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daveygary1979

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So my recent work with the special forces helmet addon had a few difficulties with the lighting and shadows cast upon them from in game items and i was told that this was due to the fact that they are defined as a glasses addon which do not cast self shadows as part of their coding! I then thought "what the hey, I will go ahead and incorperate them into a model and see how that pans out!"

well no to bad (in the editor) in o2 they look great! i fired up the buldozer viewer and this is what i get;

LOD1

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/buldozer2011-02-1811-51-52-98.jpg

LOD2

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/buldozer2011-02-1811-52-05-59.jpg

LOD3

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/buldozer2011-02-1811-52-16-65.jpg

LOD4

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/buldozer2011-02-1811-52-27-89.jpg

LOD5

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/buldozer2011-02-1811-52-44-78.jpg

PILOT VIEW

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/buldozer2011-02-1811-52-54-42.jpg

SHADOW VOLUME 1

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/buldozer2011-02-1811-53-04-21.jpg

I of course not knowing what the problem was (after hours of trying to reconfigure the skeleton to no avail) though that it would be ok to put them in game and see what they looked like. Well have any of you seen the thing?

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/arma2oa2011-02-1801-03-53-18.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/arma2oa2011-02-1801-03-59-99.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/arma2oa2011-02-1801-04-18-36.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/arma2oa2011-02-1801-04-26-62.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/arma2oa2011-02-1801-05-20-08.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/arma2oa2011-02-1801-05-59-35.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/arma2oa2011-02-1801-06-34-38.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/arma2oa2011-02-1801-06-17-63.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/arma2oa2011-02-1801-06-49-44.jpg

here are a few of the problems!

1. super short upper arms and a bend from the mid upper arm and not the elbow,

2. a sharp spike protruding through the left shoulder upwards about 3 foot that appears to connect to the vest,

3. crazy collapsing upper left leg that seems to connect somewhere else but i cant find a connection,

4. pelvis protrudes through the shirt as the model walks,

5. vest just disappears into body while standing on the upper back.

this is all i have found upto now although i am sure lots more problems will arise once this gets sorted out, they always do.

i am so at a loss that i need help BAD!!! AGAIN!!!!!!! can somebody with some spare time and a kind heart please help me out :(

lol

i have modified the arma 2 soldier model to get this, is that a problem?

i also followed the skeleton defining as closely as i could but with adding the vest i have to kinda modify it, could that be the problem?

what is causing the feet to disappear, i havent modified the legs skeleton structure?

Should i not attach the vest to the skeletons arm/shoulder region and just leave it attached to the spine selection?

just a couple of question i have.

i know i am asking a lot for somebody to help but on release i will give credit to whoever can get me trough this sticky mess!

thank you in advance.

Edited by daveygary1979

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The reason for the random distortion in Buldozer is due to the Model.cfg IIRC, not sure exactly what part of it causes it but you have two options really:

Either move the model.cfg until you pack the addon to test in game.

Or

Ignore it as best you can. I tend to do this to be honest. I normally forget to put the Model.cfg back lol

///////////////////////////////////////////////

Anyway, onto the actual weighting, first off, it may well be a good idea using the model.cfg supplied with the Arma 2 Sample Model to make sure there aren't any issues with the one you are using. With my units, I never touch the model.cfg unless it is to add a new model to the bottom the list.

Generally I find it is a good idea to start of almost under-weighting areas, that way any errors won't appear too extreme such as on your model. Especially your some of your Spine definitions which appear quite distorted, if the body armour model is actually separate from the main body you could even paste it ontop of a BIS sample and weight it using the sample as reference (which should be nice and accurate seeing as your model vest would be on top of the areas you want to weight) If that makes sense.

If you are not already doing it, the fastest way to test is to use a static anim as a reference point for where points were, and where there are after you change a weight for a selection. It's the bit I talked about in the second post for the tutorial.

As an example of how suddenly a different weight can affect a point, while I was working on the model in my sig, there were certain points on the elbow pads that if I altered the shade of red/purple for the weighting, the points would go from being in place, to sticking about half a meter out of the model!

EDIT:

here are a few of the problems!

1. super short upper arms and a bend from the mid upper arm and not the elbow,

2. a sharp spike protruding through the left shoulder upwards about 3 foot that appears to connect to the vest,

3. crazy collapsing upper left leg that seems to connect somewhere else but i cant find a connection,

4. pelvis protrudes through the shirt as the model walks,

5. vest just disappears into body while standing on the upper back.

1. Double check that you are using up to date, geometry, memory and land contact LODs from the A2 sample otherwise stuff like this can happen with custom weapon anims. If that isn't it, make sure that LeftArm focusses around the upper arm/shoulder and LeftArmRoll does not go too far past the elbow joint itself.

2. If you apply a static anim to your model in O2 you should be able to find this and then add it to a new selection (call it something like ERROR POINT). You can then remove the anim and select the point in question, most likely you need to weight it LESS heavily.

3. Have you got a clearer shot of the leg error? It may just be worth your while copy and pasting in a working leg section from a BIS sample and changing the texture to your one.

4. I'd assume that this is because they are weighted differently and not directly connected, have a look at the "Pelvis" selection as well as the relevant Spine selections and see what difference there is.

5. Bit of a weird one this, could be that the vest is not defined to a selection that the upper back is, or very different weighting of selections.

EDIT2: If after having a proper good go at fixing that there still seem to be problems, I can take a look at it, although I don't have the time to actually fix it I can probably say what is wrong with it more accurately.

Edited by STALKERGB

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yeah stalker i would love for you to take a look, i am just making things worse as i am getting impatient! i am using the static animations to test the skeletal structure and i will have it looking great and then i will switch to a different anim and it looks worse than before!i am using the arma 2 model modifiied by myself so the skeletal structure should have been fairly intact to begin with (in theory) but i am having lots of trouble.

i understand that you havent got much time to help and i appreciate the offer! Thank you so much.

I will keep trying for a couple of days though, i am not quiting that easy!

I have been playing with this all day now and as far as the weighting goes (to me) it looks almost identical to the bis model but still not working!

i have a screen of what it looks like animated standing up

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/Capture1.jpg

but when i kneed down the legs collapse in on themselves and the spine goes all crazy ( even on the standing model the spine is still messed up and the body protrudes through the vest which is hidden behind the right arm on the picture ) and the pelvis still protrudes through the shirt.

I would hate to have to start this over as it took me a while to custom re map the model but if thats what i have to do i guess i will have to!

i hope you can help stalker, if you would that is?

let me know and i will pm you the link to the files. thanks mate!!!

Edited by daveygary1979
not to post 2 posts

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Another thing I have noticed when using the static animations is the model moves up half the body length ( you can see this by the yellow wireframe outline on the animation shot above)! Could that have something to do with the skeletons distortion?

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Yeah but if you look at the above screens it's not bulldozer that is the problem, it's ingame! Thanks for the input though, that website seems like it could be very useful.

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Another thing I have noticed when using the static animations is the model moves up half the body length ( you can see this by the yellow wireframe outline on the animation shot above)! Could that have something to do with the skeletons distortion?

Nah its normal for the whole model to move position like that in O2, happens when I do it. Anyway, feel free to PM the file(s) over and I'll take a look as soon as I can.

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Should be ok with just the p3d, I can probably see most of the issues without the texture but if there are some more subtle problem spots I might need it. In any case I'll PM you if I do :)

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hi, i notice your goggles are rather opaque in the game. how did you do this? i assume you used a _ca.paa texture for the lenses?

when try to do a goggle, it sometimes turns out to have a milky white color and you can't see through it. does it have something to do with turning down specularity? what does your goggle's rvmat say? thanks

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this is the first rvmat i use for plain unreflective glass (glass.rvmat)

ambient[]={0.439000,0.439000,0.439000,1.000000};

diffuse[]={0.439000,0.439000,0.439000,1.000000};

forcedDiffuse[]={0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,0.000000};

emmisive[]={0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,1.000000};

specular[]={1.000000,1.000000,1.000000,0.000000};

specularPower=56.000000;

renderFlags[]=

{

"NoAlphaWrite"

};

PixelShaderID="Normal";

VertexShaderID="Basic";

or if i want to have a super sheen to the glass with world reflectivity i use (reflective_glass)

ambient[]={1,1,1,1};

diffuse[]={1,1,1,1};

forcedDiffuse[]={0,0,0,0};

emmisive[]={0,0,0,1};

specular[]={0.37500009,0.375,0.375,0};

specularPower=100;

renderFlags[]=

{

"NoAlphaWrite"

