Requesting advice

[D4rkR420R]

Hello mates I'm looking forward in the future, creating awesome content for players who need skins, weapons, vehicles, etc. However, they involve modeling the object, constructing the textures for it, and so on. I'd like hear some advice from people who actually experienced making custom content, however in this case for custom weapons. I want to receive opinions about recommended programs to edit the object/model, they way we create the textures for it, and developing the preferences of the weapon's functionality. Hopefully you all are kind enough to share some advice when dealing with creating custom weapons.

[Xmair]

I currently use GMax for modelling but you can use 3DsMax or ZModeller, both have more features than GMax. For textures, they're just images, use TXD workshop for them. If you need further help you could watch videos on YouTube or shoot me a PM.

[D4rkR420R]

I currently use GMax for modelling but you can use 3DsMax or ZModeller, both have more features than GMax. For textures, they're just images, use TXD workshop for them. If you need further help you could watch videos on YouTube or shoot me a PM.

Question: 3DsMax or ZModeller support .dff files? And for textures, I have to create the image, correct?

[Xmair]

Yes, textures are just images. I believe ZModeller supports .dff but in 3DsMax and GMax you need to add a script, read this topic for more information: http://forum.vc-mp.org/?topic=994.0

[KAKAN]

I've used Tinkercad. It's pretty neat, extremely beginner-friendly. I don't do 3D modelling much, so it gets my work done.
Exported the .STL obj, loaded it in another program, took the name of the textures from there, and made the .txd file, and exported the object as .dff with a .col file.

[NicusorN5]

I use SketchUp for modeling the weapons, a converter to import it to .3ds then I convert it to .dff using ZModdeler.

[KAKAN]

I've used Tinkercad. It's pretty neat, extremely beginner-friendly. I don't do 3D modelling much, so it gets my work done.
Exported the .STL obj, loaded it in another program, took the name of the textures from there, and made the .txd file, and exported the object as .dff with a .col file.

It's not free.

Dafuq? Its free for the most part. I don't know which part of it asks money. Can you tell me?

[GangstaRas]

I'm doing pretty much exactly what you're asking now, so I hope my input will be of good help to you.

I personally use Blender for all my 3D modeling. I have 3ds max installed, but I don't recommend it if you're completely new to the modeling scene, the learning curve is too steep. 3ds Max does have a strength though in that its DFF script is far superior to Blender's imo when it comes to exporting an object's package all in one (DFF file and COL file). The way I have to make COL files is to model like normal, save the file in 3ds format then use CollEditor to import that mesh and save it as a COL file. 3ds Max's script also has better support for loading textures of original game content (the process to get textures loaded in Blender using its DFF script is tedious in comparison), but that only matters if you're editing an already made object, creating your own, this is nothing to worry about.

Also there are some little intricacies to 3D modeling in general that each program does better at over the other. So for example, as a novice, in Blender your biggest mistake is probably going to be making an object without any clue of how big it really is. Blender is setup in a fashion where proper dimensional manipulations are not in the spotlight so it seems unimportant. 3ds Max on the other hand brings that issue to the forefront the minute you begin to make any object. This is important when you would want things to be sized as it would be in real life, you wouldn't want your custom weapon to be the size of a truck lol (look more into Object Mode vs Edit Mode for a better understanding of the issue). Inversely, 3ds Max is honestly a huge clutter that isn't very intuitive or customizable. This will fade in time sure as you learn the program, but you'll come to appreciate Blender's flexible GUI where you can split any active window into portions and change it to something more useful for the moment while still keeping everything in view (very helpful feature when UV mapping textures and working with materials).

