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[Mission_bug]

Hello guys, a few days ago I uploaded this image into the screenshot thread:



The original image before alteration:




Those that came across it must have wondered what it was all about, well time for a explanation I  guess.


Some days ago I received a PM from RealDarko that contained a link to files for various cavalary units and he asked
if there was a chance I could get them in game. 

Unfortunately they came as a MAX file, whatever that is, and I could not actually open them up with any of my existing 3d programmes.

Thankfully the next PM contained another link with those same files in various formats, two of which I could open up in gmax.

This was the 3ds file which as you can see had the parts all over the place:



Thankfully the next I managed to open was a obj file that looked far more promising:




The author of the 3d work is a individual called Stephen1918 from CombatAce.

So began my attempt to bring his wonderfull work to life in IL-2 Sturmovik.

There are four nations featured in the files:  Britain, France Germany and Russia. 

Each nation has two types of cavalry, one charging and the other a patrol.  From what I have seen of some of the opened files essentially
the poses are exactly the same but different head wear is featured to represent each nationality with textures also provided for each group.

For the moment I have started on the one you see which is the British Cavalry charging.



Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

[Mission_bug]

So with the 3d opened up where do we go next?

The first thing I tried was using one of the textures, unfortunately while it mapped correctly on part of the 3d it did not on the other.

Here we see the result in game:




Now at this juncture if I had thought a little about what I was doing it would have been apparent that the model if extracted whole
would actually have a number of textures actually assigned to it in the mesh, however, being naturally stupid I ended up taking a
completely different path.

Thus two seperate meshes were created, one for riders:



And one for horses:




Each was then skinned individually using the existing textures in the download.

Now to get these in game I opted to join them using a hier, and added the entries to the static intending to try it as a object, trouble
was they would not load. ???

I little thought came up with the theory that with a hier the sim was probably looking for a car not a building as was the case with the
original test piece, alas that would require me to do the java and set the folder accordingly.

No real issue here as the eventual intention was to have the cavalry moving anyway, it just happened a little earlier than intended. 

This time all was go and things were moving.

Set up in the fmb:



And away we go:






To get this far took a considerable amount of time effort and many expletives, much of which I could have avoided if I
had first extracted the original mesh and had a look inside once opened.  It would have been apparent that two textures had
originally been mapped and there was no need to make two seperate items.

You live and learn, I hope.


All the best, Pete.

[ggrewe]

Great work Pete - they look amazing. Will add immensely to the immersion factor.
If they are added as a vehicles to move - would they create dust & have a sound file?
That could be very cool - if possible?

[Mission_bug]

Well, so far so good, things were now coming together really nicely me thinks.


The object was now in sim and moving, the trial succesfully took the authors 3d and got it going as per my original intention but
there were still things to do.

Here is the stationary, added in the java as you would with any vehicle and applied to a map in the fmb:



So what is missing then in the above?  Well the most obvious is shadows as they can be seen, also at this stage
the 3d lacked the hit box which tells the game to destroy it.  Both would need adding to the mesh.

Here we now have the shadows:



Doing this is straight forward enough, clone the existing textured model and once extracted as a mesh
add the necessary text to your existing mesh in specific blocks ie SHvertices and SHfaces.

Note:  I tried originally to use a untextured mesh as the shadow but the result was very strange, a few shadow
strands rather than a full body shadow.

To destroy your object a hit box needs to be created, seen here greyed out:




Again I extract as a seperate file and then add the necessary text in a certain way to your existing mesh.



With that prepared you will need a dead mesh in your mod, in this case the existing 3d was adjusted to try and represent
fallen horses and riders:




Add that dead.MSH to your folder and add the same entries to it for the textures used in your main mesh and you are good to go:






Here we see it as a static object to populate your battlefield:




It could probably do with a specifically made texture but this is the test mod at the moment, hopefully one of our
magnificent texture masters could help here.


That is the state of the mod at the moment, a few links have been sent to various individuals to test it has no
adverse affects on their game before it goes public.


