAGE:
- Put the bat file in a folder
- Put your side folder in there with it. (see the pic attached to this post.)
- edit the top of the batch file
- run it.
- the side.lvl will be in the _OUTPUT folder waiting for you.

ISSUES:
- I have yet to munge a FPM with BFBuilder or any of the side builders. So this probably won't either. The commands for it are in place, but it fails to create the FPM\side.lvl.  If anyone knows how to get them munging, let me know and I'll update this bat.
- It doesn't include the soundmunge lines. This may come in the future.


There are 3 lines at the top of the bat file to edit.

@set SIDETAG=TUS
Change TUS to the name of your side.

@set TOOLSFOLDER=C:\Lucasarts\BFBuilder\ToolsFL\Bin
Change C:\Lucasarts\BFBuilder\ToolsFL\Bin to the location of your ToolsFL\Bin folder.
If it contains spaces, you should put quotes around it.

@set KEEPBUILDFOLDER=false
When set to false it will remove all the files in it's _build folder. Just like running clean.bat.
When set to true it will leave it all.


So here it is:

@ECHO off
@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@ECHO INITIAL SETUP
@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------

@REM  ******************************************************
@REM  change sidetag to indicate the filename of your side
@REM  ******************************************************
@set SIDETAG=TUS

@REM  ******************************************************
@REM  change TOOLSFOLDER to the location of
@REM  ToolsFL\Bin so it can find the mungers
@REM  Enclose it in quotes if it contains a space.
@REM  ******************************************************
@set TOOLSFOLDER=C:\Lucasarts\BFBuilder\ToolsFL\Bin

@REM  ******************************************************
@REM  set to FALSE to delete the _BUILD folder
@REM  TRUE will leave it
@REM  ******************************************************
@set KEEPBUILDFOLDER=false

@REM **** don't chnge anything below this line *********************************

@REM  ******************************************************
@REM  set up the variables
@REM  ******************************************************
@set SOURCEFOLDER=%CD%\%SIDETAG%

@set BUILDFOLDER=%CD%\_BUILD\%SIDETAG%
if NOT EXIST %BUILDFOLDER% md %BUILDFOLDER%

@set OUTPUTFOLDER=%CD%\_OUTPUT\%SIDETAG%\SIDE
if NOT EXIST %OUTPUTFOLDER% md %OUTPUTFOLDER%

@REM  ******************************************************
@rem  not sure FPM is set up right
@REM  ******************************************************
@set FPMREQFOLDER=%CD%\%SIDETAG%\REQ\FPM
@set FPMOUTPUTFOLDER=%CD%\_OUTPUT\%SIDETAG%\FPM
if NOT EXIST %FPMOUTPUTFOLDER% md %FPMOUTPUTFOLDER%

@REM  ******************************************************
@REM  check the tools folder
@REM  ******************************************************
if NOT EXIST %TOOLSFOLDER% goto ERRORTOOLS
if NOT EXIST %TOOLSFOLDER%\odfmunge.exe goto ERRORTOOLS
if NOT EXIST %TOOLSFOLDER%\modelmunge.exe goto ERRORTOOLS
if NOT EXIST %TOOLSFOLDER%\texturemunge.exe goto ERRORTOOLS
if NOT EXIST %TOOLSFOLDER%\configmunge.exe goto ERRORTOOLS
if NOT EXIST %TOOLSFOLDER%\levelpack.exe goto ERRORTOOLS

@REM  ******************************************************
@REM  check the side source folder
@REM  ******************************************************
if NOT EXIST %SOURCEFOLDER% goto ERRORSIDETAG

@setlocal
@set PATH=%TOOLSFOLDER%;%PATH%

@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@ECHO copy pre-munged files
@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
copy %SOURCEFOLDER%\munged\*.*  %BUILDFOLDER%\

@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@ECHO munge ODF files
@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
odfmunge -sourcedir %SOURCEFOLDER% -platform pc -inputfile !*.odf -outputdir %BUILDFOLDER%\ -checkdate -continue

@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@ECHO munge models
@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
modelmunge -sourcedir %SOURCEFOLDER% -platform pc -inputfile !*.msh -outputdir %BUILDFOLDER%\ -checkdate -maxbones 16 -keep collision -continue -righthanded

@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@ECHO munge Textures
@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
texturemunge -sourcedir %SOURCEFOLDER% -platform pc -inputfile !*.tga !*.pic -outputdir %BUILDFOLDER%\ -checkdate -continue

@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@ECHO munge Effects
@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
configmunge -sourcedir %SOURCEFOLDER% -platform pc -inputfile effects\*.fx -outputdir %BUILDFOLDER%\ -checkdate -continue

@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@ECHO pack LVLs based on the \REQ folder
@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
levelpack -sourcedir %SOURCEFOLDER% -platform pc -inputdir %BUILDFOLDER%\ -outputdir %BUILDFOLDER%\ -inputfile REQ\*.req -continue -checkdate

@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@ECHO pack the side LVL
@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
levelpack -sourcedir %SOURCEFOLDER% -platform pc -inputdir %BUILDFOLDER%\ -outputdir %OUTPUTFOLDER%\ -inputfile %SIDETAG%.req -continue -checkdate

@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@ECHO pack the FPM LVLs
@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@rem  not sure FPM is set up right
for /D %%A in (%FPMREQFOLDER%\*) do levelpack -sourcedir %SOURCEFOLDER% -platform pc -inputdir %BUILDFOLDER%\ -outputdir %FPMOUTPUTFOLDER%\%%~nxA\ -inputfile %%A\*.req -continue -checkdate

endlocal

@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@ECHO Cleanup the useless mess and
@ECHO Show MungeLog if it exists
@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@if /i %KEEPBUILDFOLDER%==FALSE rd /s /q %BUILDFOLDER%
@del/s/q *.log
if EXIST MungeLog.txt Notepad.exe Mungelog.txt

@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@ECHO Done Munging, Potential errors can be found in Mungelog.txt
@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@goto END

@REM  ******************************************************
@REM  error reports
@REM  ******************************************************
:ERRORSIDETAG
@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@ECHO %SOURCEFOLDER% does not exist.
@ECHO
@ECHO Edit the set SIDETAG= line of this file.
@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@goto END

:ERRORTOOLS
@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@ECHO %TOOLSFOLDER%
@ECHO does not exist or does not contain all the mungers.
@ECHO
@ECHO Edit the set TOOLSFOLDER= line of this file.
@ECHO ------------------------------------------------------
@goto END

:END
PAUSE


If you have any questions/issues/internet cats, please post them below.

