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I see a lot of people are asking how to do this and that,having issues with importing models,collision,textures,etc. so I decided to share with you guys some things I've learned over the years regarding :

Modelling,Texturing,Collision in FPS Creator.

Since a lot of people don't know how to make their own models or textures (or re-textures),I'll try to explain some techniques and ways of easily achieving your main goal.

################ 1. Making a seamless texture ################

Seamless textures are very useful for segments and make games look better.Actually nowadays making an environment from non-seamless ,tiled textures is unacceptable.

The simplest way to make a seamless texture is to find a reference photo on Google.For example : This Gravel Image.



As you can see,it is NOT seamless and therefore not tile-able.
What we can do with it is open it with an image editing program like Gimp or Photoshop and edit it a bit.How? ...

There are a couple of method , so I'll share 2 with you.

1.The fast way.I suggest only using it if you don't have more time to work on the texture.

# What you need to do is open the image and scale it down 2 times in width and 2 in height.In other words if your image is 1024x1024 , make it 512x512. The reason for that is because to make it seamless you will simply copy it another 3 times and use rotation.

So,you open the image in your image-editing program and copy the initial layer once.
Then you rotate it HORIZONTALLY and place it to the right of the original texture.
Copy the original texture again and rotate it VERTICALLY and place it right UNDER the original.
Then copy the vertically flipped image (your last one) and rotate it HORIZONTALLY and place it to the right of the previous one and under the 1st flipped horizontally.

This technique is not ideal , but it saves time and with most images it works fine.

Your final result should look a bit like this.



Of course I didn't abide by the 512x512 rule at all,because I'm showing an example. Also if you don't want to scale the image down,you can always use the original size and tile it , but your new image size will be twice bigger in width and height(1024x1024 = 2048x2048).

2.The more time-consuming , but more effective way.

It's quite simple really,but it requires more time.
What you need to do is open the image and copy the original layer once.Then you rotate it HORIZONTALLY and leave it over the original.
Grab the eraser tool and erase the parts on the left side,leaving the right side like the original.
Then flatten the 2 layers!!!
Now,copy the flattened layer 1 time and rotate it VERTICALLY.Then erase all parts from the top of it and flatten it again.

And there you have it.Seamless and can be tiled on all sides.Your final result should be something like this :

- See a difference? lol

Why is this method better? - Simply because sometimes the first method wont look good at all on some surfaces,due to the rotation.Now here all you use the rotation for is the edges.Everything else stays intact.

Making textures from scratch :
Making a texture from scratch is not very easy and requires patience,skill and experience.The good side to it is that you have full control over the texture size,quality,style,etc and you are not limited in any way , like with reference photos.

Now I won't tell you how to exactly make a texture from scratch , simply because with each one it's different,but I'll give you a few pointers.

1.Gradients - Not a good idea unless they're radial.
Why? Because they will prevent the texture from being seamless and will result in a headache to make it look good.
Bottom line - Use solid colors!
2.Brushes - Your best friend
Brushes are very useful for details and finishing touches.I recommend downloading some free ones for Gimp or Photoshop and mess around with them first,before applying.
3.Brightness and Contrast / Saturation and Hue
Sometimes your texture may come out too bright or you may not be satisfied with the colors.If so,change the brightness and contrast of the image to make it more vivid or dark.
Change the Hue if your color combination doesn't suit your needs.Saturation is also useful if you want to make your image grey-ish and monotone or vivid.
4.Filters - One of the most important parts
Using filters you can achieve very interesting results.Using photoshop's cloud filter and some modification you can get something like this :



################ 2.Collision issues ################

We all know FPSC has some issues with collision on models.
When trying to make interiors as entities you will most likely get weird errors.Characters can't move through,you find bumps that don't exist,etc...

There are a few way to fix that,and one of them is to set the entity as dynamic,make it immobile and remove its collision with this line of script :



The next thing you have to do is put some support grids around the building made from invisible walls and such.In other words,simple elements which will prevent the player and others to roam through the walls and other elements.

The good thing here is while player collision is off on the element,bullet collision stays.

################ 3.Importing models into FPS Creator ################

Importing your own model into fps creator is relatively easy.Here's how you do it.

1.Open the model in your modeling program.Now what you need to do is export it to a [b].x (directX) file.[/b]
- if you're using 3DS Max you will need the Panda Exporter plugin - http://www.andytather.co.uk/Panda/directxmax_downloads.aspx. (Or you can save it as a .3ds file and export it to a .X with FragMOTION.

- if you're using Milkshape 3D click on File->Export and find the DirectX option.

- if you're using FragMOTION click on Export and select DirectX (.x) option.
2.Copy the .x file along with your texture in the Files\entitybank\yourfolder\ directory in FPS Creator (You can also seperate the mesh in meshbank and texture in texturebank folders if you want..).

