Ro9ue,

Is your custom .cmp using native freelancer textures? Freelancer weapons use a different structure to custom weapons and reference the .mat file externally, all the custom weapons I have made so far I have imported the textures into the .cmp file, and as far as I know this is the universal method and gives the best chance of success.

Does your .cmp and your textures have unique names like: Ro9ue_co_dropper01?..., and have you named the .ms3d groups with unique names, and imported the meshrefs as per Redeye's instructions?

Your material names must be unique as must the group names, and the textures should be imported into the .cmp files as .dds. You can even follow the freelancer method of renaming .dds as .tga .. lol why they were done this way I dont know..

Making new weapons is probably the hardest modelling job in freelancer as one tiny anomaly can cause the weapon to not work/display correctly..

Harrier

Trust me, it's hard to do at first. After awhile, it's merely annoying Keep at it.

Ah, hey harrier & argh, sorry I didn't reply here =) Got busy yesterday and didn't get to check all my posts.

Yes, I have the dropper broken into 2 parts, Ro9ue_cm_base and Ro9ue_cm_main. The Mount and Connect are on the base, of course, and the Fire01 is on the main. Connect is oriented 180 degrees (I went ahead and made the launcher actually point forward, with Fire01 facing front, then just rotate the whole thing like the regular CM droppper.

I am thinking that it was my texture, as it was my usual weapon_1.dds that I use for various models (like imported cm, mine, guns, shields, etc. that I use in Milkshape when scaling my ships and their hardpoints). I just renamed the texture to something else in Milk, though I am still using the weapon_1.dds file itself (no name change there). So I think what I'm going to do here is create a copy of the file, which I believe is an extracted one from reg FL, name that file as you recommended (ro9ue_cm_dropper or somthing), then use that in Milk. Name it something unique in Milk, then try exporting it again.

Yeah, it is not the mesh stuff that's the problem anymore - it took me a while to work that out, but actually by referencing the structure of one of your weap .cmp's, harrier, I was able to determine that the structure and naming I had been trying to implement was glaringly wrong in a few places. I missed a few nodes that were supposed to be renamed, and renamed a couple that were not supposed to change - hence, my trouble before But yes, thanks for that help, even if you didn't know you provided it ^_^

I've gathered that one of the most difficult things to tackle and then actually make work (up there with those dang thn files .. *shudder* never got those workin either) is .cmp files with multiple components, weapons and then ships (ships being presumably more complicated and difficult, as there are more custom weapon models than there are custom ships with multiple components). However, this is actually the initial desire that got me into modding in the first place, so I am quite excited that I've been able to come this close to getting something I've been after for a year to work

Well, I'm going to try it here and see what I get. Thanks, guys, for your help. I'll give a litle update soon as to any progress.

- Ro9ue
_________________________________
"Do or do not. There is no try."
- Jedi Master Yoda

Actually, I suspect that ships with break-off parts are easier, but much more lengthy. I just don't really care about them- an animated explosion with guns and stuff flying away is more than good enough for me, and doesn't introduce all sorts of mini-hazards, like having to make SURs for each sub-part...

Ah, really? I have not tried making a multi-part ship yet ... don't know that I will, either ;p Sure, it's a little extra realism, but my goodness, the work and time that goes into it is not really, IMO, proportionate to what you get out of it ...

Oui oui, boomsticks are more entertainment when you finally get 'em working...
Speaking of which, I edited my model, creating a new dds texture called ro9ue_cm_dropper.dds, which I applied to both the base and the main/barrel. I exported the cmp as 2 parts, like I did before, used MeshConv to make the new mesh data, and made a new cmp from the BLANK_GUN.cmp template. I did everything the way I did before, using my previous .cmp as reference, imported teh new .dds texture and renamed the names. Then I saved it.
I just tried it in-game, but I seem to have somehow gone backwards - I do not even have a dropper of any sort now - my CMs pop out of empty space next to my ship's seemingly-unmounted CM mount... But, like before, it looks okay in HardCMP, just not in the game. What the heck??

Hey, Argh, the correct way to save the .dds for weaps/equip is DXT1 ARGB (1 Alpha) 2d texture, with no MIP maps, right? Well, that's actually kinda silly of me to ask - I have all my other stuff and ships working just fine, and the I have this hosed one that's being weird on me ...

Hmm, well I guess I will go back and remake the thing. For the 10th bloody time. Maybe I just missed something somewhere and I didn;t catch it .
I suppose if there is another likely cause for this, I'm quite open to suggestions at this point, heh.

- Ro9ue
_________________________________
"Do or do not. There is no try."
- Jedi Master Yoda

Actually FL supports several types of dds. It's just that Argh (and I agree with him) uses and suggests others use, DXT1 with no mipmaps as FL handles LOD in game and you get the smallest file sizes and few compression artifacts.

EDIT: Whoops, double post there. Internet is being finicky, didn't know my last post went through.

