JA lightsabers ?

[Psynex]

to get GLMs into Gmax...import them first into Milkshape, then export from Milkshape into either 3DS or MD3; those formats are easily imported into gmax with the appropriet importers in place.

 

Duely noted on the SP saber.menu thingy!

 

ChangKhan: I sent you what I have so far so you can check out the saber color problem.

[cayqel]

I get an missing control file error (saber_1.qc) when I try to export as MD3.

[laghima]

Blades are certainly tied to a tag...

obviously, but sith swords shouldn't have a tag_blade# (that is unless they call a separate shader, still looking) so, since the blade still appeares in roughly the right place i'm assumeing it's attached to a tag_flash they used for the efx

 

in the event of there being no tag, the blade is emitted from world origin (0,0,0).

true for jo, but ja seems to set them at the character root (about six inches below the crotch...) that could easily have been a random glitch on my side though.

 

One day while editing, I forgot to follow one of the steps and ended up having a saber hilt with no blade (no matter what color I picked). There was no need to edit all of the saber blade graphics. I can try and recreate that scenario and see if I can get you your answer. .

thanks, but it's probably only a matter of time until someone writes a omnimod equivalent/etc with them, no sense in makeing my models incompatible in the mean time. there were a few coders with the "japanese fighting" mod, so i might hear back from them when the mp source is realesed.

 

I don't know why you would need to edit the saber.menu at all. The saber hilts are displayed on screen as models, not an image as in Jedi Outcast.

right, that's not really what i'm getting at though. the existing sith sword model dosen't call a blade in the menu display, i'm not really sure why though... the tag_flash/blade# catch might not register until your character spawns but that seems unlikely.

[Psynex]

I get an missing control file error (saber_1.qc) when I try to export as MD3.

 

That's because you need to generate a QC file before you export it. Tools-->Quake III Arena-->Generate control file

 

Remove everything but the meshes section and save the QC file. Then export the saber as an MD3.

 

true for jo, but ja seems to set them at the character root (about six inches below the crotch...) that could easily have been a random glitch on my side though.

 

Random glitch? Possibly, especially if you've been editing it in a 3D app. I've been having a terrible time with pivot points not maintaining their place is space on export. I ended up with a blade in the same exact spot you mentioned.

 

right, that's not really what i'm getting at though. the existing sith sword model dosen't call a blade in the menu display, i'm not really sure why though... the tag_flash/blade# catch might not register until your character spawns but that seems unlikely.

 

blade# does appear in the menu, but I don't know about tag_flash...that could be why you don't see the blade in the menu, because your notion that the sword doesn't have a blade is due to the fact it has no blade#, resulting in the correct look in single play because EFX are being used, but not in multiplay where tag_flash is replaced by a saber blade.

[Forceflow_tap]

Well, obviously some people figured it out like I did, but I'm releasing a huge hilt pack mod for Jedi Academy early next week. It works for singleplayer and multiplayer. Has some nice hilts, a secret goody, and only 3 problematic tags. *shrugs* I'd fix the tags, but don't got the stuff to edit it. E-mail me if you want more details.

 

Dark_Kateria@yahoo.com

[Wolrajh]

Hello, I'll try to ask my questions there since this is the saber-related post

 

Well, I've got two problems involving making multi-bladed weapons.

 

First, I've make a 3-bladed single saber, looking more like an old scottish claymore with 2 little blades doing a V at the base of the main blade. Well everything is fine, I don't have modeling problems or what... But ingame it is impossible to use this saber as any single saber, because trying to change stance only makes the 2 little blades to draw off. I could play with saberstyle and singlebladesyle in the .sab file but it'll prevent the player from using the 3rd style. So I was wondering if that was a hard-coding limitation? Is it just impossible to make a multi-bladed weapon works like a single saber without doing a mod and reprogramming the stuff?

