WIP survivors! (warning large images)

[thefretmaster]

First of all may i thank everybody here that has offered me help getting me going, especially Privateer (helped me import my first model and im learning hex from his thread), Diving Duck (sent me a tutorial for exporting models properly from max and that), and Mush Martin for his advice :up: to all of you and anyone else who has chipped in along the way.

right now onto my work. as of yet i only have one finished one part of this.
i have used DD's barrel as a basis for this and i have imported a new model of a man holding on to a box as if he is drowning in the water.
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i37/thefretmaster/SH3Img9-3-2007_21-3.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i37/thefretmaster/SH3Img9-3-2007_21-2.jpg

i am also working on adding a few of these men instead of the boxes that float up when a ship sinks (this has already been succesfull, i just need to update the model and re texture the original boxes) they bob around a tad to much untill they sink (beybe someone could help me edit this so they stick around longer and are slightly more stable)

i also have a dinghy model that could be implimented in either of these ways (or both)

feedback would be exelent and i would especially like ideas for other objects that people think should float to the surface.

thanks for looking

Fret :up:

[Mush Martin]

First of all may i thank everybody here that has offered me help getting me going, especially Privateer (helped me import my first model and im learning hex from his thread), Diving Duck (sent me a tutorial for exporting models properly from max and that), and Mush Martin for his advice :up: to all of you and anyone else who has chipped in along the way.

right now onto my work. as of yet i only have one finished one part of this.
i have used DD's barrel as a basis for this and i have imported a new model of a man holding on to a box as if he is drowning in the water.
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i37/thefretmaster/SH3Img9-3-2007_21-3.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i37/thefretmaster/SH3Img9-3-2007_21-2.jpg

i am also working on adding a few of these men instead of the boxes that float up when a ship sinks (this has already been succesfull, i just need to update the model and re texture the original boxes) they bob around a tad to much untill they sink (beybe someone could help me edit this so they stick around longer and are slightly more stable)

i also have a dinghy model that could be implimented in either of these ways (or both)

feedback would be exelent and i would especially like ideas for other objects that people think should float to the surface.

thanks for looking

Fret :up:

Do they blow up when ya shoot em do they come with Japanese army uniforms. and Indian army uniforms. I hear this mod calling my name somehow.

[thefretmaster]

they do not blow up when you shoot them (i tried :oops: :up: ) also they sit too high in the water for torps :down:. i could create different uniforms for the model that just stays there (pictured(like dd's barrel)) as this has the 4 different textures.

the people that float to the surface from ships (unless i can add random/multiple texturing) will have one texture.

also i want to add a dead crewman face down in the water as im sure they cant all find little boxes to hold!

[Mush Martin]

they do not blow up when you shoot them (i tried :oops: :up: ) also they sit too high in the water for torps :down:. i could create different uniforms for the model that just stays there (pictured(like dd's barrel)) as this has the 4 different textures.

the people that float to the surface from ships (unless i can add random/multiple texturing) will have one texture.

also i want to add a dead crewman face down in the water as im sure they cant all find little boxes to hold!

I kinda had been just teasing a bit a bout my forum name but that last
bit is a good touch.

:up:MM

[thefretmaster]

:lol: lol ok

[Madox58]

I get some stuff done here and I'll whip up a rule for
Mini tweaker and debris files for you.
the height of the debris in water can be adjusted
in the dat file.
It will be in the rules.

[thefretmaster]

ok cool thanks man :up:

[Shepelly]

Great Job TFM, and all the modders who helped. Good to see crew finally in the water.

Can't wait to use this:up:

[thefretmaster]

Great Job TFM, and all the modders who helped. Good to see crew finally in the water.

Can't wait to use this:up:

cheers mate :rock: ... but tbh if i was the crew i'd rather not be in the water ;)

[Venatore]

Awsome addition if it works :up:

[Madox58]

Would be nice to know the trigger and be able to mix debris and survivors.
Ref asked once about a trigger awhile back but I never saw anymore
about it.

[Shepelly]

:rotfl:True....It should have read survivors, But as long as its not my crew:rotfl:

[iambecomelife]

Excellent. If you are willing/able to add this thing as a unit like DivingDuck's debris I would really be interested in seeing different uniforms for the human figure - say, a stoker, ship's officer, soldier, civilian passenger...

