Tank Scales

[Bil H]

Since I first looked at the demo I wondered about the accuracy of vehicle scale. The Pz III looked awful large, but I wasn't sure, so I did a little research, here are the findings.. basically the Pz III is over large when compared to the Pz IV model.

I am attaching images from in game, the blue lines represent the length of the Pz III hull, you can see for yourself that it is not accurate when you look at the scaled models I rendered out. These are the same models, both Pz III, but the black one is scaled to the Pz IV's proportions, the red lines indicate actual Pz III hull length.

I think the problem lies in the fact that the models do not seem to be built to real world scale in MAX... wouldn't be a problem if a ruler scaled to fit is used to insure accurate measurements. I would use the Tank Commander model as my base rule, make it 2 meters and use it to insure the other proportions are correct or at least closer.

Bil

[Marc von Martial]

Seesm to be a glitch when the scaling was done. Koios did use a scale (according to Joel he actually used the commander as reference) when sizing them for in game use.

[Laryngoscope]

Yeah I have noticed the same thing when designing the panther. The scales are off.

I would have thought that simply using a meter scale and then using the published data on tank sizes this wouldn't be a problem. Instead there is some funny 1:2.54 scaling going on? I guess because of the needed conversion to X.

I think the tank commander works out to be about 1.8 m roughly, which is statistically more appropriate than a 2m commander. The models in the game don't even have internally consistent ratios ie Height:Length:Width don't come near published specs. Often times the models are not centred on the origin ie wide to the left by 0.1m

Oh Bil see if you can't import the tutorial PZIIJ
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1183801 into the game with deep exploration, complete with animations - I would love to see that!

Cheers

[Bil H]

ORIGINAL: Laryngoscope

Oh Bil see if you can't import the tutorial PZIIJ
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1183801 into the game with deep exploration, complete with animations - I would love to see that!

When I said I used it, I meant just that, not that I have it [;)]

I started my own business about 1.5 years ago and haven't had need for it as of yet... that is about to change though as I like the 3D PDF capabilities it has and it's a lot cheaper than Adobe's 3D PDF program.

I will download the demo and give that a shot.. but I have to wonder if you are having so many problems if the problem doesn't lie with MAX 8... if so I'll have to see if I can re-laod my version of MAX 7 and try that.. I don't think I will be able to though (once upgraded older versions of MAX can't be re-registered and I've long since removed it), but I'll give it a shot. Would be worth having MAX 7 on my machine if it's what we will need to get models into the game. Cross fingers!

You can always export your model as a 3DS or even an OBJ, then Koios could import it into MAX 7, I believe the UV's will carry over as well. Have you tried that route?

Bil

[Erik Rutins]

ORIGINAL: Laryngoscope
I would have thought that simply using a meter scale and then using the published data on tank sizes this wouldn't be a problem. Instead there is some funny 1:2.54 scaling going on? I guess because of the needed conversion to X.

The short explanation is that it's necessary to convert the "Max units" to the game units, in other words meters.

I think the tank commander works out to be about 1.8 m roughly, which is statistically more appropriate than a 2m commander. The models in the game don't even have internally consistent ratios ie Height:Length:Width don't come near published specs. Often times the models are not centred on the origin ie wide to the left by 0.1m

That's disturbing to hear. We're going to take another look and also review our procedures to make sure all new models are more carefully scaled.

Regards,

- Erik

[DuckofTindalos]

Surprisingly enough (to me, at least), the Pz III wasn't that much shorter than the IV in length of hull. 5.56 meters vs. 5.92 meters.