How to's on converting your 4.32Theaters to 4.33
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Hi Dave,
Hi peep’s,
I am starting this thread as a place to SHARE knowledge of 3rd party theater conversion from 4.32 to 4.33.
Let’s please try to keep it informational and civil. If the Dev’s\Moderators find it useful please Sticky it so they have somewhere to find this info.So to start, there is a new file in the 4.33 Objects DB that affects and will cause CTD’s in your theater if not included in your DB.
That is the new .pdx file……WOT the hell is that…LOL!!!..just a catalog file that I am guessing is being used by the code to keep track of the PHD\PT data. Dev’s correct me if I’m wrong, please.But for those that have built custom AB’s in 4.32 you will find that, at best, your AB’s don’t work anymore, at worse the whole thing CTD’s.
Here is how we fixed it in Guam.When I imported Guam 4.32 to BMS 4.33 (I did include the new .pdx in the DB) I noticed that the Spawn points on Saipan ABase had moved???
So I went and looked at the PHD\PT data…this is what I found:Hmm….this is waaaay off from the Data??? See 4.32 Saipan
So fixed
All we need to do is Export the 4.32 Pts in Editor and Import them to 4.33……see???
Regards,
demerpretty much all wrong.
The new *.PDX file holds the new extended PD data, just like Switch told you…
Extended PD data means:
- Z -> Lifting the point above terrain level (e.g. on a pedestal) -> Spawning ACs, Helis or vehicles at that Z level is not yet implemented
- Max Height -> Code does check if AC can fit into this parking point (e.g. if a HAS has limited height)
- Max Width -> Code does check if AC can fit into this parking point (wing-span)
- Max Length -> Gues what
- Root Idx -> We now do support taxiway branches (ATM only from branch into the main taxi trunk)
- Branch Idx -> Not yet supported
Little vid for the explanation of the taxiway branches:
The taxiway branches are pretty easy to add if you have the main taxiway (trunk) done already…
- Add a new TP and the end oft the PT list (you need to select the white space below last PT)
- Change PT type to TaxiPt
- You can see the PT still is linked to the previous PT in the list (white line)
- Now adjust the Root Idx to the PT, where the branch should join the main trunk (PT 70 in my screenshot)
- The next Taxi- and Parking Points can be done old style, they’re linked to the previous PT automatically
ATM this does work for AI only moving from the branches into the main trunk (takeoff procedure) for going back to the Parking Point after landing it’s not yet implemented, but I doubt, we really need this because AC usually aggregate fast after landing and reaching PT, so there shouldn’t be big shortage in free PTs.
Finally there is no need to copy this file into your theater (if you do so, all your modifications on PD will be lost).
If it does not exist, it will be generated if you use BMS Editor (start it, select your theater, restart, open any objective and then save to database).In the MonoLogs you also can see if the standard or extended data is used…
Hope this helps.
BTW because of the missing *.PDX it never should crash, we then use old *.PD file with default values for the new variables!!!
Cheers
Biker -
Hi Dave,
pretty much all wrong.
The new *.PDX file holds the new extended PD data, just like Switch told you…
Extended PD data means:
- Z -> Lifting the point above terrain level (e.g. on a pedestal) -> Spawning ACs, Helis or vehicles at that Z level is not yet implemented
- Max Height -> Code does check if AC can fit into this parking point (e.g. if a HAS has limited height)
- Max Width -> Code does check if AC can fit into this parking point (wing-span)
- Max Length -> Gues what
- Root Idx -> We now do support taxiway branches (ATM only from branch into the main taxi trunk)
- Branch Idx -> Not yet supported
Little vid for the explanation of the taxiway branches:
Finally there is no need to copy this file into your theater (if you do so, all your modifications on PD will be lost).
If it does not exist, it will be generated if you use BMS Editor (start it, select your theater, restart, open any objective and then save to database).In the MonoLogs you also can see if the standard or extended data is used…
Hope this helps.
BTW because of the missing *.PDX it never should crash, we then use old *.PD file with default values for the new variables!!!
Cheers
BikerHi Stephen,
I’d rather be “pretty much all wrong” than “almost” right……LOL!!!
Great dissimilation of needed info though.
On a moot point I did not open 433 Editor initially and did not know (how would we?) that the file would be auto-generated……my bad??? LOL!!!
Thanks again M8,
demer
P.S. 178 Crash Logs inbound buddy……LOL!!! -
We have had a good discussion about the PD data and a very good example of what is new and what we can do now or somewhat… , thanks to Biker.
Going forward, I would like to example the changes in GUAM that made it fly with the old 432 data:This is my stock 433 install DB
This is the Guam 433 DB
We can see by the Dates that I used some new, but kept some old.