-edit
- fixed :ERRORSIDETAG message. does not affect how the bat file works.
- Changed a comment from: @ECHO pre-pack munged files into LVLs based on REQs created by the mungers
    to: @ECHO pack LVLs based on the \REQ folder
- Just noticed SK already had self cleaning in some mungers. So this isn't a new thing, but here it is anyway.
#46
Released Assets / OTC Rodians
August 31, 2013, 12:12:46 AM
OverrideTexture compatible Rodian Pack 1



DL here: OTC Rodian Pack 1

tirpider  - editing
????????? - converting rodian from the JK games
Pandemic  - source materials
Ravensoft - creators of the JK games
(Anyone know who actually converted it? That's no small task.)

Years of war have driven many to join the galactic confilct. These guys
represent a handfull of the potential mercenaries, Jedi, soldiers, and civilians
to join our fight.

Consider this the begining of expansions to the (still incomplete) OTC series.
I'll be swapping heads and parts, as appropriate, and releasing periodically.
Still working on OTC, but these diversions help improve the process. (practice)
I may go further, and do non stock varients (different helmets on different guys)
but I won't rush into it unless someone asks for it specifically. (Still trying
to stay "stock" with it all)

A kitbash of the following:
SWBF1 all_inf_pilot (Pandemic)
SWBF1 all_inf_soldier (Pandemic)
SWBF1 imp_inf_atatpilot (Pandemic)
SWBF1 tat_inf_tusken (Pandemic)
SWBF2 all_inf_stormtrooperhansolo (Pandemic)
SWBF2 all_inf_tantive4trooper (Pandemic)
SWBF2 rep_inf_kiadimundi (Pandemic)
and the various tga's, .options, and lowres models that they came with.
And the head of the rodian character from Ravensoft's Jedi Kinght games.

Using 7 base models, I made 12 varients that led to this pack.
- They are all OTC
- None contain shadows, but have -hiresshadow added to their .option files.
- They use (and share) the stock textures. Use OTC, edit the originals, or hex
   in your own tga names to reskin them.
- They all share the same rodian head texture.
- All have actual lowres models. (none of the hacky ones I've made recently)

The variant names are easy:
_np  = no pack
_nh  = no helmet or no hat
-nhp = no helmet and no hat

To make use of the override texture, the following line needs to be in the
unit's odf, (replace texturename with the name of your texture)
OverrideTexture  = "texturename"  // body
OverrideTexture2 = "texturename"  // head

I left the texture filenames the same as the originals to save space. Feel free
to hex your own texture names in.

Tools Used:
- 3D Object Converter 5.0 (3D model viewer)
- AEdiX v3.0.5 (text editor) (for making batch files)
- XVI32 v2.52 (hex editor) (for hex editing)
- Softimage Modtool 7.5 (for patching holes)
- My MSH tools built with AutoIT (SchMEe.exe, SWBF_MSH_INFO.exe) (a lot)

If you use this model in a side mod or map, then no credit for me is needed.
Just be sure to thank the folks in the credits for the work they put into the
assets I used.

Special Notes/Legal:
- I'd like to thank George Lucas for the entirety of the Star Wars Universe.  It's evolution as a franchise is, in itself, an epic struggle and a tale worth telling. Through the victories and defeats your vision has suffered, we have all enjoyed and been inspired by it. Thank you.
- THIS MODIFICATION IS NOT MADE, DISTRIBUTED, OR SUPPORTED BY LUCASARTS, A DIVISION OF LUCASFILM ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY LTD.  ELEMENTS TM & (C) LUCASARTS, A DIVISION OF LUCASFILM ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY LTD.
- Now that Disney has purchased LucasFilm LTD, they deserve the same respect for IP as LucasFilm, LucasArts, and Pandemic. I don't have the legal phrase for it all, but if you are reading this, then you know what it means.  Don't misrepresent others work as your own.

-tirpider (tirpider@yahoo.com)
visit http://www.swbfgamers.com/
#47
SchMEe Board / [solved] Drive failure
August 16, 2013, 02:54:48 PM
The drive on my dev machine just died this morning.
I still have the source from the release thread, but work on the GUI is on that drive. (I am so glad I upped it here.)

It spins up and I can get to the data, but it fails boot saying hal.dll is gone. (that's an important windows file.)
If all goes well testing the drive, then it's somewhere on the PC (could be anything from the controller to bad memory.) either way, I can't test models or levels till it's back up or replaced. This machine won't run any of the tools (SWBF, Softimage, or ZeroEdit.)

I half hope to get a new machine out of this adventure, but I'm not looking forward to Win 7 or 8. But I guess I could always use a VM for all my XP stuff.  Anyone have problems with ZeroEdit in a virtual machine?

As a side adventure, I finally got around to re-soldering the power connectors on my old external hd controller.
#48
General / Disney registers Attack Squadron domains
July 29, 2013, 07:22:46 AM
So, Disney registered a bunch of domain names last Friday.

Attack Squadron sounds suspiciously like a good title for a space-flight-combat game to me. But it could be a name for a new breakfast cereal. Nothing has been announced.

http://fusible.com/2013/07/disney-registers-star-wars-attack-squadron-domain-names-for-unannounced-project/

QuoteDisney has gone out and registered domain names for a yet to be announced project called Star Wars Attack Squadrons.

The registrations include names like StarWarsAttackSquadrons.com, SWAttackSquadrons.com, AttackSquadrons.com, and AttackSquadron.us, to name just a few.

Most of the names were registered under LucasFilm through the brand protection agency Corporation Service Company (CSC).

Though it's unknown whether "Star Wars Attack Squadrons" will be a movie, a theme park ride, or some other product, it's possible a video game is in the works with the same title.
#49
SchMEe Board / [AutoIT]Possible 3d display UDF
July 25, 2013, 09:23:26 PM
A Simple 3D UDF (plugin) for AutoIT showed up on their forum today. It looks promising as a method for previewing meshes in SchMEe.

Simple 3D Graphics with GDI+ (link to AutoIT forum post.)

It does not appear to support textures.
But it looks like it draws lines from point to point quite well and has camera rotation functions.
That should be perfect for showing wireframe previews of models and identifying UV islands, clusters, and triangle strips.

What makes this stand out is the easy to implement examples and the fact that it does not rely on OpenGL or DirectX (meaning no DLL's, yay!)

It looks like he just did the hard thing and used GDI+ calls that are already in windows to force the 3d math onto the 2d functions.  Certainly not efficient, but right in line with how SchMEe works. Hacks and kludges, all the way down :P .