Survivors as a unit would have major possibilities. On the date of the sinking of the "Laconia" or "Bismarck" or whatever we could script in large numbers of them at the appropriate latitude and longitude - not thousands, obviously; a couple dozen would suffice.

As for other objects, how about having liferafts and life rings? Wooden planks, unused life vests, and oil drums would not be out of place either. You could also have a crewman model that is not clinging to a box, since the life vest alone would keep him afloat. There could be life jacketed figures arranged in a ring - survivors would sometimes clip their vests together to try and make themselves easier to spot.

[Alex]

Great ideas, mate ! :o

:smug: :up: ;)

[thefretmaster]

Excellent. If you are willing/able to add this thing as a unit like DivingDuck's debris I would really be interested in seeing different uniforms for the human figure - say, a stoker, ship's officer, soldier, civilian passenger...

Survivors as a unit would have major possibilities. On the date of the sinking of the "Laconia" or "Bismarck" or whatever we could script in large numbers of them at the appropriate latitude and longitude - not thousands, obviously; a couple dozen would suffice.

As for other objects, how about having liferafts and life rings? Wooden planks, unused life vests, and oil drums would not be out of place either. You could also have a crewman model that is not clinging to a box, since the life vest alone would keep him afloat. There could be life jacketed figures arranged in a ring - survivors would sometimes clip their vests together to try and make themselves easier to spot.

thanks for the ideas. i actually have quite a few of these already, albeit not finished but they are there.

the man you see in the pictures is dd's barrel with a different model so it can be scripted as a unit in the mission editor just as his barrel can be. the .dat file for dd's barrel already has 4 different textures that are chosen randomly so i can add atleast 4 (if someone could instuct me on how to increase the amount of textures i could add more)

a man with no box would be easy to do, i would just get an existing man from the game and change his arms. so he is not holding an invisible weapon. as for a link of men in a circle, would you prefer this as one model? this could be done, however it might have an impact on the game.

i have a liferaft (you may have seen it on dd's debris thred) it is based on a one man luftwaffe raft so i could put a man in it with a pilots uniform or just have it empty (or both ofcourse)

Would be nice to know the trigger and be able to mix debris and survivors.
Ref asked once about a trigger awhile back but I never saw anymore
about it.

i dont know about this, do you mean that you could randomly have different units floating to the surface?? the dat file for the in game debris has space for i think 5 small boxes and 3 large boxes, i think this suffices for a good mix. again if more objects could be added this would be good.

thanks for looking and keep the ideas coming!

[Kpt. Kozloff]

Seriously good stuff thefretmaster.
I'm looking forward to a developement of this mod.:up:

[thefretmaster]

:up: cheers
i have some other work to do first =, but i will continue work on this asap, i hope to add the dinghy this evening

[Madox58]

I just finished implanting extra textures so, along with DD, Cobalt, Ref, and others I'm sure teaching you to add textures won't be much of a problem.
Nice to see we have moved beyond the "should we-shouldn't we".

[thefretmaster]

yeh nice one mate :know:

[Madox58]

Maybe we could grab one of the dock people
that wave and add them into this. :huh:

Give them a more real feel!! :yep:

[DivingDuck]

Hi TFM,
...they bob around a tad to much untill they sink (beybe someone could help me edit this so they stick around longer and are slightly more stable) Try the lifebelt as basis to prevent bobbing or alter the gc_height. I had this problem myself. Small objects tend to bob and to float slightly above sea level.

... the .dat file for dd's barrel already has 4 different textures that are chosen randomly so i can add atleast 4 (if someone could instuct me on how to increase the amount of textures i could add more) You can add as many textures as you like. The texture node in this *.dat file references external textures. Just name them unitname_T01/unitname_T02/unitname_T??/.... and put them into the units folder. In case you want to incorporate a new texture node, just ask. I´ve got one ready to mail.

Regards,
DD

[thefretmaster]

awesome, thanks dd. you inspire me :D

putting a dock worker into the sea is a cool idea. can animations be imported onto models? i can try to make a man wave on 3ds. does anyone know what format the animations are in??

