1. Basic Overview
Nov 1, 2008 22:23:13 GMT 2
Post by ksheppard on Nov 1, 2008 22:23:13 GMT 2
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO GET A BASIC TRACK READY FOR PLAYING IN NASCAR HEAT
By Oleg, TheMask.
Not to type the same things again, I've used Lucky's emails which he sent me as a base and collected all needed information, edited them to fit the situation, removed some things and added some things, and made it step by step so it's easier to read and follow it.
1) The first thing you need to do is get the track into 3dmax R3. If you use R5 to build your track then export it as let's say 3DS and then import in 3dmaxR3 since you're going to need to export the track out as a .flt file when you're done (FLT export plug-in available only for 3ds MAX R3).
2) Grab FLT Export Plug-in from here: <dead link - ask Kevin for the file>
3) Place FltExport.dle file in your 3dsMax3/Plugins directory (MAX should be closed).
4) Start 3dsMAX R3 and import your track.
5) Make sure you don't have any objects which are higher than 2048 polygons and that each object has only one texture applied to it. If any of this is not taken into consideration you will get errors. In both cases just devide the object into several pieces using 'Detach' function.
6) Once the track is in Max, hit the "H" key and uncheck everything but the helpers. If there are any helpers, select them all, then delete them. You'll need to do this, so you can do the next step below.
7) Once the helpers are deleted you need to group all the remaining geometry objects into 2 groups.
One group for the main track, pit lane, curbs and/or rumble strips, grass, sand, and any track edges that have a grass
texture, basically everything that can be driven on. Just hold the ctrl key down, select all the track objects, group them, then hide them (name it whatever you like, e.g. 'Road').
Another group is for everything else. All the misc. stuff like buildings, walls, bridges, trees, and grass or hills that you don't actually drive on. Basically any object you don't actually drive on would go into this group. Once the 'Road' group is hidden, you should be able to just select everything else that's left and group them (name it let's say 'Misc').
8) Render the track, Hit F9 and make sure there are no textures that can't be located. If there are textures that can't be located when you render the track, those objects will be white in the game. Once you get everything grouped, export the complete track out of max into "Exported WRL" folder as a .wrl file.
Quick note. When you export out as a .wrl file, make sure you select "VRML97(*.wrl)", and make sure the "precision of digits" is set to 6.
IMPORTANT note: everything which is hidden is not exported into WRL format!
9) Reset the scene and then then import that .wrl file back into max. This sounds a bit funny. but there's a reason for it. It's a little trick Lucky figured out to eliminate the mysterious problem of disappearing objects once you get the track into the game. What this step does is automatically attach new dummy helpers to all the track model objects. For some reason, some objects may show up invisible in the game if they don't have dummy helpers.
10) Ok, after you import the .wrl file back into Max, you can then export the file back out into "FLT" folder as a .flt file. Select version 15.6 when you export. Again, make sure you render the track before you export it, to make sure Max knows the location of all the textures. After exporting you will have lots of files there, that's normal.
11) Grab the 'TrackMkworld' folder I created for you from the link below.<dead link - ask Kevin>
Quick Note: instead of 'TrackMkWorld' you can name this folder whatever you like, I usually name it by the name of the track I'm working on, e.g. 'Vancouver MkWorld'...
It's got everything you need to make a .TRK file. There's also a copy of the track.flt file which contains paths for TORONTO that I made, we'll be using it to initially get your track in the game.
12) Place the folder where you want. Copy all the .tex files for your track into the "out" folder (i.e. your TGA should already be square and converted to TEX's, no need to place all of them, just the ones that are applied to objects which you have in your exported FLT file, an easy way to see what textures you need to place is by going to FLT folder and there you'll see your textures, these are the ones you need to pack into TRK file). Then, add all the .tex FILE NAMES to the "footrack.rdf" file (it's a text file, open it with 'Notepad')
Important note: whatever you do, do NOT ever change the name of the 'Out' folder, this name is required by MKworld.exe
13) Ok, once that's done, copy the track.flt file in the TrackMkworld folder and save it to someplace safe. I usually just create a new backup folder inside the TrackMkworld folder and save it there.
14) Go to Multigen and open the track.flt file which is in the TrackMkworld folder.
15) Hit the "S" key to switch to hierarchy. Holding down the shift key, select these groups; invisible, sline, pitstal, Alpath and Pit path. Go to "edit" on the top toolbar and hit "copy". Then close the track.flt file.
16) Then open the .flt file you exported out of 3dMax (which is in the 'FLT' directory). Go to "edit" on the top toolbar and hit "paste". You should now have the all the paths, spline, pitstall, and invisible walls from TORONTO in the .flt file you exported out of Max.
