Other (?) info stored in surface names.
- Second Chance
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18 years 11 months ago #14324
by Second Chance
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Replied by Second Chance on topic Other (?) info stored in surface names.
Wow! I've never seen those before. [:0] You are mighty cool, Jasper.
Man, we are hitting exciting new territory here.
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The Ultimate Guide To Modding: I-War 2 - Edge Of Chaos
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Sure, a couple of things. Animation for one. It's all done in flux. Nothing from Lightwave except start and end keyframes. Also, glow animation presets. That's what those <glow channel=pulse> and such are. These are animation presets to be applied to the glow intensity of a surface that doesn't glow continuously, like engines or welding sparks. And some of the presets can be applied to physical animation as well. The animated motion of the Tug engines is tied directly to the ships forward movement with this type of preset: LZ?+s(0.5). And the little thruster animations are tied to either the rotational movement of the ship or the joystick itself.Can anyone think of anything that converter.exe or flux might want to know that isn't something you can specify using the surface properties in a .lwo?
Man, we are hitting exciting new territory here.
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18 years 11 months ago #14330
by Shane
Replied by Shane on topic Other (?) info stored in surface names.
Perhaps the best method of categorizing these will be to search through converted models to see 'what goes where'. For instance, opening the Frog Miner or cutter corvette models and LW scenes should offer some good ideas on what channels animate the swivel-engines.
I'll start going through the list tonight... and also begin a list of all animation I can remember from the game. That should give us some clues.
Cheers.
I'll start going through the list tonight... and also begin a list of all animation I can remember from the game. That should give us some clues.
Cheers.
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18 years 11 months ago #14332
by Second Chance
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Replied by Second Chance on topic Other (?) info stored in surface names.
That's a great idea! Good thinking, Shane.
And let's not forget that the SDK has several of the individual variables and combinations documented in this chart.
And that avatar setup scenes and animation can reference external scenes and animation.
Cool stuff!
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The Ultimate Guide To Modding: I-War 2 - Edge Of Chaos
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And let's not forget that the SDK has several of the individual variables and combinations documented in this chart.
Code:
Lateral movement Rotational movement
Forwards (Z+) LZ+ Yaw right RY+
Backwards (Z-) LZ- Yaw left RY-
Left (X-) LX+ Pitch down RP+
Right (X+) LX- Pitch up RP-
Up (Y+) LY+ Roll right RR-
Down (Y-) LY- Roll left RR+
Note: A null can be used to control multiple movement channels. For example:
<anim channel=�RR?+j(0.1) RY?-j(0.1) LX?+j(0.1)�>
Cool stuff!
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- Second Chance
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18 years 11 months ago #14343
by Second Chance
The key arrangements in those channels.ini files are really weird, though. This is what they look like without comments.
[Properties] is a section header. The entries after it are keys and their values. Normally, each key in a section has a different name. Or, if they have the same name, they are numbered. Like this:
But in the section above, there are many keys with repeating names that are not numbered. Which means each key that repeats a key name should overwrite the preceeding key value with that same name. Even stanger, they have the brackets normally used for numbering, but they are empty (have I seen this somewhere before?).
Maybe Steve can offer an explanation for what these are and what they do.
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The Ultimate Guide To Modding: I-War 2 - Edge Of Chaos
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Replied by Second Chance on topic Other (?) info stored in surface names.
Yes, all animation setup is done in Layout. Animated surface properties are through flux presets only. As you know, the presets are activated by adding the preset channel name and settings to the end of the surface's name, like this: <glow channel=LZ?+s(2.0)>. But, a surface with no animation preset would just be a regular surface name, like; hull_top_L or lower_pylon_side. So, the #stuff should not be present in every surface name. IMO, this is more of an indicator that it does do something special. Or, I suppose it could just as easily be merely part of the designer's surface naming convention. Used to organize textures, and nothing more. Could we see some examples with the entire name of the surface?Most of the stuff with channels (the engine animations for one) is done in .lws files.
the #stuff is from the surface names in the .pso's. I suspect that the #stuff is a bit of a red herring - it's not present on every surface name for one.
The key arrangements in those channels.ini files are really weird, though. This is what they look like without comments.
Code:
[Properties]
input[]="lz?+s(0.75)"
output[]="lz_smooth"
input[]="burn?+s(1.0)"
output[]="burn_smooth"
input[]="burn_smooth"
output[]=boom
input[]="lz_smooth burn_smooth"
output[]=flap
input[]="lz_smooth burn_smooth"
output[]=flame
input[]="burn_smooth"
output[]=core
Code:
this_key[0]=stuff
this_key[1]=more_stuff
this_key[2]=other_stuff
Maybe Steve can offer an explanation for what these are and what they do.
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