Mr Luder

Hi Luder No, no scripting used, just the "physics" of the objects in ArmA. Just the "push, pull and grind" between two objects keyed together (as mentioned its a crude invisible pin sitting in a crude invisible "hole"). But 1 immediate problem is this only works while visible to the player. Once the truck-trailer is "away" from the player, the game engine relaxes the physics and it falls apart ! Hence AI won't be truckin down the highway by themselves using this method. Another small problem that is *just* noticable in the video, the trailer pivots on the ground at an axis near its centre, not near the wheels. But I think this point can be moved using the "center of mass" named point in the GEO LoD Nice work BTW, if you consider just doing flat-bed trucks you would still have many fans in ArmA Best of luck. Yell if you need specific help. thank you for reply, gnat... very intersting, maybe you can help me out with trying to get a trailer to work in game, but first i gotta get in to the main stuff. i want to finish my highpoly model first, so i can render every part of it to use it as texture for the "lowpoly"/arma version. i dont think it will take too long to do a lowpoly version of this truck, cuz off less details like airhorses, detailed frame parts, detailed axles, airfilters, diesel filters, and all the small stuff you wont see on the first view but definally on the second. maybe i try a bit around with some of my older modells.. well i dont think any of them will have less then 20k polygons lmao. but maybe i find one and can try around with it. if someone has the time and the nerves for all my dumb questions and not workin try he can maybe add me on msn so i dont need to spam the forum. anyways. you maybe think in two or three months "whats about the crazy guy with his 300.000 polygon truck" well, im still alive then and i still follow my target to mod arma, cuz i fall in love with this game (not to mention my love to operation flashpoint! but i got to set a list up whats more important and the truck for the other game is in this moment more important, so... i gotta finish it and then i can switch to armed assault and learn there from scratch up how to do stuff.. at least i know how to build models

MB Actros MP2 2548 with Sommer "Hubschwingen" Swapbody An Actros? Ah, I was close. Let's see how close you make it to mine. That prime mover would be a bit underpowered for that combo. The prime mover has a 30 foot box and the trailer is 40 foot? That's upwards of 80 tonnes. That's be slow on the hills! Also, the trailer is 2 x 20 foot sea containers, but the prime mover is a demount. That'd be very unusual, even for you crazy Germans! haha, actually those are no "sea containers" those are "swapbodys", they have own legs and are a bit longer as 20ft. sea containers, you can buy them in the lengths: 7,15m, 7,45m and 7,85m. on this combo are usually 7,45m containers. here a picture of a swapbody container: http://www.kronedata.de/nfz/fotos/ws/181E0662.jpg well this combo is actually made from a real role model, pictures you can find here: http://lkw-infos.eu/images....-02.jpg http://lkw-infos.eu/images....-04.jpg http://lkw-infos.eu/images....-06.jpg the german law for such a combo has been stopped due "too high weight for our 'old' bridges" and "high risk for accidents" - sure, it has better brakes as a normal truck, "too big". it wont stopping me doing this truck for a game, since those trucks where used in the netherlands and sweden and all these countrys too. everyone was expecting those trucks will not be rolling on german roads in the next couple of years, since we have too much dumb..... leading our country, anyways. im not really such a big fan of those "lvz" combinations, but this one i love. the pictures were made in hannover, 2006 on the european biggest tradeshow for commercial vehicles (IAA). i was taking my own pictures too but they were more focused on details, was crawling under the whole trailer around and trashed my good clothings, but it was worth it. lmao. Other game engines may handle it but I seriously doubt ArmA will work with that many polys, if it doesn’t it wont be at 31fps As long as you name each part of the model and define its axis in the memory LoD and correctly config it in the model.cfg then its easy  (Bit of sarcasm there) but seriously once you get your head around the basics the animation system can be made to do some impressive things! In ArmA good LoDing is crucial.  It makes a huge difference to the game performance.  ArmA has large and very complex environment, a lot of polys, materials etc on the screen at the same time.  You need to try and reduce your models impact on the engine but at the same time balance the details. Its a challenge. Opinions vary but in my experience anything much over 15,000 + materials doesn’t work well on lower end machines. I know the feeling, some of the commercial environments define low poly as 50,000 polys. yeah it listen ridicoulus, this game looks normally like crap but it can handle with a good graphiccard real highpoly stuff. we we're suprised how many it can handle with an still good performance. is it possible to make animations have a own collision? lets take a car door as example, if i open it and drive around and hit something with the door, will it response? or do you just "drive through"? could being interesting for me using "realistical" swapbodys, put them on the truck, or off the truck with the legs it self... i never did lod models, due i never have to do. so i cant really say i have experience with it. i know what it does and how it works but how the hell you guys know that you arent over the "limit" with your lod? listen kinda dumb maybe but i cant picture that! so materials reduce the performance of the game too? what about the size of the textures? usually i use 1024*1024 till 2048*2048. is it too much? what about interior work? a truck without interior is not worth it anyway. i know the interior from the exterior view isnt detailed like the one you see as you sit inside of the vehicle, the gauges are missing and stuff. are those two different models? do the exterior affect the interior model anyway? yeah its kinda frustrating now but i was expecting my model will be way over the limit, so its not really disapoint me now. if i really decide to get in to this stuff, what i think i will, this highpoly model will be my source for textures i can use on the "lowpoly" model later to make it lookin better. I'm surprised. I remember z-modeler from when I was making GTA addons, and I thought it was very difficult to use. But then again, I never really tried to do anything but what was necessary to import the model into GTA. z-mod is kinda hard cuz it hasnt much options that help you modeling stuff, but i use a lot of stuff that kinda help me modeling. sometimes i start 3dsmax, as example for the licenseplate i used 3dsmax for the letters. or the "mercedes benz" logo was made in 3dsmax too. stuff like this it would be dumb to use z-mod, would take hours to make letters, so i run 3dsmax and make them in 3 mins. i all the time wanted to start workin with 3dsmax but i was too lazy cuz 3dsmax is too expansive too learn right now. i work since 3 years with z-mod and i still not know every option in this program and if i start truck driving 12 hours a day i havent much time for learning 3dsmax. will do models still with my laptop in the truck while waiting for loading, or unloading or making pause, or standing dumb around in a traffic jam. i hope i do not annoy you guys with my dumb questions

