like for many of us, my 30 days trial period of 3dsmax is over, what can i do ?
buy 3dsmax (about $3'500)
use 3dsmax illegaly, possible but extremely dangerous if you wan't to publish your work and NOT recommendet
use Blender,
yes it works!
download following software:
Blender complete suite: http://graphicall.org/builds/builds/showbuild.php?action=show&id=1060,
Phyton 2.6.4: http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.6.4/ (python windows installer x86 or AMD64)
MeshView (microsoft): http://files.wildspad.com/afecelis/irrlicht/files/MView.zip
with this software you are able to create proper models for FFED3D.
how:
install python 2.6, when completed, install Blender 2.49a and you are ready to start, the version of Kai Kostack's Blender (complete suite) opens with a ready configured Blender Shell, lots of things will look more familiar than in common 2.49a. but everything is customizeable in Blender and you can set it up as you like. there are additional Plugins/Scripts to download, but most are implemented in "complete suite"
issues:
the .x import script only imports a single ascii mesh and no animations
the .x export is only in ascii (text) format.
there exists some slightly different versions of the exporter script, but none of them is useful, i checked it out for you.
vital:
additional you have to be shure to include at least one animated part, else no animations will be saved (even when anim. flag is set) and it can't get read by FFED3D, framerate dosen't matter for keyed animations, i think.
further you have to check your .x ascii files for misfitting terms produced when importing 3ds (others might too) and exporting to .x. open .x ascii file with notepad and <search & replace> "Material#" with "material" or "somewhat", because the # sign causes a halt when loading the file to many other programs (FFED3D).
you can check your work with MView or DirectXViewer (derictxviewer comes with directxsdk) if they get loadet in these viewers they should also work in the game (viewers loads even without animation). advantage; with MView you can convert your files from .x ascii to .x bin or .x bin compressed.
Blender can look like this:
it's fully user configurable, therefore it's a beast to handle, but after a while you will find out that blender offers you a lot more than just modeling.
help:
use this page to get started: http://www.blender.org/education-help/tutorials/tutorial-folder/blender-user-interface-tutorial/
anims explained here: http://www.blender.org/education-help/tutorials/animation/
additional tip:
blender safes user cofigurations (windows, grids, path ect.) with each ".blend" file, use this to make presets.
let's guess a house with two floors is 6m high, 3m for each floor (without roof), then our little house in the game (FFED3D) must be about 6m high (two floors if you look close, 4 windows in quadratical arrangement on two sides of the building). to get a grid in "orthographic" view matching to this enter in "View/View Properties" click on the opened popup "Spacing:1.00" and enter the value 0.0115 it works, even if it shows 0.012 it's different. you have to do this with every window seperatly (like most actions/settings in Blender). additional for a "perspective" view (3D Window) you should multiply the value by 10 (0.115), else the grid get's to small. these proportions are really close, an adder i.e. is about 25m long, with this setup.
maybe not to professional, but still handy; Zanosa's Z Modeler, i still use V1.07, it's a quick to learn and easy to use 3d modelling program which covers the basics of modelling, only handicap you can't make no animations (zmodeler units for FFED3D = 1.147).
you can get it from here: http://www.zmodeler2.com/?mode=dl&ID=3
per aspera ad astra
cmdr potsmoke66
buy 3dsmax (about $3'500)
use 3dsmax illegaly, possible but extremely dangerous if you wan't to publish your work and NOT recommendet
use Blender,
yes it works!
download following software:
Blender complete suite: http://graphicall.org/builds/builds/showbuild.php?action=show&id=1060,
Phyton 2.6.4: http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.6.4/ (python windows installer x86 or AMD64)
MeshView (microsoft): http://files.wildspad.com/afecelis/irrlicht/files/MView.zip
with this software you are able to create proper models for FFED3D.
how:
install python 2.6, when completed, install Blender 2.49a and you are ready to start, the version of Kai Kostack's Blender (complete suite) opens with a ready configured Blender Shell, lots of things will look more familiar than in common 2.49a. but everything is customizeable in Blender and you can set it up as you like. there are additional Plugins/Scripts to download, but most are implemented in "complete suite"
issues:
the .x import script only imports a single ascii mesh and no animations
the .x export is only in ascii (text) format.
there exists some slightly different versions of the exporter script, but none of them is useful, i checked it out for you.
vital:
additional you have to be shure to include at least one animated part, else no animations will be saved (even when anim. flag is set) and it can't get read by FFED3D, framerate dosen't matter for keyed animations, i think.
further you have to check your .x ascii files for misfitting terms produced when importing 3ds (others might too) and exporting to .x. open .x ascii file with notepad and <search & replace> "Material#" with "material" or "somewhat", because the # sign causes a halt when loading the file to many other programs (FFED3D).
you can check your work with MView or DirectXViewer (derictxviewer comes with directxsdk) if they get loadet in these viewers they should also work in the game (viewers loads even without animation). advantage; with MView you can convert your files from .x ascii to .x bin or .x bin compressed.
Blender can look like this:
it's fully user configurable, therefore it's a beast to handle, but after a while you will find out that blender offers you a lot more than just modeling.
help:
use this page to get started: http://www.blender.org/education-help/tutorials/tutorial-folder/blender-user-interface-tutorial/
anims explained here: http://www.blender.org/education-help/tutorials/animation/
additional tip:
blender safes user cofigurations (windows, grids, path ect.) with each ".blend" file, use this to make presets.
let's guess a house with two floors is 6m high, 3m for each floor (without roof), then our little house in the game (FFED3D) must be about 6m high (two floors if you look close, 4 windows in quadratical arrangement on two sides of the building). to get a grid in "orthographic" view matching to this enter in "View/View Properties" click on the opened popup "Spacing:1.00" and enter the value 0.0115 it works, even if it shows 0.012 it's different. you have to do this with every window seperatly (like most actions/settings in Blender). additional for a "perspective" view (3D Window) you should multiply the value by 10 (0.115), else the grid get's to small. these proportions are really close, an adder i.e. is about 25m long, with this setup.
maybe not to professional, but still handy; Zanosa's Z Modeler, i still use V1.07, it's a quick to learn and easy to use 3d modelling program which covers the basics of modelling, only handicap you can't make no animations (zmodeler units for FFED3D = 1.147).
you can get it from here: http://www.zmodeler2.com/?mode=dl&ID=3
per aspera ad astra
cmdr potsmoke66
Last edited:
