Old dinosaur riggings

Discuss early Trespasser builds and all other early Trespasser stuff here! Discover more amazing stuff about the game!

Moderators: TresCom Support Team, TresCom Board Managers, TresCom Developers

User avatar
Draconisaurus
T-Rex Killer
T-Rex Killer
Posts: 14046
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 5:21 pm
Antispam: No
Location: Isla Sorna
Contact:

Re: Old dinosaur riggings

Post by Draconisaurus »

Tatu, yes... "Allos_m_A01", I'm sure this is an actual model name for some dino we don't have. :| We'll use skynet to search for occurances of this string on people's harddrives.
User avatar
Velociraptor Alfa
Brachiosaurus
Brachiosaurus
Posts: 124
Joined: Sat Mar 07, 2009 2:56 pm
Antispam: No
Location: Czech republic

Re: Old dinosaur riggings

Post by Velociraptor Alfa »

Don't forget that Albertosaur's color scheme is based on Steve Kirk's illustration of Allosaurus. The in-game model even has prolonged arms and three fingers.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F4gZQphJnL8/ ... saurus.jpg
"To defeat an enemy, you must know them. Not simply their battle tactics, but their history, philosophy, art." - Grand Admiral Thrawn
User avatar
machf
T-Rex Killer
T-Rex Killer
Posts: 12368
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:20 pm
Location: Lima, Peru
Contact:

Re: Old dinosaur riggings

Post by machf »

Incidentally, the same functions from Build 32 and Build 55 are still there in Beta 96... which means that executable can be used to test old PVAs.

EDIT: build 97 also has them, though at a different set of addresses, which means there are some code differences between builds 96 and 97, after all...

Now I'm going to look at builds 99 and 103...

EDIT2: well, build 99 still has them, too, but by build 103 they have already been removed and the main functions look like the ones in the source code for build 116...
Visit The Carnivores Saga - a forum devoted to modding Action Forms' Carnivores, Carnivores 2 and Carnivores: Ice Age games
Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
User avatar
machf
T-Rex Killer
T-Rex Killer
Posts: 12368
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:20 pm
Location: Lima, Peru
Contact:

Re: Old dinosaur riggings

Post by machf »

tatu wrote:I find it interesting to see that the TRex PVA is using the same names as the meshes in the levels. And I also see that the Allo also is using the same name theme as the TRex.

I have send a message to see if he remembers anything if these dinosaurs were ever implemented into a level.
Well, just to point out that the code for those functions was created using MAXscripts in 3DS MAX that would generate a set of C++ instructions from the actual mesh rigging inside MAX, which would then be copied and pasted into the source code at the proper place. Only at a later time, they replaced it so that the game would use t-scripts instead, which allows far more flexibility.
So, no wonder the function names mirror the mesh names in those cases...

If anything exists, I would expect it to be either MAX files, snippets of C++ code or some early test level...

I'm guessing the Stegosaur would be this one:

Image

Image

...which would point at some version of IJ, apparently. Some time after the E3 (at which time, its PVA function's code wasn't yet implemented), not sure whether after build 55 (if it hadn't been included yet) or before build 32 (if it had already been removed by then).

Not quite sure if this is the same mesh or not:

Image

Image

Image

Image


And are these the early Brachis?

Image
Visit The Carnivores Saga - a forum devoted to modding Action Forms' Carnivores, Carnivores 2 and Carnivores: Ice Age games
Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
User avatar
Draconisaurus
T-Rex Killer
T-Rex Killer
Posts: 14046
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 5:21 pm
Antispam: No
Location: Isla Sorna
Contact:

Re: Old dinosaur riggings

Post by Draconisaurus »

IMO only the first steg image and raptor-attack one show the baby model.

