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Topics - Jayfeather55

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Game Help / What happened to that preset sync thingy? [solved]
« on: December 13, 2014, 03:18:10 am »
I have been MIA from FH for a long time, and I've heard about this newfangled preset sync... I've uploaded a .fhp on the user panel, but how do I actually download the modded FH .exe? All the forum links that direct to the post are diddly darn broken :(

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Mapping Tutorials / Artifex Terra, a.k.a. the real-time OGRE terrain maker!
« on: December 13, 2014, 12:57:15 am »
So, I think I can speak for most map makers when I say that making terrains is difficult. Trying to get the ratio of mountains, lakes, and valley right when you can't see it in real time is horrid. Not only that, but if you make a terrain and decide in-game to make the height very high or fairly wide, it tends to get VERY BUMPY. Which annoys me to no end and looks kinda crappy because it means your original .png isn't ready to be stretched like that. And don't get me started on making masks to match the terrain that you can't EXACTLY see where you want your mountain texture, or anything like it, to start when switching between GIMP and FH -_-

If any of you search the OGRE wiki or website, you'll see plenty of links to terrain makers, mesh viewers, free texture websites, and more, because the creators of the OGRE platform wanted it to be VERY accessible and easy for all to make games that run with OGRE, or in our case, make stuff that run in games that run with OGRE. There are lots of links to terrain makers and such, let me tell ya. Some of them are outdated, their domains are free now, or they just don't work. I have found several that do, including using programs like GIMP or photoshop or whathaveyou to make the .png in 2D.

But to solve the above problems that occur when you use image editing software to make terrains, you want a 3D terrain editor that textures simultaneously, as well as stretch the width/length (in FH, you can only do squares, so your width and length have to be the same) and the height properly, Artifex Terra is a life saver! Yes, L3DT is nice, because you can change all sorts of real-life-y sliders (how often do you want valleys to form? is it a temperate climate? lots of lakes? cliffs? etc) to get a picture that translate to a 3D model that you can edit and then export as a .png. But, it is not set to OGRE stuff (parameters. it has no idea that you will be stretching the .png in FH to make a REALLY WIDE map, for example), so if you want the map to be hella high (lots of height differences) it will be bumpy.

Thus, I present to you Artifex Terra. I myself am still experimenting with it, but I like it so far. Technically it is a scene editor/creators/exporter, which means you can add meshes, lights, the terrain, and all sorts of other things to export so an OGRE game can run it, but FH doesn't run scenes. BUT, if you get rid of all the meshes and stuff, and leave yourself with just the terrain, you can set the width and length to different numbers (separately, which is unfortunate because like I said, in FH the terrain HAS to be square, not rectangular.) as well as change the height. Once you do this, you can edit the terrain 3 dimensionally, which is beautiful. You can raise and lower land as well as texture it with a different tool.

Now, I haven't figured out exactly how to make the mask, but when you save your scene, the terrain.png is created as well as a 'minimap' which shows exactly where what textures are, but it isn't in red, green, and blue. It's in the ACTUAL textures you textured the terrain with. But, I would assume that you could convert it to FH's terrain masks by selecting one type of texture and changing it to red, another and changing it to blue, and another and changing it to green. The only struggle about the whole thing is that you still have to change the .png sizes, because their default is either 1025 (the terrain) or 2048 (the 'minimap' or impromptu mask)(or 513. whatever FH runs maps with these days lawl)

Opp also in the manual it says "To get to the texture studio, press [Ctrl+Enter] and select it from the central menu. Here you can adjust the RGB values of each texture as well as brightness and contrast. Future plans are to implement real texture painting/editing, filters like in common paint applications." So you could prob choose one texture, change it to bright red, and paint away. And then do that with green and blue...? Well, it would just be bright red grass. But when you open it in GIMP or w/e, you could just select that color anyway. It could still work!


The link to the website is here and the download is in the mid-right, in the box that says "Artifex Terra 1.2 PE beta, ZIP, ~ 177 MB Click 1,2,3,5 and 8 to download." You have to click on the corresponding bubbles [1,2,3,5 and 8] so it knows you're a real human trying to download it.

Idk I just think it has the possibility to be a really great resources for map makers.

