Trackmania 2 Stadium | Open Beta

[Xerox]

Hey, I have some problems with TM2.

For example, my initial semaphore don`t works, here's an image:



And this strange fail with moon at night-mod:



What can I do to fix it?

[HawkGer]

[size=84]Moon bug is already reported here: Maniaplanet Forum

[occam]

Darma Ya (@eie and hawk, we talked about his title pack 'ski pass' on the server),
just announced he created 3D signs :- ), looks promising:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haNHRzALlDA[/video]


source: Maniaplanet Forum

[Niiel-Moo]

Thats fucking amazing!

[HawkGer]

I accidentally spread misinformation when I tried to help Trunks with his TMUF account linking. Here is how to do it correctly: Maniaplanet Forum

[XT3]

I am currently working on converting Ghost's Lantern to work on TM2. So far its great got to create the moods

[occam]

Thx to Maniapark 3D Crew member 'iiSQ' :thumbsup:,
TM

[eie]

Seems they aren't working for me, but I assume that's because of some settings, anyone know which settings that turns on/off these lights? =)

[HawkGer]

I don't know eie but maybe try in the advanced settings the "game" tab. There are all kinds of settings for the car there.

I just created my first custom object btw. Wohooo 8o
Looks shit though and I still have no idea how this texturing works. Why is this so complicated? ;(

[HawkGer]

hell yeah !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is fucking great!
So I just figured out how the texturing and UV unwrapping works and after that I pretty soon realized that we don't even need modding support for custom objects (still would be nice to have though).


What we need to do when Stadium comes out is select a few textures that are really not much needed and make them really big (I'm talking sizes like 8091x8091). Those textures need to be fragmented into several pieces (for example 1024x1024 pieces) and each piece then needs to be assigned some function (e.g. we call it 'Concrete Wall', 'RoadMain', 'Grass', 'PlatformSecondary', ....or whatever).
The custom object makers can then make their objects with all those textures.
And the modders then make theme-specific mods that fit to all the blocks....

I'm pretty sure that this would work.
I just calculated that one 8091x8091 texture is the equivalent of 62 1024x1024 textures. Plenty of space :)
With this method transparency could be added btw. in the mods (only binary alpha though).

Right now we can't make Stadium objects btw. with that method because the Nadeo importer needs to be updated first to include the Stadium Material Collection. So we will have to wait for the release.

Oh and what do you guys think about holding a 3d object competition once Stadium is released with the goal of creating an RPG Title pack? The person who contributes the most to the Title pack wins the competition (or something along those lines....)
After all I do have 60k Planets lying aroung waiting to be spent

[maxi031]

You think 1 atlas map to hold all stadium textures that already exists. So one can unwrap map of model to grab any material that exists in stadium?

If that is what you want, i think there is no need for it. When you model your object you can assign multiple materials to different parts.
For example if you have 1 model that you want to have part of platform part of road, you can assign platform material to 1 part and road to another one.

Edit: By the way ill love to get involved with RPG title pack, that title woudl be awesomeeeee.

[maxi031]

This object stuff needs a lot attention, since it is the best stadium attribute when compared to forever. Graphics and all other maniaplanet goodies do not affect gameplay as objects do.

[JumperJack]

that sounds like great news hawk! though i don't understand it completely yet, but i'll get there.

btw, title packs are something i don't completely understand either, but is it true that it would be best to only have one RPG title pack which every RPG-er uses? in that case, i figure that this RPG community should indeed get the opportunity to make this one title pack.

[Roman4r]

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr1N0wbEP2Y[/video]

Can play one map imported of tm1 to tm2 wit shootmania player hehe it's fun:)

[HawkGer]

maxi031, yeah I know that you can assign different materials to different parts of your object...I eventually figured that out yesterday.
Anyhow, the purpose of this big texture would be to provide a lot more textures than would be otherwise possible. For example imagine you want to include the CircuitBase block 10 times in the RPG Title pack with each block having different textures assigned to it. Now where do you get those 10 textures from?
Only possibility is to get them from this big texture we made. The standard textures are simply not enough for such a project Oh and maybe you misunderstood....the big texture would not include any already existing textures.

Btw. it's great to hear you being excited about the RPG Title pack. I think it will be hard to find people who will make objects for us. But maybe with a competition we can encourage some.

And yes JumperJack...it would be best to only have one RPG Title pack...otherwise some tracks would get built with the first Title pack, some with the second, some with the third etc.....and you would always have to change the Title pack in the menu first in order to play an RPG track.
The Title packs can be updated of course....but backwards compatibility with tracks that have been built with older versions needs to be maintained. That's why you can't include a block in the first version and remove it in the second....tracks that use that block could not even be opened I guess.
So yeah...it is important that we do this RPG Title pack right the first time.

[eie]

A few question to the master of objects(hawk):
What program are you using?
So you can make objects with the grass-material?
Can you create your own materials?

As for the title-pack idea, we have to have regular updates for such a pack I think, because new tracks -> new objects, especially for unique and new mapping. Is that possible? Because if not I guess it will makes things very complicated :l

[XT3]

Good point is it possibe to get our hands on the stadium object models and us those as objects?

[beep]

i want to try 3d models.
i have CAD program Solidworks for create 3D.

which file format must i make for test ?
And where put this file?

And for build, how high in millimeters for objects?

