Modelling and Vehicle Editing Help

[Vegeta]

I need to know how to create vehicles, and convert model files to be edited and re-exported as the proper format to work as a vehicle.  I have a very specific idea, for if anyone can help me all the way through the process.  I wanted to take a gunship vehicle, open the model in an editor, delete the old weapon muzzles,  add four matching muzzles ( one for each "bubble cannon" and one for each lower front cannon ),  and then two alternate matching muzzles ( one on each of the top engine/rocket launcher things).

[mrwonko]

Do you have any modelling experience? If not, I suggest you pick up Blender. Thanks to a couple of plugins I wrote you can import and export playermodels with it. (Vehicles are playermodels in the broader sense.)

 

Next, I'd suggest you spend a week or so getting comfortable with Blender. You'll want to learn the basic navigation, how to edit meshes, the basics of skeletal animation (Armatures) and about UV mapping.

 

Then you'd import the model - for which you've obviously gotten permission from the original author to modify - into Blender, do the modifications you want while making sure any new geometry is properly UV-Mapped, split at the UV seams (see the manual included with the plugins) and rigged to the Armature, and re-export it.

 

If you've done modelling before in something besides Blender, the hardest part will be importing and re-exporting the model. There's an official converter by Raven to turn XSI'S .xsi files into playermodels, and besides my plugin Milkshape 3D can import glm files, though the skeleton is lost in the process. (Since vehicles are often not animated, this might not be too bad.) There might be some other software with support as well, I've never had to investigate since I'm using Blender.

[Vegeta]

I can't really get permissions from anyone who made anything for Jedi Academy.  I email them, and xfire them, but they seam to have quit long ago....  There have only been a few people who I have been able to contact for permissions.  For everyone else, I have to base what I do with their models/maps/etc based on the readmes that come with them.

[mrwonko]

Yeah, it can be hard to contact the people after all this time. At least you tried. So just give proper credit, I guess.

[Vegeta]

Okay, well for now, can someone walk me through the process?  I don't know if I am editing the .glm or the .gla, or what the difference is between them.  Which one do I import?   How do I add and change weapon muzzles?  And finally, how do I export it all to work in game?

I think that a simple walkthrough would help me to learn the basics of modelling, and how to perform other tasks that I may still need to accomplish.

P.S.  The gunship model (and most of the other vehicle models that I am using) are not animated, I simply want to be able to add and change weapon muzzles.

[mrwonko]

If you'd taken a look at the manual of the plugin I've linked you'd know the difference between gla and glm.

 

Oh well, I'll write a tutorial on creating a vehicle from scratch with Blender since if I'm going to write a detailed walkthrough I want as many people as possible to benefit and I think creating new vehicles is of more interest to most people. Also, the process is mostly the same when changing something, except for the part where you create the model itself.

 

I expect this will take a while, but I should get it done today.

[Vegeta]

Thanks for making a tutorial on vehicle creation.  The only other JA vehicle tutorial was pretty hard to understand, and didn't give enough information (also a lot of the software links don't work anymore   )  So yeah, I think that you are doing all modders a huge favor by writing a (more understandable...) vehicle creation tutorial.

[mrwonko]

Here we go... (Once it's been approved.) Took longer than expected but did help me find another bug in my add-on. So now the add-on's back in moderation as well. I had planned to get other stuff done today, but this is at least a better use of my time than surfing and gaming.

[Vegeta]

I can't seam to get that link that you sent me to work...  Maybe you can send me an updated one?  Oh well, for now I will just look into your uploaded files to see if you have it up there.

[mrwonko]

I can't seam to get that link that you sent me to work...  Maybe you can send me an updated one?  Oh well, for now I will just look into your uploaded files to see if you have it up there.

It's nice to be able to read, eh? To quote myself:

(Once it's been approved.)

The tutorial didn't get approved until about 4h ago.

 

The parts about animation don't really concern you since you likely won't need to edit the gla, but pretty much everything else is relevant. You'd start with the imported original glm file, but since you're adding parts you still need to heed the instructions about UV mapping and smoothing etc.

[Vegeta]

OH.... I feel stupid now... I read right past that part