Hollow Props

[horza]

Hi All,

I've just playing about with custom prop making. I've been doing 3D modeling for a couple of years, but never done anything for games before.

I have managed to create some static props for TF2....all be it with a small texture problem that is now hopefully solved in the thread that Hawk started on checkered textures
I now want to create some hollow props that players can walk into, and maybe even spawn in. As a test I have created a very basic cargo container and converted it to .mdl as a propstatic, my problem is that i can't walk into it, only on and around it. it may as well just be a solid block. i can see the opening but can't walk in.

I've been seaching about but can't find anything on creating hollow props. I'm reading up on qc files and i think i have to read up on phys models to, but it would be nice to know that I am going about this the right way, or that it's even possible :confused1:

with any luck it's easy and i'm just being dim

Any help or usefull websites appreciated

Cheers

Horza

 

[Snipergen]

dont make it hollow, make it so that it has no collisions, but block off the walls with some brushes and nodraw texture on it
I just want to let you know, for spaces and areas, you need hammer, for details and props, you need max.

Another way, you did compile in your .qc a collision smd right?

 

[horza]

Thanks snipergen

i'll have a play about with taking out the collisions, and adding brushes etc to control it

Not really sure what you mean about a collision smd, i have basically been following this tut http://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/XSI_Prop_Creation and tweeking it for TF2. I have pretty much just copied the qc file shown on the page but change the file names and put scale to 1.0

You say i need Max to make the props, can i use just Max? at the moment i am modeling in Max 8, exporting the model as .xsi and then importing the .xsi into XSI (the free modTool version) and then exporting to .SMD from there.....if i can just use Max that would be awsome. I am trying to do the texturing in XSi too but don't really know what i'm doing, where as in Max i do.

thanks for you help

Horza


EDIT: been looking into using just 3ds max for the smds, and have found http://www.chaosincarnate.net/cannonfodder/3dsmax.php and http://www.wunderboy.org/sourceapps.php#max9_smd which seem to be for all versions of Max except 8, grrr any idea's if they work with Max 8?

there seems to be a lot of information out there about prop creation but I'm damned if i can find any that's actually any good, even the valve one i've been following is wrong in places (just creating shortcuts to studiomdl and vtex and draging the smd's etc on to them doesn't work, you have to change the Target information in the shortcut as well)

 

[Snipergen]

I use canonfodders smd exporter. What you do is, export the model, for example, model_ref.smd, than the idle because it doesnt has animations, samde as model_ref.smd but you rename it as model_idle.smd, than you make from boxes a very simple collision model, 20 polygons or something, you export that as model_phys.smd.

These 3 models you place in the same directory as your qc and than you let the qc do it's work:

// Output .MDL
$modelname custom/model.mdl


$cdmaterials models/custom

$staticprop

$surfaceprop "metal"

$scale 1.7

$body studio "model_ref"

$sequence idle "model_idle" fps 15

$collisionmodel "model_phys"
{

$Mass 100
$concave
}

 

[horza]

hehe you replied just as i was editing my post

are you using Max 8, canonfodders exporter is only up to Max 7.

thanks for the tips, that not a million miles from what i'm doing, only i am using the same model for the model_phys.smd not creating a simpler version.
So if i create the simple collision model will i be able to walk in to the model or do i still need to turn off collisions in hammer (e.g. set the Entity Collision Property to Not Solid) and then add brushes. if the latter, what is the point of creating the collision model?

sorry for asking all these stupid questions, but i haven't managed to find a good reference site to read as yet.

thanks

Horza

EDIT: ahh they are just DLE files, now using canonfodders exporter. Thanks alot, this is going to make texturing sooo much easier. cya XSI

 

[Snipergen]

Indeed, i was gonna tel you that

Anyway, that should work. Although there are some problems sometimes. If collisions dont work, use brushes