[DivingDuck]

Hi TFM,

animation is a sealed book. I´ve tried to build a new flag animation to give an animated sail to my cutter. The project is still pending. The object you can import via Pack3D is responsible for UVW mapping only. The animation itself is stored frame by frame. Check this: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=356416&postcount=23 (Don´t take every info in this older posting for granted. I´ve new ideas about it, but not tested them yet.)
As for the flag animation you´ll have to edit 25 frames containing 70 vertices, each coded by 6 bytes. That´s 10500 bytes to change. The workers mesh will contain much more vertices involved. So I suggest to use an already animated worker.

Regards,
DD

[thefretmaster]

yes i thaught animation would be harder:hmm:

[mkubani]

I had no time reading the whole thread, but as of this example, I would suggest submerging the guy more into the water or moving his hands on the top of the box. If he was holding the box by the sides, he wouldn't be higher than just a bit over his shoulders. Now he seems to be almost as high as his waist.

Otherwise, great idea. Good luck.

[Mush Martin]

Things appear to be moving along nicely now tfm

Way to crush that problem.

well done.

MM

[thefretmaster]

:D yes i was quite pleased myself. dd helped me export the models properly.

in amswer to the other comment, i am working on lowering the models into the water more so yeh ill kepp you posted

[Madox58]

Here's some encouragement for you.
I cut down the motorcycle.dat file so the only stuff
left was the saluteing guy and needed nodes.
Cloned it, and now I have a guy on one of the ships
march across deck and salute the captain. :huh:
He is attached through a equipment node.
So, you can redo a dat with waveing figures,
add a node to a box or raft and have moveing figures!!!!

[thefretmaster]

Here's some encouragement for you.
I cut down the motorcycle.dat file so the only stuff
left was the saluteing guy and needed nodes.
Cloned it, and now I have a guy on one of the ships
march across deck and salute the captain. :huh:
He is attached through a equipment node.
So, you can redo a dat with waveing figures,
add a node to a box or raft and have moveing figures!!!!

omg that is too cool!! can you get a screen video of this and put it on youtube? im sure others would like to see this.

[Reece]

@ Privateer & DD, could you please assist here: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?p=440376&posted=1#post440376
Thanks, sorry about the highjack Fretmaster!:oops:

[Madox58]

omg that is too cool!! can you get a screen video of this and put it on youtube? im sure others would like to see this.

I could never get FRAPS to work right but
I'd send the files to someone that can do it.
Any takers?

[Shepelly]

Privateer:o:o:o, Mate, any way of getting that as a Mod or something to add for others. I know for one that I would love it:rock:

[Madox58]

He's set up to be attached through a node like guns and such.
Because he moves, each node he is attached to must be custom placed
on the ships.
This means adding a node to the ship, then setting it up right.
He also does the kick start thing
and I have to set him up to walk in and out of a door
to hide this.
But it's a start!!!
I want to see the smokeing guy on some merchants!!!

[Shepelly]

Roger that.

[thefretmaster]

@ Privateer & DD, could you please assist here: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?p=440376&posted=1#post440376
Thanks, sorry about the highjack Fretmaster!:oops:

no worries, im all for people helping others, god knows how much people have helped me.


oh these people on the ships are turning out to be better than the ones in sh4!! in sh4 as far as i can see they just stand there. even when the ship is sinking.
Amazing work pvteer. also just a screenshot of the man on a bot is good enough for me :yep:

[thefretmaster]

pvt, go on dd's debris test mission (if you have it) and have a look round at all the people there, there i one that walks backward and forwards, and the group of guys talking to eachother is a nice one to have stodd on an aircraft carrier/cargo ship

[Madox58]

I have ALL dats extracted from SH3 so I know what you mean.
Any way, I'm not good at this video stuff but here's a BAD
video of Saluter Guy!!!

http://files.filefront.com/Saluterwmv/;6902447;;/fileinfo.html

[thefretmaster]

ok, i re-imported my man with his box into dd's new debris set as the lifebelt like he said to do. only problem is that the man now stands on his feet above the water

i seem to have imported jesus into my game :oops: :lol:

in one of the files i can edit the somthing height in the hex edit, i dont know how exactly to do it though
im just d/l your vid now

[Madox58]

If you can open the dat in pack3d 5,
I think you can lower him there.
Change the center setting, Y?
I always do it in Hex so I'm not sure.

[thefretmaster]

ok cool, i usually use p3d 3 for some reason:hmm:

[thefretmaster]

just watched the vid! that is totaly awesome. the vids a bit hard to see but i can see him walk and stop, what does he do when he gets back to the cabin?