I added some very lowres screens of the examples to this post.  The last 3 rotate.

I already have some code that draws based on the STRP (triangle strips) so it shouldn't take much to adapt that to this library. I'll post a screens or notes about this here, but will keep development on it seperate from the main program so I don't break anything.

-edit
Looking at the code now. It looks like I will have to rewrite some of it to fit the encapsulation scheme I'm trying to conform to.

All of it's globals are fine, but some of the rotation functions take matrixes as paramaters. I'll probably switch those to an array.

I think working this into shape will help start the process of cleaning up my own code.
Still hung up on the interface, but If this renders fast enough, then it would be tempting to build a GUI around a mesh preview. It would certainly be pretty.
#50
SchMEe Board / Stumped on the interface
July 24, 2013, 09:27:55 PM
Previous post:
[spoiler]I have a handful of ideas to put into code, but the interface is distracting me.

I am not sure how to move forward at this point so I'll ramble about it here.  Jump right in if you think this is a good or bad direction.

I like using SchMEe from batch files and the commandline. I am definitely going to keep that ability.
But the GUI bothers me more and more every day. It is too simple and not complete enough.

It needs to give (relatively) easy access to all of the functions, and it doesn't. All the material editing features are locked into commandline mode.

It needs to be able to tell folks what is in the msh they are editing, and all I have is a basic segm list and uv saving.

And it needs a way to sequence edits, and repeat them. (scripting.)

I have found a very simple console for AutoIT that is really a regular cmd console with some sketchy cin and cout mimicking abilities.
Going this way instead of the GUI would be yet another abstraction onhow to edit these msh files, but it would also be interactive and I could provide info to the user in the form of text screens.

It would also provide a way to "record" a sequence of commands, that could be saved as a macro or exported as an editable text file.  Frequently used macros could possibly be coded into their own function and optimized if needed.

The "type command" "do command" "provide feedback" "wait for next command" loop would also reduce the number of times a file would need to be loaded and saved.


Here is the console I plan on implementing... simple:
http://www.autoitscript.com/forum/topic/126569-consoleau3-udf/
And a ridiculously simple example (I forget if he has one in-thread.)
#include <Console.au3>

Main()

Func Main()
    Local $Name
    Local $Age
    Local $Answer
    Local $Continue = True

    While $Continue
        Cout("Enter your name: ")
        Cin($Name)
        Cout("Enter your age: ")
        Cin($Age)
        Cout("Do you want your answers printed in red? y/n: ")
        Cin($Answer)
        If StringInStr($Answer,"y") Then
            Cout(@LF & "Your name is ")
            Cout($Name & @LF,$FOREGROUND_RED)
            Cout("You were born in ")
            Cout(@Year - $Age & @LF,$FOREGROUND_RED)
        Else
            Cout(@LF & "Your name is ")
            Cout($Name & @LF)
            Cout("You were born in ")
            Cout(@Year - $Age & @LF)
        EndIf
        $Answer = ""
        Cout(@LF & "Do you want to try again? y/n: ")
        Cin($Answer)
        If StringInStr($Answer,"n") Then
            $Continue = False
        EndIf
    WEnd

    system("pause")
EndFunc


Typed commands would be interpreted with a switch/case.
A list of commands could be stored in an array and checked when enter is pressed to eliminate all the case comparisons for typos.

I tested it's ability to accept single-key-presses, so multiple choice menus are possible as well.

I will make a mock-up of it and post it here, probably tomorrow as I need to remove the chaos from my sleep patterns.
[/spoiler]




Ok, a very simplistic mock up.

I am thinking a series of menus to keep related commands close to each other.

********************************************************************************
* SchMEe console mockup 0.01                                                   *
********************************************************************************
* No file loaded. Load a file for more options.                                *
********************************************************************************
* 1 - Load a file                                                              *
* 2 - quit                                                                     *
********************************************************************************
Select an option
:


********************************************************************************
* SchMEe console mockup 0.01                                                   *
********************************************************************************
* Loaded file: test.msh                                                        *
********************************************************************************
* 1 - edit options/commands                                                    *
* 2 - view msh reports                                                         *
* 3 - save and quit                                                            *
* 4 - quit without saving                                                      *
********************************************************************************
Select an option
:



********************************************************************************
* SchMEe console mockup 0.01                                                   *
********************************************************************************
* Loaded file: test.msh                                                        *
********************************************************************************
* edit options/commands                                                        *
********************************************************************************
* 1 - List Materials                                                           *
* 2 - Edit Material                                                            *
* 3 - Delete Material                                                          *
* 4 - List MODLs                                                               *
* 5 - Edit MODL                                                                *
* 6 - Delete MODL                                                              *
* 7 - return to previous screen                                                *
* 8 - save and quit                                                            *
* 9 - quit without saving                                                      *
********************************************************************************
Select an option
:


A nice ASCII chart would look a lot better than the stars, and of course there would be more options or screens.
The above would work by single key-presses and opportunities to fill in more data would be presented as needed.

From the menus, some GUI dialogs would be accessed (like the file and folder select dialogs), It doesn't make sense for me to try to rebuild MS's more than adequate built-in ones.

...

ugh.
There is so much I want to add to this program but managing all those nit-picky handles for the GUI is just annoying. Looking at the above makes me realize I'd still have to go throuh the "command" building process instead of making the GUI elements.

Ok.. scratch the console. (The menuing part of it at least.)

I'm going to continue the commandline part.

I like the idea of building alias commands to reference the functions directly or to access "macro" functions. But hooking it all into a menu seems like extra work for ever added option. While it may make using this beast easier, it will also make me less likely to work on it. (I already procrastinate due to the GUI work.)

Perhaps just a simple console with a prompt.
SchMEe console mockup 0.02
Type "help" for a list of commands and options.
:


Kinda old school, but a nice little document (forum post, txt file, ect..) with all the commands listed would be helpful.

I like the 0.02 mockup better.  It still has the overhead of creating a command alias (and it's syntax), but the end result is a consistent design that doesn't have to be shifted or resized after every little edit and it can house a virtually limitless number of commands.

Creating commands would be similar to the commandline options.. I might even find a way to just copy paste some of it, which would speed up adding new features. And I already have to add those so it isn't a lot of extra work.

To get the console to work, I'll have to revamp the flow control parts of the program (#region ; SchMEe.au3 in the source.)  but I could do away with Func _GUI_ShowOptionPanel() (400 lines of "I hate this"), and the flow needs to change anyway to accommodate possible scripting and multiple edits per file load.

Or, I guess I could read a book on interface design and commit to a GUI...

