[WIP] Almagest. Strict Import for SH5. - Page 3

Jeff-Groves · 03-20-21, 07:47 PM

Don't worry about Vert count nor texture count. That is easily sorted!
On face count? Those should be the same as far as count but can be adjusted.
They may be different but the GR2 file accounts for that!

AMZ · 04-16-21, 11:40 AM

Hello Jeff-Groves,

Following your feedback

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff-Groves

With just a little text editing of the obj files you can do a strict import
and get a much smaller file size.

Personally?
I use a script I wrote for 010 that looks at the new obj files and adjusts them for a strict import.

Hello Jeff-Groves,

Sorry to answer you so late, I admit I did not understand the meaning of your advice.
Today I am less stupid, thanks to your writings elsewhere.

In this regard, you say that you have made an application: "Almagest".
Is she available? Where can we find it?

Thank you

On the other hand, maybe you have an idea of what concerns me?

Click Here ;

Quote:

Originally Posted by AMZ

Hi to all

After the first advice, and thank you for that, I thought I'd manage on my own, but I have some problems with the realization

I am coming back to you in the hope of having a solution.
My problem: Creating an earthly object as a characteristic Seamark
Example: a church, a bell tower, a lighthouse, etc.

Here are my questions:

1 - TDW editor for GR2 Files seems a great tool, but for lacking of information I am not an expert in its use.

Can we create from nothing, from zero

*. the skeleton bones and a hierarchy of these bones?
*. Initial parent with his own name then parentage for the Meshs (Diffus - AO) then Meshs Collision?

2 - I got around the No. 1 problem for my first realization by copying an existing object

Either in C:... / ... 'Silent Hunter 5 with TWOS'data-Terrain-Locations'CustomAreas-germany
The Church object: church. GR2 and associated .sim

Note: This one as is in the game, is not visible if placed with the mission editor ...
The 3D model is very far from the reference point, about 1 km after Gmax or Blender.

So with Blender I remade the church at the reference point, so that an placement in the mission editor corresponds to the place pointed and seen in the game, map or TAI .
Of course, I transcribed the exported files in .obj format using the Note Block.
I checked the correct transcription by importing and exporting again in the Wings3D editor.

Using TDW-editor, I imported the renamed files
Church_AMZ.obj
Church_AMZ_AO.obj
And Collision_ Church_AMZ.obj
They appear well at Zero Point ... It's ok.

But since this is a clone of the GR2 file with 3D replacement,
I decided to replace the names of the skeleton and bones, then the parents Meshs, in order to have the identifiers remapped. Not expert with the TDW, I did it using a Hexa editor.

Here's my second question:

*. Can we in TDW change the names of skeleton, bones etc?
*. In the same way for the Meshs, can we edit the names of the Parents masters?
Sometimes this is possible for certain filiations. ???

Not being a programmer, I just replaced Letters by Letters the name without changing the length of the GR2 file (Hexa).
Of course, I remapped the Church_AMZ.sim file accordingly.
The Church_AMZ.GR2 file thus modified opens correctly in the TDW, after having automatically corrected the byte counter ...
Control by opening everything in GobinEditor (_.GR2 and _.sim merge)
...
Everything seems correct!
I did a mission (MissionEditor) in order to have the visual in the game ... There's nothing???

Please, can you give me a Thread where I could refer ?
Can you help me in my process ?

With all my gratitude.

Jeff-Groves · 11-24-21, 03:29 PM

A few months down the road and several Alpha versions to sort problems and all is GOOD!
Mostly real life obligations have kept me away from the final Coding parts.
Final parts are to actually write the Faces and texture sorting.
That I wrote in my head while driving all over the USA.
Then debugged much of it in my head!

kapuhy · 11-25-21, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff-Groves

A few months down the road and several Alpha versions to sort problems and all is GOOD!
Mostly real life obligations have kept me away from the final Coding parts.
Final parts are to actually write the Faces and texture sorting.
That I wrote in my head while driving all over the USA.
Then debugged much of it in my head!