Tatu, be sure that text project of yours includes a reference to the Tres dino texture illustration source ;)
User avatar
machf
T-Rex Killer
T-Rex Killer
Posts: 12368
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:20 pm
Location: Lima, Peru
Contact:

Re: Old dinosaur riggings

Post by machf »

Uh, I didn't mean a baby Steg... there's not even a mention of one, BTW. I meant the old mesh for the Steg, before the one we currently have.
Visit The Carnivores Saga - a forum devoted to modding Action Forms' Carnivores, Carnivores 2 and Carnivores: Ice Age games
Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
User avatar
Draconisaurus
T-Rex Killer
T-Rex Killer
Posts: 14046
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 5:21 pm
Antispam: No
Location: Isla Sorna
Contact:

Re: Old dinosaur riggings

Post by Draconisaurus »

Eh okay. I recall the first image above was originally discovered with the name "baby".
User avatar
tatu
-=TresCom Website Manager=-
-=TresCom Website Manager=-
Posts: 5088
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 9:40 pm
Antispam: No
Location: Sweden
Contact:

Re: Old dinosaur riggings

Post by tatu »

I got a reply and he can't remember if they were working or not at some point. He does believe they had models for them all tho :)
Active project: Trespasser: Isla Sorna
Status:
BE-PH1: Released
PH2-IT: Pre-released
PL-SUM: In production

"...there used to be more benches, but InGen's workers removed them during the evacuation in the name of framerate."
User avatar
machf
T-Rex Killer
T-Rex Killer
Posts: 12368
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:20 pm
Location: Lima, Peru
Contact:

Re: Old dinosaur riggings

Post by machf »

Well, since I just remembered that I had forgotten that the trike in the build 55 version of JR had another skeleton arrangement, here it is now:
TrikeOldJR.zip
(212.16 KiB) Downloaded 500 times
And here's the updated listing in Excel format for all the hardcoded PVAs in build 32 with their function names:
HardcodedPVAsPCG-xls.zip
(101.09 KiB) Downloaded 492 times
Don't forget to use this listing for reference:

Code: Select all

//**************************************
//
// PVA Assignments Key:
//
// PVA 0: PVA_0
// PVA 1: PVA_1
// PVA 2: PVA_2
// PVA 3: PVA_3
// PVA 4: PVA_4 - Latest Raptor (Dancing Raptor)
// PVA 5: PVA_5 - New Anne Stuff (lots of hand modifications incl. opening/closing)
//
// PVA 1000: PVA_Anne0
// PVA 1001: PVA_Anne1
// PVA 1002: PVA_Anne2
// PVA 1003: PVA_Anne3
// PVA 1004: PVA_Anne4
//
// PVA 2000: PVA_Raptor0
// PVA 2001: PVA_Raptor1
//
// PVA 3000: PVA_TRex0
// PVA 3001: PVA_TRex_m
// PVA 3002: PVA_TRex_alpha_f
//
// PVA 4000: PVA_Trike0
// PVA 4001: PVA_Trike1
//
// PVA 5000: PVA_Allos_m_A01
//
// PVA 6000: PVA_Para1
//
// PVA 7000: PVA_Steg1
//
// PVA 9000: PVA_Brachi0
//
// PVA 11000: PVA_TrexBaby1
//
//**************************************
If we ever find the corresponding meshes, I can rig the missing ones too...
Visit The Carnivores Saga - a forum devoted to modding Action Forms' Carnivores, Carnivores 2 and Carnivores: Ice Age games
Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
User avatar
machf
T-Rex Killer
T-Rex Killer
Posts: 12368
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:20 pm
Location: Lima, Peru
Contact:

Re: Old dinosaur riggings

Post by machf »

I just realized that this one is the one which actually corresponded to PVA = 3001:
machf wrote:And here's one I forgot to finish last night(because I got sidetracked trying to export the long-clawed raptor to TPM):
TRex_f_A-PH.zip
I used the other Green Rex (the first one was from IJ, this is the one from PH) to provide the existing alternate hardcoded PVAs, corresponding to PVA = 3002; the other one is from PVA = 3001, which is the one both Green Rexes actually use, but I haven't found another Rex using the 3002 value in any level so far... so I said, what the heck, let's use the second one, since the vertex count is the same.

