HowTo:Add Ships - Revision history

Augie.ben.doggie: [vega-bot] [replace] 1 instances of 'http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/forums' for 'http://forums.vega-strike.org'

2013-01-08T21:28:56Z

[vega-bot] [replace] 1 instances of 'http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/forums' for 'http://forums.vega-strike.org'

Iansterguy: Updated link to "HowTo:Compile from SVN on Linux"

2012-12-22T11:30:25Z

Updated link to "HowTo:Compile from SVN on Linux"

Tbeholder at 08:16, 28 June 2011

2011-06-28T08:16:18Z

Pyramid: /* Introduction */

2011-02-23T22:27:25Z

‎Introduction

pyramid: /* Introduction */

2008-09-15T15:49:51Z

‎Introduction

pyramid at 15:25, 15 September 2008

2008-09-15T15:25:08Z

AzureSky: Added category

2008-09-09T15:56:00Z

Added category

pyramid: /* Editing Textures via MTL File (new method) */

2008-08-26T18:38:27Z

‎Editing Textures via MTL File (new method)

pyramid: /* Part Two: From Modelling Suite File Format to BFXM */

2008-08-05T23:06:10Z

‎Part Two: From Modelling Suite File Format to BFXM

Halleck: /* Old method */ +l HowTo:Add LODs

2007-07-07T11:33:30Z

‎Old method: +l HowTo:Add LODs

@@ Line 150: / Line 150: @@
 ''Note: The following section details how to make a new game unit for your model. If you just want to quickly test how your mesh looks in-game without mucking about in units.csv, see the [[HowTo:Add Ships#Swapping mesh files|Swapping mesh files]] subsection.''
-Now comes the time to get into the real nitty-gritty and associate some data with your mesh that will tell the game how it should be used. Most spreadsheet programs can open .csv files. You can use popular software such as Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice.org Calc to edit units.csv. As an alternative, GAlex has written a nice, lightweight .csv editor tailored to work well with units.csv. ([http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=7143 Get it here].)
+Now comes the time to get into the real nitty-gritty and associate some data with your mesh that will tell the game how it should be used. Most spreadsheet programs can open .csv files. You can use popular software such as Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice.org Calc to edit units.csv. As an alternative, GAlex has written a nice, lightweight .csv editor tailored to work well with units.csv. ([http://forums.vega-strike.org/viewtopic.php?t=7143 Get it here].)
 Once you've loaded up units.csv, start by looking in the first column for a ship that you think is reasonably similar to your own. If you're not sure, llama.begin is a good place to start. The data for each ship occupy a single row, so once you've found it, select the entire line and duplicate it. Change the unit name to whatever your shipname is. Avoid spaces and special characters in column one, since it is a name used internally by vegastrike. ({{Fixme}} - ''Is that even true?'')

@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 Okay, so now you've got an '''OBJ''' file (and probably an '''MTL''' file as well). '''Windows''' users should move these files into the "bin" folder inside the main Vega Strike directory. Now, start up a command prompt or terminal of some sort, and change your directory to WHEREVER\bin\ . We will use mesher.exe to compile your mesh.
-'''Linux''' users will have to compile mesher from source with the command "make mesher" after following the standard [[HowTo:Compile_from_SVN#Compiling|bootstrap/configure procedure]]. Mesher can be made available anywhere by creating an alias for it in your shell (usually ~/.bashrc), or adding the vegastrike directory to your path.
+'''Linux''' users will have to compile mesher from source with the command "make mesher" after following the standard bootstrap/configure procedure [[HowTo:Compile_from_SVN_on_Linux#Make]]. Mesher can be made available anywhere by creating an alias for it in your shell (usually ~/.bashrc), or adding the vegastrike directory to your path.
 If you run mesher without any arguments, it will print a list of available commands.

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:16, 28 June 2011
Line 196:		Line 196:
	The engine will automatically drill-down the categories in the purchase screen.		The engine will automatically drill-down the categories in the purchase screen.

		+	==Part Seven: Giving the ship to NPC==
		+
		+	Ships are assigned for spawn in <code>data/modules/faction_ships.py</code> - look for lines like
		+	<blockquote>capitals = (...
		+	...
		+	("Ox","Mule","Mule","Mule","Cultivator","Cultivator"), #shaper_citizen
		+	... </blockquote>
		+	Find the general type (there are fighters, capital ships, etc) and add an entry to the lines of factions you think should have this ship. It will be randomly picked from the list.
		+	Also, note that there are separate names for basic ship configurations, such as "<name>.stock" with corresponding lines in <code>units.csv</code>, and try to use them the same way - auto-upgrade routine is supposed to use these.

