[WIP] IPL Editor

[Jezzerking]

will we be able to import our own models into this editor and place them on the map?

[tonywob]

 

will we be able to import our own models into this editor and place them on the map?

Yep, but they will need to be in .dff format to start with, unless someone can write a decent 3ds to dff file in C

 

 

Do you guys have GL_LIGHTING disabled? Then how do you keep the models from being too dark?

 

In my viewer I use GL_AMBIENT to set a base light that lights up the dark parts, and GL_EMISSION tracks the vertex colors. Rest is inactive because there are no normals.

Maybe this is weird, but it does give a possibility to change the base lighting with time of day without changing vertex colors..

 

I originally had lighting enabled when I was playing around with the DFF models without textures. But since everything I use is now textures, I have disabled lighting and I use glColor3ub with the Vertex Colours, the night-time ones use alot of bright colours. To make a model appear brighter, make sure the colour doesn't go less than a specific value, e.g. if (R<30) {R=30;}

 

 

I will post a release as soon as I know it won't blow up anyone's computer or destroy their GTA installations without good reason. (I've just managed to do it on my San Andreas because of a bug I had left in on the .img rebuilder) The moral is, ALWAYS BACKUP!!!

 

 

Edited October 27, 2005 by tonywob

[steve-m]

Do you use realtime lighting? Don't do that, disable all lights in the scene and only use the vertex colors.

 

Do you guys have GL_LIGHTING disabled? Then how do you keep the models from being too dark?

 

In my viewer I use GL_AMBIENT to set a base light that lights up the dark parts, and GL_EMISSION tracks the vertex colors. Rest is inactive because there are no normals.

Maybe this is weird, but it does give a possibility to change the base lighting with time of day without changing vertex colors..

ATM I only use glLightModelfv with GL_LIGHT_MODEL_AMBIENT, but that's not enough. What other possibilities are there (except for vertex shaders)?

 

@tonywob: Adjusting all colors manually and using glColor3ub must make your renderer veeery slow, no?

[tonywob]

@stevem

The colours are only applied once when the DFF models are compiled into a list. However, I can see I will need to change this behaviour later on to allow a more dynamic lighting environment.

 

BTW, I thought your viewer used DirectX? or at least it asked for the DirectX DLL

[mrMagnetic]

@stevem

I use glLightfv with {.04, .04, .04, 1} and glMaterialfv with {1, 1, 1, 1}, looks kind of ok. i never used glLightModelfv, but maybe you need to set some material thingies too.

 

@tonywob

great looking program, are you releasing a beta soon? *cough* source code *cough*. using display lists takes extra memory, if you use the binmesh part of the dff it's easy to render with glDrawElements. but you're probably aware of that..

 

 

[tonywob]

@stevem

I use glLightfv with {.04, .04, .04, 1} and glMaterialfv with {1, 1, 1, 1}, looks kind of ok. i never used glLightModelfv, but maybe you need to set some material thingies too.

 

@tonywob

great looking program, are you releasing a beta soon? *cough* source code *cough*. using display lists takes extra memory, if you use the binmesh part of the dff it's easy to render with glDrawElements. but you're probably aware of that..

I have tried both methods, and I actually found display lists quicker. True! they use more memory, but once you have a display list, you can clear the data in your DFF Class (If you don't need access to the Vertex data again!). ATM my memory problems come with textures, disabling these (As it recommends in MooMapper) will speed up things but at a cost.

 

I found it quite slow on a Macintosh, and display lists were the only way to speed it up. Must be a NVidia VS ATI card thing.

 

How much have you managed to get working? Can you post any screenshots! I am interested to see how the different lighting methods work

[mrMagnetic]

 

@stevem

I use glLightfv with {.04, .04, .04, 1} and glMaterialfv with {1, 1, 1, 1}, looks kind of ok. i never used glLightModelfv, but maybe you need to set some material thingies too.

 

@tonywob

great looking program, are you releasing a beta soon? *cough* source code *cough*. using display lists takes extra memory, if you use the binmesh part of the dff it's easy to render with glDrawElements. but you're probably aware of that..

I have tried both methods, and I actually found display lists quicker. True! they use more memory, but once you have a display list, you can clear the data in your DFF Class (If you don't need access to the Vertex data again!). ATM my memory problems come with textures, disabling these (As it recommends in MooMapper) will speed up things but at a cost.

 

I found it quite slow on a Macintosh, and display lists were the only way to speed it up. Must be a NVidia VS ATI card thing.

 

How much have you managed to get working? Can you post any screenshots! I am interested to see how the different lighting methods work

this is how it looks with these parameters, if i put the light on 1,1,1,1 i get maximum brightness (same as without lighting, using only white vertices).

 

btw i think display lists and textures share graphics card memory, once uploaded you can discard texture buffers as well (of course), unless you want to keep them around to be able to free graphics mem or something.

 

[tonywob]

@mrMagnetic

 

I used to use real-lighting but later decided against it, since most objects have Vertex Colours. What I do is load the required textures for the scene creating Texture Objects and then I clear the data buffer. Loading an IPL for GTA III or Vice City uses around 80-90MB, disabling textures gives much better performance.