Yeah, stuck on the interface. Thanks for tolerating my crazy, guys.
#51
SchMEe Board / subscript out of range errors
July 20, 2013, 06:15:02 PM
I'm getting "subscript out of range" errors when compiling exploded msh files with corrupted chunks.
(specificly, .chunk files that have an incorrect 'count' field.)

This is because SchMEe isn't checking for errors when compiling, but it's also because I haven't told it to check any subscripts before messing with arrays.

I do not know what other parts of the program this affects, but please feel free to point out any errors, however mysterious they may seem.

The nature of this error is that it could affect any area of the code and will always crash the program. So If SchMEe isn't crashing, then it isn't messing up the mesh with regards to this particular type of error.

This is the next bug I will work on handling.
#52
Released Assets / Tusken_Variant_v1.0
July 10, 2013, 06:54:21 PM
Tusken_Variant_v1.0



http://www.swbfgamers.com/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=1012

tirpider - msh editing
Pandemic - all source materials

I really dig the Tusken Raiders, and this kitbash was an early attempt to make a
variant.  It has been cleaned up a bit, but still needs some work.  The head and
hands are from the stock tusken and use it's tga, the rest of his parts and
textures are from Kia Di Mundi and Tatooine Luke.  I had to jump through some
square hoops to get the body texture and UV's to line up, so it looks a little
off in places.

Anyway, the body is OverrideTexture compatible (OTC) but the head and hands are
not OTC (yet).


Notes:
- The Gaffi and Tusken Cycler are going to be my next projects. Someone else
   has already made both, but I wish to make my own for reasons. I'll be
   releasing them here when I do.


Possible Future Edits:
- I want to combine the head and hand geometry and make them override. Perhaps
   even combine them withh the body and make it a one tga model.

- He needs accesories.
   A bandolier and respirator, perhaps a cool sash or a hood.
   
- I need to design my own Tusken head and texture.


The materials for this model were sourced from the SWBF1 and 2 BFBuilder mod
tools assets unless noted otherwise.

If you use these in a side mod, map, or hex-edit, then no credit for me is
needed. Just be sure to thank LucasArts and Pandemic for letting us play with
thier toys.

Special Notes/Legal:
- I'd like to thank George Lucas for the entirety of the Star Wars Universe.
   It's evolution as a franchise is, in itself, an epic struggle and a tale
   worth telling. Through the victories and defeats your vision has suffered, we
   have all enjoyed and been inspired by it. Thank you, Mr. Lucas.

- There is an enormous chance, that if you have posted a question or answer on
   SWBFGamers, GameToast, or psych0fred's secretsociety, then I have learned
   from you. Thanks for all your contributions.

- THIS MODIFICATION IS NOT MADE, DISTRIBUTED, OR SUPPORTED BY LUCASARTS, A
   DIVISION OF LUCASFILM ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY LTD.  ELEMENTS TM & (C)
   LUCASARTS, A DIVISION OF LUCASFILM ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY LTD.

- Now that Disney has purchased LucasFilm LTD, they deserve the same respect
   for IP as LucasFilm, LucasArts, and Pandemic. I don't have the legal phrase
   for it all, (they are just a parent company, after all,) but if you are
   reading this, then you know what it means.  Don't misrepresent others work as
   your own.

-tirpider (tirpider@yahoo.com)
visit http://www.swbfgamers.com/

#53
SchMEe Board / SchMEe Planned Features and Updates
June 30, 2013, 05:22:19 PM
SchMEe Planned Features and Updates

Not all of it will make it to code, but this is a good spot to brainstorm and present ideas for inclusion in future versions.

This list (and post) will be dynamic, and grow and shrink as things move forward.
None of it is set in stone, and the lists are not in any particular order.

Features being worked on right now:


  • none currently. Mainly building this list for now.

  • Seperately optimizing the msh load process and polishing a wireframe preview.
    (optimization postponed for now.)

Possible Features:


  • !!! Reports.  Currently, if you want to do anything to a msh, you need to use another program to find out where the pieces are and what they are.  Schmee needs to be able to identify all the things a user can work on and provide that info to the user somehow.  I use the SWBF_MSH_INFO program for this, but it's inconsistant in the datatypes it displays and what Schmee accepts.  I will start with basic txt file reports and once that's done, I may make a simple gui for it.

  • Ability to move UV's by piece instead of all the UV's associated with a material.

  • a way to validate biped skeleton/bonenames/weights/envelope (do the bones have standard names?, are invalid weights present? do the weights need to be normalized? is there geometry with no weights?)

  • -rotatepiece(segm,?)

  • -scalepiece(segm,axis,amount)

  • -invertnormals(segm)

  • -invertallnormals

  • -inflatepiece(segm) / -deflatepiece(segm) Basicly scale the piece from it's center of mass instead of the origin.

  • Add material editing controls for the "Options" GUI.

  • A more rubust set of ODF generation options.

  • Add a .option generator (based on recognizable features in the msh. not all will be possible.)

  • Add a UV visualization feature. (This will be hard to do if the textures are not square.)

  • Add a way to 'normalize' UV coordinates without clipping. (This will be hard to do if the textures are not square.)

  • A proper mesh decimate function to reduce the polygon count and maintain the model's form. (pro level and may never happen.)

  • Convert cloth to regular geometry. (just waiting on a way to "create" normals for it.)

  • Convert sv_ to regular geometry. (creating uv's somehow.. may never happen.)

  • Add efficient triangle strip generation. (the pandemic exporter source may help this)

  • import/merge/export chunks or groups of chunks. (the MSH globals need a paradigm shift for this to become real.)

  • Rebuild "basepose" animation tags. (need code for ZeroCRC handling and some more work on the quaternion math)

  • Export/Save/Load a Milkshape3D ASCII file. (preserve the bones! possibly animations as well.)(not all material features will be transferable though)

  • Export/Save/Load a Wavefront OBJ file. (Handy but not terribly important. Possibly use some dummy triangles to make faux bones? Surely OBJ has comments where parenting info can be passed.)

  • A way to edit or create weights for a SEGM from the command line. (no practical way to apply per-vertex weights, but weights for everything should be possible.)

  • A built-in scripting capability. So that multiple edits can be made and the file only has to be loaded/saved once.

  • Add an ability to arbitrarily add or remove CLRL and CLRB chunks for experimentation.

  • Merging Clusters.  It's easy to just drag the SEGM and all it's pieces from one MODL to another (renumbering them, of course), but if the ENVL doesn't match exactly, then you have to do a lot of extra work, either rebuilding the WGHTs or getting clever with the ENVL somehow. This is so error prone it's silly, and needs to have all but the piece selection automated.

