Custom 3D Models and Mods Compilation

[Aquila-SmartWargames]

34 minutes ago, umlaut said:

Looks much better - but does anyone have an idea why the objects are so dark in my game when I turn shaders on?

Lets see what comes to my mind

- Are you using Nvidia or AMD?

- I run most settings in the driver on default except AA and AF, do you have special settings there?

- empy your complete Z folders and see if it goes away

- In the settings menu shaders on?

 

 

[Aquila-SmartWargames]

 

[benpark]

Frustration is the field of the tinkerer.

Since the rail car is the only thing strangely illuminated (that I can see), the model should be checked. Get rid rid of any custom shaders, certainly. Process of elimination to find fault from there.

The game engine looks to be not recognizing the settings for overall bright/dark, as they could be set for either something general for another game engine, or incorrectly (by the originator of the model, as they probably had no inkling of this particular game engine, esteemed though it is). I'm sure Aquila has checked these settings, but some more experimentation may be needed, as both instances appear to not entirely match the surrounding illumination to my eye.

There are a number of texture illumination settings in Blender- "Brightness" in the texture settings being the first I'd re-check and adjust. How light interacts with a given model (or how Normals face, etc) is rarely going to work out of "the box" with third party models, and will require fixing all manner of weird stuff. That is a crash course in Blender, certainly- but changing the illumination is fairly straightforward (in roundabout way!).

[umlaut]

Thanks for the advice, guys - that solved it:
It turned out that the culprit was set of shaders I never even knew was inside my mod folder. It was part of the old winter mod set I installed in bulk five years ago.

Just goes to show you should tidy up your mods folder once in a while. Lesson learned (I hope).

Now we can get somewhere with the mod. 

 

[benpark]

Tidying up mods happens once a year. A holiday is in order.

[37mm]

15 hours ago, umlaut said:

Do you know if this is because of some GPU setting (since you´re able to play with the shaders on)?

I can't really tell without knowing where the sun is (you also play with shadows off) but I imagine it would make sense in the context of a proper map?

Edit

Oh I see, you fixed it.

Edited January 31, 2020 by 37mm

[Andy_101]

How do i get these working in the editor?  

[umlaut]

24 minutes ago, Andy_101 said:

How do i get these working in the editor?  

I think you need to be a bit more specific than that if you want a useful reply.

[Andy_101]

13 hours ago, umlaut said:

I think you need to be a bit more specific than that if you want a useful reply.

Sorry.  So I have downloaded some of these mods, for example I'd really like the black hawk helicopter in my games.  I'd like to make some scenarios but don't know how to put them into the game?

[umlaut]

I am pretty sure it has been described in this tread - but it is a rather long thread.

I once made a guide to making extra flavor objects. You can find it here:

In the case of the Blackhawk, I think all you need to do is to place the folder in your mods folder and rename the mdr-file with the name of an empty flavor object slot: Example: If there are 3 handcart flavor objects in your game, then rename it handcart4.

[Aquila-SmartWargames]

@umlaut basically explained everything important. When using the Blackhawk or other bigger custom models you might want to keep this in mind:

On 7/18/2019 at 3:41 PM, Aquila-SmartWargames said:

When replacing flavor objects its important to keep the draw distance of the original in mind. Replacing the crate1.mdr with the blackhawk isn´t a good idea as it will go invisible to quick. The biggest draw distance is provided by flavor objects such as "street (traffic) lamp" and "shelter" etc. It can also be an alternative to better replace an unimportant vehicle (taxi) and give it a destroyed condition, as vehicles have excellent draw distances.

When replacing vehicles with custom flavor objects (or other mods/vehicles), the associated .lod files also have to be replaced too. A quick fix is simply getting this done by creating copies of the main .mdr file and then add -lod-1 to -lod-4 to them. Not all require 4 of them, I think infantry even can have 5 lod files but I always do 4.

 

This thread is indeed long and cluttered with alot. I was thinking about making a new thread "Custom 3D Models Infos & Tutorials" and at least extract the knowledge we´ve collected here. You can tell me if this is a good idea or if we want to better keep everything here. However if we go for the new thread I do not plan to rewrite or sort the information but just extract it to make it easier to access. I think it would also be a good idea to create this new thread in "Combat Mission General Discussion" rather than CMSF2 Mods

Edited February 4, 2020 by Aquila-SmartWargames

[umlaut]

@Aquila-SmartWargames

I think a new thread would be a good idea - so we dont mix things too much up. I also think it would be a good idea to place it in the general maps and mods forum, instead of CMSF. Many of us WWII freaks seldom venture in here - for example it took me a long time to discover this thread

[Aquila-SmartWargames]

7 minutes ago, umlaut said:

I think a new thread would be a good idea - so we dont mix things too much up. I also think it would be a good idea to place it in the general maps and mods forum, instead of CMSF. Many of us WWII freaks seldom venture in here - for example it took me a long time to discover this thread

Just to be clear you mean this subforum: CM2 Scenario and Mod Tips?