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New videos related to both tutorials!!!!
First post's video
Second post's video
I am FINALLY going to make a couple of tutorials on how to convert meshes. The first part of the series will be on setting up Blender 2.49 for being able to export .mesh files. It is very much like the first part of Hammy's intro to Blender with more step-by-step instructions.

PREREQUISITES:
Admin permissions and/or ability to actually change stuff on your computer!
WinRAR/7Zip
Basic understanding of how to download and install .exe/.msi files
Basic knowledge of how to navigate your main hard drive (usually C:\ or D:\)
A LOT OF PATIENCE
FIRST. You’ll probably need to download Blender as well as Python and some OGRE .xml to .mesh converters, so here are the links:

Ogre Command Line Tools
Before you get into any sort of meshing, you’re gonna need OGRECommandLineTools. Don’t worry--you don’t need to know any commands or code or anything like that for it to work.
Go here. Highlighted in red is what you want to download. (The windows one!)

Once you download the zip, you have to extract it. Its nice to make a folder in C:\ and name it OGRECommandLineTools, but you need admins permissions to do so, so put it wherever you think it will be easy to find.

Blender 2.49
For the sake of following along with my screenshots, as well as it being p easy to use, we’ll be using Blender version 2.49. As I have never tried it on a Mac or Linux, it will be a windows download. Go here to find the download. Since it's easiest to download the .exe, which is the highlighted  link:

Python 2.6.6
Next, you’ll need the corresponding version of Python [which is KEY to running Blender because it is a programming language that the scripts in Blender run on. It will make sense, trust me.] Blender 2.49 needs Python 2.6.2, but the most current version of 2.6.x works, so be sure to make your way HERE and download THIS:


Again, once you download the .msi, run and install it without changing any directories.

OGRE Exporter(Specifics for installation too)
Now, you can run Blender all fine and dandy, mesh to your hearts content, but you can’t export it as a .xml.mesh (which converts to a .mesh eventually, you’ll see). So, you need to download the OGRE mesh exporter for Blender [FYI, OGRE is what FH runs on. See definition from the OGRE wiki: OGRE (Object-oriented Graphics Rendering Engine) is an open-source graphics rendering engine that is written and maintained by a small core team, and contributed to by its ever growing community.]
ANYWAY, here is the link you want: http://www.ogre3d.org/tikiwiki/Blender+Exporter if you scroll down to the “Installation” section, you’ll see “Download and integrate the Blender Exporter. (zip | SVN)” Click on the “zip” in parenthesis, and open it with WinRAR or 7Zip. If you still have the OGRE wiki page open, you’ll see that it says “Copy ogremeshesexporter.py and subfolders to the path ...\blender\.blender\scripts. Note: .blender for Blender 2.49b (latest stable) on Windows 7 is located in C:\Users\<name>\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\.blender\scripts” If you have previous knowledge of getting to the AppData folder, you probably know how to get there. But if ya don't, SEE PICTURE


OK, so now you are in your Roaming folder. Get yourself to your .scripts folder by finding “Blender Foundation” in your Roaming folder. Once you are in BF, enter the “Blender” folder, and then the “.blender” folder inside that. Now, you should see “.scripts” in there. Open that up and bask in the glory of all the other scripts that you will be adding more to momentarily....Get your copy and paste (well, when it’s moving from a rar/zip it’s usually just select all and drag, but you get the point) skills ready, and move ALL of the stuff from the “BlenderExport.zip” to you .scripts folder, which should still be open. Voila. Now, open Blender 2.49…

THIS IS THE FUN PART. THE ACTUAL POSSIBILITY OF EXPORTING OGRE MESHES FROM BLENDER.

Step 1: Open Blender.
The Python command line should come up too. It should say “Compiled with Python version 2.6.2. Checking for installed Python… got it!” as the Blender window pops up. THIS IS A GOOD THING. (If Python is not gotted, then u gots problems. It means Python didn’t install correctly.)

