A start on the .MESH file format

[GrumpyOldMan]

Hi All

Yes, I've finally bitten the bullet and released the beta

Bear in mind that this is the first release and it only supports human figures at this stage.

Mounts will follow shortly and KE is doing stirling work looking at Engines. The beta release is at http://rapidshare.com/files/24060090...a_1_6.zip.html . I tried to upload it here but couldn't find any upload links. I've talked to the moderators and maybe they can arrange to have it here.

There is a basic readme included with the zip. Read it, because if you ask me a question on something covered in the doc, you'll find out why they call me GrumpyOldMan.

Zxiang1983 has done an excellent basic tutorial on modifying a mesh and getting it into the game. You can find this at http://rapidshare.com/files/23918713/basic_tutorial.doc . Again well worth reading.

If you're a newbie to 3d modelling and/or Milkshape, I had a quick look with Google and apart from Milkshapes own tutorial link page http://chumbalum.swissquake.ch/ms3d/tutorials.html the page at http://www.angelfire.com/magic/bastd..._tutorial.html on how to add a crown has got lots of good info on manipulation and http://learngamedesign.com/gdt_A7.html and the other tutorials linked to that page have also got lots of info.

@@@@@Alpha testers - beta 0.16 has a small change because ramrods were being mapped to the wrong texture. The readme has also changed to take into account the smoothing line issue and the resolution of that problem, the 'Optional' flag for groups and a small acknowledgement paragraph (don't be upset if you're not there ) Alpha testers, don't hesitate to contact me by PM.

Everybody else don't try to PM about issues, start a thread at https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=176 and anybody with the knowledge or I will reply there.

Cheers

GrumpyOldMan

[zxiang1983]

Congratulations on the release! It's a big day in M2TW history!

[KnightErrant]

Second that!
Bravo on a great day in M2TW history.
(Feeling better now.) Many smilies due here as well
as a kudos. (Smilies follow...)

[AlphaDelta1]

GOM,

I've noticed that using the Menu/Tools/Model Information 1.7 method to resolve the smoothing line actually applies far too much smoothing all over the mesh.

I wonder if there's a plugin out there for ms3d that allows you to smooth faces with a specific smoothing angle?

Cheers

[Luciano B]

Thanks a lot GrumpyOldMan
...that's a great contribution to the community :)

[alpaca]

Finally people will be able to edit models, I just hope we'll have enough decent modellers to work on things

[Herkus]

My gratitude to everyone who worked on this tool.

[GrumpyOldMan]

Hi AD1

GOM,

I've noticed that using the Menu/Tools/Model Information 1.7 method to resolve the smoothing line actually applies far too much smoothing all over the mesh.

I wonder if there's a plugin out there for ms3d that allows you to smooth faces with a specific smoothing angle?

Cheers

The main problem is that we're calculating normals, tangents, etc from the vertex information stored in the ms3d. You could use any sort of smoothing angle you like within milkshape but it won't show unless you make some changes to the vertices. The only way around this is to individually select vertices within groups and weld them to lose the lines that are a problem - pretty labour intensive. As long as the welds are within groups, the converter will still produce a valid .MESH file. What the model information process does is weld all vertices within a group, so we can get an overall averaged normal.

Cheers

GrumpyOldMan

[Caliban]

Congratulations and excellent work on the release!

[AlphaDelta1]

GoM,

Ahh ok, so it's fine to weld verts in one group? I hadn't tried welding as the readme states it will make M2TW crash.

Cheers

[Taliferno]

Quick question but probably an easy answer (its my first time modding anything ever outside of text files, so please be kind).

After merging the parts that I want, the unit doesnt save as a MS3D file but as a plain old file. This means that I cant convert them back to .Mesh for MTWII. Any solutions?