If you haven't played my maps yet they are really cool BUT ANYWAYS Feel free to ask questions and even suggest tutorials for things I haven't included.
Note that these tips and tricks below are meant for people who have an idea of how to do battlefront modding if your just starting out try going here: http://www.gametoast.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=13806
(and if you are going to make suggestions lets suggest things that are NOT already on gametoast, and no general questions - so questions like how did you re-texture that one capital ship
shouldn't be asked in this post
) ***************
Tips and Tricks
***************
HOW TO MAKE MOVING AND DESTRUCTIBLE STAR DESTROYERS:
Hidden/Spoiler:
The normal capital ship consist of multiple models that normal modders just put together so they have a multiple part prop that looks like a whole
capital ship. Well today your learn just how I broke the boundary of what capital ships can do.
So the first thing I needed to do was make the capital ship's parts all into one model so that it could be animated and moved as one
whole ship. I used softimage modtool to snap ALL the capital ship parts together (this included the capital ship
subsystems such as the engines,bridge,etc)
hint: (if you want, snap together all the capital ship parts EXCEPT the hanger and hanger shields - then snap together the hanger and hanger shields in its own model.
this is useful because your whole capital ship model is gonna need a life bar in order to be destroyed and if the hanger is part of this big capital ship model then a life
bar for the whole ship will appear whenever the player is walking around the hanger, potentially allowing the player to damage the main ship. If your picky about that kind of
stuff then just make two models like T just said -capital ship model and capital ship hanger model)
note: There is no way the player will be filtered out by the shield when we have moving and destructible Capital Ships - and if the shield its own model it wont animate well
(I guess maybe if you made the shield some how fit the big capital ship model then made its odf have its own shield properties that might work but I don't know how to do that )
so after the model was exported I gave it its own (destructible) odf so it can fit into the world.
(If you used the hint above once the models are imported in the world. I used zeroedit to snap them together so they fit right into each other and "look" like one model)
once its placed in the world you can animate it to move, but be warned : players and ai in battlefront do not move with the model - when a prop is animated in
battlefront 2 it slips from the players feet so when the model moves the player dose not. There is no know way to fix this !
a good idea would be to have the animations of the ship be trigger by certain events then have the ship stop at a certain point in the map - from there a command
post would be spawned using a command post spawn script, a team would also be assigned to this command post. units would spawn in the now stationary capital ship then
after some time a script would kill or change the commandant team to zero so no more units spawn. from there the remaining units would get into their star fighters and after some more time
the capital ship would animate to its next point - stop - and do the whole thing over again.
CONGRATS NOW YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF HOW I MADE CAPITAL SHIPS MOVE. Sure it'll take a while to do yourself but using this link you'll have access to all my assets you could just use the
ones I made for the clone war era !
Don't just limit your mind to what's in this post - you can model them with no accessible hangers and use them as big props or animate capital ships to crash them into the ground
- capital ships crashing down on jakku maybe ???
NOW lets talk about how to make them explode !
Remember how your capital ship had multiple parts before you combined them ? and remember how destroyed frigates get destroyed into parts ?! lets model the parts of the capital ship into something
called chunks ! using softimage import the parts of the capital ship then design them into chuncks by filling in the hole with rubble. (you can also import some rubble or chucks that came from battlefront 2
mod tools rhen enlarge the chunks you've imported to fill the holes in the capital ship part) Export this making it a mesh file (you wont need an odf) and boom - now you have a chunk so open the odf for the one big capital ship model and code
in some chunks (you can use a frigates odf for the chunk code)
now when that health bar hits zero the ship will split into chunks !
note: you can code the capital ships death so that it will kill another prop such as a hanger or interior you designed using soft image
(that how I made that whole capital ship interior disappear in my kashyyyk space map- it was another model linked to the capital ships death oh and that was easily animate able because its odf was
snapped to the capital ship model through zero editor).
so there you have it. Sure you cant have a moving capital ship you can walk around in and sure if your in the ship while it explodes you'll just fall (unless you code a damaging explosion in the odf)
but look at it like this : your mother ship can move and be destroyed - and that makes me wonder why didn't pandemic include this in the first place ??? Maybe they had a time limit.
