SH3/4 ships for SH5

[Sepp von Ch.]

Wow! Your work and benefits for SH5 are invaluable! Please do a large merchant mod for SH5 and I love you until the end of the world!

[reaper7]

Excellent Work. Are Damage bubbles etc working in the imported models

[ReallyDedPoet]

Originally Posted by NavanCarver

Hi, im new around here, but thanks TDW for your effords in here... and like Wolfling says: YAY

Welcome fellow Canuck

[Kromus]

Great work TDW, missing variety of shipping (mainly merchant) is one of the biggest flaws of SH5.

[TheDarkWraith]

I'll you what, I need a couple of helpers for this. It's a pretty large scale endeavor and I don't feel like doing all the work myself. I'll do the hex work part of it but there's other work that others can do.
Lightmaps need to be made - I think SteelViking can do/show others how to do? Cfg files need edited and some other stuff.
If you all want a merchant variety pack then I need some helpers.

[SteelViking]

Originally Posted by TheDarkWraith

I'll you what, I need a couple of helpers for this. It's a pretty large scale endeavor and I don't feel like doing all the work myself. I'll do the hex work part of it but there's other work that others can do.
Lightmaps need to be made - I think SteelViking can do/show others how to do? Cfg files need edited and some other stuff.
If you all want a merchant variety pack then I need some helpers.

I do a lot of work with shadow maps and have become an expert at editing them, but making a new one from scratch.......that will be a difficult task. I assume you are keeping these new ships in .dat format right? When you import these ships, are they utilizing external or embedded textures?

I think that I can make em. The real hard part when it comes to adding the shadow map, is that a UV map will have to be added to the .dat to actually use it, where to use it, and the UV map will have to be set just right to line everything up.

[TheDarkWraith]

Originally Posted by SteelViking

I do a lot of work with shadow maps and have become an expert at editing them, but making a new one from scratch.......that will be a difficult task. I assume you are keeping these new ships in .dat format right? When you import these ships, are they utilizing external or embedded textures?

I think that I can make em. The real hard part when it comes to adding the shadow map, is that a UV map will have to be added to the .dat to actually use it, where to use it, and the UV map will have to be set just right to line everything up.

Yes they are in .dat form. They can utilize external or embedded textures. In DAT form the UV coordinates for the texture are already included.
I don't think the light map would be that difficult. It appears that it uses the same UV coordinates as the base model. I say that from this:

[Texture 1]
TextureName=
LightmapTextureName=
NormalmapTextureName=
StartDate=19390101
EndDate=19461231
Frequency=1

I read this as supply me (game) the needed textures and I'll use the existing UV coordinates to make it happen.

Even if I'm totally out in left field on this one we have to figure out how to make new lightmaps anyhow. Whether we import ships in DAT form or GR2 form they will need new lightmaps. So it's best to figure it out now rather than later.

[Arclight]

Think I could take care of the .cfg entries for the ships. Not 100% familiar with them, but should be able to figure it out.

[TheDarkWraith]

Originally Posted by Arclight

Think I could take care of the .cfg entries for the ships. Not 100% familiar with them, but should be able to figure it out.

I can guide you through it. Actually I think a great job for you would be the validating of the .zon files and adding the missing entries in the zones.cfg file for the new ships adding to SH5. Yes/No? You may not be able to use Goblin to read the old .zon files but I can guide you through reading them with hex editor and getting the needed info.

I have to go back through my notes and remember how to add new units to the campaign layer. Maybe someone like BBW can do this part?

[Arclight]

Can use S3D to read the old files, familiar with the zones.cfg at least. Think that would work. Never used a hex-editor beyond making some really basic changes, but should be able to learn that quick enough.

Happy to help, experience is just a little limited.

[TheDarkWraith]

Originally Posted by Arclight

Can use S3D to read the old files, familiar with the zones.cfg at least. Think that would work. Never used a hex-editor beyond making some really basic changes, but should be able to learn that quick enough.

Happy to help, experience is just a little limited.

excellent. Well let's do one ship first to do a proof of concept and based on that outcome we'll determine if we can do the rest of not. Sound fair everyone?

Let's do the LST from SH3.

Arclight I'm pretty sure you'll have to add zones from SH3 into the SH5 zones.cfg file to make the .zon file of the SH3 LST compatible with SH5. Why don't you see if GWX will let us use their 'modifed' zone entries so we have some sinking mechanics/damage model in place already for the LST. It's quite possible that some of these zone entries are going to reference effects that aren't in SH5. If you can compile a list of what effects are also added by the zone entries I can either validate them/add them to SH5.

I'll work on the .eqp file and bringing over the missing items from SH3 to SH5 for it.

SteelViking see what magic you can do with a possible lightmap for the LST.

Do we have any other volunteers? Someone could make a new skin for the LST also. I can extract the existing one from the DAT file if needed.

The AO's use a UV channel of thier own.
The Normals use the Diffuse UV channel.

AO's need to be burned in a 3D application.

[TheDarkWraith]

Originally Posted by privateer

The AO's use a UV channel of thier own.
The Normals use the Diffuse UV channel.

AO's need to be burned in a 3D application.

any come to mind that one can use? How would I include this seperate UV channel into the DAT file? As a second 'set' of texture coordinates right after the first set?

They have to be imported.
S3D does a great job of handleing the work.
The coords are coded into the TMAP area something like animations are
done I think.

[Arclight]

Originally Posted by TheDarkWraith

Arclight I'm pretty sure you'll have to add zones from SH3 into the SH5 zones.cfg file to make the .zon file of the SH3 LST compatible with SH5. Why don't you see if GWX will let us use their 'modifed' zone entries so we have some sinking mechanics/damage model in place already for the LST. It's quite possible that some of these zone entries are going to reference effects that aren't in SH5. If you can compile a list of what effects are also added by the zone entries I can either validate them/add them to SH5.

Will take a stab at it.

Not really familiar with GWX team structure, but PM'd Jimbuna, and I'd like to request permission for use of these files here. I'll use stock for the time.