I do NOT disagree that 3rd party devs should start with what is given them by the devs to maintain some stability.
Then again I see no reason to throw away what we have already done just because the latest and greatest hit the floor.Cheers,
demer -
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WARNING: RESTART BMS AFTER ANY THEATER CHANGE NOW!
Should have been doing it in the first place, but seems more critical now……Dunno why???
demer -
WARNING: RESTART BMS AFTER ANY THEATER CHANGE NOW!
Should have been doing it in the first place, but seems more critical now……Dunno why???
demerAre you talking about any theater DB changes or about switching theaters?
… KTO -> Guam -> …I wonder if we can get rid of the restart after switching, ever?
@biker
I also wonder why some .doc regarding the autogen wasn’t included in 4.33.The only howto available is a tutorial which was posted in puplic,
short after old 4.32 release, but was IIRC removed soon again.
(because of disabled autogen in 4.32 ???)
http://www.mediafire.com/download/tldaaecwcqs8p47/INTERGRATING+EXISTING+THEATERS+INTO+BMS.docx… just sayin’
Cheers,
LS -
WARNING: RESTART BMS AFTER ANY THEATER CHANGE NOW!
Should have been doing it in the first place, but seems more critical now……Dunno why???
demerWhy?
What are the effects if you don’t restart?Cheers
Biker -
It was a common procedure with 4.32 already… I forgot the effects, lol. Something went wrong if not done so. Maybe someone else remembers.
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I also wonder why some .doc regarding the autogen wasn’t included in 4.33.
The new rules of how to place tree and grass autogen are briefly as follows:
- tree autogen texture located in folder “mistex” or “hiresmistex” contains 4x4 trees, where rows 1 and 2 are for decidious trees, rows 3 and 4 are for evergreen trees
- tree autogen code is now generating different types of tree /grass coverage depending on terrain type (either by designating circle/semicircle areas on each tile, or designating the entire set of tiles) :
THICKFOREST: decidious trees (rows 1-2 of tree texture)
THINFOREST: evergreen trees (rows 3-4 of tree texture)
BRUSH: a mix of decidious and evergreens (all rows of the texture)
PLAINS: will override all of the coverages with no autogen (you can make a holes in autogen for entire tile coverage, if you choose to designate the whole set). Disclaimer: I do not know how this would affect the movement of the units on tile, or performance of the computation of speed of the movement.
-Grass
SWAMP: grass (texture grass)I may add only that tree and grass textures should be made in consideration of terrain tiles so they are not contrasting unnaturally from the background. Each season has its own set of textures - summer, -spring, -fall, -winter, or else shader is being uses on one generic set and overall results may be not as good.
Hope this explains this process……
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Polak, 4.32 understood only PLAIN and WATER Tile-Sets. I see now (in 4.33) THICKFOREST, THINFOREST, SWAMP and BRUSH has been added (for obvious reasons - trees and gras), but is that then ALL, or does BMS now also understand the rest of the Tile-Sets in terms of impact to the movement (speed and getting stuck of GUs after new THR building) of Ground-Units? You know?
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Sorry. The question by Lazystone was about autogen and I know (rather for sure) only from the aspect of Autogen distribution. Anything else would be guessing on my part.
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@A.S:
It was a common procedure with 4.32 already… I forgot the effects, lol. Something went wrong if not done so. Maybe someone else remembers.
It was a good advice for all Falcon versions I know, at least FF to BMS Falcon. To prevent database pork ups when loading the database of a new theatre/Mission and prevent related crashes as well.
Sorry for off topic. -
On the trees there are two sets for each
trees1_summer.dds
trees1_summer_Polak.ddswhich is actually used?
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Hi Tom,
It was a good advice for all Falcon versions I know, at least FF to BMS Falcon. To prevent database pork ups when loading the database of a new theatre/Mission and prevent related crashes as well.
Sorry for off topic.yeah but that is pretty much hearsay…
In code DB data is cleared and reloaded when you switch theaters.So if at some point some clearance/reloading is missing without knowing exactly what is the problem, we cannot fix it!
Cheers
Biker -
On the trees there are two sets for each
trees1_summer.dds
trees1_summer_Polak.dds
which is actually used?Both, however not at the same time. _Polak trees are just named this way, because I created them just for these Korean Tiles. They are for all 4 seasons. Texture trees1_summer.dds is if you remove my texture and it is for 1 season with the season coloring is done by shader. Try to see if there is any difference.
I believe, that any Add-On Theater would have own tree textures in theater folder. Not sure though how it should be named and if same arrangement would apply there. Will try to check …
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Here is something about naming Tilesets and how and where to locate them :
A) TILESETS:
Tile sets will now be selected by NAME. Default value is “POLAK” (for now).