Step 2: Update menus
So we've downloaded everything and opened Blender, but the program doesn’t realize that you put the export scrips in there just yet…


When you are at Scripts, the top part of the screen (where the cube and grid was before) should now be completely gray. Right next to the lil green snake (where the green arrow was pointing in da picture) You should see the word “Scripts” plz click on it and at the very top of the lil menu thing that comes up, click on “Update Menus”. Now it may seem like nothing happened…

Step 3: Make sure the menus actually updated
To check that your menus updated to include the new exporter, (quoting Hammy here) “click on the "scripts" button again. From the list, highlight "Export" and from there select "OGRE meshes". This should cause the window to be filled with some text boxes and big buttons. (some blue, others yellow).”
Honestly, this part was the most frustrating for me because “OGRE meshes” didn’t show up so I had to retry it like a billion times and then it finally worked. If at any point in this tutorial something doesn’t work right, CHECK YOUR WORK. Just like in school, kids. Make you you downloaded all the right stuff. Make sure you put it in the right folder. Also, it doesn't hurt to close out of Blender (and Python's command prompt if it doesn't close on its own) and open it again to see if the menus updated.

Step 4: Get comfy with the OGRE export screen and change defaults
Assuming that steps 1-3 work, yay now you can export OGRE meshes. But there is more to it. You need to know what to do once you click on “Scripts>Export>OGRE meshes”. In the previously big gray window, it will change to the export screen below, should you choose to export OGRE meshes...


Step 5: Tell Blender where to put your exports!
Now, when you click select, a different kinda window is there instead of the exporting screen--don’t worry, it’s just choosing where the stuff will export. It should start you off in C:\, and if you have admin permissions, your OGRECommandLineTools folder should be there. [But if it is not, you'll have to navigate to where ever you extracted the OGRECommandLineTools through Blender. Ex: if you put in on your desktop, you'll have to click on users, then your user, then desktop.] Click on that folder (where ever your OCLT extracted to) and click on “Export Directory”


Step 6: Click the big export button and see what Blender has to say about untextured cubes...
Now you are back to the OGRE exporting screen. As you can see, the export path is now C:\OGRECommandLineTools (It could be different depending on where you extracted it). So theoretically, if you were to click the big EXPORT button near the bottom left, you would export everything that is in the scene right now (which should be an untextured cube, b/c that is the default thing that loads)


Step 7: Find your exports and convert the .xml.mesh to a .mesh file
Now, make your way to your mesh export folder, and you shall see nameofmesh.xml.mesh and nameofmaterial.material. Drag the .xml.mesh onto the OGREXmlConverter. A command prompt should open up and lots of stuff will come up on it. Let it do its thing and then when it closes, look for your .mesh file! Once the .xml is converted to a .mesh, feel free to delete the .xml.

Step 8: Load the Big Scary Untextured Cube into FH
Here it comes. What you've been waiting for. Copy the .mesh and the .material (which you can open with notepad and check out if ya want, even though there shouldn't be much in it) into FeralHeart>Media>Objects>my_objects. Open FH's object maker, and when you load the mesh, type in its name. It should show up with BaseWhite as a texture!

MORE TO COME.

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I don't know how many more of these I'll make in my lifetime ((lawl)) but yes, I will ACTUALLY be on the forums and sometimes even the game. I know I said I'd be back in April/May but school was gross so yeah.

 I'm here for real now, and I'm still converting meshes :) In fact, I recently put up about 5 new mesh packs that I've converted since April, so feel free to check them out!

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Introduction / Back after like a million years...
« on: April 16, 2014, 10:33:25 pm »
I have a bad habit of coming back to FeralHeart for like a week and then leaving again, but this time I'll be here for good. I'm in the midst of actually updated mesh packs and stuff too!

--Jayfeather55

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____
ancient and yeah

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Game Help / [Please delete :)]Omgeee. Red, pleash answer this.
« on: February 22, 2012, 05:55:57 am »
____
lawlz

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Introduction / WOOT. I has interwebz :3
« on: December 07, 2011, 09:18:06 pm »

I has interwebz at meh mommas house ;3

YUSSSS.

I shall edit meh sig so I'm not leaving anymorez.

:DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

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___

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Leaving / Shall be extremly inactive due to school D:
« on: September 02, 2011, 02:20:40 pm »

As the title says D:

I will still be able to get on, just not as long or as often as I've been on {All day..... >.<}.
Anyway, when I get on, I won't be open to any requests. Way to much crap going onnn. So, I know you guys will miss me  <33333

Andz, I'l miss all of you! You can always contact me on dA at Jayfeather55 too :3

I shall be putting this link in my siggie too so :L

My timezone if EST. {Go here if chu are confused: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=179 }
I should be on sometime around 4-9pm everyday.

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