The Starport :: Forum

Re: Does a 'PatrolPath Calculator' exist? [by Moonhead]

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:24:56 +0200

Conventional Modding::Does a 'PatrolPath Calculator' exist?

Quote:

Gibbon wrote:
Yes it can work ffrom a seperate folder. The method you described for creating them manually had me sweating at the thought of trying to make them like that. Just use the utility, takes seconds without any of the brainache.

FLE isn't perfect by a long shot and there are some basic rules to remember when doing paths in it, Watch the numbering in the path label section as they need to be consecutive. If a path has three parts then they should 1,1 1,2 1,3. Next path using the same faction should be 2,1, 2,2 etc. FLE does them like that if you make them all in one sitting, otherwise it reverts to 1,1 again which is where the manual editing comes in.

Thanks!! Looking forward to using it, but first i gotta install DiredtX to be able to use LancerSolurus's Sur-Tool.

Re: Hello everybody [by Vale]

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:15:59 +0200

Introductions ::Hello everybody

Quote:

Bas wrote:
Thruster = tab(ulator), speed: 200
Cruise flight = Charged flight, Shift + W - That one with which you fly up to 300 speed

thanks now I get what you mean.

Re: CMP to SUR Conversion Tests [by LancerSolurus]

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:03:12 +0200

Tools::CMP to SUR Conversion Tests
Thanks for the encouragement, still doing alot of tests and trying different layouts for the sur file. Multiple meshes in a single cmpnd part is being the problem. This is a by-product of the way the model is exported. Thinking about making a cmp modifier so it can split the mesh properly into parts. This is due to that the models that are modular in design wrap tons better than an all in one mesh.

Note to model converters, regroup your models before exporting to make the overall shape similar to a sphere, cube or cylinder for each group...

Re: Questorial: FLModelTool [by Moonhead]

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:44:49 +0200

Modeling and Texturing::Questorial: FLModelTool

Quote:

FriendlyFire wrote:
Quote:

LancerSolurus wrote:
You need the latest DX redistributable from Microsoft, 2009 version or higher.

That. It's not because you added a single DLL that you have everything; there may be something missing that you need to add.

Otherwise, you'll have to play with the settings. There WILL be a visualization of the SUR when it's setup properly.

I completely missed LS's post! I will go after it. Thanks guys!!

Re: thinking about building an xp computer [by rsabatino]

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:37:19 +0200

Help Wanted/Available Section::thinking about building an xp computer
ok i found something that supports windows xp 64 bit

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121381 its a intel mother board only $75.00
it can support 8 gigs of ram beautiful

Re: Admin and Owners Private Forum Area [by Qjake]

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:04:42 +0200

Public::Admin and Owners Private Forum Area
thanks m8's

Re: Moving [Constants] to other ini's and [Encounters] to Constants.ini [by FriendlyFire]

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:52:54 +0200

Speciality Modding::Moving [Constants] to other ini's and [Encounters] to Constants.ini
But the math becomes quite heavy when you start thinking 3D. 2D rotation calculations are simple, but 3D ones enter the realm of rotation matrices and yaw/pitch/roll ordering, which is... Meh.

Re: Some questions about modifying the Starspheres [by StarTrader]

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:23:36 +0200

Conventional Modding::Some questions about modifying the Starspheres
Ah, OK well that's fairly easy, the textures are stored in the starsphere's .cmp file along with the model mesh...

Open your starsphere's .cmp file (copy an existing one and rename it to try this out) in UTF Editor, v4 is good for this.

Open the nodes and you will find Material Library. This node contains the index node for each texture, which holds:
Dt_name - the name of the node where the texture is stored
Type - the texture type
Dt_flags - the characteristics flags
Ec - emissive channel (not all)

and the Material count node which is the count of the number of textures held in the cmp file.

The Dt_name node gives the name of the node within the Texture Library node where the corresponding texure is stored.

In the Texture Library node you will see the nodes where the textures are actually stored. I haven't opened many but the ones I have opened all contain the textures in .tga format, there are usually 9 MIP maps for each texture - starting with MIP0 (full size, 256x256) and reducing by half until MIP8 (smallest, 1x1).

Note that some texture nodes only have 7 MIP maps, Mip0 to MIP6. MIP0 is 64 x 64. There might also be 128 x 128 textures with 8 MIP maps, but I haven't seen one of those.

