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the amazing JUNK

The 'Model could not be read' issue is one of the TOOL's greatest mysteries, unfortunately.
Sometimes I have exported models in the same way as usual, but they ended up unreadable for no reason. :facepalm

Can I ask what material you're using for the model? I've found that the Blinn material works best, generally being much less likely to go wrong in TOOL.
 
I think it has Lambert assigned. But seriously, because of material?
laugh.gif
Will try to export with blinn assigned and report in couple of minutes
 
Well I'm not 100% sure it IS the material that's causing better behaviour, but that's what it seems like, anyway. :shrug
I've noticed a lot of models with Lambert, Part or File are usually the ones that tend to get corrupted in TOOL, or have reverse lighting.
It could be that those models were exported badly in the first place, though, and those with Blinn were done correctly (most of Pgargon's ships are good examples).
 
changing to blinn had no effect. I'm stuck. Can't fix those damned sails turning to wrong direction. Is there a way to do this in Maya?

I tried to reexport the thing countless times already.
 
Iron Roger Flint said:
changing to blinn had no effect. I'm stuck.
Click to expand...
Sometimes that happens, and I don't know what to do about it either. :modding

So are you trying to reflect the locator in the x-axis, like changing the XX coordinate to -1?
I think that's possible in Maya, if you look at the "Transform Attributes", and set the x-value of 'Scale' to -1.
 
This is getting annoying. I tried scaling by '-1' and even when the X axis inverted (I checked this), after exporting it was still the same as before. The plugin doesn't care which side the X is facing. Damn. Only this issue and walk file are left on the list, before the Empress ends up ready to be retextured.
 
Hmm, that really complicates things, then. I can't think of any other way around editing that locator.
I don't understand why the exporter doesn't consider the transformation; it would make a difference for normal geometry, so why not locators? :modding
 
Excellent! She looks more impressive with every screenshot. :woot

I'd say leave the upper yards as they are for now; might look weird if you take them away and use textured versions, in my opinion.
 
Somehow I managed to fix the sails turning to wrong direction problem (with TOOL), but the yards seem to have RLB now
mybad.gif

I reversed the polygon normals on the model. So is this right? I mean the RLB effect
 
Reversed normals sounds correct to me. But someone who actually knows what he is talking about should confirm that.

Please go here for more information on reversed normals. http://forum.piratesahoy.net/index.php/topic/16315-neptunus-privateer/page__view__findpost__p__413995
 
I almost got nervous when I saw THESE instructions on how to fix the spanker RLB, but then I found that MAYA is simply THE BEST WAY to fix this. When exporting the spanker model to gm, simply set 'opposite' in attribute editor->render stats. Then in TOOL invert the rey locator of the mast model by setting the XX value to '-1'. Save the gm and you're DONE! No need for complicated attach-invert-hex edit stuff as in that post I linked.
slap.gif


edit: also I seem to have figured out what was causing the 'Model could not be read' error in TOOL. It seems that it doesn't like when you have couple of separate verts or edges with the same coords. While the maya plugin allows to export with these, the TOOL simply spits out that error message.
 
LOL! Those instructions are for people like me who can not even get Maya to run at all. A few of the ships in POTC are set up that way now.
 
Well, the ship is now seaworthy, however I haven't done a proper init entry for her. As I haven't played POTC for 2 years (no, I'm not joking
no.gif
) I have no idea how to set her for realistic and arcade modes. Maybe someone could make it?

