Alien_397

The only thing I can think of, there's a short instant before the rendered image gets diced up into 256x256 bitmaps that the actual output bitmap is set to the perspective render, and if I remember right, only the alpha image actually. If something short circuited the dicing process after that but didn't crash the render perhaps, but I still can't imagine what would cause that. If that's even what we're seeing. What's the S3D for that same view look like, and did it only have one image for that view (e.i. normally, you'd have a number of 256x256 bitmaps for each view dividing up the correct render)?

That's an odd one. Could you get a picture of it in the reader at zoom 3 in one of the rotations that's not showing, with wireframe on. I can think of a number of things that could cause something like that, but they're all long shots too. For it to happen to only two rotations at one zoom. Since there are no 'checkerboard' pattern, we know it should actually has fsh's applied there. That leaves an error in the BAT exporting the S3D and for some reason culling the faces on those two rotations, or perhaps somehow getting a blank alpha for them as potentials, but what would cause those errors is then a question in and or itself. Nor is that the only possibilities.

The most common cause of what you're describing occurs when the SC4model name has spaces in it. This prevents FSHtool (the dos window that pops up when pressing 'FSH Batch Build') from processing the files, which is why "DAT FSH Insert" can't find any FSH files. Check the filename of the SC4model file you're exporting to for spaces. If it's got any, either delete them or replace them with "_"s and try exporting again. Chris

Monkee Boy, The main thing that would cause Gmax to create such large LODs is if you've got hidden or frozen geometry. You won't see it unless you unhide it, but Gmax still considers it when building the LOD. As for custom ones, I haven't a clue why they would give you that particular error. In fact, it's a pretty hard one to replicate. In fact I've only seen it in the scripts, never actually seen it occur in a render. And I've done lots of custom LODs. My suggestion... first check for hidden geometry that might be causing Gmax to exaggerate the LODs. If that's not the culprit, allow it to create the LOD's, delete 4 and 5, then resize LOD3 (by selecting and moving the faces or vertices). Once you've got it sized correctly, copy it out to LOD4 and LOD5. And of course watch that the LODs are named properly when you're done doing that. Hope that helps.

Joseph, Make sure you've set the camera first. To do that you've got to press either a rotation or zoom button in the preview panel when you open a model before you can use the preview. I can't tell if this is exactly what you're getting without knowing the error message, but it's the most common and likely. Anyway folks, I've been working on quite a bit of scripting for Bat4Max as of late, but I'll be discussing it over at SC4D (nothing personal, it's just that ST's forum software doesn't get along with my computer.) edit: finally got the link to to work, here's the thread: https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=5512.msg174263;topicseen#msg174263>Chris's Bat4Max Addons I'll be introducing additions periodically there for discussion. Take a look, for now I'm discussing my additions to the previews, but there are quite a few things beyond that I'll be getting into. Chris

Hi Monkee boy, some screen shots of what you're trying to render and the LOD's themselves would help a lot in figuring out what's going wrong.

Look back at my second to last post Jayo(the one without any pictures) And thank you Jacky

Actually Scipio, I was just thinking about updating the foam texture along the seam to match better , but I haven't had any time to revisit that. Right now I'm working on getting the road functional. I've basically reworked the LOD's to allow a bridge to be dragged across, and there will be a special bridge without any columns made for it. Until we can get the bridge put together(threestooges over at SC4D is giving me some help on the technical aspects there), I ran this test with a standard Maxis bridge(hence the column sticking down through the dam)to make sure it's all put together right. I've still got a spot or two to fix on LOD's as this is just a test, but other than that it works fine. You can also see some new details I've added in, such as the guard rails. The extra set of street lights has been removed from my model since I took these pictures since they'll be T21'd in like the Maxis ones seen here width=800 height=600> width=800 height=600>

Hi un1, it's actually an alpha mapped texture applied to a flat plane. I talked about it a bit more(with some pictures) in this post, since I've already discussed it there. Glad you're liking this, it's been a fun project for me so far(and I can't wait till it's released either )

Things have moved along a little bit on the Lake Livingston Dam, here's a new shot, with Diggis's pond lots he's working on forming the lake in this case, and in-game water below the dam:

roboo1: Try here: https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?board=249.0 . All the flora I've made is available in the sticky note at the top of each page, along with the fences and paths. I'm presently making the Lake Livingston Dam, in Texas: The big challenge is that I'm making it for in-game water, using a few tricks with perspective and LOD's to give an impression that the spillway side is lower than the lake side(despite the fact we know it can't be) Here's the newest shot showing the ladders added on the front and the beginnings of the control building on the side. Chris p.s. I've no clue why line breaks and word wrapping aren't working. I tried to fix it with no luck.

Well, just a couple of pictures here. I've been working on throwing several new flora into the mix, a couple of tall weed models, and (my favorite) some new grass that will blend into the terrain much better than the old. And an update to the muddy water(to match the water mod in the picture seen above)

Jacky: Thank you so much. I'm really putting a lot into making this as good as I can, so it's always good to see your encouragement Gn_leugim: I've got a link to download the flora at my SC4D thread JanYpe: Thanks alot, glad you like it. Sim shady: Look forward to seeing you there.

Oooh, why not. I'll keep yall posted here every once in a while. I've started a new project as of late. Most of you I'm sure are familiar with transparent ploppable water(from now on TPW) since Jeroni released the first model some half a year ago. While these are a huge leap up from the old flat ploppable water, I've always wanted to do a little more with it. Recently Jeroni was kind enough to share with me the process of making ploppable water, well, transparent. I'll mostly introduce what I'm up to here, though I'd like to keep the main discussion at SC4D for simplicity for me, as I'm more comfortable with the forum setup there. The main things I'm trying to do is add more complexity and realism into the 'texture' of the water, as well as add some extra functionality. If you've used TPW before, you know that you can spend all the time in the world detailing the bank with flora and rocks from one view, only to have the bank 'jump' as soon as you switch views, throwing it all off. The way to correct this is to lower the model. In Jeroni's, all of the pieces are set to 4 meters above the ground. I'm adding to these pieces(just the small ones) set at 2.2 and .6 meters that will allow for more 'anchored' bank lines for larger bodies of water, and to be the water for smaller streams. A second benefit of this comes when trying to produce the appearance of a shallow stream, because flora and rocks that wouldn't have broken the water's surface before are now able to. Any way, I know, I know, where are the pictures. Here's some developement shots. The 'original' crop of textures(on the left), next to the JRJ ones(on the right) Comparison of new 'blue' textures, next to original Comparison of 'Green' textures, next to original 0.6 meter height TPW, notice that small rocks are able to break the surface. This also has almost no bank 'jump' from different angles This one's my favorit so far. The water mod is a new one that we're planning to make compatible with the new TPW. The results are quite promising so far. The 'Blue' TPW seen here is likely to replace the blue textures seen before, as it's made specifically for the water mod here and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. There's a bit more technical discussion at SC4D for those interested, but I'm curious to see what folks here think. Chris