*sigh* to bad battlefront EA doesn't have moving and destructible capital ships.
capital ship. Well today your learn just how I broke the boundary of what capital ships can do.
So the first thing I needed to do was make the capital ship's parts all into one model so that it could be animated and moved as one
whole ship. I used softimage modtool to snap ALL the capital ship parts together (this included the capital ship
subsystems such as the engines,bridge,etc)
hint: (if you want, snap together all the capital ship parts EXCEPT the hanger and hanger shields - then snap together the hanger and hanger shields in its own model.
this is useful because your whole capital ship model is gonna need a life bar in order to be destroyed and if the hanger is part of this big capital ship model then a life
bar for the whole ship will appear whenever the player is walking around the hanger, potentially allowing the player to damage the main ship. If your picky about that kind of
stuff then just make two models like T just said -capital ship model and capital ship hanger model)
note: There is no way the player will be filtered out by the shield when we have moving and destructible Capital Ships - and if the shield its own model it wont animate well
(I guess maybe if you made the shield some how fit the big capital ship model then made its odf have its own shield properties that might work but I don't know how to do that
)so after the model was exported I gave it its own (destructible) odf so it can fit into the world.
(If you used the hint above once the models are imported in the world. I used zeroedit to snap them together so they fit right into each other and "look" like one model)
once its placed in the world you can animate it to move, but be warned : players and ai in battlefront do not move with the model - when a prop is animated in
battlefront 2 it slips from the players feet so when the model moves the player dose not. There is no know way to fix this !
a good idea would be to have the animations of the ship be trigger by certain events then have the ship stop at a certain point in the map - from there a command
post would be spawned using a command post spawn script, a team would also be assigned to this command post. units would spawn in the now stationary capital ship then
after some time a script would kill or change the commandant team to zero so no more units spawn. from there the remaining units would get into their star fighters and after some more time
the capital ship would animate to its next point - stop - and do the whole thing over again.
CONGRATS NOW YOU HAVE AN IDEA OF HOW I MADE CAPITAL SHIPS MOVE. Sure it'll take a while to do yourself but using this link you'll have access to all my assets you could just use the
ones I made for the clone war era !
Don't just limit your mind to what's in this post - you can model them with no accessible hangers and use them as big props or animate capital ships to crash them into the ground
- capital ships crashing down on jakku maybe ???
NOW lets talk about how to make them explode !
Remember how your capital ship had multiple parts before you combined them ? and remember how destroyed frigates get destroyed into parts ?! lets model the parts of the capital ship into something
called chunks ! using softimage import the parts of the capital ship then design them into chuncks by filling in the hole with rubble. (you can also import some rubble or chucks that came from battlefront 2
mod tools rhen enlarge the chunks you've imported to fill the holes in the capital ship part) Export this making it a mesh file (you wont need an odf) and boom - now you have a chunk so open the odf for the one big capital ship model and code
in some chunks (you can use a frigates odf for the chunk code)
now when that health bar hits zero the ship will split into chunks !
note: you can code the capital ships death so that it will kill another prop such as a hanger or interior you designed using soft image
(that how I made that whole capital ship interior disappear in my kashyyyk space map- it was another model linked to the capital ships death oh and that was easily animate able because its odf was
snapped to the capital ship model through zero editor).
so there you have it. Sure you cant have a moving capital ship you can walk around in and sure if your in the ship while it explodes you'll just fall (unless you code a damaging explosion in the odf)
but look at it like this : your mother ship can move and be destroyed - and that makes me wonder why didn't pandemic include this in the first place
??? Maybe they had a time limit. *sigh* to bad battlefront EA doesn't have moving and destructible capital ships.
Hidden/Spoiler:
Have you ever wanted an event happen (like shield or door to drop) once multiple actions are completed
use a in game "rat trap" to do this.
