How to install models and skins in Falcon 4 : bms

How to install models and skins in
Falcon 4 : bms
version 1.0
Created by Jan “JanHas” Has
September 2013
Chapter 1 - Installing models & skins
Welcome!
This manual will guide you through the process of installing models and skins into Falcon 4 model database. The words “skin” and “texture” mean the same thing in this manual.
Requirements:
An installation of Falcon 4 with the BMS add-on.
Lod Editor 6.23. Needed for installing the models. From now on I will call the program “LE”.
You can download it from here: http://www.launchvipers.com/Files/LEv6.23.rar
Step A - Lod Editor
1. 1. Unpack the LEv626.rar into falcons “objects” folder. (..\Data\Terrdata\objects\).
Step B - dll’s & 3-D viewer
Copy mfc71.dll and msvcr71.dll to your windows “system” and “system32” folder. If you do not have these
two files installed the LE 3-D viewer will not work. The dll’s are part of the rar and are now in the “objects”
folder.
Step C - Back-up
Make a back-up of the files “KoreaObj.hdr” and “KoreaObj.lod”. They are in the “Objects” folder. If something cripples the model database you can restore it with the back-up files. I have seen numerous people
who did ruin their database without a back-up and had to install Falcon all over again. If you want to save
the older skins then back-up the “KoreaObj” folder too.
Step 1 - Beginning of the installation of the models
2. Start LE. It will open a screen asking you for KoreaObj.hdr. (..\Data\Terrdata\objects\). Select it and then
click on “open”. Now the main screen of LE will appear.
For this example the standard korea theater is used. Other theaters have their own database
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Step 2 - Preferences
On top of the main screen
you will see the drop down
menu’s (File -> Help). You
can open them by clicking
on the words. Open “preferences” (marked green in
this manual), then select
“1024x768+ display”. The
drop down menu will close.
Open “preferences” again
and then select the “Use dds
skins” option too. You now
have both of them selected
and both will have a check
mark in front of them. You
only have to do this once. The
next time you use LE you do
not have to do this step.
Options needed are highlighted green
Step 3 - sorting categories
Now you have to select the category of the model. In the “View” section you will see the following six categories: view all, vehicles, weapons, objectives, features and units. If you want to install a weapon you click
on “weapon”. You will see that the list on the left will change to sort the models. “CT#” is the model number.
“Name” speaks for itself. You can click on “CT#” or “Name” to sort the list numerically / alphabetically.
Clicking twice will flip the list upside down. A third time back to normal. For this example I will install a
F-16C block 40.
Step 4 - Selecting the model
Select the model by clicking on the name in the list. It will be highlighted in blue. You see that there is more
than one F-16C-40. You only have to select one and all of them will change too.
Step 5 - Opening the Parent Data screen
On the right you will see a section called “Parents”. Click on “Normal”. The “Parent Data” section opens.
Step 6 - Data edit
If needed you can edit data here. I regularly will ask for a small data change. If needed a jpg with a screen shot
of the parent data screen will be included in the package. Green highlighted numbers need to be changed.
You can do this manually. An example of a jpg can be found on page 4. After the data change you need to hit
“Update” to save the changes. That button is on the top / right.
Step 7 - Changing modes
Now it’s time to install the models. In the middle / right you will see the “edit mode” button. By clicking on
it you can cycle through the following modes: edit mode, replace mode, export mode and view mode. Select
“replace mode”.
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Step 8 - Replacing models
Now click on the first model. Below
“Edit” you will see buttons with numbers. 1 is for LOD1, 2 is for LOD2 etc..
Click on 1 and a new screen will open
asking you for the new model. Browse
to the new model, select it and then
click on the “open” button. You will
receive a message that LOD# xxxx in
KoreaObj.lod has been replaced. Click
on “Ok”.
Step 9 - LOD2, 3 or more
If LOD2, 3 or more need to be replaced
you will need to select the next model
number below “Edit”. You will repeat
step 9 again but now for LOD2, 3 or
more.
Step 10A - Exit or.. go to step 10b
When you have replaced all the LOD’s
Parent data screen
you need to replace (the number of
LOD’s in the package will indicate how many LOD’s you need to replace) you can exit LE or go back to the
main LE screen. On the top / right you will see the “GoTo..” button. Select it and either “exit to desktop” or
go back to “CT records” (main LE screen).
Step 10B - Using 3-D Viewer to check results
You can check if you have successfully installed the models by cycling the “replace mode” to “view mode”.
Select then the LOD number you want to see. The 3-D viewer will open. Chapter 2 explains how to use the
3-D viewer.
If it’s the first time you use the 3-D viewer a screen will open asking you for location of the OGLLOD.exe file. It can be found in
the “objects” folder. It’s part of the LE rar. Browse to it and select the file. You only have to do this once. If you do not have the
two dll’s I mentioned in the beginning of the manual the 3-D viewer will not work and you will get an error message.
If this fails and you can’t fix it you will have to remove the OGLLOD.exe path in the windows registry with the “regedit” command. It’s in BaldEagle folder (Lodeditor/paths), modelviewer value on the right. If you have no idea what I’m talking about
leave the registry alone and ask help from someone who knows this stuff or don’t use the 3-D viewer but look at the models in
the sim.
Step 11 - Installing skins
Installation of the skins. Copy all the DDS skins to KoreaObj folder. (..\Data\Terrdata\Objects\KoreaObj\).
Each additional installed theater will have it’s own KoreaObj folder.
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Extra 1 - Viewing DDS textures
I have included a folder “DDS viewer” in the LEv6.23.rar. It contains a stand alone DDS viewer. With this
tool you can view the textures in windows.
