So...I am making a new version of the Scorpion Tank. You are probably thinking "WAIT! Isn't there already a new Scorpion tank? Like this one: http://hce.halomaps.org/index.cfm?fid=2755?" Well...mine is different. I will not be releasing any information on it....yet. But will be releasing it with my map. But my main thing that the post is about is about properly animating the tank itself. I was wondering how they made the treads move in-game, because when i import the Scorpion tank using the Blue Streak GBX model importer by Ghost the treads are separate from the rest of the model. Not only that but i noticed that the treads are not completely rounds. Its kinda hard to explain, so here's a picture: http://yfrog.com/n4treadsp. This is what i am talking about. So...how do you animate the treads moving when in-game? Can someone please verify this subject.

Thanks

Videoman

since your making a tank can you make a halo 3 tank. also i know that the scorpion tank in halo 3 has two different weapons controlled by two people the main canon which is controlled by the guy driving the tank and then a turret which is controlled by another person and then their are four other passangers that sit on the side.

but anywayz from what i hear from the community from this site is that the halo CE engine doesnt let vehicles have two different kind of weapons controlled by two different people (or something like that) but is it possible that you make the turret but the turret can not be used but can be just used for holding as a 5th passanger?

Wow......you ether read my post and decided to answer it in a way that does not relate to it, or....you decided to read and only answer the part about me making a new scorpion tank that was never really a question in the first place. Can someone please answer the question i asked?

Thanks

Videoman

PS: No offense intended.
Edited by videoman on Aug 30, 2010 at 09:41 PM

lol sorry. fine i will answer your question, my answer is i don't know there you go

WOW! Thanks for the great answer. That REALLY helps. Can someone please answer my question without being harsh and kinda rude.

Thanks


Videoman

if it is an animation, and bear in mind i have no idea what i am talking about when it comes to animating.
there must be a setting to "follow a path" or "constrain to path"or similar, in animation settings in max.
use an appropriate piece of surrounding geometry as a path, and the tracks should follow the correct path.
srry i cant be more help.
Edited by Maniac1000 on Aug 30, 2010 at 10:05 PM
Edited by Maniac1000 on Aug 30, 2010 at 10:06 PM

ok..thanks Manic, but....i forgot to add in my original post that i was told that when animating the treads....there is a shader you have to apply to them. But do i do that in 3ds max...or in Gorilla?

Then its done with texture scrolling.
These are the settings for the stock scorpion shaders.

hey, sorry i can't help, but don't you think secrecy is counter productive? if you come out with this tank that nobody ever dives because it's too uber or too lame, nobody would have been able to tell you what you could do with it to make it better, until it was too late.

it also means, if people like your idea in the forum, they will tune in on your progress, give more help, and watch out for your map to be released to see how it'll go. i always share my ideas to make sure that other people don't have better ones or at least agree with the ones i have.

Good on ya for making a custom vehicle though, it's pretty tough going sometimes.

He has shared, just not with the public yet :)
Oh, and Videoman the model\collision are finished
Edited by Amazingcuziam on Sep 3, 2010 at 08:22 AM

but how am i going to know if it's worth it? i don't randomly browse maps and read what vehicles are in them, let alone download random maps to see what they're like.

Don't wanna miss out on a great vehicle because nobody can spread the rumor to me

@Xaos: you should anyway, because lots of noobs out there release awful maps that make my eyes bleed, some release maps that are better than that but not quite 'up there' yet, and others release great ones. Then the good designers like CMT release maps, and everyone drools over them.

Anyways, sometimes you have to download 'random' maps just to see what they're like. Maybe you can rip something from their BSP, or take an idea, or perhaps they've included that one vehicle/version of a vehicle that no one else has. I'd say some maps are worth a shot, even if they do look bad.

Anyways, to answer your question, Videoman, tank and Warthog treads and tires are simply objects in the shape of a tread or tire, smoothed out, and they receive a specific bitmap. The bitmap has two different textures: one blurred, the other non-blurred. The bitmap and shader combo control the blur; when the vehicle travels at a certain speed, the non-blurred texture is replaced with a blurred texture to give the appearance of increased rotation. I'm not sure how it is controlled, or where to look, but I have seen the bitmaps, and extrapolated their use from them.

So, make a bitmap, put your non-blurred tread design in one area, then put a blurred one in another area of the bitmap. When you UVW your tank, make sure the treads reference the non-blurred portion of your bitmap. I believe Maniac1000 was correct in referencing the Scorpion shaders and texture scrolling.

Oh, by the way, since you specified new animations in your thread title, I would suggest you replace the firing animation with a more accurate animation that causes the entire tank to respond to firing, as in make the whole tank lurch whenever the main cannon is fired, instead of only the cannon. This, however, would probably require you to specify some sort of force variable, otherwise you'd have to animate the reaction of firing from multiple angles.
Edited by CAG Gonzo on Sep 4, 2010 at 03:11 PM