Good to hear it! I have a queue of ship models on the slipways waiting for import to SH5 and I'm looking forward to use Almagest on them. Keep up the good work as BdU uses to say

Jeff-Groves · 11-25-21, 01:04 PM

I did figure out a lot that allows me to 'kind of' brand any files.

It does NOT have any effect on SH5 files using Almagest.
And you'd need the Key files I also created to decode the hidden information!

Call it an Easter Egg! I'm well known for those!

gap · 11-30-21, 03:47 PM

@ Jeff

Are you still interested into testing your importer on my Clyde puffer model?
I am still working on textures (AO and diffuse map are WIP and specular and normal maps are missing), but 3D models and UV maps (both diffuse and AO) should be OK for import. Drop me a PM or an e-mail if you want to check them

Jeff-Groves · 11-30-21, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gap

@ Jeff

Are you still interested into testing your importer on my Clyde puffer model?
I am still working on textures (AO and diffuse map are WIP and specular and normal maps are missing), but 3D models and UV maps (both diffuse and AO) should be OK for import. Drop me a PM or an e-mail if you want to check them

Send me a link by PM! Would love to test them!

gap · 11-30-21, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff-Groves

Send me a link by PM! Would love to test them!

Excellent, thank you Jeff! I have all the parts in one Wings file. Can I send them in their original format or do you prefer me to convert them as obj files?

Jeff-Groves · 11-30-21, 04:03 PM

obj files please.
I've only coded to read and adjust obj files at this time.
Now I may change that to read Wings files also at some point.

gap · 11-30-21, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff-Groves

obj files please.

OK, in that case exporting all the parts one by one will take some time. Please wait until tomorrow

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff-Groves

I've only coded to read and adjust obj files at this time.
Now I may change that to read Wings files also at some point.

That indeed would be a nice for a lazy boy like me, but not a priority

Jeff-Groves · 11-30-21, 04:37 PM

That's fine. I'm not in a rush.
I'll explain ONE MORE TIME how this works.

GR2 stores 3D objects in a known way.
We are only interested in the
V
VN
VT
since TDW calculates the Tangents, Bi-tangents on import.

Here's where he went TOTALLY off on some unknown tangent!
All the V, VN, VT counts must match in how many there are.
75 V's? You have to have 75 VN and VT's. Simple to add junk for that.

Faces? Whole different story! And thus the sorting needed!

Only one set of Faces is stored in a GR2 file.
So what may be texture face 2 in a main obj file may be texture face 5 in the AO version!
We MUST do a swap on the main obj files textures (VT) placement!

Now. Say We add to the V, VN to match VT Sizes. Will that show in Game or be read?
NOPE! If the extras ARE NOT listed in the Face section? You will never see them and they will be ignored!

You can't see an object that has no faces! Nor will that information be read by the Granny system!

tonschk · 11-30-21, 10:52 PM

Thank you for your hard work Jeff-Groves

Jeff-Groves · 12-01-21, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gap

OK, in that case exporting all the parts one by one will take some time. Please wait until tomorrow

That indeed would be a nice for a lazy boy like me, but not a priority

I took a look at the source code for Wings3D to see if it would be possible to do a direct conversion from the .wings format.
What I found is that will very probably not happen.

Still looking at the source to see if a plug-in could be done for a direct export from Wings3D to do what Almagest does.
I'll say MAYBE.

Jeff-Groves · 12-06-21, 06:25 PM

To Vector or NOT To Vector. That was the question. For a while anyway.
Calling on the Dark arts and thoughts of Technomancy?
I Vectored. But only to get iterators. Then I pushed Vectors into Arrays.
After that I brought in the Strippers! They did their work and set everything up to switch things around by my Managers! The Bouncers did some work also.

gap · 12-28-21, 09:03 PM

Hey Jeff, I am dropping this message just to inform you that I didn't forget about my commitment with you.

During the last weeks I have been rather busy with family and work stuff. In the meanwhile I have been slowly working on some final touches, like bulk cargo and debris getting visible when a well aimed gun shell rips away the cargo hold cover.

There will be five types of cargo configurable via .cfg file: coal, stones, gravel, sand and grains. These should reflect the most common kinds of goods our sturdy puffers carried in reality.

