Introduction
Hey everyone, this is Loren from Donut Team and welcome to another Tuesday Topics.
This week, 1561 would like to discuss some improvements he's been working on for his Map Creator and Borb would like to show off some spiffy improvements to Moe's character model.
Let's begin by passing it over to 1561 !
Jeff's Map Creator
Hello everyone, it's The Butter Apple here with some information on what I'm up to! Unfortunately, there is no new update this week, but I wanted to share what I'm working on and hopefully shed some light on why this next update is taking so long.
Importing P3D Files
Right off the bat, the meat and potatoes of the next update will be importing P3D files! This means being able to take an already existing P3D (from the game or custom created) and loading it into your project!
Using this functionality, you can import a file from the base game and easily make changes to it for your mod!
Of course, this new functionality also brought along a bunch of new bugs and issues that I am currently working to fix. For instance, it required me to refactor the exporter so that it sorts exported chunks in the order required by the game.
Click here to check out a video of this in action (Warning: This is a large video file)
Handling Unknown Chunks
Map files for the game are complicated and, as such, this tool doesn't support modifying every single chunk type.
However, the data in any unsupported chunks will not be lost. Instead, when importing, any chunk that is not currently supported will become an "Unknown Chunk" in the scene hierarchy. These objects will simply be exported as-is upon export.
Static Phys Upgrades
Next up, I am also adding the ability to have multiple collision volumes in a Static Phys chunk. This was a must-have for importing existing maps.
While this feature currently works, it currently isn't very easy to use, and I am still brainstorming how to improve this!
Click here to check out a video of this in action (Warning: This is a large video file)
Asset Manager Upgrades
To close, I'd like to talk about a few new upgrades to the asset manager.
Rather than dragging and dropping a mesh, then having to type a shader name, I have decided that it should be simple to grab any mesh or shader from a list.
Click here to check out a video of this in action (Warning: This is a large video file)
Closing Notes
As you can see, I am working on a lot of different things to improve the tool. While I can't commit to a release date yet, since I want each feature to be as polished as it can be, I will try to continue to keep you all updated!
Lastly, before I go, here is a bonus video of some general map manipulation (Warning: This is a large video file)
Now, over to Borb for a look at Moe.
Mo' Details fo' Moe
Once upon a time, I decided that I wanted to make apronless Moe. I imported him into Blender and promptly realized that he was afflicted with a severe case of Boneitis!
Left: Moe before his treatment
Right: Moe after his treatment
A couple bone adjustments and skin squeezes later, he was all patched up and ready to ogle Midge from the bushes, both during work hours and in his free time!
Left: Moe before his treatment... again
Right: Moe without his apron, scandalous
Anyway, that's all I have for you. I send you back to Loren for uhh... I don't know, a spoken word rendition of Rocket Man.
Conclusion
That's uh, not what I am here for. Anyway, that's all for this week. Thanks for tuning in for another Tuesday Topics!
We'll be back again in a couple of weeks with more updates for you all!
- Loren from Donut Team
P.S.: Borb wants you to listen to this and Mochapoke wants you to listen to this.