Troubles with modifying Pitboxes / War Wagons

[Troy]

First, I'm new to modding NR2003, so it's entirely possible that I've missed some fundamental steps or I'm trying to use the wrong tool. Don't assume I know what I'm doing.

I'm having some trouble with what I hoped would be a simple little project. Any help or insights would be greatly appreciated.



My goal is to take the vanilla NR2003 Pitbox/War Wagons and remove the seats, monitors, and satellite dish off the top of them (see above). I want something with a more mid-to-late 1990s look. I got the gn70 (no helmet) crew mod, but I don't like the way the pit crew looks (the figures are too simple and boxy). So I wanted to do something different and keep the vanilla NR2003 crew.

I hope to modify these 3 files:
paintkit_3d_preview.3do
warwagon.3do
warwagon_r.3do


My progress:

I got the objs.dat opened using DatX.exe, so I have all the vanilla files.

I can open the files using 3DSimEdED3 and delete the faces I don't want. This seems like progress.

My problem is if I modify the file in any way and save it from 3DSimEdED3, it won't load in the game. Even if I don't delete the faces and just export it in the original state. I just get a blank space, both on the pit row and in the opponent manager (see below).





Am I missing some settings that I need for it to export and be read properly?
Am I using the wrong programs?
Could it be a texture issue? (since the game runs, but nothing appears)
Is there something required for these files to make them work correctly?


Any idea what I'm doing wrong or missing? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Mystical]

3DSimEdED3 will not be able to properly export those type of 3dos. It triples the vert count and also strips a 3do from all its scripting. You'd need to use make3do and a psg script from the original source files for the pit boxes.

 

[Troy]

3DSimEdED3 will not be able to properly export those type of 3dos. It triples the vert count and also strips a 3do from all its scripting. You'd need to use make3do and a psg script from the original source files for the pit boxes.

Thanks, Mystical. This gives me something to look into. I appreciate it!

 

[Troy]

SUCCESS KINDA!

I figured this issue out. It was a unit scale issue when I imported it into 3DSmax.

I've been playing around with this and I've made some progress. but I've also made a mistake somewhere along the way.

I used 3DsimED 3 to open the original Pitbox/War Wagong file. I then exported it as a .sds.
Imported the .sds in 3DSmax 8 and edited the file.
Exported the file as a .PAS
Edited the .PAS file to point at the correct .mip textures.
Ran the .PAS through make3Do.exe in the command prompt.
Got it to load into the Game!

But somewhere I've made a mistake and the size is super, super tiny (see image). It's a little bitty baby pit crew.


Is this something that might be an issue importing into 3DSmax or exporting out of it?
Or is this something that needs to be set in the .PAS file?

Also, what is the difference between a .PAS and a .psg script? I have not found a way to export the .psg scripts.

Any guidance or insights are greatly appreciated!

I apologize if these seem like elementary issues, I'm primarily a Photoshop guy so I'm in way over my head.

 

[Troy]

I got my sizing issues figured out. But now I've got a new issue.

paintkit_3d_preview.3do is in the game. Shows up in the opponent manager, great.

But when I try to load a pit crew texture to the car file, it does not display. It only shows the default. Is there a different way I need to set the material in the .PAS so that it looks for the pit crew texture saved in the .CAR file rather than the default texture? Is there a trick to that or is there some specific code/path I need to use?

 

[Mystical]

Yeah for sizing you may have needed to scale it up in 3ds max 10x or 100x depending on what scale 3dsimed3 had exported it as.

As for PAS vs psg. PAS is the file format exported, .psg is a text file renamed to .psg (papyrus script) which includes to the code you compile with a PAS to make a 3do. More complex 3dos like car mods or trackside objects that react to a caution for example would use a psg script to have different state switches.

For the 'scheme' on the pit wagon in the material in 3ds max needs to be named 'paintjob' then inside the psg script you need to state that specific material will be the 'paintjob':

your_name: MESH_GROUP "your_file_name.pas" RENAME_MAT (paintjob paintjob)

(replace your_name and you_file_name with your own names of course)

This tells NR2003 that when a user uses the import button for the pit crew the texture will be applied for that car file. I think it is 'paintjob' as this is the same name used for the car, I've never done a custom warwagon before but plenty of car mods using paintjob material name.

 

[Troy]

Yeah for sizing you may have needed to scale it up in 3ds max 10x or 100x depending on what scale 3dsimed3 had exported it as.

As for PAS vs psg. PAS is the file format exported, .psg is a text file renamed to .psg (papyrus script) which includes to the code you compile with a PAS to make a 3do. More complex 3dos like car mods or trackside objects that react to a caution for example would use a psg script to have different state switches.

For the 'scheme' on the pit wagon in the material in 3ds max needs to be named 'paintjob' then inside the psg script you need to state that specific material will be the 'paintjob':

your_name: MESH_GROUP "your_file_name.pas" RENAME_MAT (paintjob paintjob)

(replace your_name and you_file_name with your own names of course)

This tells NR2003 that when a user uses the import button for the pit crew the texture will be applied for that car file. I think it is 'paintjob' as this is the same name used for the car, I've never done a custom warwagon before but plenty of car mods using paintjob material name.

Awesome! Thak you so much for your help with this Mystical. I really appreciate it.

 

[Troy]

I'm getting close, but I've discovered a new weird behavior I didn't expect.

I've got the modified .PAS file
I've written a very simple .psg file and I've used the script to create the .3do
It loads into the game and loads the proper paint jobs, seems like I'm there.

But the weirdest thing happens. Every 3rd time I click on a car, the pit box disappears in the 3D Preview. Doesn't matter if I click on the same car or different ones, with every 3rd click the pit box disappears. another click brings it back and starts over at 1.

Click 1:


Click 2:


Click 3:



Current .psg script:


The original file has 3 textures, which I've got duplicated here. But I can't tell what the Generated_BY_Default even pertained too. I just kept it because the original .3do had it.

Any idea what might cause that?

I'm assuming there must be a script I'm missing somewhere or have incorrect. Could it be something with the different settings for day/night settings? or view distances? Could that be an issue with the textures or settings in the .PAS rather than an issue with the .psg?

It's just so strange that it's every so many clicks of the mouse.

 

[Troy]

SUCCESS!




After four days of beating my head against a wall, I finally figured out what the issue was (or what would correct it). It wasn't a problem with the textures or the model .PAS export from 3DSmax or the .psg script. It was an issue with the command line for make3do.exe when I tried to run the .psg, which was messing up the 3do.

Turns out I needed to add a -x for "Disables optimizations (tri-stripping, etc.)" and I dropped the -d for "Indicates objects should be dynamically lit" This cleared up both the issue with the disappearing war wagon and the misformed pit crew figures.




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