125 lines
6.5 KiB
Text
125 lines
6.5 KiB
Text
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Vera Visions Model
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Readme 1.1
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===================
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Vera Visions Model, short VVM, used to be called IQM-EXT (or sometimes IQM-FTE).
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Due to the fact that the IQM prefix will cause confusion in regards
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to compatibility and the format not entirely being exclusive to FTE (the engine
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we are using for The Wastes) we decided to name it something more specific.
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Thanks a lot to Spike for the implementation of our spec. Without him
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we'd still be stuck with the original tools.
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This documentation is for our exporter - while its primary use was
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to create a new, extended format that's compatible with the FTE QuakeWorld engine
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the exporter and its output are completely compatible with engines that do not read
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the enhanced format yet. Do NOT expect to use any of the new features though.
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Features that the original IQM exporter did not offer:
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- Rotating the entire output or single scenes
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- Proper position offsetting of the entire output or single scenes
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- Support for external configuration files for IQM generation (ala studiomdl)
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Some features that our extended specification (VVM) has to offer:
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- Support for hitmeshes for faster, content-aware collision detection
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- Automatic hitmesh generation
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- Submodels that allow showing/hiding specific groups of the model via the game-logic
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- Support for frame triggered events that can be read by the game-logic
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Let's get started!
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Basic Usage
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===========
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The official exporter has the following usage:
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./iqm output.iqm reference.file [--options] ...sequences (optional)
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If you are working on models with more than a dozen animations, you will already
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feel the pain of having to scroll horizontally with most text-editors.
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With our updated exporter, we decided to ditch the parameter oriented approach
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to take full advantage of the features and to improve readability and our workflow.
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./vvm input.file
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...is all you'd need.
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Now, let's show you a basic input file:
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input.file:
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output output.vvm
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scene reference_mesh.smd
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scene animation1.smd fps 25
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And that's about it.
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The 'model' line tells you the output filename, aka that's the file the exporter will generate.
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The first 'scene' line refers to a reference mesh file, the one with all the polygons. You
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can have as many as you like and they will be stitched together "as one" in the exported file.
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The second scene line in this example imports an animation file and specifies the playback
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framerate to be 25 frames per second.
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Note that you can still use other formats instead of SMD as input files for references/sequences.
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Let's take a look at an older example input file
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right from the development of The Wastes:
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output view_tommygun.vvm
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bone "Bone55" rename "Muzzleflash"
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scene ref_tommygun.smd
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rotate 0 -90 0
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scene idle.smd fps 20
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scene idle_fidget1.smd fps 20
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scene idle_fidget2.smd fps 20
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scene reload.smd fps 22
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scene draw.smd fps 25
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scene holster.smd fps 25
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scene shoot.smd fps 34
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scene shoot_last.smd fps 34
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scene shoot_empty.smd fps 34
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This is one of the lesser-simple ones, since we are renaming a bone, had to rotate
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the model by 90 degrees and have a bunch of animations with varying framerates.
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Command reference
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=================
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Here is a list of all the commands you can issue when constructing your input file ( [xyz] parameters being optional ):
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Header/Command Format:
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output <FILENAME> - specified the output file name. you should only have one of these.
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exec <FILENAME> - exec the specified command file, before parsing the rest of the current file.
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hitbox <BODY NUM> <BONE NAME> <MIN POS VECTOR> <MAX POS VECTOR> - generates a hitmesh as a bbox centered around the bone in the base pose (the hitbox will rotate/move with animations). The bodynum will be visible to gamecode, and may merge with other hitboxes with the same group.
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modelflags <NAME OR HEX> - enables the specified bit in the iqm header. supported names include q1_rocket, q1_grenade, q1_gib, q1_rotate, q1_tracer1, q1_zomgib, q1_tracer2, q1_tracer3
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<MESH PROPERTY> - defined below and applied as the defaults to the following import lines as well as mesh lines.
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mesh <NAME> [MESH PROPERTIES LIST] - provides overrides for a single named mesh (properties used will be those as they're already defined, if not otherwise listed).
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bone <SOURCENAME> [rename <NEWNAME>] [group <GROUPNUM>] - provides bone renaming and grouping. try to avoid renaming two bones to the same resulting name... groups may have limitations if a parent/child relationship cannot be honoured. lowest group numbers come before higher groups. by default bones will inherit their group from their parent.
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<IMPORT PROPERTY> - defined below and applied as the defaults to the following import lines.
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import <FILENAME> [IMPORT PROPERTIES] [MESH PROPERTIES] - imports the meshes and animations from the specified file.
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Shared Scene Properties:
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rotate <PITCH> <YAW> <ROLL> - rotates the model
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scale <SCALER> - rescales the model
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origin <X> <Y> <Z> - moves the thing
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materialprefix <PREFIX/> - provides a text prefix on the material name, which should make it easier for editors while still honouring shader paths.
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nomesh <1|0> - discards all meshed from the affected files.
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noanim <1|0> - discards animations from the affected files, does not disclude the base pose.
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Reference Properties:
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contents <NAMES OR 0xBITS> - 'body' or 'empty' are the two that are most likely to be used. 'solid' may also be desired, or possibly also 'corpse'.
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surfaceflags <NAMES OR 0xBITS> - self explanatory, can also use 'q3_nodraw/fte_nodraw'
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body <NUMBER> - this is the 'body' value reported to gamecode when a trace hits this surface.
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geomset <GEOMGROUP> <GEOMID> - pretty much submodels.
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lodrange <MINDIST> <MAXDIST> - not yet implemented by the engine. 0 for both is the default.
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Animation Properties:
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name <NAME> - the imported animations will be assigned this name. May be problematic if the imported file(s) share the same name, so try to avoid using this at global scope.
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fps <RATE> - framerate for any imported animations.
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loop - flags animations as looping.
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clamp - disables looping.
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unpack - seperates each pose/frame of the animations into a seperate single-pose animation for compat with q1 or q2-style model animations.
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pack - disables unpacking again
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start <FIRSTPOSE> - the first pose/frame to import.
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end <LASTPOSE> - the last pose/frame to import.
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event [ANIM]<POSE> <EVENTCODE> <"EVENTDATA"> - embeds event info within the animation. If used at global scope, can be reset with 'event reset' in order to not apply to later files.
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