};

nextPass="soldier_p3d\data\glass-pass2.rvmat";

PixelShaderID="Glass";

VertexShaderID="Glass";

class Stage1

{

texture="#(ai,64,64,1)fresnelGlass()";

uvSource="none";

};

class Stage2

{

texture="soldier_p3d\data\env_land_co.paa";

uvSource="none";

};

followed by (glass-pass2)

ambient[]={1,1,1,1};

diffuse[]={1,1,1,1};

forcedDiffuse[]={0,0,0,0};

emmisive[]={0,0,0,1};

specular[]={0,0,0,0};

specularPower=0;

renderFlags[]=

{

"NoColorWrite"

};

PixelShaderID="AlphaShadow";

VertexShaderID="Basic";

i hope that helps!

and yes i do my own custom glass_co.paa files ( i use the alpha layer to adjust the opacity of the glass, black is solid - white is transparent. you can use this method to enable writing on the lenses like in the following picture)

reflective glass example

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/arma2oa2011-02-2115-06-34-69.jpg

alpha layer editing to allow writing on lenses (look in the centre of the lens)

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b50/DaveyGary/arma2oa2011-02-0621-15-12-92.jpg

Edited by daveygary1979

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alright thanks. i think the problem was the texture i was using called sklo-pass_2.

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i fucking love that eye pro. i have a pair meself actually.

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having trouble with the units making the game CTD when loading them in the editor, can somebody help me out and possibly take a look at the config for me?

I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IT, thanks in advance

class CfgPatches {
class 2ndRangers {
	units[] = {};
	weapons[] = {};
	requiredVersion = 1.51;
	requiredAddons[] = {CA_E, "CACharacters", "CACharacters_E", "CACharacters_E_Head", "CACharacters2"};
};
};

class CfgVehicleClasses {
	class 2ndrb_mc {
	displayName = "2nd Ranger Battalion";
	side = "TWest";
};
};

class CfgVehicles {	
class US_Soldier_Base_EP1;	// External class reference

class 2ndrb_daveygary : US_Soldier_Base_EP1 {
	scope = 2;
	accuracy = 3.9;
	camouflage = 0.8;
	faction = BIS_US;
	vehicleClass = "2ndrb_mc";
	displayName = "SFC David Gary";
	canCarryBackPack = 1;
	model = "\2ndRangers\sfc_d_gary.p3d";
	backpack = "";
	weapons[] = {"SCAR_L_STD_HOLO", "NVGoggles", "Binocular_Vector", "Throw", "Put", "ItemMap", "ItemCompass", "ItemWatch", "ItemRadio", "itemGPS", "M9"};
	magazines[] = {"30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "HandGrenade_West", "HandGrenade_West", "IR_Strobe_Target", "SmokeShellRed", "15Rnd_9x19_M9", "15Rnd_9x19_M9", "15Rnd_9x19_M9", "15Rnd_9x19_M9"};
	respawnWeapons[] = {"SCAR_L_STD_HOLO", "NVGoggles", "Binocular_Vector", "Throw", "Put", "ItemMap", "ItemCompass", "ItemWatch", "ItemRadio", "itemGPS", "M9"};
	respawnMagazines[] = {"30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "HandGrenade_West", "IR_Strobe_Target", "SmokeShellRed", "15Rnd_9x19_M9", "15Rnd_9x19_M9"};

	class Wounds {
		tex[] = {};
		mat[] = {"ca\characters\heads\male\defaulthead\data\hhl.rvmat", "ca\characters\heads\male\defaulthead\data\hhl_wounds.rvmat", "ca\characters\heads\male\defaulthead\data\hhl_wounds2.rvmat", "2ndRangers\data\dgary.rvmat", "2ndRangers\data\us_soldier_body_wound1.rvmat", "2ndRangers\data\us_soldier_body_wound2.rvmat"};
	};
};