17) Once that's done, and while the groups above are still selected, hit "S" again to switch back to graphics view. Go to the side toolbar and click on the "maneuver" button, then "translate". Translate lets you reposition objects. Reposition all the objects selected so the pit stall is in the pit lane where you need it, or anywhere on road, otherwise the car will fall.
Note: Also in the "Maneuver" rollout you'll see "rotate around a point". You can use that to rotate the objects if needed also.
18) Once you get all the objects positioned, hit the "S" key again. In the hierarchy you'll see that a few of the groups that you just moved will have a [T] (for translate), or a [TR] (for translate and rotate] under the group name. Select just those groups one at a time by using the shift key. Go to the top tool bar and click "local-DOF". In the Drop-down menu select "make geometry". The [T] should now be gone. Not doing this step will give you a Mkworld error.
19) Now, on the top toolbar, go to "info", then "preferences". Select the "editing" tab. Change the "match vertices tolerance" to 0.30
20) Then, in hierarchy view, using the "H" key, hide all groups (including paths which you pasted) but the 'Road' group (which has all drivable surfaces). Switch back to graphics view. On the top tool bar there's a "mode" pull-down menu where you choose the type of item you want to select, i.e group, object, face, vertex, edge, etc. Choose "vertex". Select all the vertices on the screen (may take a while, be patient, sometimes I get so many vertices that I wait nearly 40-50 minutes...in worst cases). Go to the side toolbar and click on the "modvetex" button. Then click on "match vertices. This step will match (or weld) any vertices that are within .30 of each other. A step that will help eliminate most holes in the track.
21) Ok, now switch back to hierarchy, hide all the groups except for the group that has all your misc objects in it. Buildings, tree's, etc. Switch back to graphics view. Select "object" from the "mode" drop-down menu. Select all the objects on the screen. Go to the top tool bar and select "attributes". In the drop-down menu select "modify attributes. A box will pop up. In the box, under the "special fields" section, change special 1 from 0 to 3. Then exit. All the selected objects (anything you "don't" drive) on should now be 'special 1' - 3. Anything you drive on) stay the default 'special 1' - 0.
22) Ok, one more step. Switch back to hierarchy. hide all the groups except the ones from your original .flt file. All drivable surfaces and misc stuff. Switch back to graphics view. Select "face" from the "mode" menu. Select everything on the screen (again, may take a while). On the top tool bar select "edit". From the drop-down menu select "triangulate". This step makes sure all the faces in the track model are triangular. You'll get an error with Mkworld if you have any quad faces other then invisible walls. Invisible walls are the only faces that can be quad in Heat. This step may take a while depending on how fast you system is, so be patient.
23) Ok then. Once all the above is done, you should now be able to save the track back into your TrackMkworld folder as a track.flt file (or save the file where it is and then copy it into TrackMkWorld folder overwriting the one which I included), run Mkworld.bat and cross your fingers.
Don't worry though. I know how to fix "all" the neat little errors you get when using Multigen :0)
[ed.note: Oleg knows - I don't]
That's basically all you need to know for testing your track in game, e.g. measuring length, looking at the scaling, whether the track is smooth enough or not, etc., etc..
If you have any problems or questions with any of the steps above, just let me know.
Good luck,
Oleg
-------------------------------------------
Splashman info on forum:
Textures need to be square....512x512,256x256 etc.One texture per .mod object exported.That means if your track is going to have 100 different objects with 100 different textures it will have 100 different exports.
All that's required to get a basic track through mkflt is a text file with ai path coordinates,start/finish line coordinates and the mod file entries.Mkworld requires the flt file and the mod files in the same folder with the program and needs a sub folder named "out" to place the track files when done.Thase are the files generated by mkworld......
track.sol.......solid objects
track.grf........3d models and graphic reference
track.bpp......ai paths and pit paths
track.bsp......start/finish line and flagger
track.obt......object table
track.ild........don't know
The track.val is made with mkval and is the physics file for the track.
camera.tab is for trackside cameras and is generated by mktable.
The .img files are the track loading screens.
.gar files are the set-up files
.gcf file is the ai speed info
.tex file are the graphic files
.tex files need the same name as the .tga that was used to texture in max.Track.tga would be Track.tex etc.
There aren't a lot of objects around to use in track building but you could borrow from SCGT or HPC tracks and re-texture with tga.
Build your track surface with lots of poly's to be smooth.If your planning on high banking use even more poly's.
Hope that helps a bit.
World units are for the scene and the grid your working in.I use meters and set 1 unit= 1 meter.Rescale world units is used to rescale the scene into whatever scale is needed for what your exporting.If you work in meters,you would export the ai paths,s/f line,hitable walls and objects,pit paths,pit stalls etc as .ase WITHOUT rescaling world units.All your meshes and objects need to exported as 3ds in inches,which is what you use the rescale world units for.If one works in feet or yards for the units,one would need to rescale world units to meters for one export and rescale again to inches for the other.If you get used to working in meters it saves steps,math calculations and general confusion in this already confusing process.