My thoughts on it:
> as Empress only has 10 guns total, it should be able to carry larger caliber, maybe 18lbs? There are no chasers or aft guns on her, so making her more manoeuvrable might compensate that.
> it's a junk, meaning less crew needed to control the sails, automatically more crew available for other stuff.
> watertight bulkheads meaning it's harder to sink her - more hp points?
> for sailing characteristics - wikipedia

Gonna upload the Empress to ftp later today for someone to tweak the textures, because i have no talent with images
laugh.gif
 
Iron Roger Flint said:
I almost got nervous when I saw THESE instructions on how to fix the spanker RLB, but then I found that MAYA is simply THE BEST WAY to fix this. When exporting the spanker model to gm, simply set 'opposite' in attribute editor->render stats. Then in TOOL invert the rey locator of the mast model by setting the XX value to '-1'. Save the gm and you're DONE! No need for complicated attach-invert-hex edit stuff as in that post I linked.
slap.gif
Click to expand...
You're absolutely right, Maya IS the best solution. However, as Hylie said, my instructions are for those who either can't or don't want to use Maya.
I should probably update the opening post to specifically mention the opposite/reverse normals trick in Maya, though.
I thought that reversing the normals worked better than the 'Opposite' method though, because when I tested the latter, the spanker wasn't inside-out, but DID still have the RLB. :?

Iron Roger Flint said:
edit: also I seem to have figured out what was causing the 'Model could not be read' error in TOOL. It seems that it doesn't like when you have couple of separate verts or edges with the same coords. While the maya plugin allows to export with these, the TOOL simply spits out that error message.
Click to expand...
Interesting! So the solution is to merge all vertices/edges to ensure there are no overlaps, right? That sounds simpler than I expected!

Iron Roger Flint said:
Well, the ship is now seaworthy, however I haven't done a proper init entry for her. As I haven't played POTC for 2 years (no, I'm not joking
no.gif
) I have no idea how to set her for realistic and arcade modes. Maybe someone could make it?

My thoughts on it:
> as Empress only has 10 guns total, it should be able to carry larger caliber, maybe 18lbs? There are no chasers or aft guns on her, so making her more manoeuvrable might compensate that.
> it's a junk, meaning less crew needed to control the sails, automatically more crew available for other stuff.
> watertight bulkheads meaning it's harder to sink her - more hp points?
> for sailing characteristics - wikipedia

Gonna upload the Empress to ftp later today for someone to tweak the textures, because i have no talent with images
laugh.gif
Click to expand...
I could probably handle a ships_init entry for you. I agree with your thoughts on the stats so far.
Most of it will be straightforward; it's balancing out the sailing characteristics that will involve a lot of trial-and-error, seeing as this is our first ever junk-style vessel.

As for the textures, you might want to send a PM to Legendary_Spider.
He did an excellent job on the new Black Pearl and Queen Anne's Revenge textures recently, so he's your man if you want the same standard. ;)
 
Armada said:
You're absolutely right, Maya IS the best solution. However, as Hylie said, my instructions are for those who either can't or don't want to use Maya.
I should probably update the opening post to specifically mention the opposite/reverse normals trick in Maya, though.
I thought that reversing the normals worked better than the 'Opposite' method though, because when I tested the latter, the spanker wasn't inside-out, but DID still have the RLB. :?
Click to expand...

Not really. When exporting, you want to invert only the polygons, but leave normals unaffected as those are controlling the lightning information. TOOL doesn't seem to affect polygon normals, only surfaces. When I reversed the normals, it resulted in opposite facing polygons, but I also had the RLB in game. At least that's what I experienced
yes.gif


Armada said:
Iron Roger Flint said:
edit: also I seem to have figured out what was causing the 'Model could not be read' error in TOOL. It seems that it doesn't like when you have couple of separate verts or edges with the same coords. While the maya plugin allows to export with these, the TOOL simply spits out that error message.
Click to expand...
Interesting! So the solution is to merge all vertices/edges to ensure there are no overlaps, right? That sounds simpler than I expected!
Click to expand...

That's exactly what cured my masts not opening in TOOL problem
yes.gif
 
Iron Roger Flint said:
Not really. When exporting, you want to invert only the polygons, but leave normals unaffected as those are controlling the lightning information. TOOL doesn't seem to affect polygon normals, only surfaces. When I reversed the normals, which resulted in opposite facing polygons, I had the RLB in game. At least that's what I experienced
yes.gif
Click to expand...
So TOOL is the mystery, as always. I'll do some tests of my own to check whether I was just seeing things before. :wacko:
 
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