For creating textures, I use both GIMP and Inkscape. The Adobe equivalents would be Photoshop and Illustrator. Inkscape/Illustrator isn't particularly a necessity but it does make certain texture patterns you might want to use a lot easier to create. For example:



This object is basically a giant tube I made with some transparent textures mapped on it to create those holes. A texture like this would be too tedious to create in Photoshop/GIMP. Also, this texture is 1024x1024 pixels. I wanted to actually use 256x256, but the look of the texture then on this giant object was not favourable. If I had decided to use 256x256 in Photoshop/GIMP, I would have to restart all over in making that texture at a higher resolution as upscaling would not improve quality, it would just become an interpolated mess. With Inkscape/Illustrator however, I have the flexibility to make that texture anything I want, anytime I please without losing quality (look into vector images vs raster images for full understanding).

So that's basically my workflow and how I pretty much am able to tackle any project in a timely fashion

[D4rkR420R]

I have downloaded a modification/add-on to Blender, unfortunately when I try to export it as a DFF file (Renderware .dff), it throws back errors but creates an empty .dff file. At first I thought the reason was due to object size. I noticed when I imported a prototype of a ruger. I compared the size, and trust me it was WAY too big. Therefore I'm about the resize it soon. If that is not case, I'll post a screenshot of the error. Here's link though from where I got the add-on here. Anyways, I'm glad you all were kind enough to share me tips and advice, which makes me proud how outstanding the community works.

[GangstaRas]

I have downloaded a modification/add-on to Blender, unfortunately when I try to export it as a DFF file (Renderware .dff), it throws back errors but creates an empty .dff file. At first I thought the reason was due to object size. I noticed when I imported a prototype of a ruger. I compared the size, and trust me it was WAY too big. Therefore I'm about the resize it soon. If that is not case, I'll post a screenshot of the error. Here's link though from where I got the add-on here. Anyways, I'm glad you all were kind enough to share me tips and advice, which makes me proud how outstanding the community works.

I have this plugin and its what I've been using ever since. I know the error you're speaking cuz when I just started I ran into the same issue, keeps producing some error and spits out a 0 bytes dff file. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten the error in such a good while now that I don't even remember why it happened lol but perhaps if you send me the project blend file, something may click for me.

Before exports though with that plugin, You need to do 2 things. The first thing is to select all your model's faces in Edit mode and flip the normals. I've noticed that the script flips the normals the wrong way after export, so when you export with correct normals, the dff file is saved with incorrect normals. So all you have to do is flip the normals on the wrong side and the dff file will be saved the correct way.

The next thing you're going to need to do is also triangulate your faces (there's a function for that in Edit mode under the Mesh Option, or you can just do Ctrl + F in Edit Mode to see the option). This won't fix the errors but what tends to happen is that if you leave it up to the script to triangulate the faces, you'll get a checkerboard pattern of flipped & unflipped normals which does give wanky results in-game. So you run this function as your last step before you export.


Also, since you're using Blender, there's another plus to using Inkscape/Illustrator. I'm not sure if 3ds Max is able to do this but with Blender, you can import svg files saved from Inkscape/Illustrator and use whatever you've traced as the face of a plane that you can extrude later. This is a very quick and
effective way to make car badges and logos (especially ones with complex patterns), and even the rims of cars too as well as guns come to life in 3D. It will take some modifcations afterwards to get the final product but you have completed 2 parts of the modeling process (2D shape and 3D depth) just like that in less than 5 mins.

Example vid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGV3rGtqEec#

Lots of neat tricks you can do using all the programs together and get the job done quickly

[D4rkR420R]

Unfortunately, I haven't gotten the error in such a good while now that I don't even remember why it happened lol but perhaps if you send me the project blend file, something may click for me.

I'll send it to you in a PM once I try to re-size the crossbow although it's bigger than VCMP weapons are.

[GangstaRas]

@vito1 you're right on that, it basically has the same effect as whats going on with the leaf edges of the palm trees and bushes, but its not a discouragement not to attempt anything transparent (ill show an ingame pic when im on PC). I havent checked into it yet but I noticed fences dont have this issue. Perhaps something in their settings makes their textures special from the others, idk

[EK.IceFlake]

I think that that fence thing is because of the fact that fences don't have any collisions for bullets. I wonder if it happens with bullet-resistant fences.

[D4rkR420R]

Mind staying on topic? Thank you