 

-------------

 

 

My next major hurdle is the img archiver. Everything works now, it is just so slow, it takes around 5 minutes to rebuilld the archive after adding files to it, it works quicker from a command prompt, so the GUI is slowing it down (and that excludes progressbars, etc).

 

I probably won't get much done over the next few days as I am away for a long weekend , and then hopefully I will have LCS to play with on Tuesday ( Well, that's the theory!!)

 

 

 

 

[Supdario]

Supports the fog?

 

(we want beta )

[Eclipse_nl]

Can we load totally stripped versions of SA (like Myriad)

 

Could you release a beta version before you go play LCS?

[Jezzerking]

 

will we be able to import our own models into this editor and place them on the map?

Yep, but they will need to be in .dff format to start with, unless someone can write a decent 3ds to dff file in C

 

man i love you, thanks a bunch, converting my max files in to dffs isnt a problem (kams scripts)

this tool is the ultimate modder tool for me, being able to place my models in to the map as i please

 

 

[RainingAcid]

So, will be able to add things into SA soon?

[tonywob]

 

So, will be able to add things into SA soon?

That's the theory hopefully!!

 

 

At the moment, I am working on the IDE object editor, making it easy to create new IDE files and add/edit objects in the IDE files. I hope to get an early alpha release soon, but I don't want to release something that is going to destroy people's installations. At the moment it is still a viewer, with a view added features.

 

I think the major challenge in San Andreas is the .col file support and paths (Which aren't understood very well yet). Adding 2DFX lighting in San Andreas is also a big challenge since this is defined in each object and can only be editted with a hex editor.

 

This seems to work very well with user modifications, there is no reason why it shouldn't. I have tried it with the LVS mod in San Andreas and also the Liberty City in Vice City Mod, also in this thread. There is no reason why it shouldn't work with Myriad Islands.

 

As of LCS, I have been told I have to wait till Friday, bloody UK release dates .

Edited October 31, 2005 by tonywob

[flitcroft101]

Cool

 

Any new updates

[-=ChezZ=-]

When can we see this out for download ive been itchin to start mapping with this but its a tease.

 

Good work tho!

[Dillyracer]

yeah, then we can start mapping with something else than notepad lol

[Supdario]

yeah, then we can start mapping with something else than notepad lol

I don't use notepad for mapping

I use 3D Studio Max 7,5 lol

[AleXXX]

I love you. BIG thanks from Russian GTA-mapping community.

[Yegorchic]

BIG thanks from Russian GTA-mapping community.

Very BIG...

[demonj0e]

yeah, then we can start mapping with something else than notepad lol

youve been able to use 3dsmax for mapping for ages dill

[flitcroft101]

he means adding it to game...

[burpicane]

there you got KAM his map IO script for

[Supdario]

Yes....

I use 3DS Max....

But I will use this tool when released

[tonywob]

Your tool is looking better and better. I've got a couple of very handy ideas:

 

-When you click al Model the edges are faced (white)

-Rightmouse on a Model and you copy it then (so you could copy a lot of models at the same time)

-PICK/CAR/ENEX/CUL and suchs things as support

Clicking on a model will give it a red glow and add axis lines to it, making it clear which model you have selected. The axis lines help you visualize the effects of rotations and movement before you actually apply it.

 

I will add an option so you can copy and paste and object

 

I will get simple map editting working first before moving onto to the other sections, such as PICK/CAR/ENEX/CUL, etc..

 

The IDE editor now works, so you can add/delete and edit objects. Although I have made an .img archiver, it is faster to add the objects yourself to the img archive using another tool. I will work on improving this though as this is quite important.

 

Started work on the IPL editor, so far you can select items on the map and move them, by using the buttons in the editor or by dragging the object around the screen. Personally I find it easier using the buttons in the editor, but I have left both options in. I am working on the rotations ATM, rather than using quaternions or axis angles, I have made it use standard euler angles, that is you choose how much rotation you want on the X,Y,Z axis, e.g. 45,0,0. I had to brush up on my maths for this .And I still can't verify whether it is correct, although it appears to work correctly.

 

I have simplified the interface, the image archiver is no longer part of the main screen, but a secondary tool accessed via the menu. Dialogs have been renamed and I am debating whether to remove the wireframe/textures and alphablending options to make place for something more useful. What do you all think? I see it like "how often are you going to look at the map in wireframe mode"

 

 

 

[Dillyracer]

This is awesome dude, you will be sort of legend if you can let this work

Any plans when you think first version will come out ?

[Towel]

And how soon we can use this mapper for SA??????

[TeiSsoN]

BIG thanks from Russian GTA-mapping community.

Very BIG...

And ukrainien also!

[Alizee]

I want this tool... please give it !!! =)

 

[Mr Killer]

I want this tool... please give it !!!

 

 

Be patient, he will release it when he is ready!

 

 

This is gonna be great, I can't wait until it is released. The first thing I am going is make an invisible platform in the sky.

[Towel]

I want this tool... please give it !!!

 

 

Be patient, he will release it when he is ready!

 

 

This is gonna be great, I can't wait until it is released. The first thing I am going is make an invisible platform in the sky.

When will this tool ready?