Animation question about 3DEX 1.5.5 XSI format verses X2XSI XSI format.

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

Do I need to copy more then this section from the bz2me file to the x2xsi version?

            SI_Texture2D  {
               "C:\gameSpaceLight\Textures\desertcamo.bmp";
               3;
               256;256;
               0;255;0;255;
               0;
               1;1;
               0;0;
               1;1;
               0;0;
               0.944739,0.327825,0,0,
               -0.327825,0.944739,0,0,
               0,0,1,0,
               0,1,0,6.30941e+36;;
               3;
               1;
               0.75;
               1;
               0;
               0;
               0;
               0;
            }
         }
      }

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

Also, if I change the font size in notepad/winmerge from 12 to 8 would that mess up the xsi files? I can see more of the files on one page by reducing the font size.

[Nielk1]

no, the size data is not stored into the file, but rather into the viewer.

[mrtwosheds]

Do I need to copy more then this section from the bz2me file to the x2xsi version?

Um, I don't know.
I always define my textures in my .3ds before converting to .x (3dex) and then to .xsi (x2xsi)
The texture part makes it though ok but MeshVertexColors is missing because it seems .3ds does not use it.

I just copy the SI_MeshTextureCoords  data, paste it underneath and modify it to become SI_MeshVertexColors.

               SI_MeshTextureCoords {
                  8;
                  0.303399;0.043848;,
                  0.303399;0.406524;,
                  0.517014;0.007463;,
                  0.517014;0.406524;,
                  0.303399;0.043848;,
                  0.303399;0.406524;,
                  0.517014;0.007463;,
                  0.517014;0.406524;;

                  4;
                  0;3;0,1,2;,
                  1;3;1,3,2;,
                  2;3;4,5,6;,
                  3;3;5,7,6;;
               }

               SI_MeshVertexColors {
                  8;
                  0;0;1;1;,
                  0;0;1;1;,
                  0;0;1;1;,
                  0;0;1;1;,
                  0;0;1;1;,
                  0;0;1;1;,
                  0;0;1;1;,
                  0;0;1;1;;

                  4;
                  0;3;0,1,2;,
                  1;3;1,3,2;,
                  2;3;4,5,6;,
                  3;3;5,7,6;;

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

Cool tanks N1, the smaller font size is better to see more of each file in the viewer. Also, I texture in GSL prior to saving/exporting as x. Bz2me seems to correctly write out the texture section, but x2xsi writes it out differently, and as a result doesn't display it properly. Both versions of the xsi produced need to be merged somehow like in winmerge or notepad; that's how I got the threed version to animate after adding the prefix SI_ entry to the x2xsi version in the animationset section. X2xsi doesn't write out this info in the conversion, but it can be added, copied and pasted to the end of the threed file to get things moving.

I believe that the xsi files that both threed and x2xsi by themselves are why no animations are possible; they simply don't comply to what the bzii engine needs to see when one looks at a properly written xsi file from the data pack files.

What I'm doing currently is trying to find a workaround where elements of both files can be selectively swapped to (hopefully) come up with a working bzii xsi animated file. If I can figure it out then I can post a how to do tutorial so that any other modelers can start making animated stuff for the game.

PS: I tried using the isdf power gen. odf, but it didn't work as I think my animated cube didn't conform to the informatin required by the game engine, i.e., my model file contained only one object verses the multiple objects that make up the generator parts. One of the error messages in the resulting av was like unknown icontrol, etc. I've received this kind of error before with other models, but on a brighter note a msh file was produced which in the mesh viewer showed my cube object.

I'm going to try and locate a more appropriate odf to use and make repeat attempts to see what happens in the way of animation...BNG     

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

I have some encouraging news about the project I'm working on for making animated xsi files for the game. I got the cube loaded into the map editor using a modified ODF derived from mcwing01.odf in the data pack; it's a bird looking critter, and it loaded just fine and started circling around on map. I uploaded a zip file to filefront if anybody would like to help me test things out with the hybrid xsi file created from threed, x2xsi, and winmerge. Here's the web link to the file> http://files.filefront.com/mcwingbngzip/;10320623;/fileinfo.html

PS: Could someone please check out the zip file in the map editor and give me some feedback and assistance in figuring out what I should try next as I don't really understand too much about animimation related stuff...BNG

Here's a pic from the game showing the cubes flying around the map. These 2 are team 1 and 2 units. I made a team 0 unit to but it just flew around in a circle, but the other 2 took off on their own paths; don't know why though.

[mrtwosheds]

X2xsi doesn't write out this info in the conversion, but it can be copied and pasted to the end of the threed file to get things moving.

I don't see this problem when converting .3ds to .x (with 3dex) and then .x to xsi (with x2xsi) Maybe it comes from the version of .x gsl makes.

[OvermindDL1]

The .x format has many variations, it is not a well-set nor well-made format, so yes, different apps are able to export it in different, incompatible formats.
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[BNG Da BZ Fool]

Not only is directx flakey, but so is gsl as well. I did figure out though why the meshvertexcolor entry was added to the x file by the animation settings (had em  all selected) in the keyframe editor utility; I un-xed all except move, rotate, and kinematics.

I may monkey around with the vertex option eventually as doesn't bzii use this feature for the scion morph animation thingy. I don't really know what the hell I'm doing, but having quite a lot of fun playing around with the animation controls in gsl. I know that I'm on something good, but have a long while bfore much of it makes any sense....

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

I started experimenting with mcwing00.odf and it seems well suited for using to try out animations as it only has 2 cubes and a main object, and only 1 anim entry. I replaced the cube xsi with another model that resembles a scorpion looking thing, and it looks a lot better visually.

If i'm not mistaken the boidprocess is made up from a circular loop animation that moves up and down as my scorpion model contains no real animation at all. It looks pretty neat though in the map editor.