tiemanjw

I'm trying to start importing some of my 3d models into Skylines. I started with a simple house in 3ds max 2019 just to test the workflow. As you can see, the texture didn't exactly come out correctly. (the rotation didn't either, but I figured that one out). (first image is from paint 3d showing that it appears to show up correctly, second image is from the skylines import showing the messed up textures).

Thanks all for the help on this project. I uploaded the first set including the CVN, the DDG, and the AO a few minutes ago.

Thanks. I sent you a PM with the AO and DDG in it. The CVN is a bit to big for the PM limits though.

Ok, I have the Truman (carrier), Fleet replenishment oiler, and the destroyer ready to go. Before I release them, though, would anybody care to give them a final quality assurance check? I tested them in my game and they seem to work fine, but a second set of eyes never hurt.

Ok... I think I'm about ready to release these... but I'm still having one nagging issue that perhaps you can help me with. When doing the night lights, I would get one direction where the lights would bloom into large circles of a solid color. I think I figured the problem out in max, but when I export it, the problem doesn't go away. I've even gone so far to delete the lights, and still the ship in SC4 shows the issue. It seems as if new exports are not overwriting the old ones in the model file. Is there a way I can make sure the new renders take over the old? Or failing that, is there a way I can create a new model without having to do the plugin manager / lot editor / reader stuff all over again?

agreed. I was also able to get the CVN junk imported. Turns out there were a few objects that for some reason, screwed up the export / import process. Deleting and recreating those objects (I think there were 3), and it worked good.

thoughts?

Thanks for the help guys. T Wrecks....that model looks great. I'll see what I can come up with over the weekend. The Enterprise was indeed meant to be a museum ship in my city (from a visual perspective, at least). I'm also working on a Fletcher class DD from the era and my aspiring architect son is designing the museum to tie it all together. The others I wanted as an active base - but to fit in with the already fine waterfronts out there as I have no desire to duplicate the excellent work done by others. I thought perhaps jobs (I-M I would think) might be nice, but not at the cost of forcing a road connection. Perhaps I could add a "pier gate house" to act as the jobs at some point down the line. rsc204 - I did use that site to try to transfer over. It worked fine for the hull, but for some reason it doesn't like the "junk". It has a real hatred for Tilly for some reason turning it into some nautilus shell like thing. I'll keep poking at it. Sounds like eye candy is the way to go. Is there a tutorial out there for custom queries? The normal "parks" query just seems a bit underwhelming. Also, is there a general guidance for how much park / landmark effect, pollution, power, water, budget to use? I was going to attempt to do 45 deg renders as well, but I wanted to get a base set out first. Is there anything more to it than rotating the model (with LODs) than exporting it (and adjusting the occupant size I assume)?

hmm... I didn't put any reflection on the deck. Just "weathering" - I airbrushed some white to add a weather faded appearance, then some black to simulate dirt. Then blured and smeared it around. I can't find any quality color pictures of decks from this time, so I'm basing off what I've seen some model builders do. Perhaps I should lower the opacity of the weathering layers? She is an old boat - suggestions for how to make the deck look that way are welcome. As for tomcats and hornets - I've never seen them on deck in port (except for the crash plane). That is of course my excuse as I having little skill modeling A/C and less desire because of it. I do plan to add some tractors, tilly, and misc "junk". I also hope to adjust the LODs down to deck level so that props can be added. The Nimitz though is currently a nightmare. The island was done in 3ds max years ago for something else, and the hull was done in GMAX even longer ago, for something entirely else. I have tilly, tractors, and the brow modeled in GMAX, but porting them over to 3ds max has been nothing but headaches. I'm also not sure what in-game function they should serve. Currently they are just "parks" (eye candy). I don't want to force a road requirement, so I think that limits me. Any thoughts? Should I start a new thread for suggestions on some of these various BATs?

Thanks all. Yes, I face palmed about the props shortly after writing that. I think my overall solution will be a combination. Most of the boat will not need to be offset and can be set upon a lot. This way I can add props in the manner rsc204 described above. I'll use the "offset" for the brow which will allow it to sit "over" any existing land (see pictures below for example). My goal is to create ploppable boats with no dependencies that can blend into some of the beautiful existing lots already out there like PEG CDK, SNM or the NBVC work.

Thanks again... so if I read you correctly, as far as SC4 gameplay is concerned, LOD complexity doesn't matter? It might affect the render but once in the game, not so?

No... I wanted to add people to the deck, so I kept the LODs at deck level... perhaps something to look at. I've been worried about skin tight LODs due to performance issues. I don't know that there are any, I just made the assumption more vertex, more computations, slower performance. As a result, I've been using boxy LODs. Are there any known issues with using more complex LODs, and if so, is there some general guidance as to how complicated is too complicated?

Thanks again... I added the texture fix, but no luck there. So I thought maybe I screwed up something on the model when messing with the LODs... So I started over, importing the model from a previous save and the newer skin tight LODs. I also deleted some aircraft I added to the deck (the screw up seemed to be starting right where one of the aircraft was). I'm guessing I can just add them as props in the lot editor. Not sure what it was, but it appears to be working now - I'll proceed cautiously optimistic. I'm sure I'll need some more help before I finish this project.

Thanks rsc204. I am looking to put it on game water (at least for now). And what you say appears to be correct. When the LOD blocks the view of the hull underwater, than it is shown in game in full color (as if the water isn't there). Getting the LOD out of the way (form fitting the hull, and cutting it down around the flight deck seems to do the trick. Also, thanks for the model tweaker - it helps a lot for fine tuning where I want the model. I also was able to adjust the occupant size, so it only "takes up" one tile. I now just have one problem (I think) remaining. Now, when ever I export it, the north view zoom 5 is all messed up (see picture below). There seems to be some kind of offset diagonal shift on the aft half of the boat and a red and blue triangle near where the back would be. I've tried exporting several times, readjusting the LODs, restarting... and it keeps showing up - just on zoom 5 north view. Any ideas what that might be? I'm using bat4max5 with 3ds max 2010.