and for adding arma specific additions, such as 'memory points' that tell the engine things such as rotation points for door hinges, where lights originate, etc etc, and for adding mass and collision models (geometry and hitpoints) alright. so i dont need to mess with the modeling in o2 and import the finished model just in o2 to do the "rest".. thank you

first at all, thank you all. i will quote all your postings to response personally to your answears/questions. im workin on this just for fun. i never sell models, even if i could do. im not workin for any design office doing automotive stuff. this thing is created with the freeware, well now its shareware "z-modeler" version 2.0.7 well known in the gta scene and other modding scenes... Less is better but with good lods the absolute max should be 15k – I try to stay below 12k for the first lod though. All animations work from named selections and their definitions in the config and model.cfg files. You can make user defined (action menu) driven animations very easily. BIKI Article – How to animate a model There are geometry and engine limits some are well documented others are sort of community general knowledge.  It’s hard to list them all without specific questions. Normal and Specular maps are supported via Materials (aka RVMAT files) As many as needed.  The general rule is to half each previous lod. Eg: Res LoD 1 = 10,000 Res LoD 2 = 5,000 Res LoD 3 = 2,500 Res LoD 4 = 1,250 Res LoD 5 = 625 Res LoD 6 = 312 Res LoD 7 = 155 NOT A CHANCE!  less is better, yeah i know. but primary the model is made for my private fun and the game i make it for can handle up to 600.000 polygon trucks (depent on the graphiccard, have around 31 fps with an compare able truck/trailer combination) how does this animation work exactly? are there anystuff needed todo in the model, except for an own object, i think? oh nevermind, i should first read more about the basics befor i think about animate stuff. the game i normally work with has lods, but doesnt care about them somehow, its a bug or something, we dont know. so is the polygon limit 20.000 if i understand right? not a chance? lmao, i was expecting that since arma stuff is "lowpoly" compared what we dealing with. thank you you say i have to work with o2, but just for converting the model in the game, right? or do i have to take care about something while modeling with an other program? i have seen o2 can import 3d files, so i think it shouldnt be a big deal to do the model in another program as o2, aint it? i got the tools from the first day i got arma.. well i got them befor i even got arma, haha. i have taken a look around in them, but didnt really played around with them, just checked out what it all includes. i should work a bit with them to get more knowledge. MB Actros MP2 2548 with Sommer "Hubschwingen" Swapbody Frame mounted on the original Mercedes Benz Frame. got Krone Mega Dry Box WK 7,3 NST on it. EADS? no im unemployed (how should i build such a thing with an job running? lmao), starting truckdriving this year, finally... yeah could fit perfectly in it, but they use mostly semi trailers with 40ft. sea containers on. yeah i'am, hessisches rindfieh yeah, but there was a peterbilt with trailers for ofp aviable, its scripted i think, i kinda like the idea cuz it would be cool to see some realistical trucks in the game using trailers and stuff. iam pretty sure with patience and lot work you could turn arma in to a trucksimulator holy sh.. what an long posting, anyway i tried to replay to every posting, so im sorry... if someone can give me a hand sometimes i would be really thankful, cuz i kinda like arma and i kinda like to mod it, well atleast try it. haha. im not a guy who gives up after 5 minutes, like i know a lot askin me "how do i model" then i explain them and they give up just befor they even got their first results. i started 3d modeling without any knowledge about befor and im still learning but its fun anyway. thank you all for the compliments, help, links, answears, questions and stuff.

sup guys? i dont think anyone will know me and i do not expect anyone will understand me eighter.. but i will try anyways. i'am a 3d artist developing addons for truck simulations (i wont mention here, due not BI ) what ever, i've currently workin on a 3d model i kinda would like to see in ArmA so i got some questions, due i'am totally unknown in the engine bi is using. first at all, i want to show you what i've done so far. i'am workin with an friend of mine, he is doing the cabine: http://static.pici.se/pictures/pLtRRRjEd.jpg yeah now you want to know the questions, right? alright, let me start: whats the basic polygon "limit" for arma or isn't there any (except for the "if its lag its too much")? how does animations work, i never work with them, but i kinda like to see openable doors and stuff. any limitation of objects? bumpmapping is possible, aint it? lod models, how many of them are recommended? and at least: is it even possible for arma to handle such a model? it will be end at around 200.000 - 300.000 polygons (just the truck) oh, damned... now at least: gnat did an semi tractor with trailer, is it possible to do with a normal trailer like this too: iam thankful for every help you guys can give, iam very interesting in doing addons for arma and maybe release them, if they are user friendly.. or... well ever finished lmao..

1.09 is sweet. running fine with and without maxmem= actually playing with -maxmem=512 and got 60 fps on the highest hill in the northern part of the island. my rig (even way out of date! ): pentium 4 ht 2600 mhz 2048gig geil ddr ram (400mhz) hd2600pro 512mb ddr2 ram newest catalyst drivers. even with aa on normal i got 40 fps and this is just awesome.