And the first one corresponded to PVA = 3000:
machf wrote:Forget what I said eralier, here's the Green Rex in all its 256*256-pixellated glory:
TRex_m_A.zip
Turns out that the software I had used for decompiling the exe had skipped that section, no wonder I couldn't find anything matching the Green Rex...

Now, let's go after the Brown Raptors...
So, it wasn't 3001 and 3002 as I first thought, but rather, 3000 and 3001... the main difference being that 3000 doesn't have a working lower jaw (all of the vertices are assigned to the head bone).

3002 OTOH has fewer vertices (198 instead of 226). Retail T-Rexes all have 248 vertices, and Albertasaur has 188, so, it isn't a match for them, either...
Visit The Carnivores Saga - a forum devoted to modding Action Forms' Carnivores, Carnivores 2 and Carnivores: Ice Age games
Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
User avatar
machf
T-Rex Killer
T-Rex Killer
Posts: 12368
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:20 pm
Location: Lima, Peru
Contact:

Re: Old dinosaur riggings

Post by machf »

And now, here's the "Dancing Raptor" from PVA_4, which apparently used the same mesh as the PVA_Raptor0 from the E3 TestScene but with different assignments:
RaptorPVA4.zip
(97.63 KiB) Downloaded 504 times
Can't think of any further meshes for now... unless I take another look at Anne from Beta 96, maybe.
Visit The Carnivores Saga - a forum devoted to modding Action Forms' Carnivores, Carnivores 2 and Carnivores: Ice Age games
Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
User avatar
Draconisaurus
T-Rex Killer
T-Rex Killer
Posts: 14046
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 5:21 pm
Antispam: No
Location: Isla Sorna
Contact:

Re: Old dinosaur riggings

Post by Draconisaurus »

Too bad the dancing PVAs don't make it dance :P
User avatar
tatu
-=TresCom Website Manager=-
-=TresCom Website Manager=-
Posts: 5088
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 9:40 pm
Antispam: No
Location: Sweden
Contact:

Re: Old dinosaur riggings

Post by tatu »

Some questions. Does the use of difference bones make the dinosaur act different (and less buggy?).

Will using these make the dinosaur act like they do in their original build? And which bone would be the best one to "use"? The retail?
Active project: Trespasser: Isla Sorna
Status:
BE-PH1: Released
PH2-IT: Pre-released
PL-SUM: In production

"...there used to be more benches, but InGen's workers removed them during the evacuation in the name of framerate."
User avatar
Draconisaurus
T-Rex Killer
T-Rex Killer
Posts: 14046
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 5:21 pm
Antispam: No
Location: Isla Sorna
Contact:

Re: Old dinosaur riggings

Post by Draconisaurus »

The alpha animations come from the alpha engine; the PredefinedVertexAssignments only establish how the parts of the mesh are connected to the skeleton.
User avatar
machf
T-Rex Killer
T-Rex Killer
Posts: 12368
Joined: Thu Apr 24, 2003 11:20 pm
Location: Lima, Peru
Contact:

Re: Old dinosaur riggings

Post by machf »

tatu wrote:Some questions. Does the use of difference bones make the dinosaur act different (and less buggy?).

Will using these make the dinosaur act like they do in their original build? And which bone would be the best one to "use"? The retail?
Draconisaurus wrote:The alpha animations come from the alpha engine; the PredefinedVertexAssignments only establish how the parts of the mesh are connected to the skeleton.
Yep. The behavior would be determined by whatever activities you enable in the t-scripts, in any case...
Visit The Carnivores Saga - a forum devoted to modding Action Forms' Carnivores, Carnivores 2 and Carnivores: Ice Age games
Tres WIP: updated T-Script Reference and File Formats documents
Sound name listings for the Demo (build 117), Retail (build 116), Beta 103, Beta 99, Beta 97, Beta 96, Build 55, PC Gamer Alpha (build 32) and E3 1998 Alpha (build 22) TPA files
Post Reply