TresCom Forums

still in the early stages but here's a quick screen of my latest level. Dunno if I'll include a sailable Emily, but we'll see.

something that's been a bit of a pain for me is the exporting of objects with complicated/numerous sub objects. Sometimes I can export objects and import them into another level with their corresponding sub-objects already in place. other times I just get the visible object which anne can walk through. Is there a workaround for this or a way to ensure everything gets exported with a given asset? I'd like to import stuff like the plane in the photo but I dont want to export 82 different objects.

Liking the mountain... Don't think that gets modded much.

Hmm, I can help with this. In particular, the "Mystery Models" from the developers included a not-messed-up-texture version of the plane. It is found in the mod "JPDS~plains", and might be easier for you to work with since it's not a retail level. It does have a number of neighboring objects to move out of the way first, though. "Trespasser Legacy" also uses this version. But either way, one ought to be able to then select all physics and magnets and export at once... Tres does get weird sometimes with that. And the magnets of the propellars in IJ are moved off to the side for some reason, so, caution is advised.

Looking good! Mountains overall are not used in fan levels, I think mainly do to the terrain work required to make roads and paths.

As for the plane. No, a lot of objects contains a lot of invisible physics, otherwise you would end up walking through them, and the more you use, the more realistic shape the object would appear to have.

And as Draco pointed out. The retail (and 96) plane has a texture issue on the outside. Using the one from the mystery models that Draco included in JPDS Plains is recommended, it also contain some other cut part of the plane like the first aid box and control panel in the roof of the plane.

It's not just the plane I'd like to import/export but a multitude of buildings/vehicles that have a large number of corresponding sub-objects. sometimes i can export something and the corresponding sub-objects/physics boxes are included when I import them into another level. tressed will automatically select everything and export as a single tpm. however with many other objects,the ingen truck for example it doesn't select its sub-objects and you can walk right through it. Am I missing something here? does it depend on how it's modeled at the tscript level. there are a lot of assets I want to use but they have so many physics boxes it would take forever to export them one by one.

It depends on the model. Models that uses $physics, TresEd will automatically export them along with the object (and related magnets) if you only export the mesh itself. If you have more than one mesh selected, it won't. These are mentioned in the object script.
TresEd won't automatically export other physics (F), as there isn't a script to specify them.

You also don't have to export them one by one, you can select many objects and export them together, so just select everything related to a building or the plane and export to TPM.

Keep in mind, not all objects have physics subobjects (beginning with "$") which are referenced in their t-scripts (up to a limit of some 10 subobjects, I think); when an object is too complex, and it won't be moveable, they use invisble physics objects instead (which begin with "F") and aren't associated with the object, just placed independently in the same location it is. In the latter case, you have no other option but to select each end every one of them.

I feel really dumb right now. I always got an error message saying "more than one sub-objects are selected and must be exported separately" or something along those lines. So i never tried to export multiple selections as one tpm. I just exported something with multiple objects selected and was able to import the entire thing into the level. this would have made my earlier levels much better. I guess I can make new levels with all kinds of stuff now...

As far as I understand you can export multiple separate collisions (starting with f) at once. I haven't noticed any glitches. For everything else, especially dino's and weapons, rocks with built in collision etc, export those all separately one at a time. And make sure you don't have anything but the decoration mesh itself selected, not the sub objects. It does the sub objects automatically apparently. That's what works for me. I learned the hard way crashing the game and breaking the map lol.

morningstarring wrote:I feel really dumb right now. I always got an error message saying "more than one sub-objects are selected and must be exported separately" or something along those lines. So i never tried to export multiple selections as one tpm. I just exported something with multiple objects selected and was able to import the entire thing into the level. this would have made my earlier levels much better. I guess I can make new levels with all kinds of stuff now...

Wow, then I am very impressed with what you have done so far by doing that!

As far as I understand you can export multiple separate collisions (starting with f) at once. I haven't noticed any glitches. For everything else, especially dino's and weapons, rocks with built in collision etc, export those all separately one at a time. And make sure you don't have anything but the decoration mesh itself selected, not the sub objects. It does the sub objects automatically apparently. That's what works for me. I learned the hard way crashing the game and breaking the map lol.

I often export and import things like dinosaurs and weapons in batches, with all weapons at once without issues, but I think the more you mod, the more you understand if stuff is out-of-place etc.
And a lot of people have given up on modding in the past for a level crash. I think overcoming them and learning what causes it and continue to mod is what make people stay, cause they wanna continue to mod.

tatu wrote:I often export and import things like dinosaurs and weapons in batches, with all weapons at once without issues, but I think the more you mod, the more you understand if stuff is out-of-place etc.
And a lot of people have given up on modding in the past for a level crash. I think overcoming them and learning what causes it and continue to mod is what make people stay, cause they wanna continue to mod.

I almost lost my last level after screwing up a dino import. I had to search for the tiny joint boxes and delete them along with all other traces of the model in the level to get it to load again. I typically do a quick play test after importing stuff or writing any script to check for errors.

Do you keep a lot of numbered folders with each new version? 1, 2, 3 etc. I use a folder with the map name and then numbered sub folders. I'm at 50 or so.

I almost lost my last level after screwing up a dino import. I had to search for the tiny joint boxes and delete them along with all other traces of the model in the level to get it to load again. I typically do a quick play test after importing stuff or writing any script to check for errors.

After a while you get the hang of it and know what parts below to what. Most issues are easily fixed even if they appear difficult.

Do you keep a lot of numbered folders with each new version? 1, 2, 3 etc. I use a folder with the map name and then numbered sub folders. I'm at 50 or so.

I pack them into archives with 7-zip. Cleaner and easier to backup either externally or online.

I do the same, but with the old PowerArchiver...

I try to save a backup version of a level after finishing certain areas or other significant undertakings. the problem is I sometimes forget to make backups as often as I should... my levels dont have versions. they're done when they're done. I have ADHD and get bored when working on one project for too long. sometimes it turns into a mad dash to just finish it