Battlezone Universe

Battlezone Universe => Battlezone 2 => Maps and Modding => Topic started by: TheJamsh on April 17, 2008, 01:23:51 AM

Title: well i know weve had suggestions but take a peek
Post by: TheJamsh on April 17, 2008, 01:23:51 AM
the thoughts of people stealing youre modded work and claiming credit is the largest annoyance of this community i believe

i may have found a solution

an archive as such? on the internet linked to our beloved forum that has the original 'blueprints' and images and descriptions of models... with a big fat print of the persons name on it...

maybe it would eliminate these problems... and add a little more flexibility to the community
Title: Re: well i know weve had suggestions but take a peek
Post by: anomaly on April 17, 2008, 01:55:49 AM
Hmm... yeah I guess that could work.  But is it really that much of a problem?  I mean, very few people ever actually find the effort to make a mod and this is a small and very tightly nit community; I think it's pretty hard for someone to steal a model and get away with it.  Most of us would quickly recognize the model and know that it had not been made by that person.

The last case of model theft that I can remember was way back when x-mod(I think that was the one) was first released and I think that has been resolved since then.  Have there been any serious cases since that?
Title: Re: well i know weve had suggestions but take a peek
Post by: Nielk1 on April 17, 2008, 03:45:45 AM
I do have a wiki at my site. If you want to add your units to the list, just be sure to note they are mod units not stock ones.
Title: Re: well i know weve had suggestions but take a peek
Post by: Avatar on April 17, 2008, 11:24:42 AM
If you're just worried about credit you're modding for the wrong reason...  :)

What you should be more worried about is causing bad assets IF you want your mod to mix with other mods.  If you make a totally stand-alone mod then you have options, but those mods that want to play well with others HAVE to be concerned about others using their work simply to keep the assets clean.

Credit is fleeting, internal, and I dare anyone to name everyone associated with FE, and that's the biggest mod yet... 

-Av-
Title: Re: well i know weve had suggestions but take a peek
Post by: TheJamsh on April 17, 2008, 04:24:07 PM
no what i mean is... as in the case of XMOD

if you wanted to make a mod therefore using someone elses model it could be done without people using the excuse of 'i dont want to loose my credit for it'
Title: Re: well i know weve had suggestions but take a peek
Post by: Red Devil on April 17, 2008, 05:07:10 PM
There's 5 pages of credits for the original FE.  Two pages for revision.  :-)

I like the idea of the archive, but I think it's already done via BZScrap.


"I'M Spartacus!"  Roman Lieutenant

"No respect.  I tell ya, I don't get any respect." - Rodney

"Don't take credit for anything that you do. Instead, give someone all the credit they deserve."  RD
Title: Re: well i know weve had suggestions but take a peek
Post by: TheJamsh on April 17, 2008, 09:37:02 PM
no i mean like a catalogue of EVERY model made

hell if we got that far... we could even upload the XSI's, but thats merely a suggestion
Title: Re: well i know weve had suggestions but take a peek
Post by: bigbadbogie on April 17, 2008, 10:35:42 PM
only OM has the power to steal ppls models from msh format (as long as the converter stays private) but he is trustworthy
Title: Re: well i know weve had suggestions but take a peek
Post by: OvermindDL1 on April 18, 2008, 04:51:17 AM
Yep, I have the power. :D
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Title: Re: well i know weve had suggestions but take a peek
Post by: BNG Da BZ Fool on April 18, 2008, 05:55:00 PM
Probably a better idea might just be to backup all your work for the the sake of sanity. I still cringe at the thought of loosing everything due to something like HD failure rather then dreading my models falling into the wrong hands. As far as I know about the .msh thing it can only convert static non animated or untextured models. Too much has been made of it already. A better option is too just make your own original models; making awesome models is not that big of a deal with enough practice. Back to the original topic about storing them to a server is well kind of scary; servers fail too. Also, releasing only .msh is sufficient to play a mod right? Anyone wishing to make their models available can always include them as a seperate download or just put them in the pak file right?
Title: Re: well i know weve had suggestions but take a peek
Post by: TheJamsh on April 18, 2008, 10:52:35 PM
its more so modders can sue others already made models as XSI's and CHANGE them if need be

and with the online archive people cant claim work as there own unless its been F.U.B.A.R'ed. but then how is it different to making one from scratch.

