Armadillo Enviro Scripter Help

Three New Environment Packs!! Thanks Fixer!! :-)

The Armadillo Enviro Scripter (AES) utility was designed to give MCM2 track creators the ability to render environment shadows on their textures in 3dsMax. The program works by building the necessary 3sdMax scripts used to merge and place the environment objects into your Max scene. Once these scripts are executed, the Max scene can then be rendered giving accurate shadows for the track in MCM2 (assuming care was taken in aligning the light sources. See the MaxCalculator program for assistance).

Since the Armadillo program was first released by Rainbow Studios, I have always felt "short changed" in what we could do when creating tracks. This motivated me to make efforts on expanding the horizons for MCM2 track creations. This program is just another step along the way, I hope you enjoy it. As with most of my programs, explicit knowledge of MCM2, Armadillo, and 3dsMax are required attempting to use this program.

Buttons and Controls

• Source Armadillo Project

  "Main Tile" - This is check box is the default when the program is executed. When checked, this will direct the AES program to generate scripts for the Main Tile(center) of your Armadillo project. Unchecking the box will require a reload of the project if it is already loaded.
  
  
  "Perimeter Tile" - Checking this check box will direct AES program to generate scripts for the Perimeter Tile(s) of your Armadillo Project. Checking this box will require a reload of the project if it is already loaded.
  
  
  "Overlap:" - This control is useful if you have used a placement map to tile the environment everywhere on your track. Changing this value to something greater than the default of zero will direct AES to import the environment just outside of the tile so that partial shadows along the edge will be generated in Max. The overlap number varies with every track but a good number to start with is 50. Changing this setting will require a reload of the project if it is already loaded.
  
  
  "Browse" - Used to open your Armadillo Project.
  
  
  "X Y Z Display Window" - Used as a reference to display the Environment TXT file of your Armadillo Project.
  
  
  "Tile Format:" - Used as a reference to display the tile format of your Armadillo Project.
  
  
  "Grid Res:" - Used as a reference to display the Grid Resolution of your Armadillo Project.
  
  
  "Heading" - An optional control used to change the light source direction read from your Armadillo Project. In most cases this value is left "as is" from the Armadillo Project.
  
  
  "Pitch" - Used as a reference to the light source pitch of your Armadillo Project.
  
  
  "Select Vegetation" - A control used to select the Armadillo vegetation you will be making a script for. It is important to note that you will be making an individual script for each and every vegetation type within your Armadillo Project. A drop down selection list allows you to select the desired vegetation type.
  
  
  "Vertical Scale Adjust" - An optional control used to vary the vertical placement of the environment objects in 3dsMax. This is normally set to one(1.0) unless your are attempting something tricky.
  
  
  "Vertical Offset Adjust" - An optional control used to vary the vertical placement of the environment objects in 3dsMax. This is normally set to zero (0) unless you are attempting something tricky.
  
  
  

• Source Max File and Object Name

  "Browse" - Used to point to the Max file for the selected vegetation type.
  
  
  "Object Name" - Used enter the 3dsMax Object Name. It should be noted that it is convenient to keep the object name the same as the 3dsMax file name.
  
  
  "Use Abbr. Max file name" - Check box used to automatically insert the abbreviated 3dsMax file name as the object name.
  
  
  "Rotate Object" - Check box that enables object rotation controls on AES user interface.
  
  
  "Rotate to Face Armadillo Sun" - Check box that automatically sets the Rotation Angle to face the light source (sun) in Armadillo.
  
  
  "Rotation Angle:" - Control that allows setting the relative rotation angle of the environment object being merged in the Max script. This rotation angle is about the Z axis in 3dsMax.
  
  
  
  

• MAX Script Output

  Max Script Output Window - Used as a reference to view the Max script generated by AES.
  
  
  

• Main Controls

  "Process" - Control button that directs AES to generate to the Max script.
  
  
  "Save to File" - Check box that when checked saves the output script to a file. Unchecked provides a means for previewing the output before actually saving it.
  
  
  "Combine Scripts..." - Launches a pop up window that allows you to combine many environment scripts into one large script for 3dsMax.
  
  
  "View Help" - Used to launch this Help file.
  
  
  "Exit" - Used to quit the AES program.
  
  
  "Use Object Scale (%)" - Check box that when checked allows you to scale the objects to match the scale of 3dsMax scene. The default is 100% which assumes that the objects and 3dsMax scene are created at actual size. The resulting 3dsMax grid size is calculated and displayed in the 3dsMax Grid Size field.
  
  When the Use Object Scale check box is unchecked, the 3dsMax Grid Size field becomes a control to enter in the grid size of your 3dsMax scene. You normally would use this if you have already created the 3dsMax scene and know the grid size. In this situation the the resulting object scale is displayed under the Use Object Scale check box.
  
  

How To Use

1. Run the ArmadilloEnviroScripter.exe program and open your PRJ file. This will load all of the project data.
2. On "Select Vegetation" click the down arrow and click on the first vegetation.
3. Browse for your vegetation Max file and select the one that matches the vegetation name.
4. Click the check box for "Use Abbreviated Max file name" and the object name will be automatically filled in.
5. Click the check boxes for "Rotate Object" and "Rotate to Face Armadillo Sun" and the Rotation Angle field will be automatically filled in. Because these trees are just billboard signs, you need to always rotate them to face the sun.
6. Click the "Process" button and the script shown in the output display will be written to disk. You will need to create a script for every vegetation in your track.
7. When all the scripts have been made, use the Combine Scripts function to combine all the scripts into a single script file.
8. In 3dsMax, click on the Utilities tab (hammer) and click on MaxScript. Click on RunScript and browse for your script file.
9. Open your script file and let it go!

Credits

I as well as the rest of the Twisted DIRT team hope that you find this utility useful in making the highest quality textures possible for your tracks.

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