Select dds file, right mouse button, open, browse to WTV.exe.
Extra 2 - Example of Parent data edit
On the right you can see a possible data edit for
the F-16CJ block 50. All data that needs to be
changed is in green. You can manually change
this. After the change save the edit by clicking on
the “update” button.
Example of parent data edit
Summary of the install process:
1. Download LE and extract the content into Falcon’s “Objects” folder. Copy mfc71.dll and
msvcr71.dll to your windows “system” and “system32” folder.
2. Make a back-up of the KoreaObj.hdr and KoreaObj.lod.
3. Open LE and point to the “KoreaObj.hdr” file found in the “Objects”folder.
4. In the “Preferences” drop down menu check the “1024x768+ Display” and “Use dds skins”
options. The rest should be unchecked.
5. At the “View” section, select the category you need. Click on “CT#” or “Name” to sort the
list numerically / alphabetically.
6. Select the right model and then open the “Parent Data” section.
7. Make any necessary data edits if needed. Check for “Parent Data edit” jpg.
8. Select “replace mode”.
9. Replace LOD1 by selecting “1” below “edit” button. A new screen will open, browse and select the new replacement model. Click on open. The model is replaced. A message appears,
click on “Ok”. Repeat this step for any subsequent LOD’s (LOD2, 3, 4).
10. Cycle to the ““view mode” to see the model. Click on the numbers below “Edit” to see the
model with the 3-D viewer.
11. Use the “GoTo..” button to go to the main LE screen or exit LE.
12. Copy all the dds skins to KoreaObj folder. (..\Data\Terrdata\Objects\KoreaObj\).
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Chapter 2 - using the 3d-viewer
This chapter will explain the basics
of the 3D-Viewer. When you click
on that button a new screen will
open wit the model. In this case
the F-16C-40.
If this is the first time you access
the 3-D Viewer LE will ask you for
the location of the “OGLLOD.exe”
file. It also came with the LE zip file
and is now located in the “Objects”
folder. Point to the “OGLLOD.exe”
and open it.
Now you have opened the “3-D
Viewer” you will see the F-16C-40
from the front and you cannot see
very much of the model or skin.
There are some keyboard- and mouse commands you can use to alter the view. On the top/
right side of this page is
a list of all of those commands. Note the capital
and normal letters. You
can get an almost complete list of DOF and
Switches numbers and
their purpose from the
“Help” drop down menu
(right of the Preferences)
and then select DOF and
Switch Types. It’s the
same list as you saw on
the previous page.
Now you have the 3DViewer open I suggest
you try each of the keys
from the list in the 3Dview.
Command Keys
Key
Effect / How to use
Hold the left mouse button down and move the mouse to rotate
Use Shift and hold the left mouse down and move forward / backwards to zoom
in / out
Use Alt and the left mouse to rotate a DOF
Hold down the right mouse button and move the mouse to move model up /
down / left / right
Press shift and hold down the right mouse to move the light source
;‘[]-=
Rotation of the model
,. Zoom in / out
Pp
Cockpit view
Zz
Toggle Split Mode / Z-Buffer
y
Reload skins
t
Texture on / off
w
Show / hide wire model
D
Reset all DOF’s
d
Activate DOF. Press d, then the DOF numbers and then hit enter. Then use the Alt
key and hold left mouse button and move mouse up / down.
S
Reset all switches
s
Type s, then type the switch number and press Enter.
Switches and Dof numbers. BMS has some additional DOF’s that are not listed here
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Switches
There is also another way to switch on / off the switches using a pop-up menu. Hit the spacebar to open
the “OGLLOD” menu. You can move this menu around if you want. Hiding this is not done the usual way.
Pressing the escape key or cross on the top will exit the 3D-viewer altogether. Instead select the model (click
on it) and then hit the spacebar again. I always switch the models condense and landing lights off (switch 6
and 9). You can do this in two ways. One way is to type the commands (s, 6, enter. s 9 enter. Repeat the step
to turn a switch back on) and the other way is to unfold the switches from the OGLLOD screen and uncheck
switch 6 and 9. Checking them again will turn them on. The “Reset Switches” button is quite obvious... it
resets all the switches to the on position.
DOF’s
The DOF (stands for Degree of Freedom) can by moved in two ways. The first way is to do it manually. For
example; I want to see how the rudder of the plane rotates (DOF # 4). I press d, 4 and Enter. Then I hold the
left mouse button and move the mouse. The other way is to unfold the DOF menu (hit the + sign) and type a
value into the one of the DOF field (in this case field 4). Hit Enter after the input. The “Reset DOF’s” button
puts the moveable parts back into the original position. The model can have different DOF types. There is the
old DOF, that will rotate in the 3D-View without limits (limits are specified in the model’s dat file), and the
newer XDOF, TDOF and SDOF that move/ rotate only the degree that is specified in the DOF itself.
Texture Sets
The last important thing is the texture sets selection. Unfold “Display”. In the “Parent Data” section you can
see how many texture sets a model has (top / middle). The F-16C-40 uses 6 skin sets. “3D-Viewer” does not
know this so you have to edit this value manually (6). “Use Set” is 0. In this case 0 is the first set, so 5 is the
last set. Count from 0. If you have the amount of texture sets wrong or go past the last “Use Net” number
the textures will look bad or the model will be white. You can then select the 3D-View again and rotate the
model. That’s pretty much the basics of viewing a model in LE.
E-mail me if you have questions (JanHas@gmail.com)
Credits: BaldEagle for creating Lod Editor. Pumpyhead for the original F-16 models.
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