The upload is fine. If you feel you have gotten a bad copy, the md5's are on the front page to compare and ensure that you have gotten a complete file. Also from the front page:
"Final Note, if you have trouble opening this archive, update 7z, the archives use LZMA2"
I suggest updating your archiving utility to one that supports the newer algorithm.

Yep, my 7-zip program was apparently too old. I download the newest version, installed it, and everything worked fine.

Thanks for the help.

Yeah, their release schedule is very strange. Version 9.2 came out on 11-18-10 but the last stable version before that was 02-03-09, I guess people stopped checking after a year. I did, until a month or so ago, I was thinking, I wonder if there's a new version of 7-zip. Bam, there it was.
Glad you got it working.

Update.
I am working on new models to replace the existing ones which are, presently, rehashes of original units. I don't have any sort of timeframe or ETA since I am working with 3dsm and XSI from the ground up. If any of the more experienced modelers have any sage advice I would gladly welcome it.

Hy.

I will share some experiences I made.

1. Please check when extruding, whether polygons overlap each other or not. You will have great problems later on, when surfaces are overlapping, causing the texture to appear corrupted and the surfaces too.

2. My technique to create a low polygon model is to reduce the polys, after I completed the model. It´s only my technique and there are many other ways to do it. Then you can see, which areas you can improve.

3. If you do use my method, please save the model in two variations, high-poly and low-poly. You can ensure with it that you don´t have to model from scratch when you trash your model and it appears ingame corrupt.

4. When working with XSI, "freeze" from time to time. That was often the cause, when my xsi crashed.

5. When exporting it to 3dsmax, use the *obj format. Check also that the materials are being exported with the model. I never got Crosswalk to work and it´s not the worlds end, so I can´t give you a clue, how to use Crosswalk. You have to ask OrangeKnight, he has more knowledge about that feature than me.

6. In 3dsmax (3d-viewport), check that the model is in the center, turned with the top (example a car top) towards the Y-axis (a gizmo is shown in the bottom left of the 3dview). The model should be a little above the grid (the four, thick, black lines) on the Y-axis. The front of the model should point towards the z-axis (again, look at the gizmo).

7. The pivots should be corrected. You go on the right panel to the tab "Hierarchy" (it´s the symbol with the white block, connected with other white blocks). Then you select your whole model and click on "Affects pivot only". You will see a row of pivots on your model. Turn the blue pivot in the direction of the z-axis (orientation again with the gizmo), the green pivot to the y-axis and the red pivot to the x-axis.

8. It´s necessary to connect parts, when you have multiple parts. You can connect them, when you go on "Graph Editors"->"New Schematic view". In the schematic view, you select the model parts, which should be connected to the main model. Then you go on the "Connect"-symbol, which is located next to the black mouse symbol. You click on the selected parts and drag it on your main model.

9. Click on the main model and give it the same name of the model you replace (only if you are replacing a model and want to use it as base). You can of course change the mesh names in the blueprint, but it´s more work.

10. When exporting with the SCM-tool, select only your main model.

11. Don´t give up and don´t smash your computer to bits. Modeling is sometimes really annoying, but when you get the gist of it, you will love to see your model ingame.

Oh noooos, It turned into a tutorial, rather than giving you advice *facepalm* .

Kind Regards,
Kira

Who would have guessed? The pointers are appreciated. In pointer number 2 you mention reducing polygon count but I don't quite understand how you mean to accomplish it. Would you clarify please? Also, in number 6, you are suggesting that I make the model using the z-up system that the modeling application uses and then once everything is done, pivot it? Rather than trying to make everything follow y-up from the start?
Thanks Kira. I don't plan on smashing the machine into little logical bits. Though I do find that the interface for 3dsMax is a bit more intuitive rather than the hotkey driven interface of XSI. Though with the 2011 versions they both have very similar functionality. I think I spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out how to swing the camera around in XSI only to have to consult various wiki's. Compared to 3dsmax which has the magic-box that cameras about.

ok.

to 2:

The poly reducing is done in XSI. When you have a high poly model, then you look at it. Are there some edges or vertices, which aren´t needed to shape the model the same way (like creating an cylinder and make it with 6 subdivisions, rather than 12). It is reducing the polycount drastically and the shape looks very similar to the cylinder with 6 subdivions. You can also merge vertices, which are not necessary for the model to keep the shape (this is mostly common with edges). I can make a quick tutorial about the ways, I do it for you. It´s not much work.

to 6:
The model went always wrong in my 3dsmax. This is because XSI uses a different axis-system and importing it in 3dsmax is placing the model the wrong way. You could play with the export and import preferences of the obj. type. Maybe then the model will be placed correctly. The pivots in step 7 are another thing. They are really important, because they tell the engine, where the model should be placed ingame. You can ignore step 6, but it´s easier to keep the overview of the models direction.

Personal opinion:

I like XSI more than 3dsmax. I am mostly using the keyboard and the mouse and am therefore more fond of xsi. It´s efficient in navigating on the scene and editing the model. When I began working with XSI the first time, I thought it was crap. I couldn´t figure it out. But I gave it a second chance and I love it now. My mind had to map the keys and then it was automatic.

Hope I could help.

Kind regards,
Kira

The experience of others is always helpful. Thank you.

In the windows that shows the stats for the shields when you select the unit, are the stats for the increased shield health & increased regen supposed to go up when the shield capacitor is built next to it?

