The following is taken from Jik's old meshing tutorial.
Freedom Force Home Hero Creation Info
Disclaimers and stuff….
This document has been created for my own use, and therefore may ‘sound’ odd in places. The
information listed here contains mainly things I have tried and seen work(or cause problems). Feel free to
distribute this to anyone meshing for FF or other games/software that uses the MaxImmerse exporter for
3D Max.
Max and The Character Tool
I am currently using Max 4.2 and it would seem that for the exporter to work, you need MaxImmerse 4.0.1.
Unseen Objects/Helpers
I find it easiest (even when started you own mesh from scratch) to start with one of generic meshes. This
will keep important info such as TRACK NOTES and hidden objects. There are also some objects that can
be created to add other effects.
1. WEAPON : marks the point where a ranged attack comes from. The range attack appears from the
track note leave_hand. It is also used at the contact point of melee attacks.
2. Some aspects of the game are tied to specific object names. The engine seems to be designed to use
the BIPEDs (character studio) for character animation. In the case where you create a mesh not using a
BIPED, insure to name control objects for the hands BIP01 L Hand and BIP01 R Hand. Picking up of
objects ties to these names, and with out them, things will not always work.
2. WEILD_BASE_RIGHT or WEILD_BASE_LEFT : This is an helper object (that you must create)
used when a hero will be holding poles with one hand. This object simulates a second hold point on
the pole overriding the the poles link to the other hand. Make sure to position the helper in a manner
that will hold the pole properly.
3. PICKUP_BASE : This object is used for 1-handed lifting of objects. Position it parallel to the hand
holding up the object, leveling with the hand.
4. When using multiple contacts or shots(leave_hand) in a sequence, the following contact/leave_hand
keys need a numbered sequence. Ie. contact, contact2, contact3 or leave_hand, leave_hand2,
leave_hand3….
Modeling/Animating Info
1. Size has been asked about a lot. Characters more than 2x the size of the average character will run into
clipping problems with buildings and other objects. The game engine is not designed to handle heroes
of a large scale.
2. Morphing cannot be done in the traditional sense.
3. To make an object ‘disapear’ the best way is to scale at 100% in one frame, then down to 0.2% on the
next. I have found that it is a good idea to double up the scale markers - Frame 9 mark at 100%, frame
10 mark at 100%, frame 11 mark at 0.2%, frame 12 mark at 0.2%. This will make the object disappear
at frame 11. NOTE: do not scale down to 0%.
4. Try not to have spining objects rotate more than 90 degrees per frame. Too much rotation will not
show. I have found that for objects not part of the biped, to get a good rotation, you must set a rotate
key for each frame.
5. When creating ALPHAs make sure you turn on the alpha testing for the material, as well as in the
bitmap settings in the material. The best way to make sure your material is set right, is to save a copy
of the male_basic_alpha’ s material to your material library, then load it into your mesh.
6. I have found that when you start rotating objects (other than biped objects) sequences in which there is
no rotation may start to scale and rotate funny. This will only show in the KF and NIF files. To avoid
this, set rotation keys at the beginning and end of each sequence on objects that may rotate later/prior
to those sections.
Fighting ‘Do’s and ‘Don’t’s
1. Charging attacks are not allowed. The only way to simulate a charging attack is to have the character
jump back, then charge forward to the contact point.
2. There is no grappling in FF.
3. An attack cannot do both melee and range damage. It must be chosen as one or the other. You are
still allowed to set both contact and leave_hand markers, but when the player sets the power, it will be
either melee or ranged.
4. You may have multiple shots with projectile range attacks, but only single shots of beam and direct
attacks.
5. The WEAPON object should not stray more than a little bit longer than arms length from the origin for
any melee attack. If so, the attacker, in game, will run up to the opponent, swing, but the effect will be
where the WEAPON object is. Melee is set for close (to the origin) combat only.
6.
TRACK NOTES, what you may not know…
When creating a mesh, Track notes are added to let the game engine know what to do when. I’ ve broken it
down in this table. The first table is the needed tracks for the character to function properly in the game.
The order I give is the order I use for ‘from scratch’ meshes. It seems to flow the easiest that way for me,
though the order is not important.
