Great work Mike,thank you .

Dave

cheers Dave

tonight , quckly added some new options/settings in the .INI file. these are:

[OPTIONS]
DRAGNDROP=1 -->> You can choose whether you want the app to run in windowed OR drag n drop mode
[XPORTER settings]
INCLUDENOMESHBONES=1 -->> Remove bones that don't have any mesh in them such as "noname" bones. Kinda like a cheap decimator.
INCLUDEROOT=1 -->> Keep Root frame or not. Setting to 0 can cause some odd results in the X file. best to keep as 1 for now.
INCLUDESKINWEIGHTS=1 -->> Keep Skin Weights in the X file. Setting to 0 might help with those characters that come out disfigured. Animations will not work correctly though.
INCLUDEANIMS=1 -->> Include Animation Frames or not. Setting to 0 will not include any animation data and will speed up conversion process.

Other options/setting to be added as and when it becomes necessary/appropriate.

PC now up and running will try this out tomorrow, thank you very much for your hard work

@GraPhix-thanks, much appreciated. Hope it works for you.

I've applied some little fixes and added more flexibility such as:

-Now works with FPSC X10, wasn't configuring, seems ok now
-User can now multi select FPE files in windowed mode
-Added more useful info to the folder selection dialog
-program now forces to default to the FPSC entitybank folder
-added code to correctly close program if no FPE selected
-added options to .INI file (as mentioned in previous post above)
-added code to handle FVF format 594/size 44 as previously mentioned in post above (code will be updated to be more efficient in the handling of all these formats/sizes)

[update-multi file FPE selection working well in windowed mode. SCIFI furniture entities processed in seconds....let's see if I can get multiple directories working in windowed mode ]

a few more fixes and extra feature additions to this tool then it's time to start working on the FPI to LUA converter program again, then back to Autowelder etc.

this morning just updating my BOTRXPORTer code to improve on the multi material usage side. at the moment I have a scenario where there is just a root mesh no frames/bones but have multiple mesh material. This is almost done and preliminary tests show that it is working fine. A bit more testing (as usual with these things) and then onto the next fix/feature addition, then distribute the next version. Fortunately(or unfortunately, depending on your point of view), I stumbled on some issues by sheer accident. Better to get these things sorted now than later down the line.

Great work.

thanks Seppgirty

Here are before and after pics showing the Desert Pack Hummer with/without multi-materials.

The first pic only originally didn't have any textures showing because it needed to use multi materials not single texture. But here it has 2 materials but only the 1st material is being used and the interior is blocked out because material 2 (interior) was not being used. I've now fixed this issue in the program and the finished result is pic 2 which is exactly the same as the original binary X file. Thank goodness for that.

Busy with new car today and other Sunday chore stuff, but have now fixed a few teething problems with MultMaterials and single texturing etc.
All seems fine. Here's a quick run down what's been done.
I think I will just do a bit more random testing with various entity types and changing the .INI options see if I get any odd results or issues that need addressing. Apart from the skin weights, I think I want to get back on to the AutoWelder and FPI to LUA conversion.
Also, for Entity Welder, now you can multi select files in windowed mode, might be able to do away with the FPEtoBAT program.
Well I've enjoyed doing that little lot. Time to focus on something else and off to Isle of Wight next week so that will be a good break. not been there since I was a child.


Fixes/Additions/to do:
v1.5.2 - fixed issue with DDS image compression.
v1.6 -- implemented BOTRXPORT code
v1.6.1 -- added code fix to handle FVF size 594/44 - need more efficient way to handle all these different FVF sizes

1 - [DONE-added title text to dialog for configuration] update folder dialogue selector
2 - [?still to look into-ok my end]Fix issue with some users not being able to save out the .INI file
3 - [DONE] Add code to close app correctly if no FPE file selected
4 - [DONE]Force default folder to point to FPSC install + entitybank folder
5 - [DONE]Add user options to INI file
6 - [DONE]Edit the X file texturefilename to use FPE texture not the X file texture
7 - [DONE-files only]For windowed mode, work with multi selected files/[folders?]
8 - [DONE]Fix for FPSC X10 config, wasn't working
9 - [DONE]Fix issue where object already existed and program bombing out

EXPORTER CODE specific: 1. [to do]correct skin weights,.... need formula ....
2. [to do]make FVF size handling code more efficient
3. [DONE]add user options to INI e.g. include_nonamebones = 1 or 0 etc
4. [to do]speed up animation strings + overall optimisation
5. [DONE]add code to correctly handle multi material texturing
6. [DONE]Fix issue with texturefilename ref not coming out where object has multiple textures but no frames/bones
e.g. Hummer (dynamic) in "Desert Storm Pack"
7. [DONE] Fix issue where XSkinMeshHeader outputting more than once.
8. [DONE] Fix bone count - was using internal_bone_count e.g. for Green Nature 2, Trees in general have 2 frames and 1 bone but count was 2, now using mesh count again which is 1 bone ... not sure this is 100% correct as internal_bone_count was used to correct a character bone count issue. NEED TO KEEP AN EYE on characters.

