[Darkhill]

This is one thing I have never understood.  Could somebody give me the dummy version of adding shields?  I have seen one resource on it but it still didn't help me.

[Darkhill]

Actually I just figured it out.  But in Truespace my shield was a ball, in Modelview32 it was a twisted mess.  Any ideas on that?

[aldo_14]

Um... offhand, make sure your shield is triangulated; if it's a sphere in Ts, it won't be IIRC.

Not sure if that's your exact problem, but make sure anyways.

[Darkhill]

I even tried to make a box in Rhino and take it down to 500 faces with the same problem.  Selected the object and tried the triangluate mesh button of Truespace but didn't seem to do anything.

[i90r]

Modelview 32 has problems with shields ,
1 make a box
2 add a shield mesh
3 export using POF CS
4 make a temp pof with just shields
5 use Modelview 32 to export fighter
6 save fighter
7 open POF in POF SC
8 Import shields from temp pof

[aldo_14]

Originally posted by i90r
Modelview 32 has problems with shields ,
1 make a box
2 add a shield mesh
3 export using POF CS
4 make a temp pof with just shields
5 use Modelview 32 to export fighter
6 save fighter
7 open POF in POF SC
8 Import shields from temp pof

I've never had any problems with shields in modelview, with models converted with max2pof, PCS (multiple versions) or even the old cobtopof.

[i90r]

problem apears when you use modelview 32 to convert cob to pof

[Darkhill]

Trying POF CS cob to pof always gives me an error about to many polys in the same general area (or something like that).  Always use Rhino to make the model, Truespace to convert to cob, and Litunwrap to UV map it.

With Modelview I have no problem with it importing a shield from another craft.  But this craft isn't shaped like anything else to do that.

[Galemp]

Well, easiest way is to find an FS2 ship with a shield mesh about the right shape, import it with Modelview, then scale to fit. Otherwise you'll need modeling software.

[StratComm]

Originally posted by darkchrono4
Trying POF CS cob to pof always gives me an error about to many polys in the same general area (or something like that).  Always use Rhino to make the model, Truespace to convert to cob, and Litunwrap to UV map it.

With Modelview I have no problem with it importing a shield from another craft.  But this craft isn't shaped like anything else to do that.

I'll bet the problem is that, unlike the model itself, the shield mesh needs to be solid.  What I would do is make the shield mesh directly in Truespace rather than trying to import it from Rhino, as importing from other formats commonly causes overlapping vertices that may be causing PCS to crash when it tries to convert the shield.  If you can't get both the fighter and the shield in at the same time, convert a cube as another POF with the shield for your fighter, and use PCS to import that shield to your fighter mesh that way.

[Darkhill]

I used Truespace just to make a cube and a sphere for the shield.  Modelview imported it without messing it up but some of the vertices of the shield are connected to the cube I made.  Any ideas on that?

[StratComm]

I thought that'd be less dodgy than whatever you were doing before, but I don't quite know what you mean about the verts being "stuck" to the cube.  Send me the POF and COB of the shield (I don't really need the fighter if it's supposed to be secret) and I'll be happy to look for anything out of place.  PM me if you need a direct e-mail address for attachments.

[Darkhill]

I think its something to do with Modelview.  I tried the same cube and sphere combo with POF CS and it made the shield right.  Load it with Modelview and it looks alright.  Open a cob with Modelview and it warps some of the vertices around the cube.  Though vertices and faces are the same for both methods.

[StratComm]

Oh, yeah.  I meant to specify PCS for conversion.  I've never been fully confident in cob2fs2/cob2pof (the conversion algorithm used by Modelview) for anything other than geometry.  Use PCS, it's better at conversion than anything out there, so long as you can get the source into cob format.