Okay so if no other opinions or objections will come up in the meantime I will create a thread there with copy/pasting useful stuff from here in a couple of days. 

Edited February 4, 2020 by Aquila-SmartWargames

[umlaut]

8 minutes ago, Aquila-SmartWargames said:

Just to be clear you mean this subforum: CM2 Scenario and Mod Tips?

Okay so if no other opinions or objections will come up in the meantime I will create a thread there with copy/pasting useful stuff from here in a couple of days. 

Exactly

[BornGinger]

@Aquila-SmartWargames When you use pieces of hedges and whatnot to have camouflage on that Panther and the halftrack, are they less visible to the enemy troops or is that just working as visual goodies?

Edited February 5, 2020 by BornGinger

[Aquila-SmartWargames]

2 hours ago, BornGinger said:

@Aquila-SmartWargames When you use pieces of hedges and whatnot to have camouflage on that Panther and the halftrack, are they less visible to the enemy troops or is that just working as visual goodies?

Just cosmetic

[Aquila-SmartWargames]

Bloody Ride Panther and Halftrack Foliage Camo Pack (CMWW2):

- was made for a Bloody Ride campaign playthrough in mind, so not all Panther and Halftrack models are done.

- should work with all WW2 games where this Panther and Halftrack models are present

- modular, you can remove vehicle version you don´t want to modify (for example only camo specific support halftracks etc.)

3D Foliage Camo German Helmet (Experimental)

- it seems there are some texture amount limitation when modding helmets, status quo is that the foliage adapts the helmet texture. Didn´t find out yet how to overcome. So only woodland/green/camo helmet textures should be used alongside it. See previous videos model tutorial videos for details. I recommend to stick with the "classic" texture based camo mods by other authors.

M8 (Mid) Foliage Camo

This camo mods should work with all CMWW2 games where the vehicle versions are present. The foliage camo also adapts to winter snow.

Download:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0

 

For more details check out the Youtube videos, especially this playlist:

Video Playlist for CM 3D Model Editing with Showcases, Workflows, and Tutorials (latter with commentary)

 https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlUX4ALH7zTNgpWGBYSFUCnZK-Sf7SCcl

Edited February 21, 2020 by Aquila-SmartWargames

[Falaise]

what is the name of the file?
there are many now !!

[MOS:96B2P]

2 minutes ago, Falaise said:

what is the name of the file?
there are many now !!

Bloody Ride Panther and Halftrack Camo pack. 

+1 @Aquila-SmartWargames.  Nice mod.  

[Falaise]

ok 
Thank you MOS:96b2p

[Falaise]

Yes
an essential mod for certain scenarios
especially in Normandy
Always fear of the Jabos !!!

[Aquila-SmartWargames]

I forgot one:

T-34 M1944 Early Camouflage Mod

- this was my final "design study" for vehicle camos. While the Panther/Halftracks represent heavy camo application, the M8 medium, this T-34 comes with lighter/one aspect camo only for the front facing. However it now comes with camo tied to the cannon, which also moves when the gun is firing. Enough space was left so that the camo is not squeezed into the cannon.

This camo mods should work with all CMWW2 games where the vehicle versions are present. The foliage camo also adapts to winter snow.

Download:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0

 

 

 Light/random Camo idea:

I didn´t design a mod that follows this idea but wanted to publish it here as some might be interested to get their hands on this themselves. The final d/evolution of camouflage would be something even lighter similar to the Queen´s (2nd Dragoon Guards) Bay Sherman IIA schematics in this picture posted by DougPhresh here:

Advantages:

- wouldn´t cover vehicle skins/models that much while still offering some camo love

- On the full camo halftracks it would look rather strange when camo pieces would be displayed randomized. You could randomize it by designing whole different full camo packs and then using option-a option-b etc. model names. This involves some work. However with only light camo this could be used alongside the modelname "gear" to randomize camo without looking odd thus adding to the diversity and wouldn´t take much time.

