Making props in Blender

[idanwin]

Hello,

I've been making some egyptian building models, the models themselves appear in the game without any problem but I'm not sure how to attach props to them (attaching existing props is not a problem it's attaching props that I made myself that poses difficulties).

I've made some prop models in blender and exported them to collada, made the necessary .xml files (I believe) and added the textures.

When I try to load it in the game it gives me this error message:

"

error: Could not load mesh 'art/meshes/structural/egypt_house_prop.dae'

error: CObjectEntry::BuildVariation(): Model art/meshes/structural/egypt_house_prop.dae failed to load

error: Failed to build prop model "props/structures/egyptians/egypt_house_prop.xml" on actor "house"

"

Is there something special you have to do with a model in blender to allow 0ad to load it as a prop model?

Thx,

Idanwin

[historic_bruno]

Hi, to use props you need to define "prop points" in the parent model. For static / non-animated models that's easy, just create an empty object in Blender and give it a name starting with "prop-" or "prop_". Position the prop however you want it to appear in-game. The engine will see those objects during model import and create prop points for them, which can be referenced in the actor XML files.

[idanwin]

Thank you, I don't really understand why it works, but it does! xD

I have however encountered a new problem:

failed requirement 'mesh has single set of polygons'

what does this mean exactly?

At first I thought it meant the model had to be in one piece, but this is not the case, some of my models that work in 0ad are made of several parts.

[feneur]

Thank you, I don't really understand why it works, but it does! xD

I have however encountered a new problem:

failed requirement 'mesh has single set of polygons'

what does this mean exactly?

At first I thought it meant the model had to be in one piece, but this is not the case, some of my models that work in 0ad are made of several parts.

I have a feeling those objects that work are, while more than one part, still one mesh?

[historic_bruno]

Erik is correct, make sure the model is a single mesh or it won't import into the game.

[idanwin]

What makes a model one single mesh?

[idanwin]

Discovered the problem: I had created a face the close a gap on top of a wooden pole in the fence! That such a small thing can cause so much trouble!

Thanks all!

[Gen.Kenobi]

Share your pics with us

[Enrique]

Hello,

I've been making some egyptian building models, the models themselves appear in the game without any problem but I'm not sure how to attach props to them (attaching existing props is not a problem it's attaching props that I made myself that poses difficulties).

I've made some prop models in blender and exported them to collada, made the necessary .xml files (I believe) and added the textures.

Hey Idanwin, do you have any egyptian textures/images under CC BY-SA 3.0 license?

I've done some egyptian models but I hadn't the time to make hieroglyphics/murals/paintings etc by myself in order to distribute them within the game.

And I also support Daniel's petition to share your pics with us

[idanwin]

I will share the pictures as soon as I've got some decent work done (this might take some time with my poor skills).

The textures I'm using at the moment come under either the CGTextures License, either GNU GPL 2 License, is this alright for the game? (I know there is some kind of agreement with CGTextures, so that shouldn't be a problem)

If anyone finds any other good textures I could use, please share because finding them has proven to be a lot of pain.

[Enrique]

I will share the pictures as soon as I've got some decent work done (this might take some time with my poor skills).

The textures I'm using at the moment come under either the CGTextures License, either GNU GPL 2 License, is this alright for the game? (I know there is some kind of agreement with CGTextures, so that shouldn't be a problem)

If anyone finds any other good textures I could use, please share because finding them has proven to be a lot of pain.

Yes, we have an special agreement with CGTextures. You can take a look to wikipedia, there are some "egyptian gods" images/pictures that are public domain. As well as some hieroglyphs that may come handy. But we need murals/paintings and so on. They had everything decorated.

I have some basic textures I made for personal fun, but I'd like to modify the textures with the appropiate liscensing to add them into the game. The only conflicting liscenses on the textures used on this picture were the hieroglyphs and the gods paintings/decorations. With some contributors help we may add a egyptian mini-faction .

http://www.wildfireg...=20#entry246300

[idanwin]

Hi, to use props you need to define "prop points" in the parent model. For static / non-animated models that's easy, just create an empty object in Blender and give it a name starting with "prop-" or "prop_". Position the prop however you want it to appear in-game. The engine will see those objects during model import and create prop points for them, which can be referenced in the actor XML files.

I tried this but the engine gives the following error:

"

warning: art/meshes/structural/egypt_house_a.dae: FCollada 97: No tessellation found for mesh.

warning: art/meshes/structural/egypt_house_a.dae: FCollada 97: No tessellation found for mesh.

error: art/meshes/structural/egypt_house_a.dae: Found too many possible objects to convert - try adding the 'export' property to disambiguate one

error: art/meshes/structural/egypt_house_a.dae: Couldn't find object to convert

error: Could not load mesh 'art/meshes/structural/egypt_house_a.dae'

error: CObjectEntry::BuildVariation(): Model art/meshes/strucutral/egypt_house_a.dae failed to load

"

I created two new objects in blender, emptied them and renamed them "prop-ladder" and "prop-amphora". Then I exported the model having those two empty objects selected.

[idanwin]

I feel really stupid now ... there is an option in blender to create empty objects ... xD

Anyway. The engine doesn't find the prop points now:

"

error: Failed to find matching prop point called "prop-amphora" in model "art/meshes/structural/egypt_house_a.dae" for actor "house"

error: Failed to find matching prop point called "prop-ladder" in model "art/meshes/structural/egypt_house_a.dae" for actor "house"

"

[idanwin]

Until someone can help me with the prop points I can't really get on, so I'll just post what I have now:

(see here)

[Sighvatr]

Not bad! What kind of building is it supposed to be?

[idanwin]

A market, but I need to add some activity.

(that's what I need the props for)

Edited August 20, 2012 by idanwin

[quantumstate]

Can you upload the model somewhere? Then someone can take a look at what might be causing the error.

[idanwin]

This is the market in game:

And here is the model for which I need prop points (that's the house):

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/66312600/housefinal.blend

I don't believe the problem is in the model though, it's probably just that I don't really understand how to work with props and I haven't found any pages that explain it well yet.

[Gen.Kenobi]

Hmm... Do you mind to upload the actor_file too?

BTW, nice model! It's a good start!

Hmm... You're doing it wrong. Make the props in the same model file. There's no need to add empties. You can model your props in different variations (each set in a different layer, just for organization purposes) then you can join each set in the same object and then you export it separately. (Where you are going to place the props in Blender is the place where the engine will read as prop_points.) Then you have to create prop.xml file to reference your prop models and textures. And then all you have to do is add the <prop> under the structure's main actor file. Piece of cake

Of course there should be other ways to do that, as you were doing, but this is the way and I and the way it works for me

PS: To much "Thens" on what I wrote. LOL

[feneur]

PS: To much "Thems" on what I wrote. LOL

As far as I can tell you mean "then"

[idanwin]

I discovered the problem:

In the actor xml I wrote attachpoint="prop_amphora", this should've been attachpoint="amphora". Maybe on the wiki this could be explained a little bit clearer?

I don't really have much experience with this kind of stuff, so I'm kinda discovering it all along the road, I only just discovered that you can set parents in blender and such. As a beginner modeller it would be nice if more experienced artists could give me some advice as to how I could improve the model (instead of: "it's a nice start", although I must say I'm flattered )

[historic_bruno]

Now that you know how to make propped models, you could make a tutorial for Trac Building on this guide and its style: http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/Basic3DImplementation

I'm sure there are many here who could do that but don't have the time, to be honest.