3.Create an .fpe file to the model and place it in the entitybank.Where it says "model = something",replace the something with the path to your model and where it says "textured = something" replace with the path to your model texture.

An example of an entity .fpe :



You can also add a thumbnail for the entity to show in the FPSC Library.You can do that by making a 128x128 or 64x64 .bmp image and naming it exactly like the .fpe file.

################ Asked a lot : How to get shadows to work?! ################

Shadows in fps creator as of now can only be STATIC.Dynamic shadows work on dynamic entities somewhat,but are FAR from perfect.

To have an environment with shadows you need to have LIGHTS on the scene - STATIC LIGHTS.You also need static entities.

That annoying bloom effect!How do I turn it off?!

Open setup.ini and find postprocessing=1 . Change postprocessing to either 2 (Depth of field) or 0 (nothing).

################ Shaders : How to apply ################

Most shaders require Maps.Normal,Specular,Illumination.

The question most people ask is.How to make these maps?

Now - Normal Maps can be made with a filter.All you need is the original texture of the model and this plugin for photoshop - http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html

To get the effect,open the image,go to Filter->NVIDIA Tools->NormalMapFilter

Specular Maps - Instead of explaining how to make them,I suggest reading bond1's tutorial on making Specular Maps here : http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=173802&b=24

To apply a shader to an entity or segment all you have to do is open the .fpe or .fps file of the entity/segment you wish to use and where it says

effect =

add the path to the shader (after the =).

Also make sure that the Normal and Specular maps are named like the original texture with _N and _S at the end.

If you have any questions , wish to correct me,want to contribute or you are just plain bored write a comment.
If an administrator finds this useful,he can sticky it.

This will help a lot of people, thanks Gencheff

Well, I was not bored

I appreciate the time put in the information listed. Even learned a few things on making textures. Always wondered how to make the textures seamless- now I know.

Thanks.

I hope it does.A lot more can be said,but I'm a bit lazy to write it all right now.

ah yes, good job dude!

Thanks Gencheff!

Abdul Ahad

Yeah, mirroring generally looks terrible in 90% of cases.

True.I personally prefer the second method + a clone stamp.

Making your own textures is the best way to go

I use the first method a lot then use various photoshop tools such as the spot healing tool and the content aware fill tool to hide the mirror lines.

I personally would not use either of the 2 seamless texture methods, as both will generate demon faces.

1st method is terrible and the 2nd method is little better (in my opinion at least) as neither are really seamless, but mirrored. The 2nd one only helps hide the mirroring in the actual texture, but as soon as you tile it, the mirroring on the edges will stand out.

Also that texture should have been trimmed on the edges where it loses focus, as it clearly has a fisheye effect which will also effect smooth seamless tiling.

I would suggest you use either a seamless texture maker (many free ones) or use edge blending and perspective correction etc.



I'm not too sure I would agree with that (myself at least), as I tend to find the opposite is true. Many prefer the use of breaker textures (textures to actually create a seam/junction/etc between each tile to break up the tiling) or the use of geometry to break up tiling and hide the non-seamless textures, rather than over tiled seamless textures.

It's actually one of the biggest giveaways of many FPSC games (and other games making kit games) the endless seamless texture tiling on all the walls etc.

What i meant by that is textures that look bad at the edges.Not just one continuous texture.I prefer variety ,so you misunderstood me there.

And sure I encourage people to download such programs.Haven't used one myself but I'm sure they work well.I saw one plugin for photoshop specifically that makes textures seamless,however it's very expensive.

Like I said.1st method only to be used on simple textures and only if you don't have time to work on it.I wouldn't call it terrible since on textures such as grass it works rather well.

But i'll repeat myself again

Textures are better made from scratch

I'll write some other methods tomorrow

As a general rule of thumb that I use if it doesn't have to an entity
I make it a segment.Floors should only be a segment and apply to the 100 x 100 rule.

I simply do not use entities if I don't have to it is quite evident that people use this method you are describing for terrains but any thing else segments should be just fine if keep floors separate from walls...

Thanks for the input Wiz.

I've used this on bigger objects,but small ones ... not ideal.
It also depends on the situation a lot.

However I appreciate you took the time to read it and also i'll add this info to the first post

I must overhaul this post though since it's a bit messy and should actually be a lot longer...

@Gencheff

Have a go at this contains a lot of information about segments.
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=167375&b=21

Thank you,very useful posts there.

@Gencheff

I should start it again...still a lot of stuff missing in particular the FPSC segment editor....

For seamless textures I just use the option in psp for them Used to do similar techinques to this before that though. Still useful info for people.

Can you make tutorial:

How I can assing fpsc skeleton to character model?