Halberstadt D.V

[Crawford 570]

Thank you, quack74, for your detailed reply!

What a remarkable thing! If it weren't for you, not a damn thing would get done. Honestly, I would never have guessed myself if you had not set me on the right path. I took your advice and got the same result. Yes, wings and tail unit still look intact.

But now I know in what direction to move to the "holes" for the Gladiators.

Cheers.

Edited May 24, 2016 by Crawford

[Crawford 570]

Hello, gentlemen.

After several days of experimentation, I'll sum up the situation. First, the section of the fuselage from the cockpit to the tail - it is only part of the aircraft, which is capable of displaying the "holes". And, second, to my extreme surprise, the “holes” behave more than strangely. That is, if you shooting point-blank at an Halberstadt , it does not mean that you can see on his fuselage the result of your actions.

Despite all my tricks, any visible "holes" are not presented on the wings. Only the Creator knows why.

Probably, initially assumed more detailed model of damages which would include separate "holes" for the left and right wings, for the top and bottom wings?

In any case, my very modest knowledge is not enough at this point.

 

[Wrench 9,801]

how many skin maps are there? Each skin map needs a coresponding "_holes.tga" (or dds, depending!)

 

so...for example, the stock SE-5A, has in total, 5 _holes.dds, each one "named" to match the various skin map (TK uses numbers to identify each map, unlike 3rd party that usually use the component's name like "fuselage", right wing, etc)

 

SE-5A_1_holes.dds

SE-5A_2_holes.dds

and so forth

 

the good thing about adding them, even using stock damage textures renamed to fit the skin naming, is that they DON'T have to exactly match the mapping of the skin. You only need to get "close enough"

I do this all the time for many of the SF2 addon aircraft I work on. 

You just need the holes to show up.

 

and, of course, they must reside in the MAIN section of the aircraft's folder (ie: Objects/Aircraft/"name-of-aircraft", where all the inis and lods and such are

 

they aren't that hard to do, really, just open the skin map in your image program of choice, (gimp, PS, etc), the extract the damge textures from the cat, and open which ever one you think might be close enough. Do this for each skin map, place them in the aircraft's folder, and rename to match. Pretty easy!

[Crawford 570]

how many skin maps are there? Each skin map needs a coresponding "_holes.tga" (or dds, depending!)

........................................................

Pretty easy!

 

Well, you have said enough.

Only two skin maps, sir.

Accordingly, there are only two textures "holes" (only one of them is working, although incorrectly). Maybe it's really easy... And yet, I'm not a modder, but only an amateur. What I'll can do, that I'll do. I merely asked for information, how to do it. I'm very sorry you're caught in the middle, sir.

Thank you. I am in your debt.

[+Stephen1918 1,474]

Crawford - You may already know this, so forgive me if I get too basic -

 

The "holes" are actually decals that let the user know that the plane has been hit.

The damage may not actually line up with the bullets that were fired, but "damage' will appear somewhere on the part that got hit.

The "holes" decals have to be TGA files with an alpha channel, most of the detail in the TGA file will be in the alpha channel.

 

I think that the problem with the wings may be a problem with the hit box instead of with the skins. In the data file, each major part has a "MinExtentPosition" and a "MaxExtentPosition" which create a box around the part. If these are not there, or are too small, then the part may not register that it has been damaged.

 

Nicholas Bell has been posting hit box revisions in another thread. He posted revisions for the Halberstadt a few weeks ago. You may need to make changes to the data.ini in order for the wings to show damage.

 

(Nicholas Posted  revisions for the Halberstadt D5 on   09 May 2016 - 02:37:10 PM)

 

Edit - I just looked at my version of the Halberstadt D5, it looks like the model node names in the data file are incorrect. So the game registers the hit, but doesn't know which part to change. These will all have to be corrected. If you have Mues LOD viewer, that might help, otherwise you'll have to do it using the OUT file. Also, check to see if VonS has posted a revised FM for the Halberstadt, he may have already fixed it.

Edited May 26, 2016 by Stephen1918

[Crawford 570]

P.S. By the way, I've been doing in the last few days, exactly what you write. I replaced and renamed various "holes", resize BMP and TGA textures, etc. No result! On the HalbDV running only the "holes", about which I wrote above. The extracted files (SE-5A_1_holes and others) not working too. I think that here we are faced with a programming error in the aircraft model.

Of course, I could be wrong ))

[Crawford 570]

 

Crawford - You may already know this, so forgive me if I get too basic -

.....................

.Nicholas Bell has been posting hit box revisions in another thread. He posted revisions for the Halberstadt a few weeks ago. You may need to make changes to the data.ini in order for the wings to show damage.