So as long as you don't change any of the node names, you can just export the MIP0 for each texture, repaint it and re-import it and halve and import all its MIP maps one by one, or you can make an entirely new texture and import that into MIP0 and resize by half each time to import into the remaining MIP maps.

You could try storing in .dds format in which case the MIP maps are all contained in a MIPS node, delete all of the MIP0-MIP8 maps if you do this. But I've not tried this with starspheres, only with ships and that works fine.

Fill your boots! lol

Re: Widescreen Mod Problem [by Davis]

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:43:58 +0200

Freelancer Support::Widescreen Mod Problem
Familiar issue, use adoxa's JFLP, you can download from here:
http://the-starport.net/modules/news/ ... storyid=142&keywords=jflp

Re: Models giveaway [by Moonhead]

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:18:41 +0200

Modeling and Texturing::Models giveaway

Quote:

Xarian_Prime wrote:
yep.. just rename it 1st, to save confusion, Its not the "best" way.. but its darn hell the quickest & in most mods barley noticeable as the games normally moving faster... even in vanilla unless its a big ship with lots of blank spaces.

"FLModelTool10ab6" is the one you want for this task

I just installed it The installer happened to be in my archive. a good thing I always kept stuff.

For now I gotta dig up some old star sytem files and redo them. The models come after that.

EDIT <OFFTOPIC>I actually might give it a try: I need a huge towerlike construction, and I used to create it with building prison archetypes on top of each other. (4 prisons made an octagon, and one octagon was one floor. That rendered a rather laggy star system - if the base was in sight, not if it were not.) But it might be easier to use a space_habitat thing enlarged 25 times (and, of course, retexture it). So that's a nice way to practice both the clone and model tools. </OFFTOPIC>

Re: Freelancer Fatal Error - Onboard Graphics Chip [by Xarian_Prime]

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:42:52 +0200

Freelancer Support::Freelancer Fatal Error - Onboard Graphics Chip
Having seen this error a few times come through the "bug submissions" of my own mod.. i have to thank you for a wonderful solution here.. and one i've never thought of.

This is a fairly common problem these days.. maybe needs more investigation & a overall common fix?

Re: Voice Creation Tool? [by DwnUndr]

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:32:59 +0200

Tools::Voice Creation Tool?
If I knew a tool like this existed we wouldn't have created more than 4,000 new wave files for the UnderVerse lol. We have totally redone a male pilot, female pilot, the docking character, mission commision, bribes girls and the ships voice.

Looks like you are stuck doing it the manual way. Here is a tutorial:

http://freelancercommunity.net/viewtopic.php?t=316

The end result is actually quite fun to enjoy (but a ton of work!)

Re: Starport Forge Project Requests [by StarTrader]

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:28:45 +0200

General Discussion::Starport Forge Project Requests
Average size of a typical mod?

Can be anything - ours is about 64MB.

The ship .mat files make it very big if they contain textures in .tga format, each texture may be over 2MB. Converting the textures to .dds format in the .mat files reduces them by a lot, but can cause problems sometimes. And many modders are making hi-res textures too so this adds to the file size.

Re: DS Account Manager [by HeIIoween]

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:50:17 +0200

Freelancer-related Programming::DS Account Manager
In dsam.db file "2704647112" is present as plain text.

But http://sqlitebrowser.sourceforge.net/ - says ShipHash Found:0. Strange.

Dunno what is this log message, is it points to error or it is simply as debug message?

P.S. Mod dll is in russian language

Re: Adding weapons on originals Freelancer ships [by StarTrader]

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 21:47:27 +0200

Modeling and Texturing::Adding weapons on originals Freelancer ships
That's correct, the pilot model sits on hardpoint HpPilot only. If you want more than one pilot to be visible you can import the pilot model into your model and export it as a group with your ship.

The pilot model is DATA\EQUIPMENT\MODELS\PILOT\pilot.3db

The revolute hardpoint is designed for weapons that have bases that can swing left & right, like turrets. Guns can scan in any direction so they use fixed Hardpoints normally.

One note here about a specialised weapon - fixed-orifice. These guns, like the cruiser forward gun, should not turn at all, they should only fire in the direction that the fixed hardpoint is pointing, and this is normally forward, in the direction the ship is pointing. For these you should set the line force_gun_ori = true in the weapon_equip.ini entry for that gun's [Munition] entry.

