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FPSC Classic Models and Media / How do I create a simple character?

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PieLighter
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Posted: 3rd Jul 2011 12:34 Edited at: 3rd Jul 2011 12:38
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In Sketchup, I've found a Dalek model on the 3D Warehouse. Before I export to .x format (I have the relevant plugin),

1) How do I centre the model to the origin? What I mean is, does the origin need to be in the very centre of the model, or just in the centre of the bottom?

Once the model is exported:

2) Seeing as I don't need to rig the model with anims, all I need to do is put the muzzleflash on the end of the gunstalk. How do I do this?

3) How can I create a custom gun for this model? The gun itself is a static part of the model, all it needs is the sound (which I can get easily). Basically, I need to be able to map a sound to the character for when it fires. The gun obviously cannot be used by the player.

4) Is it possible to make it scream "EXTERMINATE" before it fires? I.E when it sees the player, a normal enemy would load its gun and fire, but this needs to say "EXTERMINATE", and then fire. Again, I can get the sound easily, but I assume this will need scripting.

5) Relating to the muzzleflash, when a gun is fired a faint yellow light fills the room. For the Dalek, this obviously needs to be changed to cyan. How can I do this?

I think I know how to use the Entity Maker (the fullscreen one).
I've attached the .skp file and the sounds, just in case doing is easier than explaining to a total n00b.

The only software I have ATM is FPSC itself, Sketchup 6 and the Entity Maker.
FPSC version is 1.18 beta 3.
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henry ham
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Posted: 3rd Jul 2011 12:58
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i dont want to burst your bubble mate but you cant make a static model into a character,as it would just stand there doing nothing.you would need to animate it first.
if i was you i would download somthing like truespace or blender (both free 3d modeling programs)& start out with basic models like barrels & boxs first. learn how to model uvw map & texture get them working in game before trying to jump the gun with characters.

cheers henry

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mgarand
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Posted: 3rd Jul 2011 14:43
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agreed with Henry, start simple!

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anayar
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Posted: 3rd Jul 2011 16:56
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To add to what Henry and Mgarand said... I would never use sketchup with fpsc, especially for characters

Cheers,
Anayar


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maho76
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Posted: 4th Jul 2011 12:14 Edited at: 4th Jul 2011 12:35
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@all: google for dalek, you will see that you dont need animations for this

i loved dr.who.^^

once i build a flying 2d-shooter-satelite out of a vickers-gun.x and -texture set into a copy of a dark-ai-character.fpe.
then gave a vickers as weapon and ready to go.

its the same principles, so i think you can do the same with your model when you get it into a .x-file.


gunsound:
build a copy of a stock-gun-folder and exchange sound to the one you like inside the gunspec.txt (guns are in the gamecore-folder).
could be that you have to calibrate sound with firerate if sound doesnt fit into muzzle-rate (change firerate or length of soundfile).
there you can also change the muzzle/shine, but therefore you have to ask another one . then simply set that weapon as the char-gun.


exterminate-sound:
simply insert the following into the actionlines of your behavior-script(-copy) where you want to get shouting (right before something like "shootplr"):

,sound=files/soundbank/.../exterminate.wav

so the full path of the soundfile from files-folder. you have to use .wav instead of mp3.
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PieLighter
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Posted: 5th Jul 2011 15:50
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Well as you know, the Dalek gun is essentially a shotgun, so there will be no need for syncing as they only fire one shot at a time.
Looks like all I need to do is get the muzzleflash in the right place. How do I do that?
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rolfy
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Posted: 5th Jul 2011 21:57 Edited at: 5th Jul 2011 22:06
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If you make your Dalek a dynamic entity, you can use distancewithin/further conditions and movefore/rotatetoplr actions, it doesn't need to be animated in any way (though it would be nice to have the turret/head rotate).
You do however need to place a bone at the point you want muzzlefash/weapon to be, this bone should be named FIRESPOT. I reckon you could use one bone to rig the dalek to and one for firespot and make it a character then you could have it all.
Yes your root bone should be 0,0,0 origin.

Of course all this sounds simpler than it actually is and you will have to create decals muzzleflash,player damage and sounds all triggered at appropriate time in ai script

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PieLighter
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Posted: 6th Jul 2011 07:26 Edited at: 6th Jul 2011 07:29
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OK, how would I go about rigging the model? Which software do I need?
Also, what is a reasonable number of polys for a character to have? The model I downloaded has about 20,000, which seems like a lot. How can I reduce this number?
As for the origin, as I said, does it need to be in the very centre of the model, or just at the base of the model?
It looks like I need to create a very simple, 1 poly, very tiny weapon, so that it looks like the "bullets" are coming from the gunstalk.
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anayar
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Posted: 6th Jul 2011 07:33
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Quote: "OK, how would I go about rigging the model? Which software do I need?"

You need to rig your model to the stock skeleton. There are any number of programs that could achieve this: Mikshape, Blender, Anim8or, Wings3D, Max, etc. Take your pick... there is bound to a tutorial on rigging for anyone of the programs that you choose

Quote: "Also, what is a reasonable number of polys for a character to have? The model I downloaded has about 20,000, which seems like a lot. How can I reduce this number?"

Reasonable poly-count in fpsc for a character would be anywhere from 2000-10,000 polys. 20,000 is really pushing it. You could reduce the poly-count using external programs like Action3D and/or most modelling programs (listed above) have some kind off poly-reducer

Quote: "As for the origin, as I said, does it need to be in the very centre of the model, or just at the base of the model?"