Needed track notes:
(the main Key begins with start –name Main Key . These can be checked on any basic mesh. Mid keys are
for contact point markers in the game. The duration is ruffly how long certain sequences should be. Again
just an estimate to make the character move properly. All tracks close with the end key, so I have left that
out since it’ s always the same)
Main Key mid keys Ruff duration/notes
Idle –loop (not needed) Should be more than 40 but it can
be as short as you want
Jump_stand Leave_ground Any length
Land_from_jump Hit_ground (also see EXTRAS) Any length
Fall (not needed, but see EXTRAS
table)
Any length
Walk –loop (not needed, but see EXTRAS
table)
About 36 frames for standard
walking time for one complete
cycle
Run –loop (not needed, but see EXTRAS
table)
About 22 frames for standard
walking time for one complete
cycle
Jump_run Leave_ground Any length
Climb –loop (not needed) About 30 frames
Melee_idle –loop (not needed) About 40 is good
Dodge_left (not needed) About 40 frames
Dodge_right (not needed) About 40 frames
Active_defense (not needed) Seems to be about 115 frames for
stationary active defense.
Pain (not needed) About 5 frames. Too many
frames causes it not to work
Hit_and_stunned (not needed) Any length
Stunned (not needed) Any length
Recover_from_stun (not needed) Any length
Melee_n
(n being any word/number)
Contact, contact_2, contact_3, etc The longer it is, the less it costs.
More contact keys brings up the
cost
Range_n or area_n or direct_n Leave_hand, leave_hand, etc. The longer it is the less it costs.
Longer pause before leave hands
decreases the cost more. Multiple
leave_hand keys only works for
projectile attacks.
Pick_up_object Join_hands Any length
Walk_with_object (not needed, but see EXTRAS
table)
Same as walk
Stand_with_object (not needed) About 40 frames
Throw_object Leave_hand Any length
Pick_up_pole Join_hands Any length
Stand_with_pole (not needed) Any length
Walk_with_pole (not needed, but see EXTRAS
table)
Same as walk
Run_with_pole (not needed, but see EXTRAS
table)
Same as run
Swing_pole Contact_start, contact_end Any length
Drop_pole Leave_hand Any length
Take_flight Leave_ground Any length
Fly (not needed) Any length
Hover (not needed) Any length
Hover_pain (not needed) About 5 frames
Hover_range_n or hover_area_n
or hover_direct_n
Leave_hand, leave_hand, etc. Should be in same order as the
ground versions of the attack for
it to look right.
Land_from_flight Hit_ground Any length
Power (not needed) Any length
Flailing_back –loop (not needed) Any length
Land_back Hit_ground Any length
Get_up_back (not needed) Any length
Flailing_forward (not needed) Any length
Land_forward Hit_ground Any length
Get_up_forward (not needed) Any length
EXTRAS –mid keys and more:
There are other mid keys used in some of the pre-made heroes. As I have not done any programming mod
work, I can only speculate as to how they are used. Often you will find lf and rf indicating when the left or
right foot hits the ground. These keys tie to markers in the scripting for foot sounds. There have been
others like swipe and bash. The name of the mid key may not matter (except that the scripter needs to
know what it is) but keeping a standard makes life easier for everyone.
Other main tracks can be added for use in cut scenes. I have found a few, like defuse and idle_b for
minuteman, that have no active purpose in the game, but are used in cutscenes. I guess these would be
most useful for those creating characters for specific mods.
FX Tutorial
To create an FX goto particle systems under the “Create” tab. Next click on “Super Spray” button (some of
the other particle systems will work too) and place onto the screen. Select the particle you created and
rotate 90 degrees in the X coordinate. Move to 0,0,0. Right click and goto “Propeties...”. A new dialog
will appear click on the “User Defined” tab and in the space below add “zMode10” use this for particles.
Close and click the “Animate” button goto “Motion” tab. Click the “Postion” button under “PRS
Parameters” do the same for the last frame in the animation. Click “Animate” button to exit animations.
