just a guess but i think the VMesh references a material without a name.try using flmodelcloner to rename all the material references,and UTF editor to rename the actual .mat entries. prior to doing that you might want to import it to ms3d and see if any groups have "Bad Material" as a texture(that would be the one you want)

Ok, first, thanks for the reply!

Second. I opened the mat file in UTF editor, and everything looked great. So i did what you suggested and imported the cmp back into Milkshape...that was where i noticed a problem. There was a rogue texture there that i didn't put in, and Freelancer was obviously having a problem with. Trouble is, how do i get rid of it, if it doesn't show up in UTF Editor? I mean, the ONLY things in UTF on the .mat file, are the textures i put there. Guess i need to check the .cmp now.

Anyway, thanks MUCH for the insight.

Baene

alright, i have no idea WHY, but when i export the .cmp it ADDS some unknown texture that is NOT on any part of the ship lol. WTF? How do i remove it? When i try to view the vmesh stuff in UTF, it crashes. SO, how do i get rid of it? I've tried re-exporting both the .cmp and .mat, but it KEEPS putting some phantom texture there. PLEASE tell me you know how i can get rid of it! PLEASE!

THANKS!

Baene

that definitely sounds like a software problem - do you have the newest copies of ms3d and the 0.3 exporter? any recent windows updates/new software/etc might cause funny things to happen. if you'd like, you can send the cmp/mat/and ms3d to my email and i will take a crack at fixing it, but without the actual files to diddle with i'm just shooting in the dark here.

Edited by - Cold_Void on 3/24/2006 6:08:08 AM

Baene,

Might sound like a silly question.. but do you have untextured panels included in the ms3d files? While they may not appear in game (being untextured) freelancer knows they are there and trys to allocate a texture to them.. hence the odd error message.. with a freighter model I made some time ago, I forgot to remove from the ms3d file the pilot's seat which I had used to give me a scale size.. after I exported it to .cmp I got a very similar message to what you have here..

Harrier

Well, i like to mount my thrusters inside the model (i think it looks cooler hehe) and i use an un-textured box for positioning of the thruster mount, BUT, i do that with EVERY ship! I've never had this happen before. It's seriously driving me nuts

Progress on my mod has come to a standstill, but i guess maybe with all you smart people helping me, it will be resolved

Thanks for the replies, guys!

Baene

Baene,

What can it hurt.. delete the faces.. use hardcmp to orientate the hardpoints. (or utf .... it's more precise).. see if the problem goes away.. I'll bet pounds to peanuts that it does..(or dollars to donuts as the case may be)

Want proof..? Import the model and the .mat file using the cmp importer.. you should see textures failed to be imported..

Let me say this.. untextured ploygons/faces throw this error.. and the reason you maybe haven't seen it before is because they haven't been high enough in the groups order to appear..

3 of my older models consistently threw this error at odd times (they have to be present in-game at the time)... Once I discovered what caused it the solution was simple..., fix and re-export .. oh... and btw I only discovered it by using the .cmp importer '

Maybe it's not related.. you may have a diffent error entirely.. but what can it hurt..?

Harrier

Hey Harrier, thanks for the advice, which i TOOK, just FYI hehe I simply added a texture already in the mat file to the un-textured box i had to see if it helped. I'm not sure if it got rid of the actual error, but it didn't fix the crash. I sent the cmp and mat to Silent Jay, over at Evolved.com to see if he could make it work, and it crashed his FL as well. He knows a pretty good bit about this stuff, and he says he can't see any reason WHY it would crash, so i dunno. My PC is having troubles lately, so i assume it's probably that. Gonna try it on something else see if it helps.

Thanks for the posts guys, truly. I appreciate the effort!

Baene

Baene,

I assume.. You are, for the first trial.. replacing a known working similar ship with your model for testing.. if so, and it crashes FL then the problem is most likely the .cmp and or .mat..

Couple of questions:

Are your groups listed in largest (polygon size per group) to smallest .. with hardpoints last..? and use unique group names?

Check your group syntax.. its so so easy to place a space at the beginning (or elsewhere) of a name and look at it 290 times before you see it.. this is bad if it's the primary group..

Did you use the .mat file exporter to export your materials? if so, then try UTF it's not so hard and much more reliable.. whether I use the .mat file exporter or not I ALWAYS take a look at the .mat in utf.. because if you are using .tga the .mat file exporter can get very confused.. it gets very confused with textures with 'glass' in the name and exports these like it or not without an entry in the texture module.. this MUST be corrected if you texture glass or want to make it glow...

Are your textures .tga or .dds? use dds and avoid .tga.. both for size and convenience.. you can take .dds files to 2048 x 2048 DTX1 (no mipmaps) without problems and they dont have to be inverted.. and the In-game resolution is much improved..

Did you use a model cleaner or a vertex optimization program on the model to get rid of duplicate vertexs BEFORE you scaled and exported it? If not I suggest Lithium Unwrap or similar.. the model cleaner in milkshape does not do a good job of removing duplicated vertexes

If all else fails send the model to me.. you know the email.. and I'll take a look at it..

Harrier

P.S. Just as an aside.. I should do a step by step procedure in tutorial form on "from modelling to game"... If there is interest in this then speak up.. it might save a lot of questions in the forums..

Edited by - harrier on 3/25/2006 10:31:56 PM

Incoming model, Harrier I've tried all i know. Everything is as it should be. I've put over 200 models into game, and have had TWO whole problems (you remember the nomad ship i sent you? hehe, and this one). I use .dds textures. My groups are sort of in order from largest to smallest, with harpoints being last, and the first group has a unique name with no spaces, or funky characters. So yeah, kinda stuck here.

Anyway, thanks once again for the help bro!

Tony "Baene" Komski