i just think it makes it easier for people who like myself jsut cannot grasp modelling.
Title: Re: well i know weve had suggestions but take a peek
Post by: Spawn on April 19, 2008, 03:32:06 AM
You should only include .msh with a mod, including .xsi pointlessly increases the size and can cause bad assets or recycns in multiplayer.
Release the .xsi files as a separate download if this is desired.

If you can't model then there are other things you can do, but what makes you think you will be able to change models if you can't grasp modeling?  All you want to do is use someone else's work.  There are plenty of files released if you want to see how to make things, like all the stock xsi's.  There are plenty of things you can make with threed and notepad, you just need to work at it.  For example, see all of TV's various dealings :P
Title: Re: well i know weve had suggestions but take a peek
Post by: TheJamsh on April 19, 2008, 02:26:26 PM
thats what i mean... basic stuff in threed using XSI's... putting things together

and i think vie doen about everything i can with the stokc models

plus any other XSI's from things like starfleet ive played about with... you talking about timevirus? where can iget these things :S
Title: Re: well i know weve had suggestions but take a peek
Post by: Spawn on April 19, 2008, 09:17:47 PM
You can try timedisruptor.com for the various mods, but they were made for 1.2.  Look at ][carus, and then fear the 51ers :P
Title: Re: well i know weve had suggestions but take a peek
Post by: BNG Da BZ Fool on April 20, 2008, 12:53:14 AM
Jamsh, you can learn to model, but you've got to somewhat commit yourself to it. Have you DL'ed Gamespace Lite? It's the best basic modeler I've come across since I started making models for the game. I had no prior experience modeling, and almost gave up trying to ever make even a simple model. Like I said before, most model making programs seem to be designed by techno geeks with mathematical brains.

GSL, will teach you the basics of 3d modeling in a very simplified form. Then you can take the data pack xsi's and convert them to cob files via 3DEX to open in GSL for modification. No one taught me how to use it I just patiently kept using it and piece by piece it all started to make sense by actually using it. No one in the forum is going to teach you much about modeling; I would, but your best bet is to start doing things yourself. The way I look at it is if you can draw out simple shapes with the polyline tool in GSL then you can make more complex shapes with it as well. Te more I play with GSL the happier I get because I understand better the tools it uses to help non modelers like you and me make the impossible actually possible.  BZ2ME, also likes the x format that GSL outputs; hell even the BZII engine itself seem to like the format somewhat as well. Additionally, 3DEX 1.5.5 and above also output up to 8 key frames of xsi animation, so be sure to check the version you have. You can always PM me if you have questions, and if like I we can communicate via email to exchange modeling tips and such.

PS: I figured out that the faces on a x model don't really need to be triangulated for either BZ2ME or the game engine, and 3DEX is a good x to xsi conversion program for basic animation use. I'm still searching for a better 3D modeling program that supports the x format that BZII uses, but so far GSL seems to be an ideal modeler for beginners, and a nice side benefit is that once you grasp how GSL works then you can move on to more advanced modelers like Truespace, and Blender as well. GMAX, is an intensely cool modeler, but has limited usefulness for BZII due to it's lack of suitable exporters. You can use it with the MDL exporter to create an extra x file which can be converted to xsi via 3DEX by adding a top level frame needed to open the file in BZ2ME; too much work in my opinion. I'm also trying to comprehend the way MTS edits files in notepad for doing animations, but it's too much of a brain drain with my present level of knowledge. BNG. Hang in there bro it'll all begin to make more sense the more time you spend doing stuff.