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Call of Juarez 2 Part 5: Custom Objects in ChromEd

November 12, 2009
Category: Call of Juarez 2

<--Call of Juarez 2: Level Design Part 4

Call of Juarez 2: Level Design Part 6-->

Call of Juarez 2 Part 4: Object Props

Part 5 covers:

Maya Exporter Installation
Setting Up Units
What you need to know before exporting
Textures
DDS Plugin
Material file creation
Setting LODs

 

Call of Juarez 2 Level Design Part 5: Custom Objects in ChromEd

 

 

CoJ2 Bound in Blood Video Notes:

Download Maya Exporter for Maya2009

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

Install the Exporter

Place: ChromeExporter and userSetup

Into MyDocuments\maya\2009\scripts

 

Place: AnimConverter and chromeAnimexport.mll and chromemeshexport.mll

Into Maya2009 Installation Folder\bin\plug-ins

 

Launch Maya2009 and you should see Chrome pull-down menu

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

Set up proper units inside Maya. ChromEd uses centimeters.

Window --> Settings/Preferences --> Preferences

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

Under Settings/Working Units change it to centimeters

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

Scale

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

Before Exporting from Maya make sure to:

Proper Scale
Name: name your object objectname_0

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

0-3 = level of detail (LOD) that gets rendered

objectname_0
objectname_1
objectname_2
objectname_3

 

Create a simple collision for your object and name it collisionhull_0

This collisionhull_0 has to be placed in the same space as your objectname_0
(in the 0, 0, 0) - not shown below

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

UV your model and make sure no UVs intersect.

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

Triangulate all of your models. Select all of your models and go to

Mesh --> Triangulate

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

Delete History on all of your objects

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

Parent your collisionhull_0 to your objectname_0

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

Position your collisionhull_0 and objectname_0-3 at 0, 0, 0

Select everything except collisionhull_0

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

Chrome --> Export Mesh

Select Detect lods and set Mesh scale to 1.000

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

Hit Export selected objects
Save it as the same name of your object without the _0

 

Place the custom exported object into your maps directory. You can create subfolders if you want. Model browser will be able to read into any subfolders you create.

Textures:

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

Photoshop DDS Plug-in: Creates DDS textures.

Material Files:

You need to create the following material files. Use notepad to create them. Make sure that .mat file gets two breaking spaces after the last }. Just press enter twice.

 

objectname.skn

Skin("Custom Crate")

{
Replace("customcrate.mat", "customcrate.mat")
ReplaceSurface("Wood", "", "")
}

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

objectname.mat

import "templates.mtt"

sub material()
{
use mtt_objects(
s_clr = "objectname.dds",
s_nrm = "customcrate_nrm.dds",
s_shn = "customcrate_shn.dds",
f_shn_factor = 1.0,
f_nrm_factor = 1.0);
}

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

Place the custom exported objects and all of your textures and materials into your maps directory. You can create subfolders if you want. Model browser will be able to read into any subfolders you create.

 

Create a 96x96 png file named objectname_prvw.png

This is a preview that will show up in your model browser

 

Go to your model browser in ChromEd and under All, navigate into your map folder for your custom object. Place it into your map.

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

To set LOD distance at which our custom lods get switched over. In ChromEd go to

View --> Other Windows --> Mesh visibility params

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

Find your object and set LODs. Object must be placed into your map for this to work.

Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood

 

Good luck.

Comments? Questions?

Call of Juarez 2: Bound in Blood Level Design Tutorial List

1. Installing Tools. File Structure of Custom Maps, Support

2. Interface and Navigation Advanced Mode

3. Creating the Initial Environment

3.1. Bonus: Terrain Workflow

4. Adding Objects and Environment Props

5. Custom Objects: Maya to ChromEd

6. Adding Roads and Working with Terrain

7. Detailing and Using Brushes

8. Placing Enemies and AI:

8.1 AI, Waypoints, Fightnodes
8.2 AI Sensors, Action Chains
8.3 AI Scripts and Triggers
8.4 AI Behaviors and Actions Overview

9. Adding Items, Effects and Map Objectives:

9.1 Setting up Objectives
9.2 Setting up Objectives and Quests
9.3 Item Types
9.4 Optimization and Class Types

10. Publishing a Map and Release

 

 

 

 

 

Comments are Closed.

Please Join & Discuss this post in the World of Level Design Forums

Comments

Fartuess
10 Jan 2010, 06:28
Could you tell me how to create hooks? Readme says that i have to create render box, but i can't find object with that name... Maya helps aren't sying nothing helpful, google don't find anything about render boxes... Any 3D artist who i met also haven't heard about render boxes

 

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