First - somehow build a little rectangular hallway outside of your maps action area (in other words build it hidden away from the player and Ai). This can be done out of un-opening door props or anything really. Make sure the
hallway is built so if you spawned at one end of it you wouldn't be able to escape at all. Now use the ambush script to spawn a unit (or a "rat") In the (hallway) rat trap.
make sure the rat has some kind of goal so that he moves around (without escaping) in your hallway rat trap
next, place a region at the end of the rectangular hallway and some un-opening door props between your "rat" and region now set up your actions and link them to an animation that lowers
a door, so for example when a item is destroyed lower one of the doors that blocks the rat from that region at the end of the hallway.
(Do you see where I'm going with this) all doors would have to be lowered in order for the rat to access the region which would then trigger an event itself!
This whole rat trap thing may be able to be done through scripting or something else but hey - here's a secret about me - I'm not good at scripting, I'm just really creative. so who knows maybe this already exists or something
but its a cool visual, and (possibly) easier way to make one event happen after multiple other events happen first.
use a in game "rat trap" to do this.
First - somehow build a little rectangular hallway outside of your maps action area (in other words build it hidden away from the player and Ai). This can be done out of un-opening door props or anything really. Make sure the
hallway is built so if you spawned at one end of it you wouldn't be able to escape at all. Now use the ambush script to spawn a unit (or a "rat") In the (hallway) rat trap.
make sure the rat has some kind of goal so that he moves around (without escaping) in your hallway rat trap
next, place a region at the end of the rectangular hallway and some un-opening door props between your "rat" and region now set up your actions and link them to an animation that lowers
a door, so for example when a item is destroyed lower one of the doors that blocks the rat from that region at the end of the hallway.
(Do you see where I'm going with this) all doors would have to be lowered in order for the rat to access the region which would then trigger an event itself!
This whole rat trap thing may be able to be done through scripting or something else but hey - here's a secret about me - I'm not good at scripting, I'm just really creative. so who knows maybe this already exists or something
but its a cool visual, and (possibly) easier way to make one event happen after multiple other events happen first.
Hidden/Spoiler:
To add weapon shooting shake aka KickStength to a weapon open its odf and under properties add a line that says: KickStrength = "0.5"
you can change the number to whatever you want - oh and you should probably know this only works for some weapons but its still pretty cool
right ?
here's an example from the "rep_weap_inf_rifle" odf
[code]
[WeaponClass]
ClassParent = "com_weap_inf_rifle"
GeometryName = "rep_weap_inf_rifle.msh"
[Properties]
GeometryName = "rep_weap_inf_rifle"
HighResGeometry = "rep_1st_weap_inf_rifle"
OrdnanceName = "rep_weap_inf_rifle_ord"
FirePointName = "hp_fire"
KickStrength = "0.4"
//******************************************************
//*************** SOUND ****************
//******************************************************
MuzzleFlash = "small_muzzle_flash"
FlashColor = "80 80 255 255"
FlashLength = 0.025
FlashColor = "100 100 255 255"
FlashLength = 0.025
FlashLightColor = "220 220 255 175"
FlashLightRadius = "2.0"
FlashLightDuration = "0.25"
Discharge = "small_smoke_effect"
FireSound = "rep_weap_inf_rifle_fire"
ReloadSound = "com_weap_inf_reload_med"
ChangeModeSound = "com_weap_inf_equip_med"
FireEmptySound = "com_weap_inf_ammo_empty"
WeaponChangeSound = "com_weap_inf_equip_med"
JumpSound = "com_weap_inf_rifle_mvt_jump"
LandSound = "com_weap_inf_rifle_mvt_land"
RollSound = "com_weap_inf_rifle_mvt_roll"
//ProneSound = "com_weap_inf_rifle_mvt_lie"
SquatSound = "com_weap_inf_rifle_mvt_squat"
//StandSound = "com_weap_inf_rifle_mvt_getup"
[/code]
you can change the number to whatever you want - oh and you should probably know this only works for some weapons but its still pretty cool
right ?