So when will we get it is what you really want to know.  Well first I want to get the second 3d in game, the patrol, that will
complete the British set and if all is ok with testing I guess that can be released first and the other nations added as time
becomes available to do the work.

ETA, sorry, I cannot pin it down to a specific day.  Hopefully soon though.


I would like to express my appreciation to Realdarko for sending me the files and especailly to Stephen1918 from CombatAce
for sharing his amazing work with us.

Thank you very much guys it is greatly appreciated, hopefully I can do justice to that work of art and give the WWI fans
some much needed additional material for DBW 1916.


Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

[Mission_bug]

If they are added as a vehicles to move - would they create dust & have a sound file?
That could be very cool - if possible?

Hello ggrewe, currently the horses sound like a truck moving along and there is no dust.

I have always had trouble with the dust effect, it would only work on models in the sim added as a tank, other vehicles even though I added the necessary hooks would never show it. ???

I will have to take a look at other horse units in the sim to see how their modders dealt with the sound and dust issue in their models.


Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

[Epervier]

Currently the only sound for horses that I know and I use match horses marching ... not gallop!
https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,19284.msg489798.html#msg489798

[Mission_bug]

Currently the only sound for horses that I know and I use match horses marching ... not gallop!
https://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php/topic,19284.msg489798.html#msg489798

Thank you very much indeed, I will take a look at the thread.


Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

[max_thehitman]

WOW! It´s "Charge of the Light Brigade" once again!
BRAVO! *Big Applause*
I like these new models. Very nice indeed! They are looking excellent.
You say... Britain, France, Germany and Russia versions will be included  ?
SUPER!
All of these nations used cavalry horses in WW1 and also in WW2.
So you are actually creating a new set of models for many game versions!

With some changes to the skins with a little paint and detailing, you could create new
cavalry for Poland , Italians, Spanish and many other nations. 

Good luck on your modding adventures!

[Alfie Noakes]

WOW! It´s "Charge of the Light Brigade" once again!
BRAVO! *Big Applause*   

+1

Pete you are a genius 
Many thanks to you and the other modders who made this excellent addition to the game....

Cheers

Alfie

[Mission_bug]

Pete you are a genius 
Many thanks to you and the other modders who made this excellent addition to the game....

Cheers

Alfie

Thanks for the compliment Alfie, however, the real genious is the original creator of the cavalry units 3d, I just tinkered with his awesome art.


Thanks to Epervier I now have horse sounds added into the pack.

Sadly dust eludes me still.


Anyway, here is a image of the patrol figures:




The shadows and stuff have not yet been added this was just to show the second set of 3d with the skin applied.

Each of the nations has the two versions of the 3d, the differences are purely the helmets and uniforms.


There may be a possibility of altering certain poses for the riders, however, for the moment I am concentrating
on just getting them working in their original form.  The only alteration to the existing 3d will be for the dead
models.

Take care guys.

Wishing you all the very best, Pete.

[max_thehitman]

Thanks to Epervier I now have horse sounds added into the pack.

Sadly dust eludes me still.

Yeah, Thank you Epervier for the sounds.

As for the dust when they run, perhaps you could include into the model, the tank dust ?
I think tank dust could work.
If not, don't worry. As long as they can be used on the landscape for some cool scenes is good enough for me.
We have ben needing these guys for a long time.
The walking horses look great also.

I have been meaning to paint the 2 mounted soldiers we already have in the game (Russian patrol cavalry)
into another type of mounted cavalry. Its all possible. On both models they wear a uniform
that closely resembles other armed forces uniforms from other nations. No helmets, just a soldiers cap.
One is carrying a rifle and the other a machine gun.
So we can have another selection of guys riding horses for many map scenes.

Now I have to find where did I place my horse and rider skin-templates at.
I have so many skin-templates is ridiculous!

If you get the chance, ask  Stephen1918 if he has any other human type models he could share with
the IL2-1946 fans? We still need a few civilian types and some women! 

[Epervier]

Did you try to declare these objects like tanks - new Class tanksXXX - (without artillery) instead of declaring them as cars (objects vehicles) ?