Ah, ok. Yes, I appreciate the small size of the files, too, as they've reduced the size of my mod by 30% already I had some large textures that were not really easily broken down, so I had to use a 3.00 MD mat with .tga textues .. whew, inefficiency at its finest. Chopped that sucker down to 513 KB with .dds

Well, I don't know what the problem is with this model. I had at least something sort of working two days ago, though yesterday I took a step backward. I honestly haven't the faintest clue what the heck is wrong with this thing. I've made new models with a few different group names, different groupings of faces, and different textures, each time following redeye's instuctions to the letter ... and taken a step backward as a result. I do not want to give up now - so close - though I can't just pour hours and hours into this thing if I negate my progress by doing so. Heh, pretty soon I might end up with no .cmp at all - it'll just regress and go poof back into the oblivion from wence it came ...

Is there ... perhaps any other cause for an invisible weapon? My dds texture is called "ro9ue_cm1_dropper.dds" so it is original. Today, it seems that I can randomly see the dropper - I can buy one and see the half-jumble of it up there on the ship, but then I can leave the room and come back from the bar or comm shop, and it won't be visible. Same in space - sometimes there, most often not.
Thank you for any ideas whatsoever.

- Ro9ue

Edited by - Ro9ue on 6/16/2005 9:01:49 PM

Ro9ue,

I know this may sound silly..but have you looked at lods?, maybe try running the model though Antons FLModel tool, I presume you have a .sur file.. Hmm.... take a look at FLSpew too.. you may get an insight

However, and I'm not being facetious there is a use for an invisible .cmp in game.. as it is not limited to cm's, now, from a modellers point of view an uncluttered working surface is more desirable than 'hardware' hanging off the ship, allowing you to provide a 'custom' platform or launcher on the model.. assign the invisible .cmp (which natually doesnt throw errors..)

If all else fails.. I'll take a look at it and see if i can pinpoint the problem.. but dont expect instant results.. a combination of life commitments and little time has put me behind on Epsilon..Naturally the greatest gain from your point of view is to do it yourself, solvei t.. then say.. (to self) how the f could I have missed that.. so simple).. lol.

Harrier

Well, I have checked the model several times, and I don't believe it is the meshes or the textures. I also ran FlAddRadius on it to see if that'd fix it (it didn't). I also used FLTool to make a fitted .SUR for it, though it still doesn't help in the visibilty department. As for LODs, I don't think I have ever looked for the LOD line in the misc_equip, though I just did and there aren't any lines that I can see for the CM droppers (there are for the loot crates, but not for the droppers themselves). I guess I will try to find Spew - never used it before.

Ha, and I suppose with some of the custom ships I have on the drawing board and the weapons I have planned out, invisible .CMPs could indeed be useful. But there are 2 things that counteract that:
1) it isn't invisible all the time (i just loaded 2 characters on my testing server. I can see the jumble on one char, but not on the other. )
2) FL already has the nomad gun .cmp that I could use (or adapt) should need for an invisible CMP arise (the one, I think, that you use for some weaps on custom ships with guns built into the hull, like the Hekkan).

And I will do my best here to see if I can figure this bugger out - if there is one thing I hate - just abhor - it's letting some automated box (kickarse, high-powered, uber-gaming machine, POS, or othewise - doesn't matter) get the better of me. Ha, says I, looking at the clock (5:25 am) for the 4th ni- er, morning in the row - I usually don't know when to quit. But I would be more than happy and extremely grateful for someone with a more experienced eye to take a look should ya be able to. Nah, don't worry about the time crunch - I completely understand. I'm really in a pinch myself for this mod I am attempting to get going - going to be back in school before I know it, then off to college, where .. uh, well, where I genuinely hope I won't get too distracted with anything that can and should wait for the education (*cough - modding*). Anyways, I'm rambling - the mental exhaustion factor, i think.
But no, I will send a copy of the model to you soon, maybe after a quick nap and one more run through it ... perhaps 16 is the charm Thanks a lot for offering, too. I'm mailing a little zip of in-game shots so you can see ahead of time what I mean.
I'll be back with an update within a few hours. Until then, Ro9ue out.


Edited by - Ro9ue on 6/17/2005 3:27:17 AM

Bah, rotten Luciferian CM dropper from the abode below! This exportation, I renamed all parts/textures to something new. I checked everything again, double-checking everywhere that things where named correctly, texture set up/stored the way it's supposed to be. Tried using FL Add Radius. Spent a total of 30 mins looking over the .cmp and crosschecking it with mulitple custom .cmps (it matches except for the names of the meshes and texture). I read the ReadMe for MeshConv over again for the 3rd time, following it to. the. letter.
And I get a lovely jumble of polys when docked, and nothing at all when in space. w00t.

I would keep trying to look at this thing, but there are only so many parts of the file to look at. I have looked at each one, one at a time, refencing operational .CMPs in UTF as I go - all my nodes are named correctly, all converted meshes imported - I don't know what the bloody h3ll I can do. I'm not whining here - it just aggravates me beyond expression when I try something for as long as I have, doing exactly as multiple sources say, and nothing happens as it should.

Harrier, should you have a few free minutes to take a look at this, I'm mailing the relevant files to you in a .zip. If you find something, I'd be most interested in knowing wtf is wrong with this model. For the moment, I think I'm sticking with making .3db files - they actually work.
Thanks for following along with me this far - I really appreciate it.

Ro9ue