The torpedo can work as either a fixed hardpoint or as a revolute. The difference is that fixed does not swing left or right, and with revolute hardpoints you specify the left and right swivel angles (in degrees).

Looking from the top of the hardpoint:-
Angle Max = swing left (+ value)
Angle Min = swing right (- value)

As you imagine, if the turret was set to swing left 180 and a target ship flew behgind your ship, the turret would have to stop tracking to the left at 180 and swing right round to the right to try to pick up the track again.

So to allow complete tracking I normally set Angle Max = 360 and Angle Min = -360.

Unless there is a fuselage or other part of my ship in the way of the turret - I haven't tested if it's possible to shoot and damage my own ship, but it may be possible.

In any case I like realism, so in these cases I try to set swing values that avoid hitting my ship by accident. And in these cases I can see the turret swinging right round to follow a target before it can fire again.

All the best pal.

Re: Freelancer Mod Studio (help requested, please) [by FriendlyFire]

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:11:34 +0200

Tools::Freelancer Mod Studio (help requested, please)
VC++ .NET. All the interfacing (INIs, CSVs, DLLs) is in a separate .NET DLL which should be easy to use in C#.

Re: Wireframes [by adoxa]

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:25:20 +0200

Conventional Modding::Wireframes
I really don't know what's going on here. Replacing extra.cmp with neb_turbo.cmp (ie. using turret model for shield), still resulted in reduction. Replacing neb_turbo.cmp with extra.cmp (ie. using shield model for turret) and not having any shield worked fine. That suggests it's not the model. To verify that, used li_dreadnought.cmp instead of nebulon-b.cmp (and .sur), changing shield_link to use HpEngine01 (since the Dreadnought has no shield hps), reduction; same with using li_refraction_shield.3db instead of extra.cmp (since there is no extra.sur). Using li_elite.cmp (and .sur), no reduction (but a really big laser turret). Using li_dreadnought.cmp with li_elite.sur, no reduction. Okay, so maybe it's the sur. After modifying SurDump to resize a sur (since FLModelTool did a poor job), reduction occurs after li_elite.sur is over 20 times its size. However, reducing li_dreadnought.sur has no effect on increasing the wireframe. ... Okay, it appears the sur needs to have HpMount (for the shield_link). ... After building a sur with Lancer's tool, which does add HpMount, the wireframe is the right size. Bingo!

Re: Freelancer XML Project [by StarTrader]

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:53:46 +0200

Tools::Freelancer XML Project
Thanks, RimShot...

But that is too short for me!

Re: connect .sur to .cmp/.3db [by StarTrader]

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:15:03 +0200

Coding::connect .sur to .cmp/.3db
Heyup.

Well here's the little info that I know...

Simply...
The name of the sur part is the same as the cmp group that it relates to, so for each part being checked for hits or collision, FL looks for the same name in the sur file. If it is even slightly different, then the sur part will not be matched to the cmp group and there will be no hit or collision detected on that part of the ship.

In more detail...
You will see in a standard .cmp file that the groups are listed in the \Cmpnd node as Root (the main ship group, the one at the top of the Groups list in Milkshape when you export a model) and then a series of one or more Part_shipname_shippart_lod1 formatted entries. Each of these nodes in turn contains the name of the corresponding cmp group that it is indexing - in this case shipname_shippart_lod1.

In the sur file for the same ship, the corresponding sur part is also named shipname_shippart_lod1 but actually using the CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) character of shipname_shippart_lod1. If you use FLModel Tool to open the sur file and cmp file, some sur parts are recognised by FLModel tool so you will see the "English" name (because the author worked them out for us), but if it is not recognised then the name will appear as the hex CRC character of the name instead. This code can be easily found by putting the cmp group name (shipname_shippart_lod1) through CRC Tool or one of our other CRC/hash generator utilities, and you can then look for that hex code in the sur file in FLModel Tool.

Note that in the cmp files, the decoded signed CRC character is used, so it can be a negative decimal value! However in the sur files, the hex CRC character is used. Why should DA have set standards, eh?

