Noob Q's

[DanHart]

Q # 1

Started work on building to learn about modeling and texturing. I want to load it into the game when its finished. However, the poly's are low but the scale is larger than the town center building in the game. Will this mess up the configurations? will i be able to load it into the scenario editor?

Q# 2

General game dev question

In Grand Ages Rome, how did they make the camera be able to zoom out so far without the game crashing? How is 0 A.D. different?

[Stan`]

To prevent this kind of problems make sure you always import a model from the game to get the scale

It seems your model has broken normals (face upside down) and it might not render correctly in the game

To answer your question yes you will be able to load it in the scenario editor.

0ad restricts the camera to a certain distance. It can be bypasses in atlas. In the game you need to open the dev overlay Alt+D and click on restrict camera. You will be able to zoom out as much as you want

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

[wowgetoffyourcellphone]

Q#2: Grand Ages of Rome has "level of detail" in the engine. When ytoyu zoom out the assets switch to lower def version of themselves to save rendering.

[Lion.Kanzen]

Q#2: Grand Ages of Rome has "level of detail" in the engine. When ytoyu zoom out the assets switch to lower def version of themselves to save rendering.

that is the some systems asked by enrique right? So we don't have yet that feature?

[Stan`]

No we don't cause we would either need to create three or four version of each objects or make a program that does generate them automatically.

[Lion.Kanzen]

The second part sounds better.

[Stan`]

Also with regards to your model, notice the minoans are present in Aristeia's mod

[niektb]

Also with regards to your model, notice the minoans are present in Aristeia's mod

(For the record: http://wildfiregames.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=17014&p=304344)

[Giotto]

For Q2 why can't you just compress the model? Create it with 3x memory (or information about it) for the normal one and 1x for the far away one.

[Stan`]

For Q2 why can't you just compress the model? Create it with 3x memory (or information about it) for the normal one and 1x for the far away one.

Everything is possible with 0 A.D. when you find someone to code the features you want. In this case if we were to make lods we'd end up with more or less 200 buildings to make, and that would make the game heavier to download too.

[DanHart]

Thanks for the replies!

To prevent this kind of problems make sure you always import a model from the game to get the scale
It seems your model has broken normals (face upside down) and it might not render correctly in the game

To answer your question yes you will be able to load it in the scenario editor.

0ad restricts the camera to a certain distance. It can be bypasses in atlas. In the game you need to open the dev overlay Alt+D and click on restrict camera. You will be able to zoom out as much as you want

If you have any more questions feel free to ask.

I downloaded the github files and used a character mesh for reference to the scale of the building. I guess what I was trying to ask if the game would not recognize the model because its base is roughly a large rectangle, where the town center is a square. When I model buildings do I have to use exact base parameters to build the structure from or is that just the standard the developers want for the game? I don't plan to give the building any functionality outside of a wonder type building. I just wanted to make a simple building. This came to mind from a picture I found on the internet.

Thanks for pointing out the normals - I had no clue super amateur here.

Q3:

The Minoan buildings look cool. I downloaded the Aristeia mod files from github. I noticed that textures for all the buildings in a civilization are on the same png and that each building pulls textures from this single png. For my minoan building do I need to use the texture map from the Aristeia mod? or can I create my own texture png map and then put that in the files to render the object in Atlas? Since this is a learning project for me, I prefer to make my own map to get the experience.

Q4: Level of Detail

If I wanted to experiment, could I make two other low poly versions of my building and implement LOD in the game with just my one building (I wouldn't do it with all buildings, that is to much modeling)? I don't know much about programming, but could a noob tackle this experiment? or is this advanced game programming stuff? Not a big deal to me, but I think it would be an interesting experiment for me to try if it is reasonable.

Q5:

Any other tips for getting my building into Atlas, so I don't make noob mistakes?

[Stan`]

Looking at the first image I guess you are using blender. Make sure when importing collada models to check import units. Else scale might be off.

About the model size, you can have square rectangles, and circles:)

Q3:

You can create your own texture. Be careful though on image copyright though.

Q4

Well you could Import them as different objects yes, but not as an interactive object. You would need to code the feature for that.

Q5

I'd read this I guess http://trac.wildfiregames.com/wiki/Basic3DImplementation

[Giotto]

Again Q2, you wouldn't have to make entirely new buildings, you would just have to lower the quality of the original ones. Why is this hard to accomplish?

[Stan`]

Again Q2, you wouldn't have to make entirely new buildings, you would just have to lower the quality of the original ones. Why is this hard to accomplish?

Time consuming for the most part, also, you have to fix the way texture applies, decide on what is worth keeping and worth removing etc. Added that some buildings don't have much details already... I'm pretty sure building rendering is not a bottleneck. Trees on the other side yes.

[Giotto]

Ok. Thanks for clearing that up

[DanHart]

Part I:

Okay I got this far... (I decided to do a different model that would be simpler)

I tried to load into atlas, but my model is not showing.

not sure what I am doing wrong.