Wait for my files before the next year

11-30-21, 03:47 PM	#36
gap Navy Seal Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: CJ8937 Posts: 8,215 Downloads: 793 Uploads: 10	@ Jeff Are you still interested into testing your importer on my Clyde puffer model? I am still working on textures (AO and diffuse map are WIP and specular and normal maps are missing), but 3D models and UV maps (both diffuse and AO) should be OK for import. Drop me a PM or an e-mail if you want to check them diffuse map: AO map: diffuse + AO map: __________________ _____________________ \|May the Force be with you!\| ...\/

11-30-21, 10:52 PM	#42
tonschk Admiral Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 2,200 Downloads: 172 Uploads: 0	Thank you for your hard work Jeff-Groves __________________ What we do in life echoes in Eternity

12-28-21, 09:03 PM	#45
gap Navy Seal Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: CJ8937 Posts: 8,215 Downloads: 793 Uploads: 10	Hey Jeff, I am dropping this message just to inform you that I didn't forget about my commitment with you. During the last weeks I have been rather busy with family and work stuff. In the meanwhile I have been slowly working on some final touches, like bulk cargo and debris getting visible when a well aimed gun shell rips away the cargo hold cover. There will be five types of cargo configurable via .cfg file: coal, stones, gravel, sand and grains. These should reflect the most common kinds of goods our sturdy puffers carried in reality. Wait for my files before the next year __________________ _____________________ \|May the Force be with you!\| ...\/

03-20-21, 07:47 PM	#31
Jeff-Groves Village Idiot Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 5,425 Downloads: 131 Uploads: 0	Don't worry about Vert count nor texture count. That is easily sorted! On face count? Those should be the same as far as count but can be adjusted. They may be different but the GR2 file accounts for that!

11-24-21, 03:29 PM	#33
Jeff-Groves Village Idiot Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 5,425 Downloads: 131 Uploads: 0	A few months down the road and several Alpha versions to sort problems and all is GOOD! Mostly real life obligations have kept me away from the final Coding parts. Final parts are to actually write the Faces and texture sorting. That I wrote in my head while driving all over the USA. Then debugged much of it in my head!

11-25-21, 01:04 PM	#35
Jeff-Groves Village Idiot Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 5,425 Downloads: 131 Uploads: 0	I did figure out a lot that allows me to 'kind of' brand any files. It does NOT have any effect on SH5 files using Almagest. And you'd need the Key files I also created to decode the hidden information! Call it an Easter Egg! I'm well known for those!

11-30-21, 04:03 PM	#39
Jeff-Groves Village Idiot Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 5,425 Downloads: 131 Uploads: 0	obj files please. I've only coded to read and adjust obj files at this time. Now I may change that to read Wings files also at some point.

11-30-21, 04:37 PM	#41
Jeff-Groves Village Idiot Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 5,425 Downloads: 131 Uploads: 0	That's fine. I'm not in a rush. I'll explain ONE MORE TIME how this works. GR2 stores 3D objects in a known way. We are only interested in the V VN VT since TDW calculates the Tangents, Bi-tangents on import. Here's where he went TOTALLY off on some unknown tangent! All the V, VN, VT counts must match in how many there are. 75 V's? You have to have 75 VN and VT's. Simple to add junk for that. Faces? Whole different story! And thus the sorting needed! Only one set of Faces is stored in a GR2 file. So what may be texture face 2 in a main obj file may be texture face 5 in the AO version! We MUST do a swap on the main obj files textures (VT) placement! Now. Say We add to the V, VN to match VT Sizes. Will that show in Game or be read? NOPE! If the extras ARE NOT listed in the Face section? You will never see them and they will be ignored! You can't see an object that has no faces! Nor will that information be read by the Granny system!

12-06-21, 06:25 PM	#44
Jeff-Groves Village Idiot Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 5,425 Downloads: 131 Uploads: 0	To Vector or NOT To Vector. That was the question. For a while anyway. Calling on the Dark arts and thoughts of Technomancy? I Vectored. But only to get iterators. Then I pushed Vectors into Arrays. After that I brought in the Strippers! They did their work and set everything up to switch things around by my Managers! The Bouncers did some work also.