I was wondering if there is an easy way to fix nearly coplanar surface warnings in max. They don't seem to cause any problems in game, but they must have a warning for some reason. maybe the physics engine doesn't like them. in any case, I'm sick of having to delete them when importing debug files. i just want to fix them.

ALSO: How do you make a heightmap from max? I know it has something to do with "render to texture".

ALSO: is there a way to find faces in 3ds max that have slope greater then 45? I know "automatic flatten uvw" can find them, but it's not very helpful for editing them.

One more thing, how easy would it be to attach the marine assault rifle flashlight beam (like those on a50) to the players helmet flashlight so they have it when they turn on their flashlight in game?

Might as well throw this in as well, has anyone ever used the "." shader symbol, exact portal property, successfully? (and how?!) My tool doesn't recognize it and considers any material with it a new shader to be made.
Edited by Vick Jr on Jan 3, 2009 at 07:43 PM

Its a script for the face selection, i cant remember which one though.
Its either Orion Flame, Pollyboost or BaoAutoChamfer, i think.

http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max-script-tags/modeling

Hey Vick, we seem to be wandering along the same teach yourself mapping path, but alone!

I have much the same questions as you!

I have so far worked out how to create a scenery model with lighting attached, the lighting appears in game, but does not move with the scenery, which is what i wanted to do in the first place.

The scenery would be a single unit fixed to the ceiling with four beams coming from it. I want to use a light to shine on the ground to represent the focal point of the beams.

Here's the heirarchy of the model...

frame [eventually will rotate slowly, thus rotating the whole animation]
... equipment [unit fixed to ceiling where beams come from]
... frame_beam1 [animated to move beam1 and beam1 marker]
... ... #beam1 [marker for beam to show where light would appear]
... ... beam1 [conical transparent object to represent beam]

... frame_beam2 [animated to move beam2 and beam2 marker]
... ... #beam2 [marker for beam to show where light would appear]
... ... beam2 [conical transparent object to represent beam]

... frame_beam3 [animated to move beam3 and beam3 marker]
... ... #beam3 [marker for beam to show where light would appear]
... ... beam3 [conical transparent object to represent beam]

... frame_beam4 [animated to move beam4 and beam4 marker]
... ... #beam4 [marker for beam to show where light would appear]
... ... beam4 [conical transparent object to represent beam]

ok, so I must be missing the point, but I assumed that if I attached the beam object and the beam marker to the frame called frame_beam1, then moved frame_beam1, the beam would move (which it does) and the light attached to the marker would move too (which it doesn't).

I now have a scenery tag that works fine, apart from the light, which refuses to move.

Now i'm confused and stuck.

Update...

I went back to my animated scenery object and attached a particle system tag to each marker instead of a light tag and the particle systems did in fact appear and move around with the false beams. I can assume from this that a) my light tag is at fault even tho it does appear in game or b) you can't use light tags with animated scenery. Still stuck tho.
Edited by Black Crypt on Jan 7, 2009 at 04:20 PM

thats actually becuse you probaly runned radiosity so the light will show.

s=selection[1]
fc=s.faces.count

slope=cos(45)

basf=#{}
basf.count=fc
zMin=undefined
zMax=undefined
for i=1 to fc do
(
	f=s.faces
	
	in coordsys world gfn=getFaceNormal s f.index
	
	if zMin==undefined then
		zMin=gfn.z
	else
		if gfn.zMax then zMax=gfn.z
	
	basf=(abs(gfn.z)<slope)
)
s.selectedfaces=basf
format "Normal's z range: % to %\n" zMin zMax to:listener

[EDIT]dang, parts of the code are interpreted as text formatting...
just click Quote, and copy fom your edit window
(fixed 'zzMax')[/EDIT]

copy and paste into a new maxscript, and select Execute from the new script's file menu.
Works on 1 selected object, if it's an editable mesh with no modifiers applied (modifiers can be cut and pasted back on afterward)

I got a script to select verts in the same position as the verts in error geometry, but I gotta double check it's condition with a debug session first, and set it up for object names from Gimp and max's wrl importer.

Quote: --- Original message by: Vick Jr
How do you make a heightmap from max? I know it has something to do with "render to texture".

UVW map the terrain with a cylinder. Be sure to click fit
Then apply a gradient material, and render from top view. You might want to set an omni far above it, I think that disables the default lighting.
There must be a better way, but it'll probably work for you

I failed to make coplanar errors, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.
Copy, new script, paste, and execute, like the other (from Reply to Post edit window). (Of course you can save it too, I don't mind)

for s1 in $VIFS* do
(
	for s2 in selection do
	(
		matches=#()
		
		for v2 in s2.selectedVerts do
			for v1 in s1.verts do
				if (distance v1.pos v2.pos)<.1 then
					append matches v2.index
		
		s2.selectedVerts=matches
	)
)

Edited by bobbysoon on Jan 17, 2009 at 03:29 PM

Ya, things attached to markers move with them. But if it's a regular light, then it's lighting effects won't move when it moves. It has to be a dynamic light.
I have also found that there can be glitches if you move out of the render/ collision bounding radei of animated scenery, they will disappear or appear to stop animating.

