Diagram 1-1

Prepping to Export

Before exporting a model, some quality checks should be made to ensure fewer problems with the geometry.

It is important to note that we work in centimeters, therefore creating or scaling objects to scale in cm is the best way to get a properly scaled end result. Object transforms should be reset before exporting as well; you will want to have all your objects at 100% of XYZ scale.

Placing the objects pivot point at (0,0,0) is a good idea, as well as assuming that the pivot point will be the center point of contact with the game world. In this example of the windmill, I have placed the pivot at the center, bottom of the model and reset all the transforms.

Exporting models that contain multiple objects is fine (just as the windmill does), however if you experience problems with sub-objects not being where they should be, you should check the individual object transforms, as this is often the cause of the problem.


Materials

Multi-sub materials work fine, but each surface should be explicitly defined in its name box as shown. In this example the full name for some of the materials is not visible without scrolling.

Diagram 1-2

Diagram 1-3

Diagram 1-4

//token to identify the file as a TIKI
TIKI

//setup section of the tiki, where scale, baseframe, 
//path and materials are setup
Setup	
{
	//everything in the game world should be scaled to
	//0.54 for the cm conversion
	scale 0.54

	//path that points to where the models data files are located
	path models/animate/windmill
	
	//skelmodel allows you to specify what file is the model //baseframe
	skelmodel windmill.skd

	//surface definintion (defined in max’s material setup)
	//and which shader the game should use for that surface
	surface wm_thatch_1 shader wm_thatch_1
	surface wm_shadow_1 shader wm_shadow_1
	surface wm_wind_blade shader wm_wind_blade
	surface wm_Wood_Beam_1 shader wm_Wood_Beam_1
	surface wm_brick_3_bot shader wm_brick_3_bot
	surface wm_door_wood_2_bot shader wm_door_wood_2_bot
	surface wm_door_wood_2_top shader wm_door_wood_2_top
	surface wm_window_old shader wm_window_old
	surface wm_windmill_sail shader wm_windmill_sail
	surface wm_side1 shader wm_side1
	surface wm_wind shader wm_wind
}

//init section is not needed for this particular tiki, but is usually used to //define such things as particle systems that are used with this model
init
{
}


//Animation Section
//NOTE! You absolutely must have an idle animation or the tiki will not //work in game.  Even if the animation is a single frame animation that //appears to do nothing.

//Animations are named with aliases, then we point to the file that //contains the actual animation.  You can create several aliases that //point to the same animation file if necessary.

//The client section I have within the ‘turn’ animation has sound //attached to it that will play on the animation’s 230th frame.  There are //other valid commands that you can setup for use within the client //section of an animation.  There are also other options for controlling //when the event occurs such as replacing the explicit frame 230 with a //command like ‘first’, ‘last’, ‘entry’, or any other valid frame number.  //Refer to the client command list and tiki documentation for more //information.

animations
{
	idle		windmill_still.skc

	turn		windmill_turn.skc
	{
		client
		{
			230 sound safe_open
		}
	}
}

Diagram 1-5