Part II:

downloaded Aristeia mod, but I can't get it to load either.

[niektb]

Part 1: did you make a simulation template? If no, than you should look under the actor section. (there's a drop down in the object tab saying 'Entities', switch that to Actors.

Part 2:

You've put it in the wrong folder, it should be next to the public folder, not inside.

Also due to a packaging oversight you need one additional step:

In the public.zip (which is in the public folder) there is a mod.json.

Copy it and put it just outside of the zip file. (so you have 2 files inside the public folder: public.zip and mod.json)

Edited November 10, 2015 by niektb

[Giotto]

I have nothing in my public folder yet the game runs fine (Ubuntu)

Edited November 10, 2015 by Giotto

[niektb]

I have nothing in my public folder yet the game runs fine (Ubuntu)

It's about running a mod, not running a game

[DanHart]

I tried making a unit model. It took forever! and I am not sure if I did it right.

I used the existing meshes from the github files and then slightly made changes.

Helmet - used celt helmet mesh and made adjustments. Texture - made new texture and grabbed random metal from google images.

Head - used beard mesh and made adjustments to add the mullet. Texture - used Xerxes texture (the head and arm skin does not match.

Body - used long tunic mesh and made adjustments for the striped tassels. Texture - used existing 0 A.D. texture and edited it in gimp. At first I tried making one from scratch (that was a bad idea).

Shield - Used existing shield. Texture - used existing textures from files and edited them with gimp - lots of cut and paste.

Q1: If the meshes are already existing do I need to re-rig and animate? I made small changes to the meshes.

Q2: I scaled up the body and other objects to be able to work on them. How do I know what scale to get them back to for the game? (for the photo I just imported the objects and eyeballed them)

Q3: I did not do a normal map/occ/spec. Can the model still be loaded? Does it matter (I know it won't look the best) or do I have to make all the physical armor in blender to get the normal map? (I saw the tutorial with the egyptian texture) Does this have to be done for each model?

Q4: For UV layouts how do I get them all nicely arranged like below if I want to make custom mesh? or do I have to manually arrange them with each model?

Q5: will the UV overlap in the second image cause problems?

Q6: If I want on my next model to use 512 x 512 for the body and 256 x 256 for the helmet can It work with the 0 A.D. engine. Is there a limit? (I am aware if there are a lot of high poly/high resolution images I will have to have few units to avoid it crashing)

Q7: I tried to delete all my 0 A.D. files for the game to re-download the game. (i screwed up atlas when I was messing with mod files or something) However, when I try to delete all the files the computer says "they are being uses" even when I don't have the game running. Not sure what to do?

This was a mess.

This was better laid out, but primarily taken from the existing UV layouts for the models.

The files for the models/textures are attached if someone wants to use them. Right now I am having problems with 0 A.D. on my computer. So I can't do much from here.

Criticism on my model is welcomed and appreciated. Thanks!

[DanHart]

Never mind on the files, It won't let me upload them. I have them if anyone wants them.

[Lion.Kanzen]

the community forums don't let upload files without be compressed in.zip extension.

[Stan`]

Q1: If you imported the mesh from the game you might run into trouble when reexporting. Id suggest using the new units meshes provided in the new units thread in the anouncement cause they will be future proof and you will be able to edit them as you wish

Q2 DO NOT scale objects this messes up rigging and animation. Also when importing make sure to use the import units option in blender.

Q3 Aomap can't be used for animated meshes. Spec map isn't that hard to do but is not required. Bump map will only be visible if you have gpu skinning enabled and material quality set to 10.0 As of tofay yoi have to edit the user.cfg file to modify this.

Q4 you have to manually arrange them or bake the texture to another clean uv layout.

Q5 No.

Q6 yes you can.

Q7 Make sure pyrogenesis is not running in the background sometimes Atlas doesnt close properly.

Hope it helps keep it up.

[Lion.Kanzen]

is this an Assyrian Infantry, are you interesed in our mods?

[DanHart]

Here is the zipped files.

The Aristiea mod looks cool. I got it into the mod selection window, but I couldn't run it. I think it was an error with version compatibility with 0 A.D. (most likely I just don't know what I am doing though) As far as the mod I don't mind helping. I'm not just sure how useful I will be. I have only been doing this stuff for three weeks. Also, I have other obligations so I can't commit to meeting deadlines, but I plan to churn out some more Assyrian characters. I want to work on an auxiliary infantry unit next, when I get this current model squared away.

The Model:

He is an infantrymen. His weapon would be a spear, but historically he could have two functions with a spear and sword. He is from the Neo-Assyrian Empire (early iron age). In 0 A.D. terms he wold be a professional soldier, heavy infantry, trained at a fortress or special building.

AssyrianWarrior.zip

Edited November 21, 2015 by DanHart