Needed Bug Fixes:


  • Does not overwrite file if "read only" bit is set.(perhaps this is good)

  • Remove or fix the left over report functions. (Revise them. Schmee needs info reporting features badly.)

  • Add proper descriptions of options to read me. (on going task)

  • Revise display messages and -verbose (on going task)

  • Revise the MSH globals. Make it into a proper API like thing with validations, constraints, and behaviors. This will enable the MSH module to be "detached" and used to make other MSH handling software without having to rewrite the MSH parsing bits.
    (This one needs to happen, but is seeming less and less important when I realize just how much has to change to accommodate it.)

  • Start synchronizing terminology with XSI-like terms (SEGMs are clusters, MODL's are nulls, root_* eff_* and bone_* MODL's are bone chains, ect..)

  • consolidate segments is sometimes getting an unexplained ReDim error. It continues to make a well formed msh, but skips the consolidation.

  • Sometimes I get "subscript out of bounds" errors when compiling malformed chunks. The compile feature needs some error handling and reporting features.

  • "array maximum exceeded" when making hitolow conversions. I believe schmee is getting confused by cloth in these instances. Might not be that though.

(This list keeps getting longer and longer..)
Feel free to add comments, ideas, solutions, or suggestions below or as a new thread.

#54
SchMEe Board / What is SchMEe? (not-so-FAQ)
June 30, 2013, 03:44:10 AM
                                            The SchMEe FAQ
Questions, answers, and trivia for the people who use SchMEe

What is SchMEe?
[spoiler]
It's a SWBF MSH editing/repair/conversion tool.

SchMEe is the result of my study on the SWBF msh file format and uses code similar to my SWBF_MSH_INFO tool. While it's roots are the same, this program has been re-written from the ground up to accommodate more flexible features.

It is best thought of and used as a hex editing aid. It can save time on tedious edits and since it is automated, you can be sure that it won't forget to update that last field before saving.

These early versions have the meat and bones, basic msh repair features and a few additional ones I plan on expanding. There will easily be a hundred or more options in later versions, but by then, the GUI may be the primary interface.

For now it is a command line only tool that works similarly to the SizeValidation tool. It opens a file, preforms options, then saves the file.

The conversion part hasn't been fully realized yet, but is in partial ongoing development.

By default, SchMEe:

  • rebuilds size fields for all tags. Effectively 'repairing' them so you don't have to. That means you can change values like texture names without worrying about making it a certain size.
  • reindexes all MODL chunks. This ensures they will load with ZETools. When reindexing, all the ENVLs are resolved via bone names, so this wont break envelopes.
  • ensures all tags that require padding are properly padded. (Like string names, odd short integer arrays, ect.)

Optional features:

  • save UV bitmaps of all models in the msh
  • save a basic "prop" odf for file
  • normalize weights (ensures all vertex weights add up to 1.)
  • rebuild the triangle lists (I think I am the only person that will use this)
  • calculate bounding boxes for all models in the msh (as needed or forced)
  • convert Hi-Res biped envelope to Low-Res. (This is a hack that exploits a flexibility of the munger and may not be suitable for all circumstances.)
  • edit materials (one material at a time, currently.)
  • "Explode" and "Compile" a msh. This will allow you to get to the parts you want to edit via hex a lot easier. Don't worry about size fields, compile will fix them.
  • Reorganize pieces of geometry in individual MODL chunks by isolating and consolidating them.
  • Reposition individual pieces on a model. (no rotations yet.)

SchMEe has a GUI, but it's current one is a place holder for something better. It's real power comes from the commandline and stacking operations in batch files.

It comes with a little bit of documentation and a couple of batch files to illustrate it's usage.  I try to get it all on the "-help" screen, but there is a lot, so I may miss some things.

It helps a lot to know a bit about hex-editing and the MSH file structure in general, but I am working toward making that unnecessary.  All these low level functions need to be developed first, though, so It's still a beast.[/spoiler]

Why SchMEe? What's up with the weird name?
[spoiler]
It started as a simple data viewer that I wanted to call SWBF_MSH_EDITOR, but there is another tool with a similar name and I didn't want to clash to closely with other folks development efforts. It was also a bit large. So when the time came around for a major revision of the code, I took the opportunity to revamp the name. Shmee Skywalker had a run in with the Tusken Raiders, and I'm all about the Tuskens.. So I decided to use that. Perfect, except that I misspelled it terribly.  The only other names that I considered had too much to do with cats.  So I decided to commit to the bad spelling and go with it. It's easy to remember and certainly unique.

The weird capitalization stands for the original name, Star Wars Battlefront Mesh Editor.

Not terribly important, but that's some fun stuff to know, I guess.[/spoiler]

How do I use it?
[spoiler]
You place the SchMEe.exe in a folder with the MSH you want to edit, then from a console (DOS prompt) or batch file, call schmee with the proper switches for the edit you want to preform.
For example:
schmee.exe -load"My_Cool.msh" -save"My_Cooler.msh" -material(1) -diffusecolor(0,255,0)
Will load a msh, set the diffuse color of material 1 to a lime green color and save it as "My_Cooler.msh" in the same folder.

SchMEe can only do one thing at a time, so if you want to do 2 edits, you have to run it 2 separate times.
schmee.exe -load"My_Cool.msh" -save"My_Cooler.msh" -material(1) -diffusecolor(0,255,0)
schmee.exe -load"My_Cooler.msh" -material(2) -diffusecolor(0,255,0)

Notice how the second line loads the MSH the previous line saved. In this way you can stack several edits in a single batch file.

Anything more specific than this will probably need it's own topic. Like "How can I do a head hack like all those you've been doing?".. different topic. this is just an intro.[/spoiler]

I still don't understand how to use it..
[spoiler]
Make a thread explaining what you want to do. There may be an easier way than with SchMEe. For big changes to a msh, XSI is still the best way to do it.[/spoiler]

Your licence is obscure, who owns the models that SchMEe edits?
[spoiler]
Like everything with a likeness from anything (game or otherwise) resembling a Star Wars design, LucasArts owns it.  Same with the mods we all make and all that.  But fortunately, we are all modders and as such there are community standards in place so that we can place our name with the things we work so hard on.  If you made it, claim it, but if someone else made part of it, put their name on it too. It's the right thing to do. At the end of the day, it's all LA property, but they seem happy to let us sand box around with their designs as long as it's in good taste.

