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WIP Steam Gunboat

Hi Armada, thanks for getting back! :onya

Of course I'd be willing to post a step by step up of what I have/did. I need to reaquiant myself (again) as I havn't been able to work on this since the missing ships crash I had, but I believe all I did was take the Tartane's path file and add the Tartane's waterline camera locator into the model using TOOL; then put both this and the modified model into the ship's directory. It does work, but intermittently (ie sometimes it'll crash and sometimes it won't...) and never with movement; just kind of anchors itself above the bunkerage and lets me pan/tilt, but not move. I'll get some screenshots up later today of how the model locators look and upload the path file. In the meantime I'll keep having a stab with it as I'm sure you didn't miss my constant whining these past months ;)
 
Ah, did you definitely add one locator for the path model (geometry group) and one for the camera position on deck? They are both required, as one will not work without the other.
Make sure the camera locator is positioned above a closed section of the path mesh (i.e. not over a hole in the mesh), otherwise it might get stuck in-game.
 
You could be onto something there as placing the camera locator halfway over the bunkerage (ie, absolute center of the model) sounds like something I'd have done in Maya, hence being stuck there. Does it not matter where it the locator is on the axis?

Would that explain the crash too, do you think? Will try and get TOOL open tomorrow to double check.
 
The camera locator can be placed anywhere, but it must be above the path model (as explained above) and at the height you want the character to 'stand' above the deck.
 
Great I'll have a go. Really sorry I've been flaky getting you those shots but I've been having problems getting everything together again...I'm going to have a concerted effort tomorrow and get back to you.
 
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Finally up and running again, though I rather stupidly deleted my init_ships entry so need to add that back, no biggie though as I still have yours and Pieter's tips on here :onya

This is how the model's GM looks locator wise without me touching it. I reverted it back to before I started fiddling with the mast to simplify things. I'm so utterly useless though when it comes to reading these numbers that I may just go back and redo them all in Maya.

Untitled.jpg
 
Thanks, I'll give that a try!

I recently started a new free play campaign with the gunboat as my starting ship (I like a challenge!). I notice she doesn't have a standard; is this intentional or a restriction? As I was hoping to have a square flag for this model.
 
Yeah I read that in the guide and hopefully can do it without hiccup when the time comes, but I just thought perhaps there was a reason the gunboat doesn't have one. If not, great!
 
Robert Nutter said:
Yeah I read that in the guide and hopefully can do it without hiccup when the time comes, but I just thought perhaps there was a reason the gunboat doesn't have one. If not, great!
Click to expand...
If you have no flag/penn locators, the gunboat won't have a flag.
If you don't have it defined in ships_init.c, then you may get any random flag from another ship. Or not. Better to avoid this....
 
So just tried loading Dundas again for the first time since reinstalling, and Console doesn't seem to be doing anything. *deep breath* Everything's in place, including the same init_ships entry from before.

Here's my console code:

Code: 
void ExecuteConsole()
{
    ref pchar = GetMainCharacter();
    ref ch;
    int i;
    int limit;
//     GiveShip2Character(pchar,"Dundas","Dundas",-1,ENGLAND,true,true);

Sorry Pieter I know you spend half your time telling people how to use the console, but the command's just being completly ignored in this case and always worked before o_O

EDIT: None of the commands work. :/ Must be something I'm doing wrong...
 
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Robert Nutter said:
Sorry Pieter I know you spend half your time telling people how to use the console, but the command's just being completly ignored in this case and always worked before o_O
Click to expand...
// in PotC code means "ignore everything that follows".
It is used to mark comments, but can also be useful to disable code you don't want to execute.
So to enable the line, remove that // in front. :doff

Similarly, /* and */ means "ignore everything between these two".
 
Thanks Pieter :)

Dundas is working when i load a new game, but I'm getting 'Stormy start quest NOT found in any function'. I only get it when executing the console for Dundas. Weird, huh? :eek: Ah well at least it's working!

So here she is in GM Viewer; wish I'd known about this before, as it simplifies it infinitely :D

Untitled.jpg

I'm guessing 'path' is halfway in the hull because the Dundas is deeper than the Tartane? I also notice that 'camera' is exactly where Armada said it would be. I think I understand how to fix this now; just move the path's Z co-ordinate up and the camera's Y across. I really should'nt find this stuff so complicated, should I xD
 
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Just an update: I'm changing the numbers in TOOL. Since I no longer have the Maya Binary (very annoyingly) and C4D uses a different origin point, I have no point of reference for any numbers. Trial and error seems to be working though, and it seems to be crashing less often too which i guess is a hopeful start :) I'll post a bundle with everything Dundas in tonight if you want, @Pieter Boelen ?

As for how it's actually working, still the occasional crash/black screen. It also won't move, even though I've moved both locators to how Armada says they're meant to be.


As hopefully I can have the path sorted by then and you said you wouldn't mind having it to have a fiddle with the code once I got the deck cam temporarily working. I'm making this my mission now as Demologos is already half modelled and it'd be a shame to not have either in the game...
 
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Robert Nutter said:
Dundas is working when i load a new game, but I'm getting 'Stormy start quest NOT found in any function'. I only get it when executing the console for Dundas. Weird, huh? :eek:
Click to expand...
VERY weird. Giving a ship should be in no way quest related. o_O

Robert Nutter said:
I'll post a bundle with everything Dundas in tonight if you want, @Pieter Boelen ?
Click to expand...
I did intend to see if I can get her steam engine fully operational.
But then I intend to do a lot of things and I can't get them all done as fast as I'd want.

Anyway, if she can be made to work normally in the game, that'd be the main battle won.
The rest will happen too. Soon. Ish....
 
All I know is it only does it when I execute console, mostly with Dundas. Could just be a timing thing I guess :shrug

So I think I've got the locators setup in the right places now; the path on the same plane as the deck and the camera 5 or so feet or so above it near the port bow. However, it's still not moving so I guess I need to fiddle some more...frustrating! :rumgone If you don't mind a version without the mast, i can send you it now or wait until that's sorted too...my next step is to try and get that working in TOOL. Question: is it possible to do the mast locator i tool using 2D view? As that's how I'm doing the others.
 
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Does she crash when you switch to deck? If not, then that is good enough for me to try and play with.

But I don't have the time yet to do it. Tonight I need to do more "promotion article writing".
After that, I'll be deliberately away from my computer until after the weekend.
 
Not anymore, so I can send that to you if you'd like?

Here she is as it stands:

Dropbox - DUNDAS

Do I need to use Maya to split the mast from the model or is it possible to tell the locators to do the same in TOOL? As I have the mast locator set up but obviously there's nothing for it to 'locate'! Tool's help doesn't seem to go into it.
 
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