Lot of things

[HawkGer]

I'm actually not so sure anymore this would work. Some material's textures seem to get projected differently onto the custom objects !?!? Maxi031 can you say if what I was planning made any sense?
____________________________________________________________________
I''m really no master of objects eie, I'm still quite lost... (as you can see).
You can actually make objects with the grass-material for example, yes. Here are some materials you can use: "Concrete", "Grass", "Metal","Dirt", "Rock", "Stone", "Wood", "NotCollidable"
There are probably more, I don't know....maybe Maxi knows more?
You can specify the above materials only if you are making an object that has custom textures on it, i.e uses none of the standard textures. The problem with custom textures is that we can't mod them. Thus this feature is a bit limited.
_________________________________________________________
When you are making an object with standard textures only you are quite limited as well. In this post you can see the MaterialCollection for Storm and Canyon: Maniaplanet Forum

[beep]

Thx
i ll read that and try

[HawkGer]

I hadn't even read your post yet Beep when I wrote that ^^ But I hope it helps you.
Now @eie: I was using 3ds max yesterday for modelling. If you are a student you can get that program for free for 3 years I think...else there's also a 30 day trial version.
I always felt like the program is way too clumsy to use...so I was searching today for an alternative and found Nevercenter
It is a really light program (only 7mb) and very intuitive to use (especially if you watch some tutorial videos first). And the subdivision modelling is just phenomenal (you can create several quality levels of your model and still edit the most basic shape).
____________________________________________________
So what I did today was create a model inside of Silo, made sure the "Export Subdivision Mesh" checkbox in the File settings was activated (3ds options of course)....saved the model as a .3ds file, opened it in 3dsmax, applied a Material, added two Unwrap UVW layers, cloned the Model and exported it as a .FBX file.
Then the only thing left is to convert the file with the NadeoImporter. The object in the screen I posted is the result.
If you are fast you can do such a model in 10 minutes or less.
The only bad thing about Silo is that if you create too many subdivisions, the model gets really large (mine was 10mb with 3 subdivisions I think).
_______________________________________________________
About the Title pack updating: Yes of course you can do that...but I don't think it's possible to make the update automatic (like the normal ManiaPlanet titles). Does anyone know more about this?
_________________________________________________________
@XT3: I have many Stadium 3d models saved as 3dsmax scenes from the time I made the models for TrackStudio. Those models are from TMUF....but I don't think they have changed. Do you want me to upload those?
And of course anyone else who wants them can send me a PM. I don't feel comfortable with posting them here publicly....
___________________________________________________________
@beep: About the file format for testing...this is from the Custom Objects specification thread:

Importer has been tested with files exported from Blender and 3dsMax (with Fbx 2012.2 exporter, available atFBX - Platform-Independent 3D Data Interchange Technology - Autodesk)

I don't know if you can create such a file with Solidworks.
And watch this video at the end to see where to put the files: Import 3ds Max models over to Trackmania 2 Canyon - YouTube
___________________________________________________
I will try to find out the dimensions of one block cell.

[HawkGer]

I tested this with a TMUF block but I hope the dimensions haven't changed. In 3dsmax it says: Z= 7,848 X= 41,7 Y= 41,7
I have no idea what Unit those are.
Edit: okay now I found the Unit conversion in 3dsmax. In centimeters it says: Z= 19,936 X= 105,918 Y= 105,918
____________________________________________________
Btw. while explaining some of this stuff I noticed the reason why some textures get projected differently.
Some materials simply don't require a BaseMaterial (so just one Unwrap UVW).
It is listed in the Material list even, for example:

CliffDirtTransitionToFloor
Uv Layers : BaseMaterial, Lightmap

CliffPyPxz
Uv Layers : Lightmap

does this mean my method with the textures would still work?
____________________________________________

And I just had an idea for "animating" custom objects. With each object you have to provide two versions of the same 3d model, the game uses one for displaying objects in the distance and the other one for displaying objects near the player.
But noone said that these objects have to be the same. One could for example make an object that looks like a solid wall in the distance and only if the player comes close to the wall does a tiny opening appear.
This would make pathfinding really brutal xD

[JumperJack]

that animation idea... that would be so awesome!

also, great work with the experimenting. i'll be following this thread closely. in two weeks, when i have some free time again, maybe i can be of some help.

[HawkGer]

I don't know if it can be technically called an "animation" when it only has 2 "frames" ...but yeah even with only 2 frames we could have some fun
_______________________________________________________
Here's me trying to get lights on my object with the "Lights" material:

http://www.vinummusik.de/Trackmania2/Screens/TM2ObjectHawk2.jpg
http://www.vinummusik.de/Trackmania2/Screens/TM2ObjectHawk3.jpg
Looking nice...but not what I wanted. Those lights you see are only artificial (don't give off any light). I had really hoped it would work. This is all made with only one custom object btw.

__________________________________________________
Today on Kacklappen RPG the record for number of most players on an RPG server got broken with 103 players (previous record was around 90 on a Round Race). Thanks to everyone who joined the server, it was a really fun evening.

[maxi031]

'm actually not so sure anymore this would work. Some material's textures seem to get projected differently onto the custom objects !?!? Maxi031 can you say if what I was planning made any sense?

I understand now what you want to achieve with big map. Idk can it be implemented sill havnt tested titles, so i dont know how they work.

About materials, i know as much as you do. I did see some video with nasty transparency some dude made it has cool look: Link at 1.03. Tho i have no idea how did he made that.

About the block size: i made some tests in blender and that platform block size is x:32, y:32, z:8, that is i think standard block size box.

For animation: Are you sure that lods work that way in all game settings? That is how mip maps works but idk will lod act the same way.

I did made some program for fast conversion of blocks Link. You click there Options-Materiallist and get all supported materials listed from nadeoimporter.

I will look in this lights material, having custom lights will be great.