Example:

The Borderworld Fighter (Dagger) has 7 cmp groups:-
Open the file DATA\SHIPS\BORDER_WORLD\BW_FIGHTER\bw_fighter.cmp in UTF editor then open the \Cmpnd node and you will see all the parts of the model are listed there:-

Root
Part_bw_baydoor02_lod1
Part_bw_baydoor01_lod1
Part_bw_eng01_lod1
Part_bw_port_wing01_lod1
Part_bw_star_wing01_lod1

Each of these nodes is an index into the .cmp file itself, it contains the real name of the cmp group, and the name of the corresponding node that contains the pointers to the model mesh for that group.

When you open one of the nodes, e.g. Part_bw_port_wing01_lod1 you will see a node named Object name. This node contains the name "bw_port_wing01_lod1". This is the name of the cmp group.

When you open the ship's sur file in FLModel Tool, and scroll down through it, you will find a mesh named TriangleID : 0xFE3AEE4E - "bw_port_wing01_lod1".

Hey - Presto!! You can now see the connection that FL is looking for.

NOTE - when you make your own ship and give the groups names, remember that the cmp exporter will automatically place the "_lod1" suffix after each group name, except for the top group, which will be renamed "Root". This "_lod1" suffix is needed in the .cmp file as you have seen, to match the name in the sur file. If you are going to make your own stitched sur using Sur-Splicer, then if you remember to add "_lod1" to each sur part name before you export them one by one, then you do not need to import the cons_fix data into your new .cmp after that, since this is all that the cons_fix import does.

Back to the cmp file for a little more info...

The node below "Object name" is "File name", and that contains the name "bw_port_wing01_lod1020911030723.3db".

This is the name of the node in this cmp file that contains the pointers to the model mesh for that part. You will find this node further down in the cmp file. The pointer to the model mesh is contained in that node in the \MultiLevel\Level0\VMeshPart\VMeshRef node. The second Integer value contained in the VMeshRef node in the case of the bw_fighter is 196713753 - this is the decoded signed CRC of "data.ships.border_world.bw_fighter.bw_fighter.lod0-112.vms".

At the top of the cmp file you will find a node named "VMeshLibrary". Under this node you will find three nodes, named data.ships.border_world.bw_fighter.bw_fighter.lod0-112.vms, data.ships.border_world.bw_fighter.bw_fighter.lod1-112.vms, and data.ships.border_world.bw_fighter.bw_fighter.lod2-112.vms.

Each of these nodes contains a node named "VMeshData" - this is where the model mesh is stored.

The "lod0","lod1" and "lod2" in the names mean "Level of Detail" - 0, 1 and 2.

The "lod0" node contains the model mesh for Level0, which is the fully-detailed model that you see from your ship when you are close to the ship.

The "lod1" node contains a less-detailed model mesh of the same ship.

And the "lod2" node contains an even-less-detailed model mesh than the "lod1" node of the same ship.

This is because the model contains one fully-detailed model for close-up viewing, and two more less-detailed, lower "Level of Detail" meshes that are Switched to as the distance of the ship from your viewpoint increases when you are playing the game and looking at the ship.

The defaults for those distances are defined in the Switch node for that part, in this case 0, 100, 1000, 1000000. These values mean that the Level0 pointer set to the model meshes is used from distance 0 to 99 metres, the Level1 pointer set is used from 100 metres to 999 metres, the Level2 model is used from 1000 metres to 999999 metres, and the ship disappears from view completely at 1000000 metres.

But these default values are overridden by those defined in the LODranges = line in the [Ship] section for that ship in the DATA\SHIPS\shiparch.ini if they exist, and in this case in standard FL they are "LODranges = 0, 75, 125, 1000".

To continue a little further...

Under the bw_port_wing01_lod1020911030723.3db node in the \MultiLevel\Level1\VMeshPart\VMeshRef node, the second Integer value is -423074755 - this is the decoded signed CRC of "data.ships.border_world.bw_fighter.bw_fighter.lod1-112.vms".

And under the bw_port_wing01_lod1020911030723.3db node in the \MultiLevel\Level2\VMeshPart\VMeshRef node, the second Integer value is -107778942 - and this is the decoded signed CRC of "data.ships.border_world.bw_fighter.bw_fighter.lod2-112.vms".