This enables 3rd party tilesets to co-exist on the BMS installation without overwriting each other and without the need for the code to have a fixed set of options upfront.Info for tileset creators: the following files and directories have to be present and will be loaded if a tileset name (example: “AWESOME”) is set:
Data\Terrdata\korea\texture\texture_AWESOME.bin
Data\Terrdata\korea\texture\texture_AWESOME*
Data\Terrdata\korea\terrain\THEATER_AWESOME.L2
Data\Terrdata\korea\terrain\THEATER_AWESOME.O2In addition, the following autogen tree textures can be used (BMS will fallback to default trees1/2_summer.dds if not present):
Data\Terrdata\misctex\trees1_summer_AWESOME.dds
Data\Terrdata\misctex\trees1_winter_AWESOME.dds
Data\Terrdata\misctex\trees1_spring_AWESOME.dds
Data\Terrdata\misctex\trees1_fall_AWESOME.dds
Data\Terrdata\misctex\trees2_summer_AWESOME.dds
Data\Terrdata\misctex\trees2_winter_AWESOME.dds
Data\Terrdata\misctex\trees2_spring_AWESOME.dds
Data\Terrdata\misctex\trees2_fall_AWESOME.ddsB) Add-On Theaters - TILESETS
Theater definition files (TDF) can now override the default tileset to use (from the cfg) by using the parameter “tileset”. The flow is as follows:
- look for a “tileset” entry in the “.tdf” file. If found, use it. If not…
- …look for the tile name config entry in the regular “Falcon BMS.cfg” file. If found, use it. If not…
- …look for a “generic” tileset named “theater” (without any “_<name>” postfix). If found, use it. If not…
- …finally fail.
C) Add-On Theaters - FILE LOCATIONS
Add-On Theaters can specify paths to OVERRIDE the default BMS paths for all kinds of things, e.g.:
Example “Add-On Korea Strong DPRK”:
Where the campaign directory is
campaigndir Add-On Korea Strong DPRK\campaign
where the terrain data is
terraindir Add-On Korea Strong DPRK\Terrdata\korea
which tileset to use - overrides the global setting in the cfg file
tileset POLAK
where art is loaded from
artdir Add-On Korea Strong DPRK
movies
moviedir Add-On Korea Strong DPRK
uisounds
uisounddir Add-On Korea Strong DPRK\sounds\ui
default objects
objectdir Add-On Korea Strong DPRK\Terrdata\objects
misc textures
misctexdir Add-On Korea Strong DPRK\Terrdata\misctex
3d object files
3ddatadir Add-On Korea Strong DPRK\Terrdata\objects
sounds dir
sounddir Add-On Korea Strong DPRK\sounds
simdata dir
simdatadir Add-On Korea Strong DPRK\Sim
D) HIRES TEXTURES:
In addition to all these location above, setting the “HiRes” option will look for a <name>_HiRes folder at any given location used above 1st, and if there is a file load it. If not, it will fallback to the folder <name>.</name></name></name>
Hope this is clear and it helps.
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Saw that whilst ReadingTheFriendlyManual……LOL!!!
Nice positive direction for the BMS boyz’:rtfm:
demer -
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well I tried the trees
changing the files and putting them inside: C:\Falcon BMS 4.33\Data\Terrdata\misctex_HiRes
for summer all 4 files but couldn’t spot any difference.
trees1_summer.dds
trees1_summer_Polak.dds
trees2_summer.dds
trees2_summer_Polak.ddsWhen I puted them inside C:\Falcon BMS 4.33\Data\Terrdata\misctex
it worked. an I have checked the High Resolution Textures inside Configurator.Ok got it… the trees must be in C:\Falcon BMS 4.33\Data\Terrdata\misctex and not in C:\Falcon BMS 4.33\Data\Terrdata\misctex_HiRes
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???
Hi Steph,
HEY Wait a Falcon minute here, I am supposed to be asking the questions M8
You are suppose to supply the solution……LOL!!!
It seems that now in 433 we lose some things if we do not restart. I should’ve taken screens…my bad. I still have much work to do in GUAM and will get us some Pix and Monologs to see if you can home in on it.
One issue encountered was I lost some modelling detail …no big deal, other than it was the Landing gear…LOL!!!
You and I both know it was there, just not being drawn without a restart???
The CTD occurred after I changed the PT\PHD data. I went from Korea Strong to Guam without exiting.I know that you and I and Fred believed that the restart was a myth, because we have all looked hard at the Theater switching code and never saw anything that would require a restart. I also know that Saint did some work back then to try and make it seamless.
DUNNO, what is going on ATM…but I will try to get you some data.
Regards
Dave