[Madox58]

He disappers inside then kick starts the hidden motorcycle!!!
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
Actually, I removed the motorcycle and guy in it so,
he just kick starts nothing!!! :o
Maybe I should put a rat or something in for him to stomp? :huh:
:rotfl: :rotfl:

[thefretmaster]

hah yeh, nice to know the cooks are cleaning the kitchen :lol:

the man that walks about in the dock, is he on waypoints?
can you waypoint people on moving objects?

[Madox58]

I'm still looking at the files on the saluter guy to see what
would need to be done do correct him some.
DD stated something earlier about a butt load of hex editing.
But I wonder if we could do a kind of cut and paste on this?
The walk about guy you mention would look cool
on a merchant or two, eh?

[thefretmaster]

yeh!. oh im not having any success with making my man sit in the water rather than walk on it. which file do i have to change in hex?
and how do i change the values?

[Madox58]

Well, if you can't move him with P3D then it's hex edit time.
Try this first,
Import your model to max and move it down.
then reimport to the dat with P3D.
Since it's a non-important object and non-zoned
for destruction, it won't matter.

[thefretmaster]

will do, wont take a sec

[DivingDuck]

Hi there,

Didn´t see the vid yet, but an animated guy on a boat would be awesome.

DD stated something earlier about a butt load of hex editing.
But I wonder if we could do a kind of cut and paste on this?
The walk about guy you mention would look cool
on a merchant or two, eh? Copy and paste will do. It´s how I exported/imported flag animation to my vessel.


BTW, I´ve fixed the lights problem.

@TFM:
As for the Jesus you created, I would suggest to move him by hex after centering the pivot to his body. Will be much more comfortable when relocating him later, if necessary.

Regards,
DD

[thefretmaster]

ok cool thanks dd. the model moving didnt work so i guess its hex time?

[Madox58]

Yep! Time to Hex Edit!
I COULD write a rule for mini tweaker for you but!
You are going to need to learn how to edit in hex!
Not a problem with teachers for sure!!
DD, Ref, and a bunch of others taught me how to read the files.
(I've hex edited stuff for yesr)
You can be taught to WeedHopper!
:rotfl: :rotfl:

[DivingDuck]

Hi TFM,

this is where position information is stored.

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/9159/hexeditingpositionuc1.jpg

Values for draught, drag, gc_height,... may be found in *.sim file.

Regards,
DD

[thefretmaster]

ok i have located the 4 hex bits for the y co ordinate. there are 4 blocks of 00. what do i change them to? and what do i change. this really is all new to me.

[Madox58]

Y is up or down.
1.0 is 1 meter up
-1.0 is 1 meter down

[thefretmaster]

ok so thats 1 meter in game terms or 1 meter in real life?

oh and do i change all 4 blocks to the number so id have e.g 01,01,01,01

[DivingDuck]

Hi TFM,

in case you use HEX Workshop click on the second right icon (left of the calculator) in the top toolbar. A small converter will pop up.

Most of the hex editors have a tool to convert from dec to hex. Make sure to convert to float32 for the coords. Enter the value starting from the right. If the converter gives you 3D A9 84 42 you´ll have to type in 42 84 A9 3D.

1.0dec will be 00 00 80 3F in hex.

Regards,
DD

[thefretmaster]

sorry guys im going to have to continue this tomorrow sometime.
this stuff is damn confusing
:doh:
thanks for your help again, i know you must be buisy and i really appreciate it :smug:

[thefretmaster]

just a quick apology for not giving any updates today. i have had a load of work to do, essays and stuff. i will get back to it as soon as i can. ill re-attempt hex then too.

i have made another skin for the man and his box. i havnt tested it ingame yet but he should have a white shirt with blue neck tie and blue cuffs, like a german sailor
also i have changed the sailors mouth so he looks like he is shouting

[thefretmaster]

ok i just had a go at changing the gf_height and i got him to move down. he went a bit too far down (10 meters deep in the water :lol: ). i moved him up but he was still submerged. now when i want him to move he just stays where he is about a meter underwater

[DivingDuck]

Hi TFM,

I had similar problems when fooling around with the corresponding values of my debris package. I spent days of testing and was close to getting crazy about that issue. Regardless of the changes I applied all the units stayed as they were before. I´ve solved this problem by doing a second install / re-install to test the units.