By Oleg, TheMask.
Not to type the same things again, I've used Lucky's emails which he sent me as a base and collected all needed information, edited them to fit the situation, removed some things and added some things, and made it step by step so it's easier to read and follow it.
1) The first thing you need to do is get the track into 3dmax R3. If you use R5 to build your track then export it as let's say 3DS and then import in 3dmaxR3 since you're going to need to export the track out as a .flt file when you're done (FLT export plug-in available only for 3ds MAX R3).
2) Grab FLT Export Plug-in from here: <dead link - ask Kevin for the file>
3) Place FltExport.dle file in your 3dsMax3/Plugins directory (MAX should be closed).
4) Start 3dsMAX R3 and import your track.
5) Make sure you don't have any objects which are higher than 2048 polygons and that each object has only one texture applied to it. If any of this is not taken into consideration you will get errors. In both cases just devide the object into several pieces using 'Detach' function.
6) Once the track is in Max, hit the "H" key and uncheck everything but the helpers. If there are any helpers, select them all, then delete them. You'll need to do this, so you can do the next step below.
7) Once the helpers are deleted you need to group all the remaining geometry objects into 2 groups.
One group for the main track, pit lane, curbs and/or rumble strips, grass, sand, and any track edges that have a grass
texture, basically everything that can be driven on. Just hold the ctrl key down, select all the track objects, group them, then hide them (name it whatever you like, e.g. 'Road').
Another group is for everything else. All the misc. stuff like buildings, walls, bridges, trees, and grass or hills that you don't actually drive on. Basically any object you don't actually drive on would go into this group. Once the 'Road' group is hidden, you should be able to just select everything else that's left and group them (name it let's say 'Misc').
8) Render the track, Hit F9 and make sure there are no textures that can't be located. If there are textures that can't be located when you render the track, those objects will be white in the game. Once you get everything grouped, export the complete track out of max into "Exported WRL" folder as a .wrl file.
Quick note. When you export out as a .wrl file, make sure you select "VRML97(*.wrl)", and make sure the "precision of digits" is set to 6.
IMPORTANT note: everything which is hidden is not exported into WRL format!
9) Reset the scene and then then import that .wrl file back into max. This sounds a bit funny. but there's a reason for it. It's a little trick Lucky figured out to eliminate the mysterious problem of disappearing objects once you get the track into the game. What this step does is automatically attach new dummy helpers to all the track model objects. For some reason, some objects may show up invisible in the game if they don't have dummy helpers.
10) Ok, after you import the .wrl file back into Max, you can then export the file back out into "FLT" folder as a .flt file. Select version 15.6 when you export. Again, make sure you render the track before you export it, to make sure Max knows the location of all the textures. After exporting you will have lots of files there, that's normal.
11) Grab the 'TrackMkworld' folder I created for you from the link below.<dead link - ask Kevin>
Quick Note: instead of 'TrackMkWorld' you can name this folder whatever you like, I usually name it by the name of the track I'm working on, e.g. 'Vancouver MkWorld'...
It's got everything you need to make a .TRK file. There's also a copy of the track.flt file which contains paths for TORONTO that I made, we'll be using it to initially get your track in the game.
12) Place the folder where you want. Copy all the .tex files for your track into the "out" folder (i.e. your TGA should already be square and converted to TEX's, no need to place all of them, just the ones that are applied to objects which you have in your exported FLT file, an easy way to see what textures you need to place is by going to FLT folder and there you'll see your textures, these are the ones you need to pack into TRK file). Then, add all the .tex FILE NAMES to the "footrack.rdf" file (it's a text file, open it with 'Notepad')
Important note: whatever you do, do NOT ever change the name of the 'Out' folder, this name is required by MKworld.exe
13) Ok, once that's done, copy the track.flt file in the TrackMkworld folder and save it to someplace safe. I usually just create a new backup folder inside the TrackMkworld folder and save it there.
14) Go to Multigen and open the track.flt file which is in the TrackMkworld folder.
15) Hit the "S" key to switch to hierarchy. Holding down the shift key, select these groups; invisible, sline, pitstal, Alpath and Pit path. Go to "edit" on the top toolbar and hit "copy". Then close the track.flt file.
16) Then open the .flt file you exported out of 3dMax (which is in the 'FLT' directory). Go to "edit" on the top toolbar and hit "paste". You should now have the all the paths, spline, pitstall, and invisible walls from TORONTO in the .flt file you exported out of Max.
17) Once that's done, and while the groups above are still selected, hit "S" again to switch back to graphics view. Go to the side toolbar and click on the "maneuver" button, then "translate". Translate lets you reposition objects. Reposition all the objects selected so the pit stall is in the pit lane where you need it, or anywhere on road, otherwise the car will fall.
