Guild of Writers

Revision as of 12:02, 31 August 2015

This tutorial will explain how to prepare your PyPRP-built Age for Korman.

Setting Up

Open your blend file in Blender 2.74. Everything should open fine, but to get the Age working properly, there are a few things to adjust.

Text Files

The first order of business is to carry over the contents of your Book text file and put it into the World panel in your Properties window.

Also take the fog/clear color and fog settings from your Init text file and plug them into the fog settings in the same panel.

Once that is done, you can delete the Book and Init text files.

You will want to copy and paste the text from your AlcScript file into a separate text program and save it separately. This way, you can keep it for reference later. Once that's done, you can delete the AlcScript text file from your blend file.

Plasma Objects

For things to export in Korman, they must have Plasma Object checked in the Physics panel. However, if you have a lot of objects, this could take awhile.

To simplify this, Korman has the Plasma Objects button that checks ALL objects. In the 3D window, press T to bring up the Tools panel. Make sure the Tools tab is selected, and under Plasma, you can click Plasma Objects.

If you'd prefer not to have something export, select it in the objects window and uncheck Plasma Object.

Textures

Due to the old way of lightmapping, a lot of your textures may be unchecked. In Korman, this will keep them from exporting.

To fix this, in the same Tools panel as the Plasma Objects button, click the Textures button under Enable All.

NOTE: active textures do NOT interfere with the new method of lightmapping.

Your existing stencils and old lightmaps and their settings will carry over fine.

Spawn Points

Now that the AlcScript is gone, we need to set the Link in point(s) again. For this, select the Link in empty in the 3D window, then click the Physics button in the Properties window (see picture in the Plasma Objects section above).

Click Add Modifier and choose Spawn Point.

Collision

For every object you want to be solid, select it in the 3D window, and under the Physics panel, click Add Modifier and then click Collision.

For floors, check Blocks Avatars, Blocks Camera and Terrain. If you'd like the floor to be "slippery", uncheck Terrain.

For simple objects, Convex Hull is usually the best option. For more complex objects, choose Triangle Mesh.

Note that Triangle Mesh should be used as sparingly as possible to help Age performance. Use Convex Hull where possible instead.

Footstep Regions

To set up your footstep regions, you can use the footstep modifier by clicking Add Modifier and selecting Footstep.

Region Bounds should be set to Convex Hull for simple objects and Triangle Mesh for more elaborate meshes.

Surface will choose what type of footstep sounds to use.

Transparency

In PyPRP, for partial transparency of a full texture, the Col slider under Map To was sometimes used.

You can carry over your settings from this panel for all affected textures by pressing the Layer Opacities button in the Tools panel in the 3D View window.

For easier access, Korman makes layer opacity its own separate function instead of utilizing an unused, unrelated Blender slider.

You can find this panel by clicking the Textures button in the Properties window, then scrolling to the last panel.

Animations

For detailed instructions on setting animations in Korman, see the animations tutorial.

Clickables

For detailed instructions on setting various clickables in Korman, see the clickables tutorial.

Cameras

As of version 0.01, camera objects are not supported yet. You'll need to uncheck Plasma Object for each or you'll get an error during export.

Changes Between PyPRP and Korman

• Objects left with no material will not lock up the export (they export as invisible).
• NO MORE ALCSCRIPT!
• You can export for three different versions of URU, not just Path of the Shell/Complete Chronicles. This includes Myst Online: Uru Live.
• You can now animate the scale of an object (ie shrink, grow, squish or stretch it).
• A new, more visual node-based system of wiring for responders.
• Shiny, K'veer-like floors (ie Dynamic Camera Maps).