I'm asking because when I look in the stats window, I see the energy usage go up when I build the shield capacitors adjacent to the shield, but I do not see the shield health or regen stats go up.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Well the original game UI doesn't list how much shield hp or regen is on a unit. You would only be able to see that using a ui mod like gaz-ui or TV. To answer your question. Throughout my testing, with both the TV and GAZ ui I saw the shieldHP and regen increase everytime when placing a shield capacitor adjacent to a shield generator, just as the energy use increased.
Hope that helps. If you're still not sure, you can always send us a log and or a screenshot.

OK, I just downloaded fresh copies of the GAZ-UI, powerslave-shields, & BuffSystemFix mods. I verified that these 3 mods are the only ones in the game, and are active.

I've built a UEF T3 shield, and then built another UEF T3 shield with a T3 shield capacitor adjacent to it.

The stats for the shield with no shield capacitor show:
500/500
15000/15000 +131/s
Energy usage: -400

The stats for the shield with the adjacent shield capacitor show:
500/500
15000/15000 +131/s
Energy usage: -600

So, either I'm reading the stats incorrectly, GAZ-UI isn't updating the stats to show the increased shield stats, or the shield stats aren't going up.

Is there another way I can (another mod perhaps?) test and see the shield stats go up when I create the shield capacitor next to the shield?

I'm not at home right now, so I can't capture the screen shot area of just the stats easily. I'm going to try to post the whole game screen showing this information next.

Thanks for any help.

Ok, I just tried TV instead of GAZ-UI, and I do see the stats updated. So the shield mod seems to be working, but GAZ-UI for me is not picking up the updated stats.

If I have my own custom mod that loads last, and updates the shield's health and regen, will the power-slave shields mod still update the shields correctly? In other words, my mod (which loads last) gives a boost to the shield health and regen. But if I add a shield capacitor to these shields, will it still give a boost to these shields when the capacitor is created?

Thanks

ICV has an incorporated UI that's identical to TV's... in fact, it kind of, um, is TV's.... I suck at UI modding.

The biggest reason I'm using GAZ-UI is because of the templates across factions. I've not found another mod to replace this functionality.

Showing the increased number of stats is also very nice, although, if it doesn't show the enhancements to the shields, hmmm....

Anyone else can verify GAZ-UI isn't updating the shield stats? Any work arounds?

Just tested it. It's some sort of bug with Gaz-UI. It reflects the maintenance cost increase but not the increased shieldhp. It almost looks like the UI mod is doing something strange to powershields since the bar equates to the animations that the seraphim t2 shield caps have. They turn on and off when the bar is off and full. Which is strange. Unless the bar is working properly, but the values aren't. I don't have a clue. The logs don't offer anything useful at all.

GAZ_UI is a ui-only mod. Think about how a UI-only mod would get sim shield stats, and you'll have your answer as to why GAZ_UI isn't showing HP/regen increases while sim mods like TV and ICV are.

Hint: from blueprints. If the stat isn't in a blueprint, GAZ_UI won't have access to it. By default, no lua-based unit information (other than enhancements) is available across the sync in UnitData. I'm guessing TV's sim code pushes shield data across the sync, and its UI code looks for that data.


BSF or the bugfix mod could be modified to publish this information as well, without too much effort. Presumably ICV already has this code, copied from TV. However, a UI mod would probably need to be written specifically to take advantage of this, and would need fallback methods to work when the sim mod providing the info isn't present.

I could potentially split off ICV's UI to a separate mod, however, it'd still be a sim mod, meaning everyone playing would have to have it.

If enough people want that then I could do it... but that'd be as far as I could get with it because I don't know UI, really.

Well if Goom or Admiral are still around and it's not that hard I'm sure they could update gaz, but if they're not it's a bit more complicated. And if it requires sync data from BSF then Fury and one of the GAZ guys would have to work that out. However, I don't think either Goom or Admiral are still kicking around. Well we got an answer though. I think that's what Katz was looking for at least. Unless it's possible to meta-mod GAZ to work with BSF which again, Fury would need to do.

It's possible for it to be done...

...by me, though, is a different story.

But in all honesty, I'll give it a shot.

Well, at least I know now what the problem is. If anyone could modify GAZ UI, that'd be great, but it not, it's just something to live with.

Thanks all for the ideas.

You don't have to be a UI wizard to fork GAZ_UI's existing checks out to UnitData first, then the existing blueprint checks. That's all that should be required for stuff like this. It'll probably only require you to mod one file, unitview.lua.

On the sim side, just copy what TV/ICV are doing with shield hp/regen into the bug fix mod. Presumably they're moving it into the sync. If you use the same var names and all parties are doing it non-destructively, the bugfix mod should play nice with the other two.


To make this completely clear for non-modders, it is physically impossible for GAZ_UI to get shield stats without a corresponding sim mod to push them across to the UI. Shield-related things are entirely in lua (other than the percent represented by the blue bar), and so the game does not currently make this information available to UI mods. So this would require a support mod to be running (e.g. bug fix or buff fix mod) in the sim to make the information available, AND a UI mod that knows where to look for the new information. TV and ICV already do both of these things, but in a single sim mod package.

Found a hilarious bug. If you put 2 experimental storages next to a Mavor it turns into a rapidfire nuke launcher. Faster rate of fire then a Scathis

Same thing with a duke. Makes the aeon rapid fire look like a lady. That is a known bug. However I am unsure of whether or not Skyfi will fix it. He's a bit "particular". We actually ran into that a week or two ago. We were doing a cage match with me in the middle. I saw it coming, then my base was gone. I was pissed. I will check with him and see what his stance is and report back.
Edit: If you put 3 or 4 next to it I believe it completely breaks it and it won't shoot at all.

Does it have weapon ROF buffs in its adjacency table or something?

Yeah, the experimental ones do a whole bunch of crap. Most of it was implemented to decrease the cost of having 15 shields around it. But there was more buffs added.