Milkshape exporter
by Jose Luis Cebrian · in Torque Game Engine · 08/15/2001 (2:03 pm) · 13 replies
First and foremost, congratulations to all the Garagegames staff. I've recently licensed and downloaded my copy of the V12 engine, and it's really impressive.
Unlike most people here, I've never played Tribes or Tribes 2, so the scripting language and general behaviour of the engine is a mistery for me. However, I've decided to use it for a game that my team had in the designing phase.
The first problem for us is 3D Studio Max, because the thing is quite out of reach for us. So I'm writting a milkshape exporter. Here is a pre-alpha (binary only, may or may not work for you) version:
http://www.cir.es/local/msV12exporter_Pre-alpha.zip
The thing is far from finished. I would like to be able to export an animated shape from Milkshape, complete with multiple levels of detail, bumpmaps and the many, many other features V12 has for shapes, but for now it exports simple, standard meshes with no animation and an unoptimized triangle array. You can draw a tree in Milkshape and place it in the V12 test app, but not much more. Make a shape with only one mesh and material for now, I still don't know how the V12 engine draws shapes with multiple meshes and only the first is drawn.
I would also like to release the sources of the exporter under an open source license. It does not use any part of the V12 sources, however it is heavily based on it, so I ask there first. Any comments?
Unlike most people here, I've never played Tribes or Tribes 2, so the scripting language and general behaviour of the engine is a mistery for me. However, I've decided to use it for a game that my team had in the designing phase.
The first problem for us is 3D Studio Max, because the thing is quite out of reach for us. So I'm writting a milkshape exporter. Here is a pre-alpha (binary only, may or may not work for you) version:
http://www.cir.es/local/msV12exporter_Pre-alpha.zip
The thing is far from finished. I would like to be able to export an animated shape from Milkshape, complete with multiple levels of detail, bumpmaps and the many, many other features V12 has for shapes, but for now it exports simple, standard meshes with no animation and an unoptimized triangle array. You can draw a tree in Milkshape and place it in the V12 test app, but not much more. Make a shape with only one mesh and material for now, I still don't know how the V12 engine draws shapes with multiple meshes and only the first is drawn.
I would also like to release the sources of the exporter under an open source license. It does not use any part of the V12 sources, however it is heavily based on it, so I ask there first. Any comments?
About the author
#2
08/15/2001 (3:18 pm)
Great work! I am already able to pull static shapes into the v12 with no problems =) Let me know if you need any help.
#3
-bw
08/15/2001 (3:53 pm)
Any chance you could post the format for the DTS files? I'm trying to put together a plug-in for trueSpace...-bw
#4
08/15/2001 (6:22 pm)
I saw a post a day or two ago about someone trying to understand the dts file format. They actually had gotten quite a ways. Sorry, I dont know who it was.
#5
I got the DTS guts, but I need the mesh format for the big data blob in the middle (grin)
-bw
08/15/2001 (7:31 pm)
heh.. that was me (:I got the DTS guts, but I need the mesh format for the big data blob in the middle (grin)
-bw
#6
As for open source, your code is your own and you can do what you want with it :) You can't release any actual v12 source though. If you absolutely need to include something (such as some headers), let me know, we have a little flexibility. We have to be a little carefull though, as our license with Sierra doesn't allow us to release source out into the open. If you need a lot of source, then developers who want to compile your exported would have to purchase the v12.
One warning... stay away from DTS decals, that's going to get ripped out. Let me know when you can include collision detail mesh, I'd like to start playing with some shapes I can collide with :)
08/15/2001 (7:46 pm)
Awesome! This is very cool :) :)As for open source, your code is your own and you can do what you want with it :) You can't release any actual v12 source though. If you absolutely need to include something (such as some headers), let me know, we have a little flexibility. We have to be a little carefull though, as our license with Sierra doesn't allow us to release source out into the open. If you need a lot of source, then developers who want to compile your exported would have to purchase the v12.
One warning... stay away from DTS decals, that's going to get ripped out. Let me know when you can include collision detail mesh, I'd like to start playing with some shapes I can collide with :)
#7
08/15/2001 (8:12 pm)
So you didnt copy and paste any code out of the V12? Then you are set to go. Please release the source!! I would really like to start experimenting wiht it!
#8
I was pulling my hair out trying hard to just get a box into the engine using Max but never succeeded. I fired up Milkshape with your plugin and got a flattened sphere in their in less than 2 minutes.
Great job and keep up the good work.
-mark
08/15/2001 (8:21 pm)
HEY! You rock!I was pulling my hair out trying hard to just get a box into the engine using Max but never succeeded. I fired up Milkshape with your plugin and got a flattened sphere in their in less than 2 minutes.
Great job and keep up the good work.
-mark
#9
08/16/2001 (5:18 am)
What do you mean by "flattened sphere"?
#10
Of course having the .dts spec written out and available would be the most help. Going through the max2dts source code will be helpfull also.
For me it'll be a great learning experience since I have the c++ knowledge just not the ability to apply it. :(
If I come up with anything that works I'll post it up.
08/16/2001 (6:42 am)
try reading the max2dts converter source code to learn the specs of the DTS format and to also help in writing your own exporters. Of course having the .dts spec written out and available would be the most help. Going through the max2dts source code will be helpfull also.
For me it'll be a great learning experience since I have the c++ knowledge just not the ability to apply it. :(
If I come up with anything that works I'll post it up.
#11
Anyways, thank you everybody for the support. I will post the source code of the alpha here this weekend and in a few days, if no problem is found, in the web as open source. As I said, there is no V12 code in it, altough I've used it heavily as reference about the DTS file internals.
I will write some file format documentation once the plugin is more mature, as I will need it for future reference. The DTS file is quite a mess, and the loader in the V12 source is hard to follow. It looks like it was optimized for performance and compatibility with older file versions.
08/16/2001 (7:18 am)
I posted a response to this thread a while ago, but for some reason it didn't show.Anyways, thank you everybody for the support. I will post the source code of the alpha here this weekend and in a few days, if no problem is found, in the web as open source. As I said, there is no V12 code in it, altough I've used it heavily as reference about the DTS file internals.
I will write some file format documentation once the plugin is more mature, as I will need it for future reference. The DTS file is quite a mess, and the loader in the V12 source is hard to follow. It looks like it was optimized for performance and compatibility with older file versions.
#12
Aaron.
08/17/2001 (11:10 am)
THANK YOU VERY MUCH! :) Our project depends on using MS so this is awesome!Aaron.
#13
http://www.cir.es/local/msV12exporter_Pre-alpha.zip
The link doesn't seem to work for me.
/edit
Nevermind, my bad... works fine if I skip ICS... thanks.
edit/
08/17/2001 (4:59 pm)
Is there another location for the file? http://www.cir.es/local/msV12exporter_Pre-alpha.zip
The link doesn't seem to work for me.
/edit
Nevermind, my bad... works fine if I skip ICS... thanks.
edit/
Torque Owner Josh Albrecht