[REL] S3D - Silent 3ditor

[DeepIron]

...which is why I guess as people get excited over my previews/progress updates...

Yes indeed... S3D, when it's ready, will be an awesome tool in the SH4 modders arsenal... People are naturally in anticipation...

Cheers!

[l3th4l]

a few questions:

apparently the "life" parameter of particle generators isn't detected properly, yet. i believe it to be similar to size, wheight, velocity parameters meaning that it also contains a few sub-parameters. is there any way to get to those atm? will it be possible to adjust in the next version?

also the emissionarea parameter would be great to adjust - but that, too, is not detected properly.

if it is possible to adjust the xml file to make the program work right now, what exactly should i do?

[skwasjer]

It can't be corrected using the xml file unfortunately, because there are no built-in types in S3D (0.2) that wrap those structures. There are more examples of wrong detection/data types (like the OverLife structure). At the time, I had not fully investigated every single type SH uses, and so I missed some. For the new release, I've reused many controller definitions (166 total, and over 100 custom data structures, some unused left out) from the game binaries (including help text/descriptions) and put them in S3D, and pretty much all data types are there now, so all these problems should be gone soon.

[urfisch]

Originally Posted by skwasjer

If you have previously editted the file, be it with S3D or other tools (or if anyone else has), please submit it to me. I can't check for problems without the files it fails on... There are some confirmed bugs (specifically with particles, check this thread a few pages back for a temp-fix).

That said, the new parser engine is more robust, but I am still not done yet with the next release. I have some RL trouble that takes away free time, plus I have (had) some difficulties getting some new features to work ok (it's hard when you only have limited time).

@tater, yes, I've also thought of that. Don't know when though... I've already implemented a partial multi-select function (only in list-mode), so you can select multiple nodes, in this case to delete multiple nodes. More of these kind of functions can be implemented later (move/copy/export multiple). After this release however, I want to concentrate on model stuff, and so UI improvements will not be on the high prio list.


So... sorry, but be patient and keep faith. It'll get done, I promise...

sure! it was after editing the particle parameters. i used the racerboy fx mod particles.dat - this file does not work. when i use the ajm-mod particles.dat, it works without problems. all are sh3 files. i wondered during editing this particles.dat, there was some data missing. some file strings with editable details of a (smoke) chunk. i had to copy them out of the other file to get them back. seems, as if he doesnt read the data correctly. also parameters like emission area and lifetime of bitmap particles isnt shown correctly. seems as if it is no "long" parameter as it is a ""float(auto)" parameter! i looked into the dat via hex-editor. so this might be a solution...

what do you think?

:hmm:

[skwasjer]

In the current public release there's a bug with particle controllers (all kinds), because S3D reads some fixed length strings as variable, and writes them back as variable. The result is a file that is incorrect to the game. You can fix this by modifying the xml file. See here: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...&postcount=128

Additionally, below a workaround for the other types you mentioned. I say workaround, because we can use a type that supports the data, but has incorrect 'labels', so you have to know what the values mean. This is why I said earlier there were no types in S3D available, this is simply a hax.


EmissionArea you can correct by adding this:

<property name="EmissionArea" datatype="vector2" />

This will result in two floats (x and y) and they stand for Radius and SolidAngle.


Life you can correct by adding this:

<property name="BitmapParticles/Life" datatype="vector2" />
<property name="ObjectParticles/Life" datatype="vector2" />

And will result in two floats (x and y) again, for Life and Variation.

The new release will support all these properties, but this should help for now...

[l3th4l]

Originally Posted by skwasjer

In the current public release there's a bug with particle controllers (all kinds), because S3D reads some fixed length strings as variable, and writes them back as variable. The result is a file that is incorrect to the game. You can fix this by modifying the xml file. See here: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...&postcount=128

Additionally, below a workaround for the other types you mentioned. I say workaround, because we can use a type that supports the data, but has incorrect 'labels', so you have to know what the values mean. This is why I said earlier there were no types in S3D available, this is simply a hax.




EmissionArea you can correct by adding this:

<property name="EmissionArea" datatype="vector2" />

This will result in two floats (x and y) and they stand for Radius and SolidAngle.




Life you can correct by adding this:

<property name="BitmapParticles/Life" datatype="vector2" />
<property name="ObjectParticles/Life" datatype="vector2" />

And will result in two floats (x and y) again, for Life and Variation.

The new release will support all these properties, but this should help for now...

thanks a lot - that comes just in time for making final adjustments and is very much appreciated!

[l3th4l]

Thanks again! This works perfectly

following the same principle you can add

<property name="BitmapParticles/RefPoint" datatype="vector2" />

to the file. that also fixes the wrong detection of the alignment property it seems...

[LukeFF]

Originally Posted by skwasjer

Support in S3D for Sh.sdl...

Screenie:

I know, old post...

However, what I was wondering is, will there be an option to set how long a sound will play before it gets cut off? I currently don't have the "Realistic Sound Travel" option checked, because sounds get cut off too soon before they finish playing, and other ones get cut off with the RST option disabled. It'd be great to get a fix for this.

[urfisch]

thanks skwasjer!

the new properties work, but i still get this error message i posted before, when trying to save racerboys sh3 effects particles.dat...

suggestions?

[skwasjer]

Technically, there seems to be some errors in his particles.dat, because a 'name' (string property) is not correctly terminated by a null-char. That said, the game may not mind or I have my definitions wrong, I don't know, but S3D trips on it. Please verify this with him, and get back to me, because when I say it's wrong I actually mean 'I think'... I've taken definitions from the .act files though, but who knows (the particles.act says: Particle name (max 15 chars)). Apparently, some rules the game does not enforce or can be bend (as I've also experienced problems with some GWX files).

You can find the errors at:
- chunk 709, the 2nd bitmap particle has a name 'cloud_w_small_sp'. The string is 16 chars long, but S3D expects max 15. If you remove the last char, the string will be 15 chars, and S3D will save it ok (and add nullchars until 16 chars)...
- chunk 737, same.

After removing the 'p' from the end, the file can be saved by S3D. I don't know if this breaks or actually fixes this effect...

[urfisch]

ok, understand. will look into it.

[ref]

Originally Posted by skwasjer

I've taken definitions from the .act files though, but who knows (the particles.act says: Particle name (max 15 chars)). Apparently, some rules the game does not enforce or can be bend

Had the same problem with some of the act files tips, at least some are incorrect/incomplete, I'd to check the data in the actual files for cross reference...

Ref

[l3th4l]

*bump*

how's it coming? don't mean to rush or anything

[skwasjer]

This week(end) I'm at a convention for work. So not alot of progress these few days unfortunately.

Thing is, to support certain new features, I had to break some other stuff, so this needs extra work. I miscalculated on this, and in the end getting it right always takes more time than you anticipate. There were also some Vista issues to resolve. I will try my best to get a new version done this month. Can't even name all the improvements, there's too many of them...

I'm also helping out some others privately, so that takes a little time too...

[leovampire]

But as always the wait is fine no big deal because this tool helps a lot of us out who can not hex read for one reason or another!

Sent you another donation Buddy to help out.