Development:Scripts & Tools

Development

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Introduction

These handy scripts and tools are here to make your life easier. Please note that the official standard for support tools is:

• C++, or
• Python using Tkinter

Tool	Author	License	Platforms	Engine version	Features	User Manual
Mesher	klauss	GPL	Posix, Win	-	CLI converter obj <-> bfxm <-> xmesh	Mesher HowTo
UnitConverter OBJ->BFXM	pyramid	GPL	all with Python 2.5	-	* convert obj to bfxm *add and compress textures * edit unit info	UnitConverter User Manual
CampaignEditor	Daniel Aleksandrow	GPL	all with Java SE 6	-	create and edit campaigns	-

Internal tools

Tools developed for Vega Strike

• Mesher utility: Converts from/to Wavefront .obj+.mtl, xmesh(es), and BFXM file formats.
• ucsv.py: (Python) Conversion script for turning .xunit files into rows in units.csv format
• 3ds2xml: (Perl) script for converting .3ds files into .xmesh format. Doesn't appear to do axis translation properly, known to be somewhat flaky.
• [WIP] obj2obj converter (Perl, commandline) - Converts obj files to cockpit files. or extracts tag-data from the models. (At least that's what is planned, Testing under Win32/Linux. Pontiac)
• Configuration Parser (file: objconv/configparser.py in vegastrike CVS, Python) - Goes through the source tree and produces a config file (pygrep.config at present) containing every variable *used* in game, every possible command to bind to keys, and every colour definition that can be specified. Still under development.
• [WIP] OBJ to Vega Strike cockpit converter (obj2vs_cockpit_obj, Perl)

External tools

Plugins and scripts for external programs

• XMESH import/export plugin for Wings3D
• XMESH converter for lightwave
• [WIP] XMESH import script for Blender

• DDS plugin for the GIMP
• Irfanview (freeware for Windows) supports the DDS image file format.
• KDE's image libraries (version >= 3.3.0) support reading the DDS file format, so e.g. gwenview, kview and konqueror can view texture files.
• See Development:Orbital_Planet_Surfaces for info on NVidia's DDS compressor software.

See also

• Out-Of-Game Player Tools
• List of VS object conversion scripts and tools forums thread