	class 2ndrb_knight : US_Soldier_Base_EP1 {
	scope = 2;
	accuracy = 3.9;
	camouflage = 0.8;
	faction = BIS_US;
	vehicleClass = "2ndrb_mc";
	displayName = "CPT Knight";
	canCarryBackPack = 1;
	model = "\2ndRangers\cpt_knight.p3d";
	backpack = "";
	weapons[] = {"SCAR_L_STD_HOLO", "NVGoggles", "Binocular_Vector", "Throw", "Put", "ItemMap", "ItemCompass", "ItemWatch", "ItemRadio", "itemGPS", "M9"};
	magazines[] = {"30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "HandGrenade_West", "HandGrenade_West", "IR_Strobe_Target", "SmokeShellRed", "15Rnd_9x19_M9", "15Rnd_9x19_M9", "15Rnd_9x19_M9", "15Rnd_9x19_M9"};
	respawnWeapons[] = {"SCAR_L_STD_HOLO", "NVGoggles", "Binocular_Vector", "Throw", "Put", "ItemMap", "ItemCompass", "ItemWatch", "ItemRadio", "itemGPS", "M9"};
	respawnMagazines[] = {"30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "HandGrenade_West", "IR_Strobe_Target", "SmokeShellRed", "15Rnd_9x19_M9", "15Rnd_9x19_M9"};

	class Wounds {
		tex[] = {};
		mat[] = {"ca\characters\heads\male\defaulthead\data\hhl.rvmat", "ca\characters\heads\male\defaulthead\data\hhl_wounds.rvmat", "ca\characters\heads\male\defaulthead\data\hhl_wounds2.rvmat", "2ndRangers\data\dgary.rvmat", "2ndRangers\data\us_soldier_body_wound1.rvmat", "2ndRangers\data\us_soldier_body_wound2.rvmat"};
        };
};
};

Edited by daveygary1979

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Try this, Faction may make side redundant.

class CfgVehicleClasses {
	class 2ndrb_mc {
	displayName = "2nd Ranger Battalion";
};
};

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i went ahead and took out the TWEST value and it still crashes when loaded up in the editor????? i am so confused as to what is wrong, i cant see anything out the ordinary but in all fairness i am not all to savvy with the configs yet!

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It may be due to the class wounds being unclosed, And Lint Check didn't pick it up.

		class 2ndrb_knight : US_Soldier_Base_EP1 {
	scope = 2;
	accuracy = 3.9;
	camouflage = 0.8;
	faction = BIS_US;
	vehicleClass = "2ndrb_mc";
	displayName = "CPT Knight";
	canCarryBackPack = 1;
	model = "\2ndRangers\cpt_knight.p3d";
	backpack = "";
	weapons[] = {"SCAR_L_STD_HOLO", "NVGoggles", "Binocular_Vector", "Throw", "Put", "ItemMap", "ItemCompass", "ItemWatch", "ItemRadio", "itemGPS", "M9"};
	magazines[] = {"30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "HandGrenade_West", "HandGrenade_West", "IR_Strobe_Target", "SmokeShellRed", "15Rnd_9x19_M9", "15Rnd_9x19_M9", "15Rnd_9x19_M9", "15Rnd_9x19_M9"};
	respawnWeapons[] = {"SCAR_L_STD_HOLO", "NVGoggles", "Binocular_Vector", "Throw", "Put", "ItemMap", "ItemCompass", "ItemWatch", "ItemRadio", "itemGPS", "M9"};
	respawnMagazines[] = {"30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "30Rnd_556x45_Stanag", "HandGrenade_West", "IR_Strobe_Target", "SmokeShellRed", "15Rnd_9x19_M9", "15Rnd_9x19_M9"};

	class Wounds {
		tex[] = {};
		mat[] = {"ca\characters\heads\male\defaulthead\data\hhl.rvmat", "ca\characters\heads\male\defaulthead\data\hhl_wounds.rvmat", "ca\characters\heads\male\defaulthead\data\hhl_wounds2.rvmat", "2ndRangers\data\dgary.rvmat", "2ndRangers\data\us_soldier_body_wound1.rvmat", "2ndRangers\data\us_soldier_body_wound2.rvmat"};
    };
};	
};

EDIT: I've got a long way to go up that learning curve myself, and hope I'm not wasting your time.

Edited by NoQuarter

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Have you had a look at your RPT to see what errors there were? Normally the problem can be seen in there?

Also, and this is a common one, are both your models added to you model.cfg?

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No they are not both in the model config lol, i didnt know you needed to do that! I will check that when I get a chance, thanks.

edit* my model.cfg doesn't have reference to any models just body parts etc, where would i put my models names?

Edited by daveygary1979

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