[TEC] Reviving the Noob Modders Task Force

[Aktungbby]

rick_bagby27

[InterstellarMarbles]

I'm looking to create more interior rooms for jhapprich's Project 941 Typhoon mod. After I saw what FlakMonkey did creating interiors with his NewInteriors mod I want to try my hand at creating a nice set of rooms to bring life the Typhoon. Been obsessed with it ever since I saw Red October as a kid.

I have some experience with 3ds max and I have been reading about Silent 3ditor but I am still very confused at this point.

Can someone with more experience point me to a tutorial about doing interiors? Like something from the ground up?....

Some questions to start:

1. What is the relationship between the .cam, .dat, .dsd, .sim files in the interior folder?

2. I would assume I create the interior models in 3ds max and use Silent 3ditor to put them into a SH4 format?

3. FlakMonkey's mod seemed to have the entire length of the boat rendered at once. From the stock game I assumed that every time you clicked to a new station it rendered that room and dumped the last station render....if that makes sense. For example, I am sure the game is not trying to render the sea visuals while you are in the command room, right? So I am wondering if I could use this to my advantage to model larger portions of the Typhoon (its a huge boat!), having only one major section rendered at a time? Imagine free-walking down the command room steps and then about half way you reach a click-point like clicking on the "bridge" hatch, hit that and it would load up a section of the port pressure hull and dump the command room from memory, the you continue down into the port pressure hull. A perfect example is moving around the Normandy ship in Mass Effect on Xbox if anyone is familiar with that.

4. Has anyone ever tried incorporating 3d models from 3dwarehouse or other free sites online? Not sure if that is even possible in 3ds but was hoping it might speed things along when adding details.

[Aktungbby]

InterstellarMarbles!

[aanker]

Originally Posted by InterstellarMarbles

I'm looking to create more interior rooms for jhapprich's Project 941 Typhoon mod. After I saw what FlakMonkey did creating interiors with his NewInteriors mod I want to try my hand at creating a nice set of rooms to bring life the Typhoon. Been obsessed with it ever since I saw Red October as a kid.

I have some experience with 3ds max and I have been reading about Silent 3ditor but I am still very confused at this point.

Can someone with more experience point me to a tutorial about doing interiors? Like something from the ground up?....

Some questions to start:

1. What is the relationship between the .cam, .dat, .dsd, .sim files in the interior folder?

2. I would assume I create the interior models in 3ds max and use Silent 3ditor to put them into a SH4 format?

3. FlakMonkey's mod seemed to have the entire length of the boat rendered at once. From the stock game I assumed that every time you clicked to a new station it rendered that room and dumped the last station render....if that makes sense. For example, I am sure the game is not trying to render the sea visuals while you are in the command room, right? So I am wondering if I could use this to my advantage to model larger portions of the Typhoon (its a huge boat!), having only one major section rendered at a time? Imagine free-walking down the command room steps and then about half way you reach a click-point like clicking on the "bridge" hatch, hit that and it would load up a section of the port pressure hull and dump the command room from memory, the you continue down into the port pressure hull. A perfect example is moving around the Normandy ship in Mass Effect on Xbox if anyone is familiar with that.

4. Has anyone ever tried incorporating 3d models from 3dwarehouse or other free sites online? Not sure if that is even possible in 3ds but was hoping it might speed things along when adding details.

*.cam tells SH4 what you should see in compartment and station views.
*.dat is the model of the interior and in another folder the model of the sub
*.sim files adjust parts of the *.dat interior model like the depth ,fuel, & CO2 gauges plus other things.
*.dsd files tell the game what files to use for various sound effects like breaking glass etc
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Export in triangles to import back to SH4 with S3D or it won't import. You may need a 3rd party program to do this.
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Your #3 remark is correct for the most part
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You're lucky to have 3ds Studio Max.
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There, I've told you more than I know..... lol

Happy Hunting!