Quite a list there mike,nice to see your punching your way through it .

Dave

thanks Dave, getting there, still a small number of issues I'm finding.

For 3d models that have more than 1 mesh and contain bones, this can affect the XSkinMeshHeader bone number. So applied code today to fix that problem e.g. for Green Nature 2, Tree01, this was causing GameGuru to crash as I had not taken into account multiple meshes with the same bone count.
Hopefully this should be ok in next version. Will try and find some time to figure out the recalc of skin weights.

tha above fix now seems to work well. a little more testing then will release this next version. So if you have found that the last release was messing up multi-texturing, causing GG to throw error and/or restart editor, these will have been fixed in v1.6.1.

Issue with .INI not saving on some users root drive should now be fixed in next version. added some code to force program to look at root drive prior to config file being saved out. Users should ensure they run the program as administrator.

still working on issue with hierarchy which is causing problems when it comes to characters that have more than 1 mesh and the meshes contains bones e.g. a weapon bone and main character skeleton for example the fantasy characters like Minos (Melee) etc. more joy in the world of programming

I feel for you, just had a battle with fragmotion and skeletons/weapon bones its quite a difficult task

tell me about it ha.....the recursion code needs a bit of a tweak or 2

fixed the multiple mesh with bones e.g. Minos now looks like he is holding the weapon and the bone skin weights are now applied to the correct mesh. Now onto skin weighting correction (hopefully) and any hierarchal issues. I think I will need to rotate or zero the joints where needed. I had commented out the code that does that already while fixing the multiple mesh with bone issue. Thinking about adding an option to the .INI file to zero the joints if it works correctly. As you can see below in the pics Minos looks fine prior to placement in the editor but as soon as you set him down onto the terrain he is no longer disfigured (now I've added some fixes in) but the limbs are not rotated correctly. In GameGuru the limbs are the other way around (if I recall), it's either a matter of swapping the limbs around in the hierarchy so left becomes right or just rotating the limbs or maybe even both.

yes its caught me out a couple of times I think its the camera things seemed to get 'mirrored' especially textures with text on them

yes it's something I'm still figuring out with the left/right hand systems.

Something that I have thought about is that for FPE's that use the same .X file will add on to processing time. I will implement code to keep track of what .X files have already been converted otherwise the same .X file will go through the conversion process multiple times adding on unnecessary conversion time.

[update-added more error trapping code to catch any X files that persist in not loading at all. These files can be put through MESHVIEW/MENDER]

this morning added some more error trapping and fixed code that handles grabbing animationset/animation names from memory.
The 341 character TRV01 animates and looks correct now (in Fragmotion but not GameGuru-weighting/hierarchy issue) and other 341 animated characters come out fine in GameGuru, although there are 5500 frames so took a bit longer than I would have liked.

I will release this version today hopefully. Still a bit more to do but at least the multi mesh/bones/materials now fully functional and you can also multi select FPE files in windowed mode.

found another issue with multi materials where there are more than 1 material in the original FPSC x File but only 1 texture assigned to 1 of the materials. Works fine if I remove the unused materials in FM. Will fix code when I get back from my short break.

Working hard on this mike,enjoy your break and have some fun .

Dave

WOW! going great.

@MK83-thanks.

Got back from break, working at the moment but applied small fix to the code this morning, so hopefully multimaterials should work normally again.
Will release today so at least you can use the muli file select in windowed mode (or CTRL-A for the whole lot in one go) which I mainly use rather than using the FPEtoBAT now.
A bit more testing on some random FPE/X files and then will send out.

added a new .INI option "EXCLUDEALLFRAMES". some FPSC entities have unnecessary frame/bone structures. Setting EXCLUDEALLFRAMES=1 will remove all frame/bones from the 3d object. Obviously, any frames that have meshes are unaffected.

This morning I have released the next version 1.6.1 of Entity Welder. For purchasers of SegAutoWelder, please check you email inbox (and junk folder just in case).