	----		----

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 *'''.OBJ'''+'''.MTL''' - The standard alias wavefront mesh format.
 *'''.WINGS''' - Wings3D file format.  See [[HowTo:Create Ships in Wings3D|Creating a 3D-model using Wings3D]] for detailed information on using Wings3D to create your model.
-*'''.XMESH''' - XML-Mesh format. A simple, manually editable file format designed for Vega Strike.
+* [[HowTo:Edit_XMESH_files|'''.XMESH''']] - XML-Mesh format. A simple, manually editable file format designed for Vega Strike.
-*'''.BFXM'''- ('''B'''inary '''F'''ormatted '''XM'''esh) A compiled .xmesh. Loads much faster than an .xmesh, and can contain multiple xmeshes (for [[Terminology:LODs|LODs]], animations, or models consisting of multiple components).
+* [[HowTo:Edit_BFXM_files|'''.BFXM''']] - ('''B'''inary '''F'''ormatted '''XM'''esh) A compiled .xmesh. Loads much faster than an .xmesh, and can contain multiple xmeshes (for [[Terminology:LODs|LODs]], animations, or models consisting of multiple components).
-*'''Mesher''' - A command-line utility for converting between .obj+.mtl, .bfxm, and .xmesh formats.
+* '''Mesher''' - A command-line utility for converting between .obj+.mtl, .bfxm, and .xmesh formats.
-*'''units.csv''' - A comma-seperated value spreadsheet which contains information on units that can be used by the game.
+* '''units.csv''' - A comma-seperated value spreadsheet which contains information on units that can be used by the game.
 '''&#8594;''' ''See also: [[Development:Scripts & Tools]]''

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:49, 15 September 2008
Line 13:		Line 13:

	This article is a general guide on how to take your ship mesh all the way from your modeling suite of choice into the bowels of Vega Strike.		This article is a general guide on how to take your ship mesh all the way from your modeling suite of choice into the bowels of Vega Strike.
−
−	Feel free to use any modeling program, but it must be able to export models in either .obj or .xmesh format. If you don't know where to start, see [[Links:3D Applications]] for a list of modeling software ([http://www.wings3d.com/ Wings 3D] is recommended for inexperienced users).

	Before we begin, here are the files/executables you need to know about:		Before we begin, here are the files/executables you need to know about:

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 ----
 {{attention}}
-(General {{Fixme}} notice: ''I was kinda tired when I wrote this article, please keep an eye out for and correct my flagrant spelling mistakes, capitilization inconsistencies, etc. I wrote almost the entire thing from memory, so there may be a few factual errors as well, sorry''.)
+{{warning_text |
 ----
 =Introduction=
-So you want to create a new ship for Vega Strike, do you?  While virtually all models are welcome, well before you start cranking out wonderfully designed models we request that you first check what models are still required. Refer to the [http://vegastrike.sourceforge.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2491 model status forums thread] and [[Development:3D Models]], or contact the Minister of Information to find out what ships need to be modelled.
+This article is a general guide on how to take your ship mesh all the way from your modeling suite of choice into the bowels of Vega Strike.
-This article is a general guide on how to take your ship mesh all the way from your modelling suite of choice into the bowels of Vega Strike. For more advanced and detailed information, see the [[HowTo:Add Ships#Further reading|further reading section]].
+Feel free to use any modeling program, but it must be able to export models in either .obj or .xmesh format. If you don't know where to start, see [[Links:3D Applications]] for a list of modeling software ([http://www.wings3d.com/ Wings 3D] is recommended for inexperienced users).
 Before we begin, here are the files/executables you need to know about:
@@ Line 28: / Line 28: @@
 Last, we recommend following the processes below in order, until you know what you're doing.
-==Part One: Creating Your Model==
+==Part Three: From Modeling Suite File Format to BFXM==
 Now, it's go time! The first step in getting your cool new model into Vega Strike is to export it to a format that Vega Strike understands. Currently, Vega Strike is able to read .obj, .xmesh, and .bfxm files. However, it is best to use the native '''BFXM''' format because it is fast, so this guide is written with that in mind.
@@ Line 109: / Line 102: @@
 So, prepare to get your hands dirty. Whip out your favorite text editor, cause it's '''XMESH''' time!
-==Part Three: XMESHin'==
+==Manual XMESHin'==
 Under ideal conditions, you won't have to hack the xmesh much. To assign specularity maps (which you must do, unless you want your ship to look like a giant mirror), all you need to do is add an attribute to the <Mesh> tag at the beginning of the file.
 Your basic xmesh header looks like this:
@@ Line 174: / Line 167: @@
 ==Part Five: Testin' Time==
 Okay, that's enough to test your ship in-game.
@@ Line 185: / Line 182: @@
 ===Swapping mesh files===
 If you don't need to create a game unit immediately and only want to test the mesh itself in-game, you can quickly swap it with another mesh. For instance, if you are flying a llama in your current game, rename llama.bfxm to something like llama.real.bfxm, and then call your new mesh llama.bfxm. Note that you will still be flying a llama, with llama stats and engine/mount placements, but it will look like your new ship.
-This method should only be used for quickly seeing how meshes look in-game, and for testing their integrity. For modding purposes, it is reccomended that you create an actual unit as [[HowTo:Add Ships#Part Four: Units.csv|described above]].
+This method should only be used for quickly seeing how meshes look in-game, and for testing their integrity. For modding purposes, it is recommended that you create an actual unit as [[HowTo:Add Ships#Part Four: Units.csv|described above]].
-==Part Six: Making your ship purchaseable==
+==Part Six: Making your ship purchasable==
-You need to do two things to make something purchaseable:
+You need to do two things to make something purchasable:
 # Add the appropriate entry to the master_part_list.csv. Feel free to make up whatever category you want your ship to be in, but if you use an existing category, you will have less work in step 2.
@@ Line 196: / Line 197: @@
 The engine will automatically drill-down the categories in the purchase screen.
@@ Line 219: / Line 206: @@
 }}
 [[Category:HowTos|Add Ships]]
 [[Category:Modeling|Add Ships]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:56, 9 September 2008
Line 220:		Line 220:

	[[Category:HowTos\|Add Ships]]		[[Category:HowTos\|Add Ships]]
		+	[[Category:Modeling\|Add Ships]]

@@ Line 69: / Line 69: @@
 or more generically:
-  map_tex0   main_tex_0.texture
+  map_0   main_tex_000.texture
-  map_tex1   main_tex_1.texture
+  map_1   main_tex_001.texture
-  map_tex2   main_tex_1.texture
+  map_2   main_tex_002.texture
-  map_tex3   main_tex_3.texture
+  map_3   main_tex_003.texture
-  map_tex4   main_tex_4.texture
+  map_4   main_tex_004.texture
 Further, make sure that the following parameters are set to values given here for the textures to go unchanged into the shader:
@@ Line 95: / Line 95: @@
   detail_plane 0 1 0 -- generates a new set of coordinates by projecting into that plane
   technique A -- specify technique to use with this object
 ===Editing Textures via XMESH File (old method)===

@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 '''&#8594;''' ''Main article: [[HowTo:Create Models]]''
-==Part Two: From Modelling Suite File Format to BFXM==
+==Part Two: From Modeling Suite File Format to BFXM==
 Now, it's go time! The first step in getting your cool new model into Vega Strike is to export it to a format that Vega Strike understands. Currently, Vega Strike is able to read .obj, .xmesh, and .bfxm files. However, it is best to use the native '''BFXM''' format because it is fast, so this guide is written with that in mind.
@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 Mesher does not try to detect what kind of file you're feeding it, so you need to specify a three-character conversion code as part of the argument. You just want to go from '''OBJ'''+'''MTL''' to '''BFXM''' right now, so run mesher with the following arguments:
   mesher whatever.obj whatever.bfxm obc
-The command obc means "obj to bfxm, create output file".
+The command obc means "'''o'''bj to '''b'''fxm, '''c'''reate output file".
 Okay, so now you've got a bfxm. Great! The problem with '''BFXM''' is that you can't really edit it by hand in order to add the additional functionality Vega Strike supports (like specularity, damage, or glow maps). There are two ways to do this.
-===New method===
+===Editing Textures via MTL File (new method)===
 If you are running mesher from the latest SVN, it will respect the settings specified in the MTL file. This means you can set materials and texture maps by editing the MTL file before converting your mesh to '''BFXM''', hopefully avoiding the need to convert to '''XMESH'''. The texture maps can be specified in the MTL file like so:
-  MAP_KD <diffuse map>
+  map_kd diffuse.texture
-  MAP_KE <emissive (glowmap)>
+ map_ks spec.texture
-  MAP_KS <specmap>
+ map_ke glow.texture
-  MAP_KA <damagemap>
+ map_damage damage.texture
 When in doubt, you can always convert your '''BFXM''' to '''XMESH'''. Run mesher with these arguments to do so:
   mesher whatever.bfxm whatever.xmesh bxc

@@ Line 66: / Line 66: @@
   mesher whatever.bfxm whatever.xmesh bxc
-Currently, you have to use '''XMESH''' if you need to implement complicated mesh features such as LODs. You'll also need to use this method if you have an old version of mesher.
+Currently, you have to use '''XMESH''' if you need to implement complicated mesh features such as [[HowTo:Add LODs|LODs]]. You'll also need to use this method if you have an old version of mesher.
 So, prepare to get your hands dirty. Whip out your favorite text editor, cause it's '''XMESH''' time!