 

Second, I've also made a 8-bladed weapon. Looks like a laser spiked chakram, the blades drawing around like sun rays Well this weapon doesn't seem to work ingame. Whenever I try to play with it (a solo mp game), I'm sent back to the main menu with this error message :

 

"WP_SaberParseParms :

saber single_ckrm [weapon's filename] has

illegal numbers of blades

(8) max : 8"

 

Well if the max number of blades is 8 as said both in the sabers.sab file and in this message, why can't I get it to work ? I haven't a clue here, and I was thinking about a bug... So Is there a solution to get this weapon to work ingame with 8 blades? It already shows off in the profile menu correctly. I'll stick to a 7-bladed working version for now but I'd like to know how to fix it.

 

Oh by the way thanks to Psynex for it's useful tutorial. I only imported glm's and everything always went great for me, except that placing the tags with Max in order to get the blades to be in the right direction in jka is kind of a random operation I was also wondering about the use of tag tag_parent as none of the sabers' glms seem to have one...

 

Ok, I hope anyone can give me a solution, thanks already

see you,

Wolrajh

[Forceflow_tap]

Well, it's up. Me and my friend finally finished the thing.

 

ChangKhan[RAVEN], if you read this, I'd like your help with trying to fix the saber tags for the "Glory of the Sith" Sword and the "Sith Scepter", since I enabled them for hilts in single player and multiplayer. The blades are slightly off-center, and I really want them to be properly placed and aligned...

 

As for everybody else, if you use my mod, you can pick a red lightsaber in single player now. If you want to use my coding for that, just give me credit for it in your mod or e-mail me to ask for permission.

 

Have fun with it, everybody. Hope you'll all look forward to "More_Hilts Version 1.2".

[mcich_hadum]

I downloaded the more sabers version 1 but only 3 of the sabers have working textures, am I the only one with this problem?

[laghima]

ok,i've made some (very minor) progress with the swords; they spawn a standard blade w/normal tag config and use the saber/ swordtrail shader, which is basicly a more jagged analogue of saberblur, the only real difference is that they don't seem to apply a base color to it(...or emit a glow line, or cast background lights...). so at this point it looks like coding is the only real option, unless there's a hidden saber color variable:).

i'm looking into the new push effect at the moment(thinking along the lines of a devil may cry-esque sword trail... probably won't work but worth checking).

[Psynex]

Originally posted by Forceflow_tap

Well, it's up. Me and my friend finally finished the thing.

 

ChangKhan[RAVEN], if you read this, I'd like your help with trying to fix the saber tags for the "Glory of the Sith" Sword and the "Sith Scepter", since I enabled them for hilts in single player and multiplayer. The blades are slightly off-center, and I really want them to be properly placed and aligned...

 

As for everybody else, if you use my mod, you can pick a red lightsaber in single player now. If you want to use my coding for that, just give me credit for it in your mod or e-mail me to ask for permission.

 

Have fun with it, everybody. Hope you'll all look forward to "More_Hilts Version 1.2".

 

I've been chatting via email with ChangKhan[Raven] and he's mentioned that a new MD3View tool was used because the JO viersion did some strange tag changing where the blade is 90 degrees off its axis. Hopefully he'll be able to get us that updated tool.

 

As for the misalignment, that's a pivot point problem. At least with the current version of MD3View. It seems to grab some lingering info from the MD3 that uses a tags ORIGINAL pivot point position, even if the pivot has been realigned. I created tags using splines, then moved the pivot point in line with the shorter end of the triangle. Once viewed in MD3View though, the blade was off base to where the pivot for that tag was originally located, which was at the center of the tag. So if you just reset the tags pivot point and move it to where the blade should be you will be ok; even if the short end of the tag isn't in line with where the blade should be; because the pivot point is what's actually controlling things.

[Wolrajh]

You're totally right, Psynex, about the alignement of the tags... But I'm still wondering : what about the rotation and blade actual orientation ? I mean, I must still do a lot of tries before finally finding what I want. I tried already : the pivot point is not controlling orientation, only base location of the blade.

 

There is an embryon of rule though : when modeling with max, if the model appears as front-facing in the left viewport (I don't think i'm clear on this one, I'll put a screenshot... here ) ; So, when you're trying to rotate the blades to fit the blue arrows in the left (1.) viewport, which is rotating the tag using the X axis, you must actually rotate the tag along the Y axis and get what you see in the Front (2.) viewport.

 

What I would suggest then is to get in the viewport where you want the rotation of the blade, like in my 1. viewport on my screenshot ; set the tag like it is in the screenshot again, that is make it frontside, long edge pointing up (taht's for upside oriented blades) ; reset the pivot point orientation to make everything clear ; find the alignement by rotating the tag on X ; note the X rotation value ; reset the rotation again (back to long edge up) ; set a rotation on Y equal to the one you did on X.

All that make sense when you look at a model in MODview, since the blades are getting aligned and oriented on the -X axis ; it becomes obvious that the rotation must be done on the Y axis.

 

Yet... It's still not really user friendly Exporting from max to MD3 screws up the tag's rotation a first time, then from MD3 to MODview it is screwed up a second time We will wait for the new releases and see !

 

 

Please excuse me if i'm not really clear in my purpose ; but it's getting real late back here and my english is starting to get tired

 

edit : Well, I've been messing around in Max with positionning and rotating tags. The result can be found there :

 

A weird looking saber, isn't it ?

 

What I would say is that such sabers aren't very... Realistic. I don't think the blade can actually bend, or this is a new unknown technology I'd add that making those blades requires constant come and forth between every files and softwares : max, md3view, modview, notepad, jka What's more, red color is strongly recommended as they provide the thinnest blade core... The difference between yellow and red on my screenshot talks for itself.

 

Second Edit : I know, I know, I'm making a real long post.

But I noticed two little issues : first, where is the lightmap on the ground, on the walls, etc, when you draw you saber out? Well in FFA5 map - Taspir - the lightmap spawns in the middle of the pad, which must be the middle of the map !

Second, the left weapon acts weird when returning to it's idle position after striking : it actually makes a magic full 180 degree rotation in the hand !

Did any of those two strange glitches happen to anyone else's weapon(s) ? Any solution there again ?

[cayqel]

ok, so I know I've been asking alot of question, and I thank you for all the help. I was looking through the saber folders in the PK3, and there are two .jpgs in each, one with the saber, and one with the sabername followed by _spec. What is the difference between the two, and do I need to make two for my custom hilt?

[Psynex]

Wolrajh: Yeah, I figured out that the pivot just point to the blade base and has nothing to do with orientation. Complete exporter issues in there. I'm not fully understanding your alignment guide, but that's because I'm not used to reading about axis and the pic is confusing because you have your saber on its side in the front viewport. I used one of the original sabers as a guid to arrange(setup) my saber.

 

But the Tags are a very big, confusing issue at this point. Anyone can make them work, but it usually means messing around with them much longer then one should have to. What I do is align them much the same way you have, then check it in game to see which axis the blade is running along. I then go back to my model and make the necessary rotation changes. That's the only sure-fire method at this point. :\

 

I like your saber very much. I had the idea of doing that as well, only having the blades hand down so it looked like a whip. saber whip; that would be nifty.

 

To cover your last two questions: I'm not sure where the lightmap is for the ground and walls; I haven't looked for it. The left hand is a bit funky when it comes to a second saber. I think it has something to do with the way the model is "copied" to the left hand. The axis on the left hand (for the saber) might have been reversed, but the code for the saber might not have been corrected and in some cases might still act like a right handed saber; meaning, a 180 degree reversal to return to idle because the idle axis orientation is 180 degrees off. I've had that happen animating at times because I overlooked my keyframes when rotating objects.

 

cayqel: the '_spec.jpg' is for specularity. Basically it's a map that makes those areas of the saber.jpg really bright and shiny.

 

That makes me have to ask: Is the spec map applied automatically? I haven't seen reference to it in any of the standard areas (shader files for example). Or is it applied in Max and then somehow tied to the saber?