Devils advocate time. Say you make a model based on your own design (or your pet lizard.. whatever) and you edit it with XSI, SchMEe, and all sorts of other programs.At that point, since the basis for your design is your own, then I would call it yours. However, I have no idea about how the modtools licence affects these kind of things. The fact that it lands in a SWBF mod file may imply a transfer of ownership. I don't know, and I have enough distrust of anything in legaleese to assume that sort of thing is possible. If this is where your project dwells, then keep all your source files and be certain of all your stuff.

The odds of any of this becoming contentious are really small. But fun stuff to know and think about as IP rights become a pop culture topic.[/spoiler]

Where do I download this program?
[spoiler]
From the SchMEe Release Announcements topic at the top of this forum.
It will always contain a link to the latest build on my dropbox, and as the versions become more robust, I may begin keeping it in the downloads section here.
(It's still a buggy alpha thing and I don't want to clutter the downloads with that.)[/spoiler]

Will it ever be able to do _____?
[spoiler]
The best way to know is to start a thread with that question.  Most everything going into it is by request.  It may take months for it to make it to the program, I can't start considering it till someone asks.

Side Note: A good source of inspiration for possible future features is XSI(or any other modeling application.)  I recently started working with it, and it has some very good tools.  Since SchMEe is targeted to only one format and not limited by the complexities of a formal display, it may be possible to approach certain problems in a more direct way. [/spoiler]

Ok, more specifily, will it ever be able to handle cloth?
[spoiler]
Yes and no.  Mostly no.

I won't ever put any effort to designing or dealing with cloth other than to remove it's MODL chunk from the MSH, Until a way to determine normals from the existing cloth structures is created.

At that point I will certainly be happy to convert cloth to normal geometry and try to weight it to something.

The sad reason for this is that I can't run SWBF2 and even if I could, I prefer the feel and look of SWBF1. This doesn't mean I will not have support for other SWBF2 specific features, but cloth is just not happening.  Too many constraints (literally.)[/spoiler]

Will there be a way to hack animations?
[spoiler]
It's possible.
We have all the fields translated and there are now multiple ways of handling the CRC's.
I have not tested any animations, and this is one area where I would support the BF2 format completely (because it isn't much diferent than BF1.)
I have even been looking at industry standard animation file formats, thinking up ways to make them SWBF1 compatible.
All the animations are is a list of localized transforms paired with a bone by a CRC.  So converting something like a BVH should be as easy as rewriting that list in the way our list is written.
It's possible.
There is much work to be done before this is even close to reality, and may be it's own program because of the complexities involved.
[/spoiler]

What language is SchMEe written in?
[spoiler]
A scripting language called AutoIT.
AutoIT is most useful as a Windows automation software.

Why not a 'real' language?
Mainly because I am not a real programmer. Most your powerful languages are object oriented, and while I understand some oop concepts, such as encapsulation, my programming knowledge comes from linear basic on the old home consoles like the Vic-20 and C-64.

AutoIT exposes the windows API in a manner (and syntax) that is easy for me to understand and implement.  I tried to migrate to VB2012, but there is just too large a paradigm shift for me to have fun with it.  It is wrong that development on this is bottle-necked by my lack of knowledge, but I try where I can and learn very slowly. So it's really just a case of "it is what it is."
[/spoiler]

Why edit models through the commandline?
(It's very counter intuitive.)
[spoiler]
It really started as a way to automate specific hex edits to improve consistency and reduce errors. Specifically, updating all the parented chunk size entries. One error in a sequence of 6 mundane (and non creative) size field updates ruins the whole file.  Features have been added from there.

It isn't the only such program though. ImageMagick is a commandline image editor, that is quite robust and fun to work with.  I only know of one other program that allows you to do Fourier transforms on an image and filter it as though it were a sound file and then revert it back to an image. Mind blowing and really neat in that it forces you to look at the data in a different way.

We can all benefit from different perspectives.

I doubt SchMEe will ever grow out of the hobbiest game hack tool stage and into a full model editor. There is already another program well into development that does a much better job. (Noesis) It has full python scripting, a custom API, a sophisticated display, huge proprietary and industry standard file format support. I just want to focus SchMEe on SWBF. If other formats find their way in, then it will be as a convenience to porting those formats to the MSH format. (I'm thinking MS3D, GLM, and FBX.)
[/spoiler]

#55
My hopes are that it will one day be a standalone msh editing tool that can generate and visualize a msh without any other tool.  It isn't there yet. Not by a longshot.

So here are tools I use to help with the various hacks I do with it and a brief description of how it can be used along side SchMEe.

None of this is carved in stone. If you have a tool that works out better for you (because of personal preference, OS compatibility, ect) post it's name and a link to the program's homepage and I'll add it to the list.




A Text Editor
In general, a text editor will help you manage batch files. Any will do, I use an old one called AEdix, by Kirys Tech 2000. It's no longer supported by the developer though.  Notepad is fine for handling txt files though, really.




A Hex Editor
Currently, SchMEe is a hex-editing assistant. So you will still need a Hex Editor to do minor things, like making changes to chunk files when compiling exploded msh's.

I use XVI32, by Christian Maas, because it's simple to use and easy to set up (and it's free.)
Homepage: http://www.chmaas.handshake.de/delphi/freeware/xvi32/xvi32.htm




A Model Viewer
There is the remote possibility that SchMEe may get this feature one day. Till then you need a way to see what you are editing. There are a limited number of programs for this and all have limitations.

Star Wars Battlefront Viewer, by Tim Skillman.
It doesn't render cloth or special material effects. It can convert from MSH to WRL and WRL to MSH for migrating models to and from SWBF, though. All bones and nulls are lost in the conversions, so use it for converting non-animated models only.
Author's homepage: http://sites.google.com/site/swbfmodding/Home
SWBFGamers download: http://www.swbfgamers.com/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=324

3D Object Converter (shareware, but functional as a model viewer)
Loads a ton of formats. The paid version can save tons of formats. I use it as a viewer and also to identify clusters or segments via it's object browser function.
It can display models as a wireframe or with flat or smooth shading.
It can also save a bmp of the UV's of a single cluster. (these can be combined in a image editor, such as gimp or paint.net to make a proper UV stamp as a skinner's aid.)
But, it does not read bones, and it does read hidden geometry and ignores the hidden flag (useful for previewing shadows.) So that can be seen as a bug with benefits.
It reads triangles from the NDXL instead of the STRP. So it cant open all MSH files. This is fixable by passing the MSH through SchMEe and using the "Rebuild Triangle Lists" option.  It doesn't hurt the MSH and it allows you to use this great viewer.
Homepage: http://3dconverter.clanteam.com/

I'll mention the XSI ModToool and ZETools, because they will import a MSH and you can then view it, but if you are working with XSI, then you probably have little use for a hack tool like SchMEe and the ModTool is a bit cumbersome to be used as just a viewer.