This release sees a few fixes and extra option in the .INI + multi FPE file selection in windowed mode.
Hope you enjoy.

Got it, thanks, Is there a way to use the FPSC stock decals. I tried to make one, the marker is there, but, in test game, there's nothing. Just a thought, no biggie.

@MK83-Yes, I want to look into the decals as I was giving this some thought this morning. I'll see what I can do, and will put something here if I have any joy. Any particular decal in FPSC you want to get working, I can maybe look into that and get it working in GAmeGuru.

I was trying the acid decal. And maybe some of the Benge sprites.

ok, will have a look at the acid decal.

I just remembered I forgot to include moving over the audio files along with the entities. Sorry about that, I will add to next release.

Looking into decals also while working on the FPI to LUA converter program.

Ok, just released version 1.6.2 of Entity Welder to all purchasers of SegAutoWelder. This version now copies over the audio and any DINS textures that are referenced in the FPE or exist for a particular entity. You should have an email either in you inbox but please check you junk folder just in case.

BW
Mike

Got it ,thanks.

Dave

got it, thank you

When i try to run it i get a "FILE NEEDS TO BE A FPE. TYPE" error. What did i do???????

@Seppgirty: There are 2 modes, 'drag n drop' and windowed mode. The above options can now be added to the .INI file which can be found/added in your root drive e.g. C:\Entity_Welder.INI

You get the prompt (which is not an error), because it is expecting you to drop a .FPE file onto the .EXE. If you want to run the program in windowed mode, you just need to edit the .INI file and change the DRAGNDROP= option from 1 to 0. Or if they don't exist, add the relevant options to the .INI file.

Make sure you're also running versions 1.6.1 or 1.6.2 as the options were added for those versions.

Hope this helps.

testing 1.6.2 working now. thanks a bunch.

Disregard. Found the solution.

@Flatlander- You can edit the .INI file and change the C:\ to K:\ and update the paths if necessary.

BW
Mike

Also don't forget that for the last 2 versions you can multi select .FPE files in windowed mode i.e. DRAGNDROP=0 in the .INI file.

I needed to put the ini file in the "K:\" root directory instead of C:\ Thanks for answering so quickly.

@Flatlander-glad you got it resolved.

a couple of minor fixes applied to the next version of EW. A have hidden the window from view and also there was a texture issue which is now resolved.
Next release with any further fixes/updates will be 1.6.3.

phew what a busy time.....
anyway, hope to have an update of the app soon which sees fast processing of characters, under 2 mins for very large animation frames. some more testing and then will release.

released version 1.7 of Entity Welder to all SegAutoWelder purchasers and you should have received email with the link/password etc.

tested out on a couple of BSP WW2 characters and takes around 2 mins to process both (1 min each), before would take 15-20 mins depending on the number of animation frames (Matrix format).

Please let me know if you have any issues. There is still some more optimization I can do and will also add in code at some point to bypass processing of the same X file over and over.

got the update thank you very much

@GraPhix: no problem. although while applying more optimization found and resolved an issue that affects the animation rotation frames. sorted now, e.g. scifi_assault_troop X file for the Arteria Sci fi Character Pack. Was coming out incorrectly. Also fixed a texture search/copy over issue for FPE's that have missing TEXTURED= parameters. The code searches the binary X file code for the actual present texture file but had problem with folders. Again that's resolved and the actual export times for both Quaternions/Matrix formats now down to 1 min over slightly more for larger animation frames per bone/limb. fun and games but still more I can do.

Will release 1.7.1 soon, a little more testing and you get a more solid and more efficient export tool for FPSC entities.

[update-spoke too soon, anim rotation still not right for the above X file --ugh.... ok next update release on hold]

[edit-accidental double post]

released version 1.7.1 which sees further fixes/optimizations to the code and which speeds up export of animations for both matrix/quaternion rotation formats. The app now bypasses already processed X files of the same name but will still copy over the necessary GameGuru files i.e. FPE, texture(s) and BMP +audio files. Characters that work well in GG for example are the BSP WW2 and 341 models. The TRV can either have the skin weights adjusted in Fragmotion and/or put through Mender/Meshview if you have them even though they animate and look ok in a modelling package, GG can screw some characters up so look deformed.

Code has also been cleaned up which makes for a smaller EXE file.

as I've added a progress bar to the HeightMap to GameGuru program, I thought what the heck I might as well add one to the Entity Welder 1.7.2. Code has now been fully optimized where possible and will release this super fast version soon.