Note: Also in the "Maneuver" rollout you'll see "rotate around a point". You can use that to rotate the objects if needed also.
18) Once you get all the objects positioned, hit the "S" key again. In the hierarchy you'll see that a few of the groups that you just moved will have a [T] (for translate), or a [TR] (for translate and rotate] under the group name. Select just those groups one at a time by using the shift key. Go to the top tool bar and click "local-DOF". In the Drop-down menu select "make geometry". The [T] should now be gone. Not doing this step will give you a Mkworld error.
19) Now, on the top toolbar, go to "info", then "preferences". Select the "editing" tab. Change the "match vertices tolerance" to 0.30
20) Then, in hierarchy view, using the "H" key, hide all groups (including paths which you pasted) but the 'Road' group (which has all drivable surfaces). Switch back to graphics view. On the top tool bar there's a "mode" pull-down menu where you choose the type of item you want to select, i.e group, object, face, vertex, edge, etc. Choose "vertex". Select all the vertices on the screen (may take a while, be patient, sometimes I get so many vertices that I wait nearly 40-50 minutes...in worst cases). Go to the side toolbar and click on the "modvetex" button. Then click on "match vertices. This step will match (or weld) any vertices that are within .30 of each other. A step that will help eliminate most holes in the track.
21) Ok, now switch back to hierarchy, hide all the groups except for the group that has all your misc objects in it. Buildings, tree's, etc. Switch back to graphics view. Select "object" from the "mode" drop-down menu. Select all the objects on the screen. Go to the top tool bar and select "attributes". In the drop-down menu select "modify attributes. A box will pop up. In the box, under the "special fields" section, change special 1 from 0 to 3. Then exit. All the selected objects (anything you "don't" drive) on should now be 'special 1' - 3. Anything you drive on) stay the default 'special 1' - 0.
22) Ok, one more step. Switch back to hierarchy. hide all the groups except the ones from your original .flt file. All drivable surfaces and misc stuff. Switch back to graphics view. Select "face" from the "mode" menu. Select everything on the screen (again, may take a while). On the top tool bar select "edit". From the drop-down menu select "triangulate". This step makes sure all the faces in the track model are triangular. You'll get an error with Mkworld if you have any quad faces other then invisible walls. Invisible walls are the only faces that can be quad in Heat. This step may take a while depending on how fast you system is, so be patient.
23) Ok then. Once all the above is done, you should now be able to save the track back into your TrackMkworld folder as a track.flt file (or save the file where it is and then copy it into TrackMkWorld folder overwriting the one which I included), run Mkworld.bat and cross your fingers.
Don't worry though. I know how to fix "all" the neat little errors you get when using Multigen :0)
[ed.note: Oleg knows - I don't]
That's basically all you need to know for testing your track in game, e.g. measuring length, looking at the scaling, whether the track is smooth enough or not, etc., etc..
If you have any problems or questions with any of the steps above, just let me know.
Good luck,
Oleg
-------------------------------------------
Splashman info on forum:
Textures need to be square....512x512,256x256 etc.One texture per .mod object exported.That means if your track is going to have 100 different objects with 100 different textures it will have 100 different exports.
All that's required to get a basic track through mkflt is a text file with ai path coordinates,start/finish line coordinates and the mod file entries.Mkworld requires the flt file and the mod files in the same folder with the program and needs a sub folder named "out" to place the track files when done.Thase are the files generated by mkworld......
track.sol.......solid objects
track.grf........3d models and graphic reference
track.bpp......ai paths and pit paths
track.bsp......start/finish line and flagger
track.obt......object table
track.ild........don't know
The track.val is made with mkval and is the physics file for the track.
camera.tab is for trackside cameras and is generated by mktable.
The .img files are the track loading screens.
.gar files are the set-up files
.gcf file is the ai speed info
.tex file are the graphic files
.tex files need the same name as the .tga that was used to texture in max.Track.tga would be Track.tex etc.
There aren't a lot of objects around to use in track building but you could borrow from SCGT or HPC tracks and re-texture with tga.
Build your track surface with lots of poly's to be smooth.If your planning on high banking use even more poly's.
Hope that helps a bit.
World units are for the scene and the grid your working in.I use meters and set 1 unit= 1 meter.Rescale world units is used to rescale the scene into whatever scale is needed for what your exporting.If you work in meters,you would export the ai paths,s/f line,hitable walls and objects,pit paths,pit stalls etc as .ase WITHOUT rescaling world units.All your meshes and objects need to exported as 3ds in inches,which is what you use the rescale world units for.If one works in feet or yards for the units,one would need to rescale world units to meters for one export and rescale again to inches for the other.If you get used to working in meters it saves steps,math calculations and general confusion in this already confusing process.
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