- only slapping some bushes onto vehicles would take less time in general, with practice it could be done in a couple of minutes per vehicle

 

For more details or how to do your own camo check out the Youtube videos, especially this playlist:

Video Playlist for CM 3D Model Editing with Showcases, Workflows, and Tutorials (latter with commentary)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlUX4ALH7zTNgpWGBYSFUCnZK-Sf7SCcl

Edited February 21, 2020 by Aquila-SmartWargames

[benpark]

Are you randomizing them as "stowage", or alternate versions of the base model? A random assortment seems a good idea. One could also use a full-alpha'd set for one non-camo'd version (if using the base model method to do it).

Edited February 21, 2020 by benpark

[Aquila-SmartWargames]

45 minutes ago, benpark said:

Are you randomizing them as "stowage", or alternate versions of the base model?

Exactly either a fullalpha/blank texturized camopack or simply a little placeholder model that is called camopack-optiona. I think latter would be the more perfomance efficient solution as I could imagine that invisible camopacks take more resources than some little invisible placeholder object. the true camopack could be called camopack-optionb, another alternate true camopack which appears to "overlap" in blender could be called camopack-optionc, a lighter true camopack could be called camopack-optiond. In blender the model would look quiet overcrowded but ingame exactly one option is called. In this example every option had a chance by 25%, one could artificially rise/lower the chance by creating duplicates. For example if he wants to have most vehiles without camo he would create duplicates of the invisible placeholder camopack add -optiona,b,c,d and then start with true campoacks with -optione this would bring the chance in favor of having no camopacks.

Naming model parts gear1 gear2 etc. on the other hand has always a 50/50 chance to show. When using alongside of camo you might end up with vehicles with alot of camo or you might end up with vehicles with little camo etc. 

Both options or combinations out of it should offer whatever one wants to achieve with randomization but specifically option is more work intensive. I didn´t use it for the current releases but if one would to improve on it, feel free and welcome as for all other projects here.

There are posts in this thread where I wrote about this specifics:

 

 

Aris OT34/76-M42-Early T34/76-M42-Late PanzerIVG SNOWCAMO Addon (Experimental)

I´ve recently played the CMRT Stalingrad campaign "Rattenkrieg" which involves some winter missions. I used this gigantic Winter Mod Compilation alongside it but at least for my install there were still some vehicles without snow camo. So I decided to supplement some of them and created this skins which are based on the work of Aris. This is a experimental release and there might be better already released winter skins for them I am not aware of. The work and technique was minimal as I used this "poor man´s method" described here: 

 

I played myself without tags but just added the [snow] tag to them. I didn´t test it with the tags.

This snow camo skins should work with all CMWW2 games where the vehicle versions are present and when weather is set to snow. I don´t know if this might influence other vehicles appearances as CM sometimes allocates the same textures to several vehicle versions. I also noticed that when using alot of other vehicle skin mods it might end up with mixed snow/normal appearance in snow missions which I guess has something to do with some mods coming with several (1,2,3,4) skin versions. Experimental addon release more meant to supplement existing winter mods or to be utilized in winter compilations.

Download:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0

 

Video Playlist for CM 3D Model Editing with Showcases, Workflows, and Tutorials (latter with commentary)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlUX4ALH7zTNgpWGBYSFUCnZK-Sf7SCcl

Edited February 21, 2020 by Aquila-SmartWargames

[Aquila-SmartWargames]

DIY Camo Kit (for modders)

 A Blender project that includes several camopacks. Might help others to design their own creations and camo models by copy and pasting.

How to use:

1) open Blender, import the vehicle/helmet/othermodels (import metadata) you want to edit

2) open the camopack kit in a seperate blender window

3) if textures do not show up (pink models) use "find missing files" (path shown in the screenshot above) and select the DIY Camo Kit folder as it comes with the needed boccage texture. 

4) "select hierarchy" of desired components with right click on the right list and copy CNTRL-C and -V paste it into your blender vehicle project

5) move/resize/stretch/delete parts as you desire and drag and drop them into the corresponding vehicle section (hull camo -> hull, turret camo -> turret, cannon camo->cannon etc)

Optional) rename camo parts to "gear1, gear2 etc" or add "-optiona -optionb etc" to the name in order to utilize technques mentioned in above posts.

All of this uses a single specific boccage model but there are more models that work as vehicle/helmet/othermodels camo (located for example in extracted cm files\terrain\walls. Normal bush models dont seem work yet. @37mm made a post about the specifics behind it somewhere here. 

Download:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1tviryry89g6py7/AAAJpSvGH6u1iEx4WzwVLSnJa?dl=0

Video Playlist for CM 3D Model Editing with Showcases, Workflows, and Tutorials (latter with commentary)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlUX4ALH7zTNgpWGBYSFUCnZK-Sf7SCcl

Edited February 22, 2020 by Aquila-SmartWargames