Base

Hope that answers you questions... if you have anymore please ask

Cheers,
Anayar


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PieLighter
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Posted: 6th Jul 2011 09:19
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Quote: "if you have anymore please ask"

OK.
The muzzleflash - seeing as I will need to create a custom weapon for the Dalek (1 hit kill), should I just create a tiny, 1 poly model? Then, I would have to create a bone on the end of the gunstalk to attach the (almost invisible) polygon, and then map the muzzleflash to the gunstalk as well?
Or can that be simplified? The Dalek obviously cannot use a stock gun. I know how to edit gunspec files, and it won't need a HUD as the player won't be able to use it.
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anayar
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Posted: 6th Jul 2011 09:27
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No, the muzzleflash is usually a plane with a texture... The texture only appears when the gun is fired. I myself ament too sure how that works, but it does. I also have no idea what a Dalek is or what it looks like so cant offer you anymore advice unless you want to post a pic.

Cheers,
Anayar


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maho76
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Posted: 6th Jul 2011 12:28 Edited at: 6th Jul 2011 12:30
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dalek:



simply a ton with a weapon on it^^

weapon is left hand, so when you invert the model and sized as normal human the gun/muzzle would be in the right place.
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rolfy
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Posted: 6th Jul 2011 18:19 Edited at: 6th Jul 2011 18:23
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You dont need to rig it to the stock skeleton, you can create your own rig using one bone and it will be fine, in your case you need two, one for origin and one for firespot. A rig for FPSC I believe is limited to around 60 bones though Lee may have increased this amount in recent updates.
Your rig should have as many bones as it takes animate whatever character/weapon as required.
I have rigged meshes using using additional bones with spring modifiers for fat characters with bouncing belly etc (would work well with hair, cloth capes etc) and even these worked fine.

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anayar
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Posted: 6th Jul 2011 18:25
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Yeah, my bad. I thought that Delek was a character (humanoid)

Cheers,
Anayar


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rolfy
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Posted: 6th Jul 2011 18:29
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S'kay ita a Brit tv program, been running since the sixties though and shown worldwide, its easy to forget some folks never even heard of it.
Ya sure wouldn't want to rig that thing to a stock character skeleton.

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PieLighter
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Posted: 6th Jul 2011 19:01 Edited at: 6th Jul 2011 19:05
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If I export from Sketchup 6 (not pro version) what is the best format for import into Blender (so I can reduce the poly count)?
I can export as a .KMZ, which includes the model and textures, or as a .x file, which is the model, with the textures in the same folder.
Will I need to create a tiny, invisible gun for the model? Then I can rig the firespot to that polygon (or does that go on the character?). As I said, Daleks have a 1-hit kill, so I need to create new text files anyway.
When it dies, I want it to explode. Even if the model just disappears, accompanied by the smoke you see when you blow up a barrel, that's fine. I don't feel up to animating loads of fragments and shrapnel.
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PieLighter
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Posted: 9th Jul 2011 22:38
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I've watched a few video tutorials on reducing polys and my lack of skill in Blender shows through - I can't follow them at all. I've read the (unhelpful) help file and the Buttons window needed for the Decimate function doesn't exist anymore. I know I'm clicking in the right place because the menu that should contain Buttons Window also contains Node Editor and a few other things that are in the screenshot. I'm using the latest version of Blender.
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anayar
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Posted: 10th Jul 2011 06:30
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When you say latest do you mean 4.9 or 5.x?? Id use 4.9 if I were you... lot more import and export options plus a lot less buggy

Cheers,
Anayar


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PieLighter
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Posted: 10th Jul 2011 08:42
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2.58a, the latest version from the Download section of blender.org.
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anayar
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Posted: 10th Jul 2011 08:48
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I dont know about others, but personally I would use 2.49 if I were you... simply because there are more tutorials and IMO the workflow is a bit more refined

Cheers,
Anayar


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PieLighter
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Posted: 10th Jul 2011 11:06 Edited at: 10th Jul 2011 11:07
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I've installed 2.49, and now it's moaning about Python not being installed. I've installed it manually after the message came up, but Blender can't find any modules, which means that I cannot import the Collada model.

Here is the system info file that it generated:


I'm using Python 2.7.2.
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anayar
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Posted: 10th Jul 2011 12:11
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Yes, I have had that same problem. Anyways, the way i fixed it was by installing Python directly into the Blender Directory. Only then did it seem to recognize that Python was infact installed on my PC. Try that out

Cheers,
Anayar


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PieLighter
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Posted: 10th Jul 2011 12:35
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C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation or C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender?
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anayar
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Posted: 10th Jul 2011 13:37
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Second One I think... I dont have blender on this pc, Could someone who has Blender please help him out?

Cheers,
Anayar


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PieLighter
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Posted: 18th Jul 2011 10:00
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I installed Python in the second directory, and the import function appears to work. However, when I select the model and click Import .dae, there is a runtime error and the console says something about not being able to load a DLL, so the import fails. I've tried both versions of Collada import. The newer Blender version (what I had before) worked fine, but a lot of the functionality (including Decimate) was missing. I can't win.
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PieLighter
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Posted: 21st Jul 2011 21:48
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No one?
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