BornToKill Posted May 4, 2004 Share Posted May 4, 2004 (edited) As some of you guys know to create choppers in multiplayer you need to create them as tanks and tag them as tanks are in 3dsm. As Tank/choppers, these fly like bricks in the air at the height you set them in 3DSM above the z axis. I have worked out a way to make them bob a little in the air so they look a little more realistic. Here is how i made mine Firstly grouped all objects inc. origin point for the helo body and anchor points for the tracks, grouped them as:- <n><dyn>helobody ("helobody" name can be anything, note no < > ) Grouped objects for the left track inc origin points and contact points and grouped them as:- <n><dyn><lefttrack> Did the same for the <righttrack>. The front and back contact points for the tracks I set at the Exhaust Ports of the helobody so smoke emits there when it moves before i grouped them. My turret is just a cylinder sticking out the bottom of the helo grouped as <n><dyn><turret> My main gun is stuck on the side of this cylinder and houses the AT4 rocket launcher and minigun. grouped with its helperpoints as <n><maingun> and attached it to the <n><dyn><turret> group. Highlighted all 4 groups and animated in 3DSM using keyframes to move up and down on the Z axis slightly and a little left and right. In the time configuration, playback is set to forward and loop box is checked. (this bit may not be neccesary) In the Track view Transform (rotation/position/scale) are set to linear. And for each <dyn> object :-Parameter Curve Out-Of-Range types both loop boxes are checked. In the Map Editor, each <dyn> object it needs to be flagged as "starts animating" under the Objects tab (All ^ this is necessary) Then the <n><dyn>helobody is grouped again (as it is, ie no helper point) as:- <n><body>mainbody (again "mainbody" name can be anything you like) (^important) A helper point "O" is placed at 0,0,0 on the X,Y,Z. It makes no difference if you export these groups open ie:- <n><body>mainbody <n><dyn><lefttrack> <n><dyn><righttrack> <n><dyn><turret> O Or group them together as <n>"x" (" x " being whatever you like) Exported as a .pob and set up in the Igor vehicle editor as a tank using the exported .pob file. Added missile and 50 cal MG to weapons list and saved. Works sweet in my mission, moves smoothly, bobs about in the air, emits smoke from the engine ports, rotates and fires its gun at whatever tangos it see's and launches rockets at vehicles i tell it to destroy. Just one thing now would polish it off, and that would be adding a chopper sound in 3DSM when its operating, just ain't figured that bit out yet. Hope this helps someone Regards BornToKill_TAW Edited May 5, 2004 by BornToKill_TAW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A4B4 Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 Wow, thanks for the info! I've seen something similar to this in a GR mission, the only thing I noticed is that it seems to jump up and down, staying a fixed height above the ground (namely, when it flies over a small bump or dip in the ground, it jumps up or drops down in altitude respectively.) I assume you have this same problem unless you fly it on a smooth surface, right? I was thinking if you had a second level of the map above the level you walk on (I'm not sure how to code multiple levels in 3ds max), then you could have the helicopter fly smoothly over the map. The second level (the level the helo flies on) would be entirely transparent, and there's a way (I can't remember how to do it, though) to make an object that you can shoot through, but can't walk through, like the wooden doors in some of the missions, so you would use that as the second level. The second level could also be broken into small squares just about the width and length of the helicopter itself, and could also be coded in IGOR each as their own zone. Thus, as the helicopter is destroyed, depending which zone it is within, as coded in IGOR, that corresponding square(s) could appropriately fall, as in a door animation (I've seen similar applications of doors), until the bottom of the helicopter hits the ground, at which point the descent of the square from the second level would continue to decrease, but no longer affect the descent of the helicopter, as it has hit the ground level and is resting there (as it will naturally rest on whichever is higher... I hope you get what I mean). The close door animation could then just immediately reset the square tile from the second level, such that it leaves the helicopter debris on the ground level. You seem to know quite a bit about 3ds max, so I'm just offering this as an idea. I've been wanting to work on something like this, I just haven't had the time, and I'm now seeing that I probably won't have the time for quite a while. (By then GR2 will be out But it is possible that if you, or anyone else is interested in this, I'll gladly help code in my spare time. If you are interested, you can PM me, or not, or, as I'm not on GR.net too often anymore (school's in the way), you can just email me at: bdwa4b4@yahoo.com. I was just offering this as an idea, and your post helped me understand it a bit more. I'm still not sure if my idea will even work, but I think it could be worth a try. BTW, can you load human players into the helo? Well, once again, thank you! -A4B4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sniper82 Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 BTW, can you load human players into the helo? Yes you can it jsut takes a little scripting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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