How did you get things attached to markers to appear? Is it something to do with the functions?

And, Black Cryps, I wonder if you happen to also be working with underwater bubbles or fog.
http://forum.halomaps.org/index.cfm%3Fpage=topic&topicID=23045
http://forum.halomaps.org/index.cfm%3Fpage=topic&topicID=21625

Thanks for those max scrips, Bobbysoon! I'll see if they work. Keep improving them. Little scripts like that can be some of the most helpful for map-making.

The reason I don't want to just move the verts of the nearly-coplanar surfaces is that thy are supposed to be coplanar, but I guess they are off by a very small amount. I want to fix them to be exactly coplanar. If they were along an axis, I could just make them have the same x,y, or z coordinates, but they aren't aligned with any world axises. There's some way to use axises that are based on the geometry, but I don't know how.
Edited by Vick Jr on Jan 9, 2009 at 08:10 PM
Edited by Vick Jr on Jan 9, 2009 at 08:12 PM

I'm sorry, I forgot half of the co-planar thing - use the script to select the verts that are coplanar, and then, what I do, is apply a noise modifier. Usually, scale 3 on x, y, & z are enough to eliminate most. Play with scale a bit before converting to mesh. Re-export and build and repeat untill all coplanars are gone.
Notice the part where it says selectedVerts. On your geometry, manually select the verts that might be coplanar, and then run the script. The selected verts will be filtered against the verts in $VIFS*, or objects who's names start with "VISF"

Hemmm. I tried the one to find 45 dgree angles or higher, the first one oyu posted, but it had an exception...
"Unknown property "zzMax" in (0,0,-1).
Anf highlighted "basf{i}=(abs(gfn.z)<slope)"
{ and } = [ and ]
I'll try that noise modefyer thing.
damn text formatting
Edited by Vick Jr on Jan 18, 2009 at 03:32 PM

How to fix Coplanars

First go Editable poly,then pick the two vertecies that causes the coplanar,then simply press the button "Make planar".OBS! this can move other faces around but that rarely happens..This is a fast way to do it whitout messing up your model.

~Wolf~

Just delete the extra z. It's supposed to be "zMin"
the selector script only selected verts, btw. Adding noise would be doing something with them


That sounds better than noise. Maybe it can be combined with the co-planer vert selector
Edited by bobbysoon on Jan 17, 2009 at 03:39 PM

it is..Fixed all coplanars like that in orion_final

I knew there was a button for it. lol

Does it have to be in editable poly and not mesh, and can you use it with polygons or triangles and not just verts? i tried it, and It seemed to work, but now it doesn't seem to be fixing them anymore.

And WHY is this messing up other objects in ym scener?

I export it, it works fine except for the nearlt co-planar surfaces, I import the debug, fix them in editable poly, export again, and then my portals, which are a completely different object which I didn't touch at all, are messed up with "portal does not define 2 closed volumes" and "unearthed edge"s. (And of course I can't fix it because there should be no problems in the first place)
Edited by Vick Jr on Jan 18, 2009 at 06:04 PM

Now it dousn't seem to be fixing it at all. These things are tricky.
Edited by Vick Jr on Jan 18, 2009 at 10:12 PM

you can basicly make some faces planar as manny times you like.If it works..

The light that I attached is a dynamic light. It still fails though :(



Add markers to your scenery model in 3ds. Markers are any objects that have the # symbol before their name (like : #exhaust). I created a small sphere and placed it where i wanted the light to radiate from.

Then attach a contrail, light, light volume, effect, particle system or sound looping tag to the marker you made from inside the .scenery tag. Scroll down to 'attachments', click add then select the tag you want to add. Should be simple, but it still fails :(

attach marker to scenery.

Can you expand a little? Do you mean link the marker to the oject in 3ds? If you do, then I have attached the marker to 'frame', which i assume means that when I move the frame, the marker will move and therefore the attached effect will move in game.
Edited by Black Crypt on Feb 1, 2009 at 11:07 AM

try turning scenery to a device then compile a syncing script to it.

correct, as you may have noticed, if you did so with the scene which gets exported and compiled to the gbxmodel tag. If you exported a scene with #markers for a physics tag, they'd be #masspoints instead. They're ignored in collision i believe