[Wolrajh]

Psynex : Actually I put the saber on its side in the front viewport - or in front in the left/right viewports ^^' - because the saber show the side view of the sabers when you select one. That means that you put the left side in the left viewport and the front side oin the front viewport, you'll get a laid saber in the preview when selecting it ingame About my 'guide', I forgot to say that every modifications, except if specified, are done in WORLD alignement. To rotate your blade along the X world axis like you would do in my left viewport on my pic, you must actually rotate it along the Y axis to get the desired effect ingame Kinda confusing, especially since I don't know the specialised english words to explain it clearly, sorry

 

About the spec files, I haven't tried yet. But I think it is applied in Max as well. The spec textures' format and elements positionnings are exactly the same as the common textures.... And you can affect a map to specular under Max as well. So I believe it is all work with Max. What I haven't really figured for now are the glow options. File format is different, so I don't know yet. Will see later, probably. Those two things, specular and glow, are what can truly make the differences between one common hilt and one good one

[LightNinja]

Hey Psynex, your tutorial is really good, but could u make one wich says how to do sabers with more than 2 blades plz? (like worlraj saber)

[Psynex]

Originally posted by Wolrajh

About the spec files, I haven't tried yet. But I think it is applied in Max as well. The spec textures' format and elements positionnings are exactly the same as the common textures.... And you can affect a map to specular under Max as well. So I believe it is all work with Max. What I haven't really figured for now are the glow options. File format is different, so I don't know yet. Will see later, probably. Those two things, specular and glow, are what can truly make the differences between one common hilt and one good one

 

Ok, so I looked into it. I figured if there was more then one texture involved with the skinning of a saber (especially spec and glow) that shaders HAD to have a part in it. Found in the weapons.shader you will get your answer:

 

models/weapons2/saber_5/saber_5

{

{

map models/weapons2/saber_5/saber_5

rgbGen lightingDiffuse

}

{

map models/weapons2/saber_5/saber_5_spec

blendFunc GL_SRC_ALPHA GL_ONE

detail

alphaGen lightingSpecular

}

{

map models/weapons2/saber_5/saber_5_glow

blendFunc GL_ONE GL_ONE

glow

detail

rgbGen identity

}

}

 

All sabers are listed in there. I sampled saber_5 because it used spec and glow textures. No need to add your sabers to the weapons.shader, just make a .shader file with those attributes for the spec and glow.

[Wolrajh]

Good news Psynex This will probably help to create cooler and cooler hilts. I haven't much to add here yet!

Except that I'll be trying to make a tutorial soon... Many peoples asked me to, so I'll probably use some of my precious spare time If that happens, I'm sure to give you credits, Psynex, and maybe a little url link. At least, if you accept.

[Psynex]

Don't give me the credit....Raven did it. I just found it. However, what would be cool is if you type up the tutorial, I could add it to mine. Between you and I we could form Vultron! I mean, a super great tutorial with all questions answered. Even if anyone else chipped in we could combine all 5 lions.

[Jevathan]

Hey, I know this doesn't really fit here 100%, but any tips any of you could give me in setting up a decent UV map in Gmax? I've figured out how to get the untextured sabers in game (thanx in great part to psynex's turotial ) But I just can't figure out UVs in gmax. I'm pretty good at skinning... all I need is to know how to set up the UV maps to get started.

[Jevathan]

Well, I got my test saber in game and working. Now I'd like to use it in single player...something was mentioned about editing the .menu files? I gave it a quick try and I obviously missed something.

 

And until I figure this out, whats the console command to change sabers?

[Psynex]

Originally posted by JevTaliz

Hey, I know this doesn't really fit here 100%, but any tips any of you could give me in setting up a decent UV map in Gmax? I've figured out how to get the untextured sabers in game (thanx in great part to psynex's turotial ) But I just can't figure out UVs in gmax. I'm pretty good at skinning... all I need is to know how to set up the UV maps to get started.

 

This is a rather lengthy Tutorial I wrote. I figure about half-way through you should get the picture:

 

Unwrap Tutorial

[Jevathan]

Thats ok, I managed to find a basic tutorial and figured out the rest (I've UV mapped before, it was more of an issue of figuring out Gmax's interface for it).