A MSH DATA Viewer
Something to see what the hard numbers are without having to ctrl+f through the MSH in a hex editor.

SWBF_MSH_INFO
Another tool I wrote (in AutoIT, of course) that does exactly that. It provides a hierarchal view of every tag in the MSH and in most cases, a translation of all the various data types.
SchMEe actually uses some code from this, but it's old, and many changes had to be made to make it safe to save MSH files.
SWBF_MSH_INFO never saved correctly.
It has some functions for copying data to the clipboard, and that's about it. It's a data viewer only.
But if all you want to know is how many SEGM's use a certain material, or what the tga names for the msh are, then running this and navigating the tag tree is a lot quicker then fussing around in a hex-editor.
I believe I started a thread on it, and will update this when I find it.
The version I use daily is on my dropbox: SWBF_MSH_INFO.rar
32bit only atm. If you want source, I'll pull it off my old drive, but it's old. Use SchMEe's source to study. It's better in every way.

(edit: minor editing -tirpider)
#56
SchMEe Board / The source code
June 29, 2013, 09:34:42 PM
I'm sure you noticed the link to the source in the announcement thread.

I want it out there for a couple of reasons.
If anyone wants to know how to do all this, well, there it is.
And if anyone is a better programmer than me (which is very likely) then I need your help.

The source is pretty easy to handle and build.  It uses AutoIT 3.3.8.1 and makes use of features in the SciTE IDE designed for AutoIT.

The build tools can be found here:
http://www.autoitscript.com/site/autoit/downloads/
And mirrors of the exact versions I use are on my dropbox, here:
autoit-v3-setup.exe v3.3.8.1
SciTE4AutoIt3.exe v2.28
(I mirrored the tools in case one of their updates breaks my code.)

And the best place for anything AutoIT related would be their forums, where the developers are also the moderators and staff. It's an active and useful place. Full of helpful advice, user defined libraries, and feedback.
AutoIT Forums


The source file itself has a .au3 extension and is a simple txt file, but I recommend using the SciTE ide because it has some navigation features that make looking at the 13000 line beast manageable. (It's also got Lua support, but for Lua 5 not 4.1 like SWBF uses.)


How to Build SchMEe:
- Both AutoIT and SciTE need to be installed to mimic my build environment.

- After un-rar-ing the src archive, open the SchMEe.au3 and select Tools>Compile then press compile script.

- It will make a _build folder and place the resulting exe's (32 and 64 bit) in there.

- Done.

It does not currently use any external libraries, but that may change in the future.  So far, all the 3rd party stuff it uses is embedded in the source itself (it should be commented).

There are some more notes in the archive, full of mad ravings about arrays and globals that may help you parse how the program is structured. 



Regarding Licences and whatnot:

I don't currently have a licence to cover this, so it's safe to say its open, but, I do make use of other folks snippets and functions, so know that as I wrangle together the accreditation info I may end up having to put a licence together for it.

Ultimately, this program is a derivative work of Pandemics models, as they are what I studied to write it. So actual ownership of the code will probably go to LA, or Pandemic, or some big name that's bought all rights to everything.

I'm ok with that. The goal is to use it to modify MSH files for use with SWBF and it's modtools. Everything else is lawyer stuff that has nothing to do with it.

If LA shows up and says "stop" or they come and seize control of it, then that's how it goes. But I don't think that will happen.  No one is going to make money on a hacky mod utility for an ancient game, and no one is denying their ownership, so I don't think they will care.
#57
SchMEe builds
Short and sweet. Here is the latest version.

Latest Build: SchMEe_v0.0.6.25.rar
Latest SRC: : SchMEe_v0.0.6.25_src.rar

Build History:
[spoiler]0.0.6.25
- [fixed] -movepiece  it thought the given SEGM number was the tag number and ended up doing nothing.  Tested and working now. It may fail if a msh has a SHDW since it actually counts SEGMs, and not SEGMs that have a posl.  I'll fix it again....
- [added] -scalepiece(segm,axis,amount) scales a SEGM along an axis by a specified amount. If axis = a then it will scale along all axis.

0.0.6.20
- [added] -scaleuv(Amount)  requires a -material() to be set. 0.25 would scale the UVs for all SEGMs using that material by 25%
- [added] -moveuv(xSize,ySize,xAmount,yAmount) requires a -material() to be set.
          Moves the UV's of all SEGM's that use the indicated material.
          xSize = x size of the texture for the material in question
          ySize = y size of the texture for the material in question
          xAmount = Amount to move along the x axis
          yAmount = Amount to move along the y axis
- [note] I may add variants of the above that operate per piece instead of per material, but only if it seems useful. I put them on the command line, but not the GUI yet.  The GUI needs desperate fixing/organization/help.
- [removed] pulled out the code that embeded the DrCRC program as the original Pandemic exporter has been released and it contains the polynomial list and algorithm needed to deal with ZeroCRC's.  I'll add that when it comes time to start handling the SKL2, BLN2 and KFR3 tags.

0.0.6.0
- [version bump] It's time to start doing real stuff like moving bits about. This marks the start of functions that will do that.
- [added] -consolidatesegments (SEGMs) the opposite of -isolategeometries, this will try to consolidate as many of the SEGMs in a MODL chunk into a single SEGM.
- [added] -consolidateenvl  This will remove unused entries from every ENVL (envelope) chunk in the file, then sort them by order of appearance in the msh (MNDX).
- [added] -movepiece(segm,axis,amount) Moves a SEGM along an axis by a specified amount
- [added] -savesegmmap   saves a map of all SEGM in msh as a txt file.
- [hack] Some models have things (wrongly) weighted to bone_root and this causes the Hires to Lowres hack to destroy the envelope for the whole msh.  I just fixed it for that function but will make a function that fixes this on load to catch furure problems.

0.0.5.81
- [added] -isolategeometries   splits smoothing groups into discrete SEGMs
- [changed] Floating point translation.  AutoIT uses double precision floats for everything with no options for converting to the single precision needed for the msh file format. Previously, it was dumping imported floats into a double, which added decimal places and enhanced the inaccuracies inherent to singles. I now round the values to 7 decimal places on load.  This will result in wierd variance at that precision, but should be small enough to not affect anything visual. If it becomes a problem, it's easy to revert the change.