Regards,
DD

[thefretmaster]

ok so you mean a re install of that mod? or the whole game??

[DivingDuck]

Hi TFM,

sorry to tell you, but it´s the whole game that has to be re-installed. Or do a second install instead.

I hope this works for you. When testing on my different machines I recognized that the changes had an effect though. That was what made me think about re-installation. Problem solved.

Rename your SH3 folder. Then start the SH3 installation and choose REPAIR. As a result you´ll have a fresh SHIII. If you don´t touch the documents\username\myfiles\SH3 folder your carreer will remain preserved. If necessary you can switch back by RENAMEING your backed up folder to what it was named before.


Regards,
DD

[thefretmaster]

will do, nice one :up:

[Shepelly]

BUMP....Hows the progress report thefretmaster:up::down::hmm::doh:

[thefretmaster]

:down: not so good mate, i had no luck with the hex so i did a complete uninstall ready to try afresh, but my pc has been slowing down for some time and i dont wanna put anything like this on it for a while (also i have final exams coming up soon and i should be working on them) i WILL return to this at some point unless everyone has moved to sh4. should be soon so ill ge on it when i can :smug:

also does anyone have any idea what could be slowing it down?

[Alex]

i WILL return to this at some point unless everyone has moved to sh4.

I will not be a part of this people. :stare: ;)
Good luck on your exams. :up:

[Madox58]

I'll try to get something up with an animated figure in the next couple days.

[thefretmaster]

i WILL return to this at some point unless everyone has moved to sh4.

I will not be a part of this people. :stare: ;)
Good luck on your exams. :up:

thanks man :know: <me :hmm:


ill keep a look out privateer :up:

[Alex]

Bump. :cool:
Thefretmaster, we need you on here ! :up:

See you soon, hopefully. :|\\

[thefretmaster]

yeh im still around, i have just finished a load of mock exams and i am handing in my last pieces of coursework this week so i will get back to it asap.

also does anyone else have any ideas on why my pc is slowing up? it seems to have happened since installed the new version of norton (2007)

[Alex]

Ok mate, take your time, and keep up the good work. :up:
About your problem, sorry, I don't know.... Just try to disable it temporarily and see what happens. :hmm:

[urfisch]

very nice mod idea! any news on that?

[The Munster]

yeh im still around, i have just finished a load of mock exams and i am handing in my last pieces of coursework this week so i will get back to it asap.

also does anyone else have any ideas on why my pc is slowing up? it seems to have happened since installed the new version of norton (2007)

Norton will slow your Computer down as it scans every individual file instead of 'batch' or 'chunk' scanning; there is a way of altering this in Norton settings but can't remember where it is as I binned Norton a long time ago.
Point of note, if you ever decide to change from Norton, the uninstall is not a straight forward affair, you will have to download a utility tool [from Norton web-site] otherwise you will be left with residual files which can cause havoc with your system.

[GoldenRivet]

this is one of the better mods for SH3... can you determine how many survivors pop up for each class of ship.

for example will we see 5 or 6 for tramp steamers, and dozens for battleships?

or does SH3 limit it as if it were regular crates popping up out of the water?

[Alex]

this is one of the better mods for SH3...

It still has to be released. ;)

[GlobalExplorer]

This is interesting. Something I hoped someone would make.

What are the performance implications of adding large numbers of floating objects? And does it sound realistic that one day there could be a mod that adds all kinds of floating things (debris, lifeboats, (burning) wrecks, survivors, corpses, etc ..) without too much of a performance hit? I ask because that kind of mod would be very popular and immensely important for SHIII's future.

BTW, wasnt there already a thread about lifeboats (imo those mods should be combined or work together at least) - cant remember seeing it released.

[Steel_Tomb]

This mod would be too cool... I love watching all the survivours in their rafts in SHIV, to incorporate this into SHIII somehow would be just amazing.

[thefretmaster]

Wow long time since i had a look at this thread :oops:
for all of you i will quickly make a small mod that changes some of the boxes let out by sinking ships into crew members.
I dont know how many of us are still active in the sh3 mods section but ill give it a go :up:
sorry for not posting anything for a while

[TAW_CZAREJS]

fretmaster, I think you will find alot of people active, and I for one would love to see those little guys in the water. Good luck:yep:

[thefretmaster]

thanks for that!
i am starting a new thread for the beta release