Can't seem to get things right with my assault tank....

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

I parented everything and it all looks right with the hierarchy when compared side by side with the ISDF version from the XSI data pack. Could someone have a look see at the model and tell me if something is screwed up with the model? I really don't have a clue what else to change to make the x and y turrets to work as a single piece. The x turret is parented under the y turret but the tank shoots straight forward not up and down and to aim the main gun I need to pivot the main body rather then using the y turret pivot point which rotates but totally independent of the x turret. Is it because BZII 1.2 has some kind of issue that 1.3 and above corrected? Tanks...BNG

PS: Here's a web link to the zipped file http://files.filefront.com/ivatdragzip/;11770319;/fileinfo.html

[mrtwosheds]

yep.

   Frame frm-frm_turret_y {           this bit needs to be called frm-turret_y not frm-frm_turret_y

      FrameTransformMatrix {
         1,0,0,0,
         0,1,0,0,
         0,-0,1,0,
         0.025558,1.9775,1.22704,1;;
      }


      Frame frm-turret_y {            //this bit needs to be called something else

         FrameTransformMatrix {
            1,0,0,0,
            0,1,0,0,
            0,-0,1,0,
            0,0,0,1;;
         }

The same thing is wrong with turret_x

[General BlackDragon]

dang, beat me to it

Yeah...looks like your odf is calling the individual pieces and not the _turret parts, they're calling the frm-turret parts.

Higherarchy needs to be reworked...let me see what I can do with notepad...

Ok, Here's a fixed XSI for you. http://www.bzuniverse.com/~betadudes/unprotected/ivatdrag.xsi

I suggest avoiding those dummy higherarchy points in the future, the game doesnt seem to recognize them as actual parts of the model. If you want invisible turret pivots, use a copy of a hp, such as hp eyepoint, just place it in higherarchy and rename it the turret_x/y.

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

Cool...I was totally stumped about what I screwed up when I opened the file in Threed to illuminate the extra -numbers that Truespace adds to the file objects in the tree every time I save an X file for conversion to XSI. It's really frustrating to make something that looks right, but really isn't right at all. Tanks guys for pointing out what looks screwed. Really appreciate the help...BNG

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

That did the trick alrighty. Truespace, automatically assigns a noname_ thingy when objects are childed together; you simply drag and drop stuff you want under it on to the main object and boom it becomes a sub object underneath it. Then I had to rename the noname thingy with the proper name of the object group. Strangely, the X export thingy addes a -number after it's saved and I have to go into Threed to delete all those silly numbers. Then I can save it as an XSI file for BZII. My mistake was changing the group heading name to frm-whatever and Threed was adding it too; no wonder the engine was going crazy trying to make my assault tank work right.

Ewww, now I can make a rocket tank that actually works. I've got to make some track textures now as the generic texture I applied on the whole model looks really strange as the engine rotates the tank tracks as it moves. You guys have helped make me one very happy camper. Kudos, to each and every one of you...BNG.

Update: I corrected the assault tank, modified the geometry a bit, and applied a simple grey texture and if any body wants to you can DL and use the model for your own purposes it works perfectly now. The link to the zipped file is http://files.filefront.com/ivatdragzip/;11773986;/fileinfo.html Tanks again guys BNG.

[General BlackDragon]

heres an assault tank i just made the model for.



wish me luck in texturing it

[bigbadbogie]

It looks fairly simple, and shouldn't take too long to texture.

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

For a quick and dirty texture new modelers could try individually texturing each object with it's own texture from the texture library of their respective 3d modeling programs. I'm trying this in TS 7.6 with my assault tank as it has a vast array of textures that come with the program by default. I really like the ones that look like camouflage patterns.

Who ever said that custom texturing from UV maps was an easy task should post some articles for the rest ofus igots. Every time I look at the tangled mess a typical UV editor produces gives me a real headache. Then there's the laborious task of artistically producing a texture that doesn't look like it was painted by hyper active 7 year old strung out on caffeine. Good grief...why did I ever think that modeling for BZII would be a piece o cake!

[mrtwosheds]

You need a good photoshop type program and some experience of using it.
you just organise the uv's to fill up the square, export a UV map and then make a skin that fits the uv map.
Doing it any other way may be quicker but probably wont look good.
You have to sort out the "tangled mess" into a workable layout, the programs cannot do it, they have no intelligence.
Skinning is the hardest and most important part of making a model.

[Dianoga4]

I'm making a new tank model right now and I've found that once I got used to it, Blender seemed pretty easy to make a UV layout and then it can export the layout to a TGA file. I just use the face selection mode, select the faces I want and when you press "U" it brings up a list of a few various ways to unwrap it. I then just organize the different faces on a separate screen to get my layout.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about...


Dia

[mrtwosheds]

That's the idea, open the uvmap.tga in a photoshop type program, that supports layers, make a nice metal type texture and use the uvmap layer as a guide to adding detail, shading, colour etc.
I make great use of a plugin called bevel boss to make panelling. Glass and chrome are also very useful.

It is very satisfying when your model actually starts to look like its made of metal or whatever.

[BNG Da BZ Fool]

Truespace supports UV mapping individual faces as well as multiple groups of faces that can be exported to a paint program the 2 most promising that support layers are GIMP and Paint.net. However, mapping with anything other then planar results in a tangled mass of UV lines that take forever to separate. One nice feature is face selecting half the model, applying planar mapping, and exporting that half to a paint appy. That's where the issues start.

Remember, when Jamsh said he drew a blank when trying to make models? Well the same thing happens to me with texture painting; I sort of draw a blank wondering what to paint. Filling in the lines is the easy part. Adding detail is the truly hard part. Also I get confused when I apply the texture as it always seems to appear mysteriously on the opposite side where I don't want it. Eventually, I guess the process will make some logical sense.

[Dianoga4]

It takes time to get used to it but eventually like 2sheds said, it's quite satisfying when your model starts to look the way you want it to and starts to look like something period heh.

Dia

[TheJamsh]

that assault tank GBD made looks familiar...

[General BlackDragon]

It's designed to slightly resemble the Klingon Distruptor Battery from "Star Trek New Worlds"