gmax Editing car mods

[Celidor]

Hey, I have tried to download Zmodeler. That wouldn't import any .dff files because it had this out of memory error but I have got gmax and the scripts to import and export .dff files. But I really don't know how this all works. I am quite clever I just got the program and have never worked with 3d modeling before but I have imported the BTTF 1 delorean and added two new headlights to the front like the car actually has and I have flipped the wheels on one side around because they weren't on right.

I can see that the damaged parts are like their own piece or shape or watever on the car. I made it so that those were invisible in the program to see it and edit easier but I have not tried to make it work in game yet to know if I've done it right. And I have no idea how to make the game know how to identify the damaged parts from the normal parts. I want to make the windshield breakable but can't figure that out either. I really need help. I've been looking for hours literally to find a tutorial or any kind of help on this kind of subject and have found NOTHING.

I am shocked because GTA SA modding seems so popular. Why is there no help except on how to install mods. Which is not really hard to figure out.

So anyway I have been surfing forever and i found this site which seems like the best one I've seen and registered and so far all I've done is help out people who know so much less then me. I thought I was a noob at this!!! So now I'm hoping it is my turn to get some help though I know this might be a little more complicated. But even the tiniest hints or help would be so much appreciated. I will keep struggling but I would love if someone could make this easier. I'd love to eventually make a car from scratch and other mods in the future. I'm new to all this modding stuff.

Thanks in advance and you should check out the collection of effects I have. Though I take no credit for it. Except that I took all the best ones I could find and combined them together. http://www.thegtaplace.com/forums/index.ph...amp;hl=favorite Just go to the second post down and click the effects collection.rar

I also don't know how to attach the .txd file with the textures onto the model in gmax. You can do that right? I'm gonna try to figure it out now.

Edited April 9, 2008 by Celidor

[Celidor]

Yup... as I expected when I exported it as .dff the headlights didn't show up. I don't know how to tell it to recognize new dummies I add.

[RanxeroX]

Hey, I have tried to download Zmodeler. That wouldn't import any .dff files because it had this out of memory error but I have got gmax and the scripts to import and export .dff files. But I really don't know how this all works. I am quite clever I just got the program and have never worked with 3d modeling before but I have imported the BTTF 1 delorean and added two new headlights to the front like the car actually has and I have flipped the wheels on one side around because they weren't on right.

I can see that the damaged parts are like their own piece or shape or watever on the car. I made it so that those were invisible in the program to see it and edit easier but I have not tried to make it work in game yet to know if I've done it right. And I have no idea how to make the game know how to identify the damaged parts from the normal parts. I want to make the windshield breakable but can't figure that out either. I really need help. I've been looking for hours literally to find a tutorial or any kind of help on this kind of subject and have found NOTHING.

I am shocked because GTA SA modding seems so popular. Why is there no help except on how to install mods. Which is not really hard to figure out.

So anyway I have been surfing forever and i found this site which seems like the best one I've seen and registered and so far all I've done is help out people who know so much less then me. I thought I was a noob at this!!! So now I'm hoping it is my turn to get some help though I know this might be a little more complicated. But even the tiniest hints or help would be so much appreciated. I will keep struggling but I would love if someone could make this easier. I'd love to eventually make a car from scratch and other mods in the future. I'm new to all this modding stuff.

Thanks in advance and you should check out the collection of effects I have. Though I take no credit for it. Except that I took all the best ones I could find and combined them together. http://www.thegtaplace.com/forums/index.ph...amp;hl=favorite Just go to the second post down and click the effects collection.rar

I also don't know how to attach the .txd file with the textures onto the model in gmax. You can do that right? I'm gonna try to figure it out now.

I can't give you any specific help with GMax or 3d-modelling details but I can point you in the direction and give you a couple tips... The reason Zmodeler wouldn't import/export any .dff files is because you have to pay for the registered version to get those features. You can make your own stuff from scratch and export them fine however.

What you might want to do is to go straight to the Zmodeler home site. There you can get the latest version as well as read the forums with a ton of info in them on this topic. He also has tutorials as well as example vehicles/weapons/etc. (straight from Rockstar) in Zmodeler format. Load a vehicle into Zmodeler and you can see how the hierarchy and dummies should be set up for San Andreas.

The site is: http://www.zmodeler2.com/

[Celidor]

ok thanks. I'll try that. it should help even if gmax isn't exactly the same. But I am aware that version 2 requires registration to import .dff. But version 1 is supposed to be able to do it for free. I tried to find version 1.7 of Zmodeler to see if it would import the .dff without error. but it is extremely hard to find. And I think it's because it is much better then 1 and can do almost everything 2 does without any registration. So the developer would obviously not want to have that program around anymore because they want to make some money from version 2. Makes sense, oh well.

The headlights I added probably didn't work because i did nothing to the "hierarchy thing" is that probably right?

Edited April 10, 2008 by Celidor

[RanxeroX]

ok thanks. I'll try that. it should help even if gmax isn't exactly the same. But I am aware that version 2 requires registration to import .dff. But version 1 is supposed to be able to do it for free. I tried to find version 1.7 of Zmodeler to see if it would import the .dff without error. but it is extremely hard to find. And I think it's because it is much better then 1 and can do almost everything 2 does without any registration. So the developer would obviously not want to have that program around anymore because they want to make some money from version 2. Makes sense, oh well.

The headlights I added probably didn't work because i did nothing to the "hierarchy thing" is that probably right?

I wasn't aware of the V1-V2 differences but if that's what you've learned then good luck on your search.

I also remembered after writing my message to you yesterday that you can also check out vehicle hierachies (and dummies too I think) by running the program GGMM (GtaGarage Mod Manager). Once it's running, you can hit right-click on the vehicle displayed and select 'Model Details'. The dialog box that pops up has 3 tabs with stuff to view/play with. One of them shows the vehicle's hierarchy and dummies setup. Using this program, you don't need any outside modeler to check things out.

As for the headlights, I think there's more to it than that. I seem to recall reading something on GtaForums.com or elsewhere that headlights & brake lights on a model are recognized by the game engine by assigning a certain color to the polys. This is how it can tell which is the front/rear/left/right lights. So do some searching either on the site I just named or see if there's info on Wikipedia - it has a San Andreas section with technical info.

[Celidor]

thanks lol you're the only one who has replied at all.

In Gmax headlights are and actual object you can add. And it recognized where they were on the car I was modifying when I first import it. All I did was clone two more and position them. You probably have to do more to make the actual headlights manually but I think this does it for me automatically. Free program its pretty good.

[Laa]

I use Zmodeler 1.07B its better than v2, i made my car from scratch. Also theres an addon around the internet so you can import the .DFF files in to V1