Converting .3ds to a sins mesh file

from Sins Forums

Hi community

I've been trying to go through a large number of the sticky topics at the top of this forum but most links are either broken or are referring to past versions of the game. Therefore to maintain my sanity I thought I would just post.

I've been playing the game for quite a while, and have really been enjoying playing some of the mods which people have worked extremely hard on, and thought that I'd quite like to have a crack at one myself. I've got to grips with the way the entity files work and have successfully created new units based on the standard models, however I've come to point now where I need to try and bring in a completely new mesh.

To keep myself within a context, I've based my mods so far on Wing Commander, so have limited myself so far to creating a new carrier: Ranger Class and one fighter: Arrow V. There are already 3ds versions of these ships which are available here: http://wcmdf.solsector.net/ however I'm struggling to understand how to successfully move from the 3ds version to something that SoA can understand. This is purely a proof of concept to start off with as I'm just building my understanding, after which I might try and go whole hog and create a conversion mod. But one step at a time...

I've downloaded, installed, and eventually uninstalled a number of tools as I can't seem to find one which fits the bill, therefore I'm looking for a nudge in the right direction. If someone can provide me with a few instructions, even at high level such as install tool x, do this, do that, then export it.

Many thanks to anyone who takes enough pity on me to respond :)

Cheers

WKUK

modding
43,700 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

Ugg, I guess I could dig up some of the tutorials :(

First, their was an old script to export direct to mesh but not sure what version of Max it works with. I dont have that.

Sins uses SoftImage/XSI

http://www.moddb.com/downloads/autodesk-softimage-mod-tool-75

get that first

http://www.moddb.com/groups/softimage-rs/downloads/mod-tool-75-obj-exporter

also a great add-on for free XSI

photoshop or gimp to get the textures converted

you will need the color tga, light map, spec map, normal map, bloom channel and team colors if you want

get the dds addons for gimp or photoshop and normal map one for gimp

export the model from 3ds as .obj and open a new scene in XSI and import the .obj

post your progress, I see what I can find from tutorials

 

 

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Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

Brilliant, having the right tools is a start. Thanks for that myfist0, I'll be having a look at starting this weekend. I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers

WKUK

TouchTasks - Access tasks with ease on Windows touchscreens.
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

There's a video tutorial for that and much more.

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

I'd take a look at the tutorial Goa linked; should do the trick. Failing that, feel free to ask more questions!

Quoting myfist0, reply 1

First, their was an old script to export direct to mesh but not sure what version of Max it works with. I dont have that.

That script, which I have, is very piss poor as it can't do tangents right. I wouldn't recommend using it, though it is useful for reverse-importing mesh files.