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Blender Ship Modelling

dab

Landlubber
Storm Modder
Hi Guys,

I made another topic like this one, but it looks like it might have been loss during all the server trouble.

Basically, I am using TOOL and blender 2.48 to mod ship models. Unfortunately I have been having trouble when converting from gm to vrml97, importing and exporting vrml97 w/ blender, and then converting vrml97 back to gm. When I try to convert back to gm from vrml97 it doesn't work and TOOL gives me errors.

So, I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could give me a quik walkthrough on how to use TOOL to convert gm and vrml97 files back and forth and how to properly import and export vrml97 using blender.

Thanks!
 
If you don't get a reply soon, send a PM to <i>yo ho ho</i>. He should be able to help.
ZarethPL recently figured out how to use Maya properly though, which would be the preferred method.
Reason being, Maya was used for the original game's ships and creates correct models.
Ines' tool causes a reversed lighting error and doesn't generate new collision data for hulls.
 
Hi Dab,

do you have the same error when you exporting with GM-Viewer to .obj format?

I use 3ds max and export with gm-viewer to .obj. Import it to 3ds and export to .wrl(VRML). load the .wrl model in to TOOL (you must activate "ship item/location" and "invert texture") and use the collision from an existing model with the same size and save it as .gm file. (

it works but like @Pieter said with the Bad Light Bug.

@BAVA told me that blender makes the own collision and that should be work. he is a blender modeller.
And you must deactivate the double sided Faces , that should disable the BLB.
I´ve tried it but at my model it doesnt work.
 
I'm still having trouble when I try to use TOOL to open the .wrl file i export with blender. I get an error that says 'DuplicateVRMLVerts1:Mesh could not be processed.' That happens even after exporting to .obj using GM viewer.

Any idea what may cause that? There must be a setting in blender that i am getting wrong. Thanks!
 
He already did <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

Dab, best way to get blender models in PotC is the following (all IIRC, I did this over 9 months ago <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":(" border="0" alt="sad.gif" /> ):

Blender (.obj) -> Maya (pref. version 4.5 or 5, check if the conversion was okay, .vrml) -> TOOL.
At least thats how Inzane told me to do it and how he got his ships and mine ingame (and it worked when I tried it myself).
No BLB and working collison data, I took damage when I was hit by cannonballs, didn´t try to ram something, though.

Maybe its one of your settings? reversed normals and -as yohoho said -double sided faces can cause problems during the conversion process.


Pieter, do we still have one the older Maya versions on the FTP? I "lost" the one I had when I transferred my modding stuff to my new comp.^^

Regards,
bava
 
meshes saved as .blend files <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />
 
You might also want to ask ZarethPL; he is the person who has recently been using Maya + Akella plugin to put models ingame in the exact same way as the original game developers did. Maya can still be found on the PotC FTP and for the required plugin, send a PM to either Thomas the Terror or me.
 
Thanks guys for all of the info! I think that I'm just going to try to get my hands on Maya and see if that works. I like blender, it's a great program, but sometimes i wish that it was just a little more simple. We have an old version of Mulit Gen at work for our kongsberg full mission bridge simulators and it is 10 times more straight forward. I was able to create 2 new ship models for our simulator in just over a week and they turned out really well. But, if wishes were pennies i'd be a millionaire right?
 
Kongsberg full mission simulator? Ah, the memories; the bugs; the insanity. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/24.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rofl" border="0" alt="24.gif" />
 
Bugs with Kongsberg simulators?!? haha I can tell you have been around one. Were you a simulator tech or have you used a simulator for training? Pieter you aren't an officer for Holland America Lines are you?

By the way, what version of Maya do you suggest i download off of the FTP server and a there any plugins you suggest? Thanks!
 
I used it for training. A year ago at school we got a new Kongsberg simulator and the completely insane bugs I would get were... incredible.
These were so bad that at some point I was trying to make a turn to starboard and
I'd have the port engine full ahead, the starboard engine full astern and the rudder full to starboard and the ship would keep going straight.
That was on a cruiseship with three bow thrusters and three stern thrusters,
all of which I <i>couldn't</i> operate because there were no controls for it onscreen.
In fact, the simulator seemed to think the ship was equipped with two azipods at the stern, which wasn't true at all.
And that's not the worst of it all either. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wacko.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":wacko:" border="0" alt="wacko.gif" />

I think that it does work fairly well now at school and most the issues have thankfully have been solved.
But when the simulator was just new, it was severely messed up and
the teacher couldn't understand why we were having so much trouble getting out of port. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/24.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rofl" border="0" alt="24.gif" />

I did in fact sail 10 months on the Holland America Line MS Zuiderdam as Cadet Officer.
That was February 2007 - August 2007 in the Caribbean and Alaska and
then August 2008 - December 2008 in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.
My forum avatar shows me in my uniform in Vancouver, Canada.

