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3ds Max 2012 Modding Problems...

Discussion in 'Modding Help Quarter' started by Artmaster, Nov 15, 2014.

  1. Artmaster

    Artmaster Executive

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    Hello community,

    I'm having serious troubles trying to get started with 3ds max 2012...

    First, I followed the tutorials and read the PDF files (much of which is beyond me at the moment because I haven't been able to get very far)...I've spent the past week attempting to learn from watching youtube videos and the rather short 3ds Max videos on how to start off with basics.

    Second, in the parameters for materials, the Cities XL shader is not there or anywhere where the instructions said it would be and I followed them closely.

    Thirdly, 3ds Max 2012 seems to crash often just when I'm trying to pan/navigate inside the view windows...my system isn't being pushed hard, it's just straight up CTD. Three times this has happened and it's made me think, if I had actually started to build something and this happened, I'd be incredible pissed.

    Fourth, the biggest problem of all, I have little understanding from reading the PDF files on how to start with my base to begin building...it's difficult for me to even understand how to make LOD 1 through 4 for a simple rectangle. So far what I've gathered is if I make a plane 40 x 40 centered on the screen, that would be the ground. Hopefully I have that much correct. (There is nothing that is indicating whether this 40 is 40 feet, 40 meters 40 ??? could be frogs tails for all I know.)

    Can someone please, please, please help me? I once modded buildings for Simcity 4 in a fairly complex program, perhaps some of you are familiar, but going from that to this is just ridiculous. Even if someone were to just record of a video of a simple process for making the smallest size home from start to finish, that would be incredibly helpful, no matter how long, I'll watch it!

    A basic template for 3ds max would be extremely helpful too if anyone has one.

    Thanks for reading my plea, sorry in advance if I failed to communicate my problems well. I feel I've tried very hard before coming here to solve these issues.
    Art
     
  2. Mr.X²

    Mr.X² Moderator
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    1. id like to say an extensive tutorial about how to mod is in progress by some of our professional-modding members :) but dont know how long it will take to be finished though..
    2. but you did install the cities xl artist tool suite and the shader pack for modders? http://xlnation.net/resources/categories/3ds-modeling-support.25/ btw. which instructions are you reffering to?
    3. well, 3ds max crashs, i got that too sometimes but not as often as you.. dont know what is causing this.. maybe try to contact autodesk support. but you did install the correct version (32/64bit), or try to reinstall.. sorry but thats all i can say about that :(
    but i can suggest to create backup files quite often.. thats extremely usefull if you mess sth up or 3ds crashes again
    4.1 make sure to set your unit-parameters in 3ds max to meters, also set 1unit = 1centimeter. cxl is a european development and works with meters :p
    4.2 yep, if you create a 40x40m plane/box that will be your base for the model youre creating
    4.3 maybe just start stapling simple boxes over each other and attach them togehter, then look how it will look in cxl-viewer.. you will find out how to make it look good quite fast, trust me ;)
    4.4 hm, well i dont have a basic template, but ill start a new project within the next days.. i could send you the basic l3 shape when i ve finished it, or one of my finished mods, if that helps... but please consider that everyone got a different style how one creates a model (and im quite a beginner myself compared to others) ;)
    4.5 well to create lods there are two ways... first one would be to create a model with all its details, texture it completely and then reduce triangels/details more and more.. or the second one is to create a simple shaped model as lod3, texture it completely and then adding more and more details... for lod4 just create simple boxes and use the projection mapping tutorial to texture them

    5. i hope i could at least help a little bit and if you got anymore questions, feel free to ask again, we are always happy to have new modders here :)
     
  3. Artmaster

    Artmaster Executive

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    Thanks for the reply Mr. X, I haven't been able to resolve any issues yet. As far as the cities xl artist tool suite and the shader pack go, I did follow the directions for installing those and the shadow pack seems to be the one not showing up. I had completely uninstalled 3dsmax and everything and reinstall everything to make sure, and the shadow plugin still does not show up.
     
  4. nicko2u

    nicko2u Governor

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    we will need 2015/15 max soon.
     
  5. Artmaster

    Artmaster Executive

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    I finally figured out what the problem with 3dsMax 2012 was...it was flickering like crazy in the viewfinders because Windows Aero was turned off...I turned it back on and it works like a charm, no more crashes. Also I got as far as Mr. X2's tutorial with making LOD4: (WOOT!)

    TelfairMansion_LOD4.jpg

    This is a L1 RES ELITE 20x40 (I hope that size lot works)

    This LOD4 had just over 600 triangles... so I reworked it to have 108 (not in pic). How closely do you guys work with-in those prescribed triangle numbers in the tech doc?

    Does the 3ds model look to be the correct scale? Here is the actually building I'm replicating:

    Telfair_Academy_of_Arts_%26_Sciences_%28Savannah%2C_Georgia%29.jpg

    One final question... Is a 10x10 a single square in the game? What's the smallest an actually building can be? Do very small buildings have height restrictions? Such as the Japanese Houses on this site: http://xlnation.net/resources/japanese-western-style-house-pack.875/
     
    Mr.X² likes this.
  6. Mr.X²

    Mr.X² Moderator
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    yep, the scale looks pretty good (y)
    about the triangle count... in general id say 10% above the specs should be ok, in exceptions also more, that depends on the difficulty of the model...
    Register or to view Spoiler content!
    but a little hint how you could reduce the l4 count in your case: for the pylons reduce the height-segments to 1
    and additionally you could also reduce the sides of the cylinders... (but if you do this you should create a new cylinder with more sides for lod3+ then)
    hm, i dont think there is a 10x10 house in game.. maybe a mod... and of course you can make your building as small as you want.. could also be 1cm*1cm :D and nope, there are no height-restrictions (maybe by the mayor, but not by the game itself)
     
  7. nicko2u

    nicko2u Governor

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    looking good, you could probably use that model as L3 then create less detail boxes/cylinders for L4.
    As MrX suggest you don't really need so many height segments in the cylinders unless you plan on adding higher texture details to them.
    Yep, square is 1m x 1m.
    Go to Customize- Unit Setups. Select Metric.
    Click the System Unit Setup tab, set to 1 unit = 1cm

    Then go back to your scene and create a simple box object, set the width, length, height in meters to see how it compares to your model
     
  8. nicko2u

    nicko2u Governor

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    This is a length 10m x width 5m x height 10m box object.
    3dmaxScale.jpg
     
  9. pauliaxz

    pauliaxz Mayor

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    Square size depends on zoom level (0.1 m (10 cm); 1 m; 10 m; etc.)
    You can use snap to square tool (don't know exact name) to move objects precisely and to know square's location coords.
     
  10. nicko2u

    nicko2u Governor

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    Are you sure about that? Guess it depends on your settings. here you still see 1 square = 1m
    3dmaxScale2.jpg
     
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