Modding question

[Staggerwing]

I'm interested in learning how to creat new units for Pc:K.
What N00b-friendly *free* 3d programs are capable of creating game models?
Also, is the infantry moddable also? (Besides just changing texture that is.)
Can an existing game unit be 'loaded' into a modeling program for tinkering?

And finally, is there any chance that one of you 'experten' could post a simple
tutorial on modding a new unit (even if it is just adding a few new details
to an existing unit). The only 3d modeling I've ever done was with Domark's
'Flight Sim Toolkit' from about a decade ago (and it was a PITA!) but Pc:K
has got me thinking of a few possibilities...

[Mobius]

ORIGINAL: Staggerwing
Can an existing game unit be 'loaded' into a modeling program for tinkering?

This is about the only question that I can answer and it is yes. That is how I make all my models.
There are actually two software programs you need. One is a modeling software and one is a model to Direct.x importer. The modeling software I use is AutoDesk 3D and it is hugely expensive. There are others that are less expensive but I don't know what they are.
The importer program I use is Polytrans (PT). It takes the Max files and makes them direct.x files. It also goes the other way too selects direct.x files and makes them Max files. That is how I got started, Using PT I selected one of the direct.x files and made a max file from it. It also converts all the animations too so you don't have to try to figure that out either.
You would have to find converter software that converts whatever modeling software into direct.x files.

(I only started making models this last summer and I am no expert in this field. So I'm probably doing many things the hard way.)

[Staggerwing]

Mobius, bear with me here[;)]
So the modeling program needs to be able to output files as '.max'? Is this a common format?
Then the .max file needs to be converted to 'direct.x'. Is the file extention just '.x'?
I've come across a free program called Blender. Here is the list of programs it is compatible
with:
[center]# 2D
TGA, JPG, PNG, OpenEXR, DPX, Cineon, Radiance HDR, Iris, SGI Movie, IFF, AVI and Quicktime GIF, TIFF, PSD, MOV (Windows and Mac OS X)
# 3D
3D Studio, AC3D, COLLADA, FBX Export, DXF, Wavefront OBJ, DEC Object File Format, DirectX, Lightwave, MD2, Motion Capture, Nendo, OpenFlight, PLY, Pro Engineer, Radiosity, Raw Triangle, Softimage, STL, TrueSpace, VideoScape, VRML, VRML97, X3D Extensible 3D, xfig export [/center]
Are any of these programs' output appropriate? Also, what do I need to look for in a
conversion program to the game file format? any useful links to read up on for my search?
Sorry to barrage you with questions but I feel like a babe in the woods when it comes to
this stuff.

EDIT: I've just read that .max is a propriatory format only autocad can use. I guess I
need to focus on what other file formats can be converted to game format. Is the direct.x
format the same as DirectX? That appears to be one of the Blender output options.

[Mobius]

ORIGINAL: Staggerwing
Mobius, bear with me here[;)]
So the modeling program needs to be able to output files as '.max'? Is this a common format?
Then the .max file needs to be converted to 'direct.x'. Is the file extention just '.x'?

No. Only if your modeling software is AutoDesk. If it is something else they will probably have their own format and your converting software must use that. One programmer at Matrix, made some models in another type software. As long as its final condition is the MS Direct.x things should work the same.
There might be software out there that just uses direct.x as its format. In which case no conversion software would be necessary.

That Blender looks pretty good.

[Erik Rutins]

Yep - one of our modelers worked in Maya. The existing in-game models though are pretty much all done in Max as far as I know though. There are several folks on the team who can correct me on this if I'm wrong, the art side is really not my strong point. I can only vouch for the 3DS Max + Polytrans route as that's what we use. My guess is that 3DS Max is not the key so much as Polytrans, since Panzer Command expects its input in the format that Polytrans outputs.

Regards,

- Erik

[Staggerwing]

Thanks for the replies Mobius and Erik.
I D/Led Blender and installed it and then tried to load one of the .x files from PC:OWS
but got an error message. I did notice that ,when I installed Blender, it looked for
something called Python and did not find it. This is what it said:

Checking for installed Python...
no installed Python found.
Only built-in modules are available.
Some scripts may not run.

Perhaps that is why it won't load the files.
I'll have to investigate further on the Blender forums because
Autocad and Polytrans are out of my price range .[:(]
Thanks again for the info. If I figure it out I will report back.
If anyone else can help please feel free to post in this thread for, even
if you don't feel like modding yourself, your insight may help others
to do so and you can enjoy the results afterward [;)]

EDIT: It must be the Python thing as I tried a new object and an import afterwards
(of which DirectX .x was one of the choices) and got another error but this time
it mentioned Python script error. Hmmm...

[elmo3]

Python

[Staggerwing]

Thanks Elmo3,
I installed Python 2.5 and also a DirectX exporter but no joy.
I couldn't find an importer but, perhaps it's already built in
as I couldn't find any info about .x import issues at the Blender forums.
Guess I'll eat lunch and then go back to banging my head against the wall [&:]

[junk2drive]

As long as you're in the dl mood, Microsoft offers a free SDK that includes DX tools. You might need 'em, dunno.