0.0.5.77
- [added] Ability to rebuild bounding boxes
- [added] -settx0d"texturename.tga" sets the texture name for the material specified by -material(0)
          The different tx?d fields are specified in the switch. To change the bumpmap texture name, use -settx1d"whatever_bump.tga"
          I went all the way to tx9d, because ZeroEditor does.
- [added] -deltx0d deletes the texture name from the material specified by -material(0)
          Again, this goes from txod to tx9d
- [changed] new icon. It's based on a symbol in the Ralph McQuarrie Tusken camp concept image.
- [fixed] a lot of internal stuff that will help me later.

0.0.5.49
- [fixed] a small bug with the way I was re-encoding BLN2 tags that was breaking some models.
- [added] -compile"path" to the commandline switches.
- [added] batch files that show example usage. (I also included all_inf_soldier.msh for demonstaration purposes.)

0.0.5.43
- [added] compile (to reassemble an exploded msh) (Not availiable from command line yet.
- [added] wizard-like option panel if program is run without any switches (this will be changed to a full gui later.)
- [fixed] It handles the animation tags as-is, for now.  I hosed up some OTC guys and though I could fix it by removing the unused data.. turns out it is used and I broke it twice. So It's back to not handling it in a special way.
- [fixed] Rebuild triangle lists missed the last few STRP's in msh's with many SEGM's. I changed a For/Next loop to a Do/Until loop and it operates correctly now.
- [note]  folder recursion will probably remain disabled until we have a need for a custom report, and even then it may only appear as a one-off build for the occasion.

0.0.5.37
- [added] -defaultmaterial (sets the material to all default settings.)
- [added] -diffusecolor(123,123,123)
- [added] -setmatunk1(1.0)
- [added] -ambientcolor(123,123,123)
- [added] -setmatunk2(1.0)
- [added] -specularcolor(123,123,123)
- [added] -setmatunk3(1.0)
- [added] -explode (Simular to MSH to Chunks. doesn't include MODL types in the folder names, otherwise the same and is 100% compatible with my previous build tools.)
- [added] -scaleallgeometry(1.0) scales all geometry by a given value
          (1.0 = no change)
          !note -scaleallgeometry does not affect bounding boxes, yet.
- [changed] -setsinfname behavior. It no longer accepts a string and uses the filename only.
- [fixed] a ton of display messages. I'll probably change them in the future, but it's better for now.
- [disabled] folder recursion. it needs more work to operate in a general way. (I broke it)
- [disabled] -verbose It's way messy and uninformative
- [disabled] -debug same as verbose.

0.0.5.15
- first features working. They can be used as "templates" for future features.
- I feel comfortable calling it by name now.
- First private distribution.
[/spoiler]

Old Versions:
[spoiler] These old DropBox links are dead. msg me if you need these for some reason.
SchMEe_v0.0.6.20.rar
SchMEe_v0.0.6.0.rar
SchMEe_v0.0.5.81.rar
SchMEe_v0.0.5.77.rar
SchMEe_v0.0.5.49.rar
SchMEe_v0.0.5.43.rar
SchMEe_v0.0.5.37.rar
SchMEe_v0.0.5.15.rar
[/spoiler]

(I may continue attaching the current build to this post but will continue to put it in my dropbox as an alternate.)

edit: Changed dropbox links to the SWBFGamers downloads section.
#58
SchMEe Board / Welome to the SchMEe Board
June 29, 2013, 07:37:00 PM
Welcome to the SchMEe board.

This is where we can all discuss this (wonderful?) little pile of code and figure out how to use and direct it's development.

It's a complex little beast, and explaining pieces of it in PM's isn't exactly the best way to handle it.  Here we can spread out over multiple topics and not be forced to stack a ton of info into one giant post, possibly repeating information.

This has been in the works for a while and is based largely on previous programs (SWBF_MSH_INFO, and  TAG_SIZE_VALIDATOR.) It isn't anywhere near complete, I can assure you it is quite usable.  I use it regularly to swap parts that are hard to get to and to revise materials.

Ideas for features, bug reports, what-if questions, new ways to use it, other programs to use with it... these are all acceptable and necessary topics to move the program forward.

Explore the FAQ and other threads, and if you have any questions or suggestions about "how" or "why" regarding SchMEe, feel free to jump into a topic or start one yourself. This may even be a good place to exchange hex editing tips (which a large part of SchMEe revolves around) but some may be better suited for the 3D forum.  We'll see.

With that said, thanks for trying the program, and welcome.




Some important threads:
SchMEe Release Announcements
What is SchMEe? (not-so-FAQ)
SchMEe Planned Features and Updates
#59
I'd like this to be a thread for showing off your current modeling works in progress.

No restrictions regarding software used or what the model will be used for.
(as long as it stays within the boundaries of the site rules.. No vulgar or pornographic things)

The model doesn't need to be finished and you can even post pics of small detailed areas instead of the entire thing.

Everyone will have a different way of wrestling things into shape, and we can all benefit by showing off and asking how.

So, to be clear on what's expected here:

  • Pictures of your modeling efforts. Wireframe, full renders, shaded, textured or not, whatever is needed to highlight what you want to show us.
  • Content can be Star Wars related or not.
  • No naked people or vulgar things.
  • Show your own work.  If you are modifying someone else's work, make that known.
  • Incremental posting is fine, but if you are going to have many updates a day, then the project may deserve it's own [wip] thread.
    (this is to remind me not to spam post everytime I move a vert.)

Stuff that would be nice to know in general, but isn't required:

  • What software are you using?
  • Are you using a specific technique of following a tutorial?

For would-be critics, feel free to point out flaws, but know that these are works in progress, so there will be unfinished work.  You don't have to pander to every little thing, but try to be nice and respect that through (any) art, we are all trying to better ourselves and the world.

Have Fun!





I'll kick things off with my current (and be gentle cause it's my first) model:

Duros Head [work in progress]

Using Sculptris (free, yay!)

[spoiler][/spoiler]

280,000+ triangles.  I will retopo in XSI when it gets better.
#60
Public Square / Where to show off Modeling work?
June 08, 2013, 03:56:01 PM
I would like to start a general modeling showcase thread.

A general pic only thread where modelers can share (show off) works-in-progress or finished models that may or may not be for the game. 

I'm not sure where it would be best suited though.
3D-Modeling, Animation and Texturing seems appropriate, but some of the models might not be destined to become game assets, so I don't know.

Then there is Art Gallery and Creative Endeavors.
This is probably the proper place.

Would anyone have any advice on which way to go with this?