[Zacam]

Warning OGL reported "invalid value" at .\pcs_file.cpp (2143)
please report this issue to Bobboau

...or else...

Option: "Use OpenGL VBOs (if able)
Action: Selecting any item in SubObjects.

[chief1983]

In fact I wrote a small max script that applies the necessary data to turrets and engines.

Scooby, think you could put that script out there for others to borrow? 

[Scooby_Doo]

Will do.... making a tutorial right now.

[jacek]

HOW TO CONVERT MODEL FROM 3DSMAX TO PCS2 USING COLLADA
(this points will be probably attached to upcoming tutorial created by JGZinv):

First thing is to choose good collada plugin cause for example 3dsmax 2009 internal collada plugin didn't work properly.. I finally install ColladaMax OSS and it works well
https://collada.org/mediawiki/index.php/ColladaMax_OSS

Another thing is to reset x-form It will let PCS2 to set up bounding box properly. When we 're converting model we mustn't forget about name convention (hierarchy). All name rules for collada format is on freespace wiki.

Last thing: If You want to have Your model looking nice You mustn't forget about smoothing groups. I suggest to assign to one face(triangle or poly) one smooth group not more! Cause during conversion it generates some errors and probably our model in PCS won't look as we want.

I hope You understand cause I come from Poland and my english isn't good.

Enjoy!

[chief1983]

Thanks guys!

[JGZinv]

I wouldn't get all too fired up right away on my account at least.

I'm just trying to amass information about "the correct way" of doing things
from people that have actually produced ships recently. Having several year
old tutorials that may or may not apply to the current situation - just ain't cutting it.

I've got a 25+ model backup at FringeSpace waiting on me to deal with, and I know
next to nothing on conversions. So I've got to make a tut one way or another, just
to keep stuff straight in my head. Might as well write it for novices while I'm at it then.

If Scooby is going to make one, I'll be more than glad to help in whatever way I can.
He'll probably be much more capable than I am right now.

Right now I've only written up to the point of getting Max, Blender, and PCS2 installed and setup
to be used. All the mess afterward, will be the real meat and potatoes of the problem.

[FreeSpaceFreak]

FRED debug (RC3) says "Serious error loading model ArmedCargo.pof: 120 normals capped to zero" when I add this thingy (attached). What does it mean?
FSO debug keeps quiet about it, and the extended FS2_Open.log doesn't seem to show anything out of the ordinary either.

(By the way, I'm not planning to actually use this POS anywhere. It's solely for getting-started purposes.)

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[Vasudan Admiral]

That occurs when one or more verticies have normals that are not numbers, which is usually a problem in the model before conversion. Looking at the model, there do appear to be some faulty polys beneath the front and back of the multipart turret. The rest I suspect can be fixed by recalculating the normals - which app was this in just prior to conversion?

[FreeSpaceFreak]

Made in Blender (the multipart was stolen from the Aeolus ) , converted via Collada. Apart from fixing them, how to recognize faulty polies?

[Vasudan Admiral]

Ah excellent. In theory then all you should need to do is select all in edit mode and press Ctrl+N->click to confirm to recalculate normals to be outside the enclosed volume.

As for how to recognise them, that comes with experience mainly, but something that can definitely help is to have nothing selected in edge mode and go to select -> non-manifold (menu at the bottom of the 3d window). This will select all edges that are not a part of the continuous volume such as those around a hole in the mesh, or loose edges between verticies that don't actually have a face there as well.

For more info on that and other common mesh errors, have a look at the Geometry section of the Blender->POF wiki page: http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Blender_to_POF_Conversions

(I think I'll siggify that link actually - getting tired of finding it by rummaging around in the wiki every time )

[FreeSpaceFreak]

Just recalculating normals doesn't seem to work

.blend file attached, in case it can help; at first, I thought it could be the not-closed "shell" shape of the multipart causing it, but both the Aeolus and the Triton get away with it.

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[Vasudan Admiral]

Oh, I think I see it - don't use Ngons as you have on the docking port disc and the flat surface it's sitting on.

To remove them, select all faces, press F -> clear Ngons. When dealing with geometry destined for FS, stick to triangles and quads only if you have to.

In fact, make the little docking port disc separate from the box geometry, but still part of the same mesh. (Ie, if you select any face on the box and press Ctrl+L to select linked faces, the docking port won't get selected.

Also, your front and back turrets have their normals inverted - select all faces and press W->flip normals to fix.

[FreeSpaceFreak]

Clearing the NGons ... didn't work either Strangely enough, the model I based it from (attached) doesn't have the problem. So (I think) the problem is either in the turrets (possibly somewhere during converting all the way to .blend and back, or a bad alignment?), or in the "armour plate" I added at the bottom. But that one's simply an extrusion, so I doubt it's that.

Do you mean separating the entire docking cylinder or just the top face? And what's the advantage of doing it that way?
(Thanks for pointing to the inverted normals btw, I'm still trying to figure out how to find them on my own )

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[Vasudan Admiral]

Well, the extrusion isn't quite that simple - what you actually did was extrude three separate faces rather than the whole region of the bottom. This just means that you have 8 hidden faces beneath the two apparent 'edges' across the armour plate. They *shouldn't* be causing the vector error, but the faces are occupying exactly the same space as each other, and that's not a thoroughly reliable state of affairs. You could fix it just by deleting the internal edges and then welding the verts that are in the same space. If you're not sure what I'm talking about I'll take a pic.

About separating the docking cylinder - I mean the whole thing. You currently have it fully built into the surrounding face it's sitting on, which is guzzling a lot of polys it doesn't need to. Try just sitting it on top like this: http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y184/VA--Twisted_Infinities/BlenderTutorialStuff/DetailType2.jpg

[FreeSpaceFreak]

Oh, so that's the difference between region and faces... Fixed that, separated the docking cylinder - and now it works!
Since the dockport doesn't give errors on the other model, I guess it was the extrusion. Thanks a lot for your time

[Aardwolf]

Question: has anything been done about the VBO/omnipoints-related crash that occurs for certain computers (particularly mine)?

[Nuke]

anyone know where i can get the most recent pcs2 source? im kind of intrested in creating a terrain/planet generaton plug-in/external utility (which would output to pmf).

[chief1983]

The Alliance CVS server to my knowledge.  Browser  Client setup help

[Nuke]

theyre still using cvs? this sucks.

[TrashMan]

Scaling is a bit off.

I got a fighter of EXACTLY 20 FS units and a scale conversion factor of 1... that means my fihgter should end up 20 meters long...it ends up 28 meters long. Thing for some reason keep ending up bigger. Tried it several times and I can confirm it without doubt.