here's an example from the "rep_weap_inf_rifle" odf
[code]
[WeaponClass]
ClassParent = "com_weap_inf_rifle"
GeometryName = "rep_weap_inf_rifle.msh"
[Properties]
GeometryName = "rep_weap_inf_rifle"
HighResGeometry = "rep_1st_weap_inf_rifle"
OrdnanceName = "rep_weap_inf_rifle_ord"
FirePointName = "hp_fire"
KickStrength = "0.4"
//******************************************************
//*************** SOUND ****************
//******************************************************
MuzzleFlash = "small_muzzle_flash"
FlashColor = "80 80 255 255"
FlashLength = 0.025
FlashColor = "100 100 255 255"
FlashLength = 0.025
FlashLightColor = "220 220 255 175"
FlashLightRadius = "2.0"
FlashLightDuration = "0.25"
Discharge = "small_smoke_effect"
FireSound = "rep_weap_inf_rifle_fire"
ReloadSound = "com_weap_inf_reload_med"
ChangeModeSound = "com_weap_inf_equip_med"
FireEmptySound = "com_weap_inf_ammo_empty"
WeaponChangeSound = "com_weap_inf_equip_med"
JumpSound = "com_weap_inf_rifle_mvt_jump"
LandSound = "com_weap_inf_rifle_mvt_land"
RollSound = "com_weap_inf_rifle_mvt_roll"
//ProneSound = "com_weap_inf_rifle_mvt_lie"
SquatSound = "com_weap_inf_rifle_mvt_squat"
//StandSound = "com_weap_inf_rifle_mvt_getup"
[/code]
Hidden/Spoiler:
The over the shoulder view is not that hard to do actually. lets use the republic side as an example here.
If you want to apply it to all your units on the republic's side go into "rep_inf_default.odf" then add the
following code directly under "[Properties]"
[code]
CAMERASECTION = "STAND"
EyePointOffset = "3.0 2.0 0.6" //x and ys 1st val equals idk sencond is up and down
TrackCenter = "0.0 2.0 0.15"
TrackOffset = "0.6 -0.1 2.1" //last val zoom in and out gtreter te num the further away
TiltValue = "10.0"
CameraBlendTime = "0.40"
CAMERASECTION = "STANDZOOM"
EyePointOffset = "0.0 1.8 0.0"
TrackCenter = "0.0 1.8 0.0"
TrackOffset = "0.4 0.05 2.8"
TiltValue = "3.5"
CameraBlendTime = "0.50"
CAMERASECTION = "CROUCH"
EyePointOffset = "0.0 2.0 0.0"
TrackCenter = "0.0 2.0 0.0"
TrackOffset = "0.6 -0.1 2.1"
TiltValue = "10.0"
CameraBlendTime = "0.75"
CAMERASECTION = "CROUCHZOOM"
EyePointOffset = "0.0 -2.0 0.0"
TrackCenter = "0.0 2.0 0.0"
TrackOffset = "0.6 -0.1 2.1"
TiltValue = "3.5"
CAMERASECTION = "PRONE"
EyePointOffset = "0.0 0.5 0.0"
TrackCenter = "0.0 0.5 0.0"
TrackOffset = "0.0 0.0 3.0"
TiltValue = "5.0"
CameraBlendTime = "1.0"
CAMERASECTION = "PRONEZOOM"
EyePointOffset = "0.0 0.5 0.0"
TrackCenter = "0.0 0.5 0.0"
TrackOffset = "0.4 0.2 2.8"
TiltValue = "3.5"
CAMERASECTION = "SPRINT"
EyePointOffset = "0.0 2.0 0.6" //x and ys 1st val equals idk sencond is up and down
TrackCenter = "0.0 2.0 0.15"
TrackOffset = "0.6 -0.1 1.3" //last val zoom in and out gtreter te num the further away
TiltValue = "10.0"
CameraBlendTime = "0.30"
[/code]
As you can see the "CAMERASECTION" tells us what the player is doing and all that other stuff tells us where the camera is.