In fact all of the part nodes contain the nodes \MultiLevel\Level0\VMeshPart\VMeshRef, \MultiLevel\Level1\VMeshPart\VMeshRef and \MultiLevel\Level2\VMeshPart\VMeshRef.

So this is where FL finds where the model mesh is kept for each Level of Detail.

In the case of break-off groups, those group meshes are replaced with the "damage cap" model meshes when they are blown off the ship. Those groups are defined in the shiparch.ini file under the section headings [CollisionGroup] just below the [Ship] section of the ship they refer to, together with their hit points and the name of the damage cap mesh that will be used. In the case of the bw_fighter, there are two wing damage caps (damaged wing stub model meshes) which are ew_dmg_portwing01_cap and ew_dmg_starwing01_cap. These are defined in shiparch.ini in [Simple] sections, as follows:-

[Simple]
nickname = ew_dmg_portwing01_cap
DA_archetype = SHIPS\border_world\bw_elite\bw_dmg_port_wing01.3db
material_library = SHIPS\border_world\bw_ships.mat
mass = 5
LODranges = 0, 100, 1000

[Simple]
nickname = ew_dmg_starwing01_cap
DA_archetype = SHIPS\border_world\bw_elite\bw_dmg_star_wing01.3db
material_library = SHIPS\border_world\bw_ships.mat
mass = 5
LODranges = 0, 100, 1000

So the Dagger (bw_fighter) is using the wing stub model meshes from the Stiletto (bw_elite) when its wings are damaged. In the Stiletto's folder, SHIPS\BORDER_WORLD\BW_ELITE, you will find the two stub meshes bw_dmg_port_wing01.3db and bw_dmg_star_wing01.3db, and each one has its own .sur file with the same name.

Well, I can't go on more as I don't know enough about the other pointers in the "MultiLevel\Level0", "MultiLevel\Level1" and "MultiLevel\Level2" nodes to explain which part of the relevant model mesh they point to for drawing each model group. But I have a feeling someone else has explained those in some detail somewhere?

Sorry for the long-winded story and for jumping around within the .cmp file and between sur file and cmp file, and if I have made any mistakes please let me know to correct this post for "post-erity".

Re: 3D !!! System Editor (yes thats right) [by jase240]

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:48:27 +0200

Tools::3D !!! System Editor (yes thats right)
Awesome stuff I like it!!!

Re: Crash: Tradelane Entrence. Cause: Obscure. [by StarTrader]

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:30:42 +0200

Coding::Crash: Tradelane Entrence. Cause: Obscure.
Ouch!

I know what you went through!

Re: Mass Effect 2 [by Azureus]

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:24:25 +0200

Off Topic Discussion::Mass Effect 2
Nobody interested? Only main hurdle is figuring out how to re-compress .PCC files, there are extractors for it as its an unreal engine, but nothing we can use to modify and then reconstitute the file.

Re: Galacticum [by Gibbon]

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:01:32 +0200

Mod Advertising::Galacticum

Here's a little teaser again. This time it's custom hits on custom surs, created using Lancer Solurus's excellent utility. This is used on a single group model, so this is maybe why it seems to work ok. Not tried this on multi group models yet.

Yesssss!!! [by Rodney]

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:26:20 +0200

Freelancer Support::Help! GTX285 anyone?

Quote:

jase240 wrote:
try updating your graphics drivers to an OLDER version like older than September of last year, there is a bug with the Nvidia 200x drivers they made recently causing a lot of problems.

That did it!!! I mean I can't be 100% sure yet, but I installed driver version 190.38 (from July 2009) and was able to cruise the universe for hours without any errors.
Thank you SO MUCH for that hint!!

Re: Lets say...... [by Gibbon]

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:15:06 +0200

Help and Request::Lets say......
I don't normally mess with SP but if iirc this is all you need,

[Trigger]
nickname = bse_initialize_init_li01
InitState= Active
Cnd_True= no_params
system = SL03 <------------ START SYSTEM
Act_ForceLand = SL03_02_Base <----- START BASE
Cnd_BaseEnter = SL03_02_Base <----- START BASE
Cnd_SpaceExit = no_params
Act_GCSClamp = false
Act_ChangeState = SUCCEED

That should park you at the start base of your choice in the system of your choice. Don't forget to modify your newplayer.fl in the exe folder as well.

Cheese on Toast has a custom planet tutorial in the downloads section