Now goto “Track View” and add a note track under the object name “SuperSpray01” click on the “Add
Key” and add it to the note. Right click on the note key and in the space add “core_start” and for the time
change to 0. To change the look of the particle and timing goto “Modify” tab and change some settings
under “Basic Parameters” and “Particle Generation” typically. I won’ t go into full detail on all of these try
to keep the Particle Quantity as low as possible. The Timing goes with the keyframes so you could add
other particle systems and have different bursts if you wanted. Particle Motion use a lower speed for fx
like fire. Goto “Material Editor” and change to “NetImerse Shader” check the 2-Sided. Change the
Ambient to 128,128,128 RGB and Diffuse to 255,255,255 RGB. Check Specular (not needed for all FX)
and check “Vertex Colors” On. Change Src Mode to “EMMISIVE” and Light Mode to “E”. Change
Tranparentcy Modes Dest: to “ONE” (Other modes work too just have to play around and see which one
fits your FX) . Add a Base Map and drag the new map to the particle and release. Save as “..._start.max”
and for the core change the track view note to “end_start” and save as “..._core.max”. For the end change
the track view note to “damage” and save as “..._end.max”. To export save the same way as a character
except change the “Extract to one KF file” to “Include in NIF”. You can add FX the same way to a
character.
Effects Tutorial
To add reflective and glow effects to a character goto “Material Editor” and add a gloss and glow map.
Next click on an empty material window and click the “Get Material” button first on the left. Double-click
“Bitmap” and choose your lightmap. Now change the “Coordinates” from “Texture” to “Environ” with
“Spherical Environment” mapping, close dialog. Goto “Create” tab and click the “Lights” button. Then
click the “Omni Light” and place on the scene. Move to 0,-1,1 for the X,Y,Z this is mainly so you can see
the model you may have to move the Y and Z to a different position. Now goto “Modify” tab (this step can
be done before moving the light without selecting the modify tab) and under “General Parameters” click
the “Exclude” button a new dialog will appear change from “Exclude” to “Include”. The listbox to the left
you can select an object if you want it to have a metallic look and click the “>>” button. Do the same to
remove but from the right listbox and click the “<<” button. Close dialog and scroll down to “Shadow
Parameters” Make sure “Lights Affect Shadow Color” is checked click the “None” button and add the
“Bitmap” this will be the same bitmap as the lightmap under the “Material Editor”. To export just make
sure the “Lights” is checked and thats it.
Alpha Tutorial
Before adding alpha’ s to your model make sure you have alpha’ s enabled on the tga file. Alpha’ s don’ t
seem to work on all systems
. First goto “Material Editor” and check “On” and “NoSort” under “Alpha
Testing” , change Test Ref to 200 (you can change this depending on your model). I use “GREATER” in
Test Mode but other settings may be used. Now click the Base map button for ex. Map #4
(male_basic.tga). Scroll down to “Bitmap Parameters” change the “Mono Channel Output” to “Alpha” and
“Alpha Source” to “ Image Alpha” uncheck “ PreMultiplied Alpha” .
UV Mapping Tutorial
First make sure the character is in figure mode to do this select the “Bip01” diamond in the center of the
character and goto “Motion” tab. Under “General” click the “ Figure Mode” button. Now select the
character and goto the “Modify” tab. Select “ Edittable Mesh” under the stack and choose the “ Polygon”
button. Select the polygon area you want to modify or change (tip: hold Ctrl down to add to the selection
and Alt to remove) and then select “UVW Map” under the “Modifier List” combo box. Normally I use
Planar or Cylindrical. Change the “Alignment to be facing you you will notice the orange rectangle on the
screen will change as you select X,Y or Z click “ Fit” button. Now choose “Unwrap UVW” under the
“Modifier List” click the edit button and select all vertices (they will turn red) and move off the bleck
rectangle. In the stack right click on the “Unwrap UVW” and choose “Collaspe To” (be sure the “Unwrap
UVW” is under the physique to save time from having to re-phyisque). Now select the “ Editable Mesh”
and choose “Unwrap UVW” under the “Modifier List” once again and click the “ Edit” button and select the
previous uv vertices and scale it to a size that will fit in an empty spot on of the rectangle close window.
Collaspe and repeat if needed. You may have to move some of the vertices around on the uv editor
window for better results this can be a long process.
What’s Left? (or Right?!?)
This at this point is an incomplete document, as is (at least till I get rid of this section) and will be updated
as info rolls in. If you know something that I have missed, feel free to Email me at jdasilva@ch2m.com
and I will add your info and credit.
Who’s on the Team? (or Credits if you must)
Jason DaSilva general stuff…
The Beyonder for Tutorials
But thanks to Ben (don’ t any of you hooligans go bugging him for info… I already did that!) at Irrational
for helping me through the tuff times before game release. (Ben, I pulled off Spiderman and Captain
America…)
