UE2 v0.9.2.1 released

[yzmxer608]

tell us Laurie!!!!

[mcm2boys]

Sry for taking so long to reply but i was on vacation out of www range (i always seem to be away when the interesting stuff happens). Just got back so it will take a while to get my head back into mva, well that's why you take a vacation right..

I haven't really played with the particles/friction maps in mva too much so i will have to take a look through the files again and get back to you..


Laurie

[mcm2boys]

Now i've had a chance to look through the files again, and read the thread at MGF i think you already have pretty much all of the info you need. Going from what aFaceDismembered said in his first post whih was to change the animations, for that you just need to make some changes to the particle texture, which usually looks something like SX03Particles, you might also get a similar effect by leaving the particle texture as it is and just editing the particle.prt files. These are all stored in the common.pak for the stock tracks each one uses a unique name that you place in the SCN file so the track can find it.

So to use a custom particle system, you would probably need to make a copy of one of the stock particle file sets, rename it to your tracks name (like you do with the minimaps) and then pack it in your track and point the SCN parameter to match it.

I haven't tried this, but a simple way of doing this using UE2 might be to:

1) Create a sub folder in the 'Media\CustomModels' called 'Particles' and put this file set into it - then UE2 will be able to find your custom particle files. You can call it anything you like but Particles seems the obvious choice to me..

2) Mod the files however you want, the simplest is probably to edit the PRT file(s) and change the frame series (FirstFrame= and LastFrame=) in one of the particle types to use a different set of frames. The particles seem to be a form of animated texture). If you mod the TGA you will probably have to convert it to DXT before it will work, although i think cR got TGA's to work for the terrain detail texs so maybe this will also work with the TGAs - but UE2 won't pack TGAs for you.

3) Open UE2, load your track and open the 'Scene tab'.

4) Expand the general section and near the bottom of that section you should see a parameter called 'Particle texture'. Click on the dropdown list and probably near the bottom of the list, after the stock particles, you should see your modded particles - just select them.

5) Save the track and try it out..


I haven't tried it but it should work...  always optimistic.


If i can find my password i'll post this on MGF too..

Sorry Garasaki that's why i always send my replies for MGF to you first since you're in my address book and easy to find..

Laurie

[yzmxer608]

I love you
I can't wait to see if this works

[aFACE]

this is aFACEm, ill try this out int he next couple of days and see if i can get it to work.

[mcm2boys]

You're welcome have fun with it.. 

[mcm2boys]

One thing i forgot is if you want to make your own set of files and rename them, then you need to make sure they all use the same file name root, eg CustomParticles, then inside the PRTs and the DXM you will need to also change the texture name to match the name of the DXT file you are using. If you follow what i did in the file set above you should be alright..

I tried a simple experiment yesterday and replaced the Dust1 with black smoke frames and it worked so i guess you guys are ready to get creative with particles. Looking forward to seeing what you can do..

If you make any new break-throughs i'm always interested to hear about it so i can look at putting them in UE2..


Laurie

[Fixer]

You might want to be sure you choose a unique name for just about any custom object,particle etc. to avoid possible name collisions with stock and other peoples naming convention. I'd use your creator name and then add a number suffix- eg "Fixers_01_Particles". By the time you get to 99 you'll be tired of doing them....

[mcm2boys]

By the time you get to 99 you'll be tired of doing them....

[Garasaki]

Hey Laurie,

Can you make it so the overlay texture reads targa's in addition to .dxt's?

Can you make it possible to rename an activity rather then just forcing the original project name onto it if it gets renamed?

I think I had some other idea's too...I'll have to try to recall them.

[mcm2boys]

Can you make it possible to rename an activity rather then just forcing the original project name onto it if it gets renamed?

Not sure what you mean by this one..


I have been thinking how i can import TGAs with the way i have the program structured at the moment, but haven't foud a good answer yet..

[Garasaki]

Change the "in game name" of an activity.  I don't think it's possible right now.

FYI the method for making the overlay texture right now simply replaces the dxt with a tga - the game will automatically read the tga.  So your solution may not need to be as complicated as you think??

[mcm2boys]

Ok i'll take a look at it when i get a chance..

Edit: if memory serves, it's not possible to change the name of the activity type [supercross,national etc], obviously otherwise the game won't know what you're doing. But i thought you could edit the name of the activity in the parameter list in the 'Activity' list, just click on the current name type in a new name and press 'Enter'..

..but i need to take a look at it since i haven't looked at these functions for some time..

[Fallguy]

Laurie,just wanted to stop by and say thanks for all you do for this game.. I learned so much from you.. Mike   =FallGuy104=

[mcm2boys]

Your welcome Mike, thanks for the thanks..