Saber hilt is jacked in game

[Emon]

Well, I managed to get it in game, but I've hit a snag.

 

Here's the first shot:

http://www.massassi.net/ec/images/5101.jpg

 

 

Now, where the hell is the saber blade?

 

Oh, here it is:

http://www.massassi.net/ec/images/5102.jpg

 

 

How the hell do I fix this?

[Lord -=[FBF]=-]

realign tag_flash

the saber is emmitted from the wider angle, in line with the shorter edge. i assume that u have it with the narrower angle pointing where u want the blade to go, which is what i did first time. rotate the tag 90 degrees or so and u should b fine.

[Emon]

How the hell do I rotate tags? I modeled it in Milkshape, I don't have 3DSM, how else can I do it?

[Ozma]

I thought this was a prob with tags. It hapend to me once when I was trying out a hit but qhen I clicked the sber off then back on, it was fine...

[Lord -=[FBF]=-]

a tag is a 2d triangular polygon with one side exactly twice the length of the other, right? so just rotate it the same way u rotate other things in milkshape. i dont use it, so im not sure how u rotate things in it, but thats all u have 2 do. its just another polygon.

[Emon]

I am seeing no triangles...

[remark 666]

open up other fan made sabers and you'll see

[BradFu]

Then perhaps that's the problem. Maybe with a missing Tag_Flash, it throws it to a default position, just like tag_parent. I can't tell from that picture, but it looks like it might just be emitting from the central XYZ axis. To create a tag, you just make a Plane, and delete one corner so it's a triangle, with one of the straight sides twice as long as the other, then name that new object tag_flash and position it where you want the blade to emit.

[Lord -=[FBF]=-]

ok. ur making a saber hilt, yes? so, in order to get the saber blade, u have to MAKE a tag. no tag, no blade. if u didnt make the tag, which is the only explaination for why u cant find it, then u imported the original saber MD3 as either a reference or to get sizings right. am i right so far? if u made it, u should know where it is. if u imported the original, then when u deleted it u obviously missed the tag, which happens. so, either have a very close look at the area where the blade is being emmitted from ingame (remembering that what ur looking for is in 2d, and is probably untextured, so itll jst be a few lines), or use Select by Name (if there is one in milkshape - there is in gmax) and select tag_flash. thats about all i can think of. oh yeh, it might be easier to see in Wireframe if u dont have a Select by Name option.

[Lord -=[FBF]=-]

good idea BradFu, but as far as i know u dont get a blade without a tag. i tried importing a hilt without a tag, and u get the humming noise but no blade. so im guessing that theres a tag_flash that snuck in there from the original saber model

[Emon]

I believe the reason there is no tag is maybe because I imported the MD3 and not the GLM... I'll fiddle with it, I'll post back here if I need more help. Thanks so far.

[Lord -=[FBF]=-]

the tag is there, or u wouldnt get a blade at all. it comes in fine with the MD3, cos u can only import MD3s into gmax and i get it then. itll just be a case of looking till u find it, im afraid. does Milkshape have a Select by Name feature?

[Darth-Nasty]

I did have that problem but i rotated the tag and now the blade looks flawless when holding and swinging the saber. However when i throw it the blade is at another wierd angle any ideas why this is??

[Emon]

Actually, there's a GLM importer for Milkshape which you can get here.

[Lord -=[FBF]=-]

Darth-Nasty - No idea mate. mine all throw fine with no problems. thats confusing...

[Lord -=[FBF]=-]

hmm, yeh, but i use gmax, so it doesnt do me much good.

[Emon]

WHOA! I was messing around with the tags and such, and I almost got it working, however...

 

I accidentally put the tag on upside down, so the blade emitted from the bottom. I got this idea that it could be like a new saber stance like Adi Gallia's from Jedi Power Battles, where they hold the saber upside down. Unfortunatly, most all of the moves made the saber go through the person. However, in either Tavion or Desann's stance (dunno which, it's the new blue stance), almost NONE of the moves do that! The saber idle anim makes that happen when it returns the saber to the idle position, however it doesn't with the yellow stance's saber ready position.

 

Later I'm going to fool around with that a bit, see if I can angle the saber a little differently design a different hilt or something (like Dooku's, perhaps) that will allow a totally "new" saber stance without new animations and without it going through the player! WOOHOO!

[Lord -=[FBF]=-]

kool! sounds good

[Emon]

If there's one thing I learn today, it's that I kick ass.

[Lord -=[FBF]=-]

lol

[Emon]

Ok, it works perfectly now. Go check out my WIP thread if you wanna see the final product.

[Darth-Nasty]

Does the saber throw work fine on yours???

 

mine still dont work properly

[Emon]

Yeah, it's fine.

[Lime-Light]

could you post the steps you took to convert the .ms3d file to a .glm and in game?

[Emon]

1. Download the GLM Importer plugin for MS3D from this site.

 

2. Extract the models\weapons2\saber folder and all files from assets0.pk3 and put it in your Jedi Outcast\GameData\base\models\weapons2\saber folder.

 

3. Import saber_w.glm into MS3D with that fancy plugin your just downloaded.

 

4. Rename *flash to tag_flash and *parent to tag_parent and delete the w_saber groups.

 

5. Make your new saber (might want to keep w_saber as a reference of size and such until you are done). You can use multiple groups while making the saber to make texturing easier, but make sure to select all groups (excluding the two tag groups) and regroup then, then rename them to w_saber. Also, you must make all your groups use only one texture.

 

6. From the Tools menu, create a Quake III Arena control file and name the file w_saber. Edit it in Wordpad or Notepad, and change the following lines:

 

// frame 1-30

$frames 1 30

 

You should make them into:

 

// frame 1-1

$frames 1 1

 

 

Also change the value of $model to the proper path and name of your saber MD3 file, which should be saber_w.md3. Modify the $skin value on the w_saber mesh to match the proper path of your saber texture. Save and close the control file.

 

7. To make a LOD (level of detail) model, just do the same as above except remove the small details from your model and use the file name saber_w_1 instead. This step can be skipped if your saber model is very low poly, it is really only needed for low-end machines.

 

8. Choose Export > MD3 in MilkShape 3D to export as a MD3 file, and use the name saber_w.md3 for your model and saber_w_1.md3 for your LOD.

 

9. Now open up MD3View in your Jedi Outcast\GameData\Tools folder, and open up the saber_w.md3 file. You should be able to press the F1 and F2 keys to change between LODs. If you made a LOD and you can't seem to do this, then you've probably made a mistake somewhere. Just try redoing all your control files and exports and such, and make sure all file names are correct.

 

10. The select to save your saber MD3 as a GHOUL2 GLM, and MD3View will export it to a GLM of the same name as the MD3 file (in this case, saber_w.glm).

 

11. Now all you have to do is make the thing into a PK3 using WinZip or Pakscape or whatever, then put it in a mod folder or your base folder or whatever. Once you get it ingame (I had to use a mod folder, base wouldn't work), enjoy your new saber hilt!