[propbeanie]

... there is no way I now know more than ~THEE~ aanker... and I'll probably forget it by the time I finish lunch anyway...

[InterstellarMarbles]

Thanks for the quick reply!

On the other hand maybe I won't be doing any of that as I can't seem to find anything that explains the process of getting ships/interior models into SH. Creating objects in 3ds is no problem, creating them so that they work in SH and then transitioning them into game readable format is.

I guess I had hoped to come across something similar to this:



I'm willing and excited to do the work but I was not a computer science major either

[propbeanie]

Have you read all that this feller has written?

http://s3d.skwas.com/

That's the defacto standard of import / export for SH4 models. You have to export files from your 3d drawing app in the only format that S3ditor understands... I just barely have figured out how to view and move the models in it's viewer in the almost 10 years that I've been noodling with it, so I'm not one to advise on procedures there, but look over there and on SubSim for the same program. Lots of reference material... It aint' easy to get the hang of I'm sure, but there are folks with a ~LOT~ of talent hanging around here to ask questions of...

[Niume]

How to change the flag on subs I want to put my own flag on sub.

[aanker]

Originally Posted by Niume

How to change the flag on subs I want to put my own flag on sub.

The easiest way is to rename the US or pirate flag by adding bak to the end of one of the names, and name your flag the name that the pirate or US flag was named.

Put your flag in the same folder that the US & pirate flag are located. The flag graphic needs to be in a format that SH4 will recognize... *.tga or *.dds.

Copy the folder structure that TMO uses to swap flags and you can have your own mini-mod if you want.

Happy Hunting!

[Niume]

where are the flags located and will it work for Sh 3 too?

[aanker]

Ducimus, the modder who put TMO together decided to have an optional flag in TMO. Maybe RFB did too because I see that LukeFF was active in this.

During the War, US boats didn't fly a flag while on patrol. Some may have in Home Port between patrols, and one boat laid their flag out on the forward deck so they wouldn't get bombed by friendly fire while picking up someone in very shallow water close to shore.

I don't know about SH3 but I think Anvart made a flag mod for it.

This link will tell you about flags using the Gato.eqp file as an example:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom//sho...2&postcount=14

In \Data\Submarines, each boat has an eqp file. Here is the end of the Gato.eqp file:
\Data\Submarine\NSS_Gato\ :

NSS_Gato.eqp :

[Equipment 18]
NodeName=I07
LinkName=NSS_TBT_base_aft
StartDate=19410101
EndDate=19600631

[Equipment 19]
NodeName=I08
LinkName=SubFlag_US
StartDate=19410101
EndDate=19600631

;[Equipment 19]
;NodeName=I08
;LinkName=SubFlag_Pirate
;StartDate=19410101
;EndDate=19600631

Look in /Data/Library for flag.dat

Flags:
http://www.mediafire.com/?njuzumjl5ml .... download while you can. I was surprised it is still there.

The flags go in:
\Data\Textures\TNormal\tex\

Sadly, there is no Lithuanian flag. My ancestors on part of my Dad's side came to the US from Memel, Prussia, (now Klaipėda) in the late 1800's. Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union (1940–1941), Nazi Germany (1941–1944), and the Soviet Union again in 1944 - 1999.... (pick a flag, or be a rebel and fly your own : )

I don't fly a flag.

Happy Hunting!

[Logan20142]

Okay, so I know this isn't really fro Silent Hunter Modding, but I'm working on a Locomotive for Trainz: A New Era. Check out the image below.


Thanks,
Logan Thurman

[Rockin Robbins]

Well, the Barb sank a train in the only US combat ever conducted on Japanese home soil. I think it works!

[aanker]

Nice, looking good; a 4-8-4 locomotive.

[propbeanie]

Is that gonna be an N&W "J" there Logan20142? We need someone to do some Japanese railroad equipment, including the track, for a Fluckey mission in SH4... hint hint...