At the moment I am still finishing my nautical education, but I should be done in summer,
after which I will become a qualified officer with Holland America Line. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/yes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":yes" border="0" alt="yes.gif" />
 
<!--quoteo(post=301079:date=Feb 13 2009, 04:07 AM:name=Dab)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dab @ Feb 13 2009, 04:07 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=301079"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->By the way, what version of Maya do you suggest i download off of the FTP server and a there any plugins you suggest? Thanks!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->I have added you to the "Modders" usergroup, which will give you access to <a href="http://forum.piratesahoy.net//index.php?showtopic=12623" target="_blank">this thread</a> with plugins, tools and help files provided to us by Akella and seaward.ru.
As for which version of Maya to use, that has me quite confused.
I thought Maya5.0.zip was the one, but I haven't got a clue what the other files are supposed to be. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wacko.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":wacko:" border="0" alt="wacko.gif" />
 
<!--quoteo(post=301209:date=Feb 13 2009, 03:19 PM:name=Pieter Boelen)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pieter Boelen @ Feb 13 2009, 03:19 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=301209"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--><!--quoteo(post=301079:date=Feb 13 2009, 04:07 AM:name=Dab)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dab @ Feb 13 2009, 04:07 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=301079"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->By the way, what version of Maya do you suggest i download off of the FTP server and a there any plugins you suggest? Thanks!<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->I have added you to the "Modders" usergroup, which will give you access to <a href="http://forum.piratesahoy.net//index.php?showtopic=12623" target="_blank">this thread</a> with plugins, tools and help files provided to us by Akella and seaward.ru.
As for which version of Maya to use, that has me quite confused.
I thought Maya5.0.zip was the one, but I haven't got a clue what the other files are supposed to be. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wacko.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":wacko:" border="0" alt="wacko.gif" />
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

ur talkin abaut AWMU501 part1 and part2 ???? if so i uploaded them its Maya 5.0.1 wich im currently using <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheeky" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />
 
AH! That explains a lot. So that would be the version we should be using then, right? Considering there's plenty of proof it works for you. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheeky" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />
If so, it would be an idea to remove the other ones. It's just confusing right now. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mybad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":facepalm" border="0" alt="mybad.gif" />
 
<!--quoteo(post=301225:date=Feb 13 2009, 04:12 PM:name=Pieter Boelen)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pieter Boelen @ Feb 13 2009, 04:12 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=301225"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->AH! That explains a lot. So that would be the version we should be using then, right? Considering there's plenty of proof it works for you. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":cheeky" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />
If so, it would be an idea to remove the other ones. It's just confusing right now. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mybad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":facepalm" border="0" alt="mybad.gif" /><!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

Actually both of them work ,but there were some issues with 5.0 so i found the 5.0.1 ,as for removing it thats your call <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />
 
Thanks for adding me to the modders group! Those tools will come in handy.

It's great that you're training to be an officer and exciting that you'll be done this summer! If you like being on the ocean and don't mind being gone for long periods of time then the maritime field is the way to go! haha especialy if you like getting paid well too. Good luck and have fun!

One of the ships that I made for our bridge simulator is the Westerdam, although I didn't put the ship's name on her stern so she could very well be the Zuiderdam. Unfortunately she can only be a target in the exercise, so we can't command her.

Wow, we haven't had any problem with our simulator like that. I would have been pulling my hair out if our simulator ships didn't respond like that. We do have an anchor problem in some exercises were the students will be making several kts ahead while dragging anchor to change the ships pivot point and the anchor will actually start walking out ahead of the ship and then break. It's the wierdest thing to see.
 
Do you still have that model of the Westerdam? I'd like to at least see it. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/w00t.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":woot" border="0" alt="w00t.gif" />
Have you ever heard of the sailing simulator <a href="http://www.avsim.com/vs" target="_blank">Virtual Sailor</a>Virtual Sailor? Back in the early days, I used to make some models for that.
You can see them on my old <a href="http://www.s31clan.com/privateftps/pietersmods/vsshipyard/" target="_blank">Virtual Sailor Shipyard</a>.

Did you make the anchor too heavy so that it swings out in front of the ship?
Sometimes bugs can be sooo funny. I recall in that Virtual Sailor simulator, if you'd give a submarine enough power, you could fly it as an airplane.
This was actually NOT intentional, but of course people did end up making use of the bug on purpose. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/24.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rofl" border="0" alt="24.gif" />
 
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