Feel free to edit all those numbers to change the camera position to what you want it to be !
note: If (for some reason) you want the cameras 3rd person view to change only for one unit then open that specific unit
so lets say we want the republic sniper to have that cool looking over the shoulder view the we will open the "rep_inf_default_sniper"
odf and paste in the same code above under "[Properties]".
If you want to apply it to all your units on the republic's side go into "rep_inf_default.odf" then add the
following code directly under "[Properties]"
[code]
CAMERASECTION = "STAND"
EyePointOffset = "3.0 2.0 0.6" //x and ys 1st val equals idk sencond is up and down
TrackCenter = "0.0 2.0 0.15"
TrackOffset = "0.6 -0.1 2.1" //last val zoom in and out gtreter te num the further away
TiltValue = "10.0"
CameraBlendTime = "0.40"
CAMERASECTION = "STANDZOOM"
EyePointOffset = "0.0 1.8 0.0"
TrackCenter = "0.0 1.8 0.0"
TrackOffset = "0.4 0.05 2.8"
TiltValue = "3.5"
CameraBlendTime = "0.50"
CAMERASECTION = "CROUCH"
EyePointOffset = "0.0 2.0 0.0"
TrackCenter = "0.0 2.0 0.0"
TrackOffset = "0.6 -0.1 2.1"
TiltValue = "10.0"
CameraBlendTime = "0.75"
CAMERASECTION = "CROUCHZOOM"
EyePointOffset = "0.0 -2.0 0.0"
TrackCenter = "0.0 2.0 0.0"
TrackOffset = "0.6 -0.1 2.1"
TiltValue = "3.5"
CAMERASECTION = "PRONE"
EyePointOffset = "0.0 0.5 0.0"
TrackCenter = "0.0 0.5 0.0"
TrackOffset = "0.0 0.0 3.0"
TiltValue = "5.0"
CameraBlendTime = "1.0"
CAMERASECTION = "PRONEZOOM"
EyePointOffset = "0.0 0.5 0.0"
TrackCenter = "0.0 0.5 0.0"
TrackOffset = "0.4 0.2 2.8"
TiltValue = "3.5"
CAMERASECTION = "SPRINT"
EyePointOffset = "0.0 2.0 0.6" //x and ys 1st val equals idk sencond is up and down
TrackCenter = "0.0 2.0 0.15"
TrackOffset = "0.6 -0.1 1.3" //last val zoom in and out gtreter te num the further away
TiltValue = "10.0"
CameraBlendTime = "0.30"
[/code]
As you can see the "CAMERASECTION" tells us what the player is doing and all that other stuff tells us where the camera is.
Feel free to edit all those numbers to change the camera position to what you want it to be !
note: If (for some reason) you want the cameras 3rd person view to change only for one unit then open that specific unit
so lets say we want the republic sniper to have that cool looking over the shoulder view the we will open the "rep_inf_default_sniper"
odf and paste in the same code above under "[Properties]".
Hidden/Spoiler:
cockpits- that's easy too, since they come with battlefront 2's mod tools you should already have them just follow these instructions
Note : the cockpits only can be switched from third to first person view in a Starfighter for some reason ground vehicles cant switch
their cockpit views even though cockpits were designed for them. I guess you could make two identical ground
vehicles on the same map then make the only thing different between the two odf's is the cockpit view.
Note : the cockpits only can be switched from third to first person view in a Starfighter for some reason ground vehicles cant switch
their cockpit views even though cockpits were designed for them. I guess you could make two identical ground
vehicles on the same map then make the only thing different between the two odf's is the cockpit view.