(Nicholas Posted  revisions for the Halberstadt D5 on   09 May 2016 - 02:37:10 PM)

 

Hi, Stephen! 

Of course, I considered it. Hit Box revisions by Nicholas Bell for the Halberstadtt, I applied for a long time ago, but it not affected at the wings, alas.

Edited May 26, 2016 by Crawford

[Crawford 570]

Edit - I just looked at my version of the Halberstadt D5, it looks like the model node names in the data file are incorrect. So the game registers the hit, but doesn't know which part to change. These will all have to be corrected. If you have Mues LOD viewer, that might help, otherwise you'll have to do it using the OUT file. Also, check to see if VonS has posted a revised FM for the Halberstadt, he may have already fixed it.

 

Thank you, Stephen, It was a good reply! 

Okay, I'll find it. It's no bother at all for me. I would like to hope, that it will help.

I haven't thanked you for what you did for me. I think I've given you a lot of trouble. I humble apologize. 

 

Much obliged.

[+Stephen1918 1,474]

No need to apologize, Crawford. You're trying to learn and I'm happy to help.

[Crawford 570]

Well, I installed a revised DATA for the Halberstadt D5, as you advised. To my regret, visually it did not affect its damage model. As before, it's impossible to make holes into the wings or empennage of this aeroplane. Any files "HOLES.TGA" appear only at the one part of the airplane skin, and nowhere else.
Probably, VonS also did not pay attention to it.

 

[+VonS 1,424]

Well, I installed a revised DATA for the Halberstadt D5, as you advised. To my regret, visually it did not affect its damage model. As before, it's impossible to make holes into the wings or empennage of this aeroplane. Any files "HOLES.TGA" appear only at the one part of the airplane skin, and nowhere else.

Probably, VonS also did not pay attention to it.

 

Halb D5 Fuselage.jpg

 

I was able to get the holes visible on the fuselage using the advice in this thread, but nothing for the wings. I'm assuming that some skin files or lod files are missing for the Halb D.5 that would make this damage modelling possible  - I doubt that the improvements can be implemented directly from within the data ini file. I look forward to new discoveries regarding this.

 

Happy flying,

Von S

[+Stephen1918 1,474]

Edit - I just looked at my version of the Halberstadt D5, it looks like the model node names in the data file are incorrect. So the game registers the hit, but doesn't know which part to change. These will all have to be corrected. If you have Mues LOD viewer, that might help, otherwise you'll have to do it using the OUT file. Also, check to see if VonS has posted a revised FM for the Halberstadt, he may have already fixed it.

 

 

What I meant here was that the model node names in the data.ini have to match the model node names in the LOD. In the Halberstadt D5, they didn't. So the game registers the hit, but doesn't know what part of the model needs to show the damage. I used Mue's LOD viewer to make the corrections. The wings now take damage.

 

The zip file contains the original FM uploaded with Geezer's plane, I added Nicholas Bell's hit box revisions and I added my model node name revisions. I am using FE1 so I am not using the FMs for FE2 that VonS has made. If you are using the VonS FMs, you'll need to do some copy and paste to update the file.

HalbD5Data.zip

Edited May 28, 2016 by Stephen1918

[+NeverEnough 78]

Stephen1918, thanks so much for the damage fixes and hitbox corrections. This is probably my favorite ride over your Palestine Terrain!

Here is a location fix for the engine exhaust:

 

Located in the [Engine] section of the DATA.INI

 

ExhaustEmitterName=TracerSmokeEmitter
ExhaustPosition=0.58,0.52,0.10

[+Stephen1918 1,474]

Stephen1918, thanks so much for the damage fixes and hitbox corrections. This is probably my favorite ride over your Palestine Terrain!

Here is a location fix for the engine exhaust:

 

Located in the [Engine] section of the DATA.INI

 

ExhaustEmitterName=TracerSmokeEmitter

ExhaustPosition=0.58,0.52,0.10

Nicholas Bell did the work on the hitbox revisions, I just copied them in.

 

I use the stock  InLineExhaustEmitter because I think it looks more realistic, but I didn't change the location. Thanks for that!

[+VonS 1,424]

What I meant here was that the model node names in the data.ini have to match the model node names in the LOD. In the Halberstadt D5, they didn't. So the game registers the hit, but doesn't know what part of the model needs to show the damage. I used Mue's LOD viewer to make the corrections. The wings now take damage.

 

The zip file contains the original FM uploaded with Geezer's plane, I added Nicholas Bell's hit box revisions and I added my model node name revisions. I am using FE1 so I am not using the FMs for FE2 that VonS has made. If you are using the VonS FMs, you'll need to do some copy and paste to update the file.

 

Excellent, thank you for the quick corrections Stephen. I will incorporate the model node name changes into the Halb D.5 data ini and will upload with a version 8.0 FM update.