 

My real problem now is getting the saber to be single plyaer selectable.

[ondrahosek]

To see the file syntax for SAB files, check out ext_data/sabers/sabers.sab in assets1.pk3.

 

Psynex, I have some addendums to make to your tutorial:

 

1. MD3View can read the relative path through the skin file (like models/map_objects/toilets/pissoir.jpg) if you have a legal version of JA installed.

 

2. Tell the newbies that they have to put where they want the player's hand to be onto the origin (0,0,0) in max.

 

3. saberColor doesn't work, because you are in a menu where you can pick a color yourself. If you want the default colors (as described in saberColor), write "saber new_custom_saber" into the console.

 

4. I always only tell the exporter plug-in for max to export only those objects that begin with a "w_", because I backup the old ones (the saber made of primitives and the unoptimized saber).

 

5. For me, the tag export worked. The tags should be "tag_parent" on 0,0,0 and "tag_blade#" anywhere I want.

 

6. Naming the saber folder "single_#" or "dual_#" does not help you at all. It's just a bit of Raven's "everything is numbered and not named" trick. I had no problems naming my saber folder "saber_woodblade" for a saber with seven blades and my other saber folder "saber_lilit" (Lilit Twoseas' saber). It really is the .SAB file that counts.

 

7. Even if you are making a multi-bladed saber, keep the type set to "SABER_SINGLE". Only when you want to make a staff-like saber that can't be used as dual sabers you may use SABER_STAFF.

 

If you still have some problem, feel free to to post it here and I will look into it.

 

 

 

Now to you, JevTaliz.

 

The file you need to edit is in assets1.pk3 and is called ui/saber.menu.

 

If you open this file, you will see something between Java and gibberish. The question you need to ask yourself is "As what kind of saber do I want to declare mine?"

 

To add it as a Single Saber, search for the text @MENUS_SINGLE_HILT1. To add it as an option in Dual Sabers, search for "ui_saber2" with quotes. To add it as a staff, search for @MENUS_STAFF_HILT1.

 

You should find yourself near a list named "CvarStrList". In there, you can see entries like:

@MENUS_SINGLE_HILT1 "single_1"

 

What you need to do is to add your own entry like this:

"<name_of_your_saber>" "<name_in_sab_file>"

e.g.

"The Two Seas" "lilitsaber"

if your .sab file begins with:

 

lilitsaber

{

 

Hope that helped.

[Vile]

just a note maby the max blades is set to less than 8 as in the code it is

if(blades<8)

ok what ever

else{

return to main screen code

that error message}

 

just a guess...........

 

also for the making your own tags what exactly do I do to make the saber not backwards as you said do it yourself but I am still trying to figure out what it is I have to do

[ondrahosek]

Nope, I checked the specifications, you can have up to 8 blades INCLUSIVE. That means you may use a saber with eight blades!

(I made a seven-bladed one, and, if you type the correct command into the console, every blade has some other color)

 

To make your own tags, I recommend importing some existing ones and duplicating them. Use the MD3 importer to get "models/weapons2/saber/saber_w.md3" (from assets1.pk3; it's Kyle's saber).

 

You will get the saber geometry and two tags (I think it's tag_parent and tag_flash). tag_parent should import exactly on 0,0,0 and tag_flash somewhere around.

 

To meet JA specification:

1. [*]Everything that belongs to your saber must begin with a "w_".

[*]You must export your hilt at 0,0,0 where you want the player's hand to be.

[*]Rename tag_flash to tag_blade1 and duplicate it (to tag_blade2 until tag_blade8, depending on the number of blades you want).

[/list=1]

 

You will have to model your hilt out of primitives, convert them to editable meshes, attach them so that they are one editable mesh. Then, you texture, UVW and export it. Then you write a SAB and a SKIN file.

 

If you want to know more about one step, post a reply.

 

Post Scriptum: I would be happy if you'd ever use the '.' button on your keyboard. i dont like it if you write like this i will have to figure out where one sentence ends and then when a new one begins that is very painful so please use that button