Hidden/Spoiler:
That took me a long time sooo ... I'm gunna save you hours of hard work. Using this link download my assets and
go to Star Wars Battles of the Storm Assets\ASSETS\Kashyyyk Cataclysm\side assets\all\odf\all_inf_default_wookiee
then open Star Wars Battles of the Storm Assets\ASSETS\Kashyyyk Cataclysm\side assets\all\odf\all_inf_wookiee
now since both of those files are open I need you notice two things. In the all_inf_default_wookiee file notice these lines of code:
[code]WEAPONSECTION = 3
WeaponName = "hot_weap_lightsaber_wampa"
WeaponAmmo = 6[/code]
That is the "hit" weapon make sure to copy this to your wookies "???_inf_default_???" . Also notice how its not weapon section 1. This is important because
for some reason making this weapon section 1 will cause the wookie to only have is "hitting" weapon, if you want his to be able to hold other weapons
you'll have to make the hitting weapon his last weapon section.
In the all_inf_wookiee file notice these lines of code
[code]SkeletonName = "wop"
SkeletonRootScale = "1.15"
CollisionRootScale = "1.15"[/code]
Make sure to copy this to your wookies "???_inf_???".
last thing we need to do is copy these files
hot_weap_lightsaber_wampa.odf
snw_inf_wampa.odf
hot_inf_wampa.combo
hoth_weap_inf_smash_exp.odf
from Star Wars Battles of the Storm Assets\ASSETS\Kashyyyk Cataclysm\side assets\all\odf
into your wookies side odf folder.
Then copy these files ...
wop.anims
wop.zaabin
wop.zafbin
from Star Wars Battles of the Storm Assets\ASSETS\Kashyyyk Cataclysm\side assets\all\munged
into your wookies side munged folder.
And then these ...
hot_sfx_weap_pawsmash.fx
hot_sfx_weap_clapsmash.fx
hot_sfx_weap_smash.fx
from Star Wars Battles of the Storm Assets\ASSETS\Kashyyyk Cataclysm\side assets\all\effects
into your wookies side effects folder.
If this took you awhile its ok because it could've taken you longer ... believe me
go to Star Wars Battles of the Storm Assets\ASSETS\Kashyyyk Cataclysm\side assets\all\odf\all_inf_default_wookiee
then open Star Wars Battles of the Storm Assets\ASSETS\Kashyyyk Cataclysm\side assets\all\odf\all_inf_wookiee
now since both of those files are open I need you notice two things. In the all_inf_default_wookiee file notice these lines of code:
[code]WEAPONSECTION = 3
WeaponName = "hot_weap_lightsaber_wampa"
WeaponAmmo = 6[/code]
That is the "hit" weapon make sure to copy this to your wookies "???_inf_default_???" . Also notice how its not weapon section 1. This is important because
for some reason making this weapon section 1 will cause the wookie to only have is "hitting" weapon, if you want his to be able to hold other weapons
you'll have to make the hitting weapon his last weapon section.
In the all_inf_wookiee file notice these lines of code
[code]SkeletonName = "wop"
SkeletonRootScale = "1.15"
CollisionRootScale = "1.15"[/code]
Make sure to copy this to your wookies "???_inf_???".
last thing we need to do is copy these files
hot_weap_lightsaber_wampa.odf
snw_inf_wampa.odf
hot_inf_wampa.combo
hoth_weap_inf_smash_exp.odf
from Star Wars Battles of the Storm Assets\ASSETS\Kashyyyk Cataclysm\side assets\all\odf
into your wookies side odf folder.
Then copy these files ...
wop.anims
wop.zaabin
wop.zafbin
from Star Wars Battles of the Storm Assets\ASSETS\Kashyyyk Cataclysm\side assets\all\munged
into your wookies side munged folder.
And then these ...
hot_sfx_weap_pawsmash.fx
hot_sfx_weap_clapsmash.fx
hot_sfx_weap_smash.fx
from Star Wars Battles of the Storm Assets\ASSETS\Kashyyyk Cataclysm\side assets\all\effects
into your wookies side effects folder.
If this took you awhile its ok because it could've taken you longer ... believe me