 

Happy flying,

Von S

Stephen1918, thanks so much for the damage fixes and hitbox corrections. This is probably my favorite ride over your Palestine Terrain!

Here is a location fix for the engine exhaust:

 

Located in the [Engine] section of the DATA.INI

 

ExhaustEmitterName=TracerSmokeEmitter

ExhaustPosition=0.58,0.52,0.10

Yes, the Halb. is a great ride in the Palestinian theatre, especially good against the RFC Nieuport 16.

 

Von S 

[Nicholas Bell 117]

What I meant here was that the model node names in the data.ini have to match the model node names in the LOD. In the Halberstadt D5, they didn't. So the game registers the hit, but doesn't know what part of the model needs to show the damage. I used Mue's LOD viewer to make the corrections. The wings now take damage.

This is a common problem in many 3rd party mod that drives me nut when working on hit boxes.  And often missing altogether.  The hitboxes don't appear if not assigned a ModelNodeName, although I've been told they still work for damage modeling, although obviously not for displaying that damage.  I temporary use a known ModelNodeName to make the hitbox visible, and then reassign back to where it belongs. 

 

Is there a way to edit the ModelNodeName in the LOD files without using 3DS Max or whatever you modellers are using?

 

Thanks for fixing the Halberstadt.

[+VonS 1,424]

Can now confirm that the corrections work in FE2. I've now incorporated the node name changes into the Halb. D.5 data ini and will upload with the next FM update. Don't forget to change the name of the "fuse_HOLES" and "wings_HOLES" files in your Halb. D.5 aircraft folder to "Halb D5 Fuselage_HOLES" and "Halb DV Wings_HOLES" for this to work properly (note the DV in the Wings tga, not D5 as in the Fuselage tga...that one confused me until I found out the minor difference...now the wings show damage too).

 

Pic follows...

 

 

 

Happy flying,

Von S

[Crawford 570]

What I meant here was that the model node names in the data.ini have to match the model node names in the LOD. In the Halberstadt D5, they didn't. So the game registers the hit, but doesn't know what part of the model needs to show the damage. I used Mue's LOD viewer to make the corrections. The wings now take damage.

 

The zip file contains the original FM uploaded with Geezer's plane, I added Nicholas Bell's hit box revisions and I added my model node name revisions. I am using FE1 so I am not using the FMs for FE2 that VonS has made. If you are using the VonS FMs, you'll need to do some copy and paste to update the file.

Well done! Only too happy!

Thank you so much, Stephen!

You're an absolute Hero of labour! Whatever you undertake to do, you always keep your word.

 

Also, huge thanks to everyone who gave me a lot of good advice.

Edited May 29, 2016 by Crawford

[Crawford 570]

Stephen1918, thanks so much for the damage fixes and hitbox corrections. This is probably my favorite ride over your Palestine Terrain!

Here is a location fix for the engine exhaust:

 

Located in the [Engine] section of the DATA.INI

 

ExhaustEmitterName=TracerSmokeEmitter

ExhaustPosition=0.58,0.52,0.10

 

Yes, it is essential correction. However I use

 

ExhaustEmitterName=CleanExhaustEmitter

 

I don't know, as far as this historical, but it is looked much more beautiful. An aeroplane left in the air a light white cloud, instead of a ribbon of white steam. I think it is better to use a TracerSmokeEmitter effect to simulate a fuel leak or leakage of coolant.

[Crawford 570]

Yes, it is essential correction. However I use

 

ExhaustEmitterName=CleanExhaustEmitter  

 

OOPS! I beg your pardon! In reality, I meant

ExhaustEmitterName= InlineExhaustEmitter  

 

I am terribly sorry!

[+Stephen1918 1,474]

...

Is there a way to edit the ModelNodeName in the LOD files without using 3DS Max or whatever you modellers are using?

...

The Model Node Names are assigned in the 3D software. I don't know how one would go about changing the LOD file. Would a hex editor work?

 

3DS assigns a default name if the modeller doesn't assign their own. Something like "Box001" or "Object001." So every part will have a name. Those names are listed in the OUT file. They also show up in Mue's LOD viewer. So you should be able to get things working without changing the LOD. By the way, the same model node names are used in the decal.ini.

Edited May 29, 2016 by Stephen1918

[+Julhelm 266]

The SF/FE2 exporter allows you to export the coordinates of hitboxes if you set them up in 3dsmax. It's important that they have to remain boxes, which means you can create a cube or box and scale it so it matches the area of the part it's supposed to be the hitbox for, but you can not add modifiers or convert it to mesh via editable mesh or poly. This is because the engine only uses a min/max coordinate for calculating collision volumes, which is only possible if using simple boxes.