Ahra Pahts Weekly update # 12

[Aloys]

I just realized I haven't been giving an official update here in two weeks, and because the last update was #10, I'll jump right to #12.

So. Version 1 is Late. Duh.
There are several reasons for that. First of all is the sound; I've had troubles adding several sounds to the Age so far. One sound works perfectly, but getting two sounds (or more) to play in different regions proved to be impossible so far. And I don't want the city to have a single sound. Especially when talented people have taken time to write music for it. Fortunately the lastest PyPRP versions have brought a number of enhancements, and with a bit of work I should be able to add multiple sound atmospheres to the city.
But more important than the sound the reason for the delay is the general quality of the content. I took time to add a lot of content in this version: plenty of new courtyards, *all* the textures were updated, new raillings for the rivers, the Hub building has been totally revised, fog has been added, etc. And I had to rush to get most of this ready for the initial deadline two weeks ago. And honnestly the result wasn't so great. At least it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. The reason for that is that I have been working a lot on this Age, and that sucks most of my time, and I can't work on other projects. So I wanted to finish the Age quickly and it wasn't a good idea.
So I am taking the time to properly get all this to the level of quality I want for this Age.

When will this be done? I'd rather not give a precise deadline but this won't be too long because I really want to complete this Age.
Also I will not be giving new screenshot or anything, because I don't want to show my poor work. :p Here are just a couple things to give you a first taste about the biggest new content: the courtyards.

One small courtyard (those covered with grass right now) has been added in each district.
Two shell courtyards (the small circular courtyards with the big lamppost in front of the shells) has been added in each district (except for the blue district because it already had several ones). Because of their small size, I've been able to have fun with those, and there are some wild designs..
The large courtyards (the large trianguler ones in the center of each district) are done and look like that: the Red one is a complex landscape filled with sand (which overflows on the adjacent streets), chasms and even a mountain (the look is slightly similar to Voltaic in M3:Exile). The green courtyard is a nice garden with a lake and an island in the center, and the blue courtyard is a two-level canal/lake structure (the courtyard in the current version will give you and idea of the structure).. Also because the water in the Age is still frozen you can have some ice-skatting fun on the lake.

Now to end on a slighty better note, I have something new to show:

http://www.ahrapahts.com/.

I had to create this site last week for a job application, but I decided to keep it. There is nothing really new here, but it is a nice central place to find all the infos on the Age.
That's all for this week.

[Aloys]

I forgot something important:
Also because of the new PyPRP version I need to take the time to update the Age so it can export again. And that is not exactly a smooth process, simply because the Age is so big and there is so much to check. I expected that though, so no surprise here.
And BTW I certainly don't blame anyone for breaking the compatibilty of Age with the last udpates, it had to come sooner or later. I'm just gratefull for all the new features. And Robert thanks a lot for your wizards! Although they may not be perfect they help a LOT. Whithout those I most likely would have stopped updating the Age. It's just not possible to update nearly nine thousand objects by hand.

[Robert The Rebuilder]

Wow - it sounds like much to look forward to. I can't wait to see the screenshots of the various courtyards! And I'm glad the converters were of some use.

[andylegate]

You know, I need to get a hold of Mustard Jeep and see if he's using the new plugin for his shell he's working on.
I know he was working hard on it, and had done quite a bit, but it was also using the old 0.5 plugin.

Aloys, have you thought about everyone else that have shells they are working on? What will happen if just half of them do the shells with the old plugin?

I'd hate to think of the headache that you might end up with!

[Trylon]

Actualy, it shouldn't be any problem.
Both plugins basically export to the same format - the Uru Plasma format.
Granted, one does a better job at it than the other, but hte format is the same.

The shells are submitted as separate prp files, so no problems there.

Note:
It would become a problem if we start to support relevance/visibility regions, and Aloys requires that each shell exports their own. Then it would be a requirement to use only the versions that support relevance/visibility regions.

[Aloys]

Exactly. I've been thinking about this, and I see no real solution. Older shell would need to be updated to use such features, but it would be up to each owner to do it or not.. But we're not there yet.
Anyhow, I will need to upadte my shell files at some point so that new shells wil be compatible with PyPRP 1..


Robert: speaking of screenshots, I used one of your shell for the site, I hope you don't mind. Also, I think I already told you that, but since version1 is late if you want to release your shell go ahead (just make sure to include a proper .sum file). I visited it and I'm impressed by the work you have put in it. I haven't been able to spend much time on the puzzles yet, but what I saw of the outside of the main structure is really nice. That's some solid modelling and texturing you have done here. Do you have any plans for another shell or maybe a full Age?

[Robert The Rebuilder]

The screenshot you selected for shell 111 is fine - no visible spoilers that I can see.

Thanks for the compliments, Aloys! I think I'll stick with releasing the shell along with v1 of the city. I'd really like the maintainers to test it and provide feedback.

As far as future plans go, I wanted to spend time trying out the new features of the plugin. Shellwise, I was toying around with an idea for a sports arena that would span two shells, which would be a lot of fun in a multiplayer environment. And I have an age concept (actually, 3 related ages) from a year ago that I eventually want to mature.

[Goofy]

Hey aloys was wonder if theres any changes to this page http://alcugs.almlys.org/ShellTest . The reason I ask is that I have the new plugin and on that page it says to export as pahts.age (step 5) Then in step 7 it says to copy your ages prp file, but it doesnt create my shell prp. Accually it doesnt create any except the main files.

Heres whats in the age export log file.

Code: Select all

Exporting C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender\.blender\homeage\pharts\ageexport\pahts.age ...
Args are et_age
['et', 'age']
Exporting age pahts
[AlcScript Parser]
{'DayLength': 24.399999999999999, 'LingerTime': 181, 'MaxCapacity': 152, 'StartDateTime': 0, 'SequencePrefix': 99}
{'AgeSDLHook': False}
{'DayLength': 24.399999999999999, 'LingerTime': 181, 'MaxCapacity': 152, 'StartDateTime': 0, 'SequencePrefix': 99}
#########################################
##
## => Exporting page Textures -1 <=
##
#########################################
#########################################
##
## => Exporting page BuiltIn -2 <=
##
#########################################
#########################################
##
## => Exporting page mainRoom 0 <=
##
#########################################

[Visual Object DummyHector.087]
 [LogicHelper]
   No actions in list
None
   Exporting modifiers
   No modifiers
None
 [Draw Interface DummyHector.087]
  [Material DummyHectom9543F7]
  [DrawableSpans 00000000_0]
   Processing Faces per Material - Totalling 1 materials
   Material DummyHectom9543F7
    Object is Shadeless, not appending any lamps
 [ShadowCaster]

[Visual Object SdW.059]
 [LogicHelper]
   No actions in list
None
   Exporting modifiers
   No modifiers
None
 [Draw Interface SdW.059]
  [Material MatSdw]
   [Layer MatSdw-StSdw.tga]
    -> Using UV map ''
    -> Err, Using first UV map
    [MipMap StSdw.tga]
     MipMapInfo:
---------------
Imagename:StSdw.tga
Resize Image: True
Make MipMaps: True
Calculate Alpha:False
MipMap Gauss:False
Mipmap AlphaMult:1.0
CompressionType: DXT
---------------

     Converting texture StSdw.tga...
     Image uses no alpha, compressing DXT1
      Image size: 1024x256
      DXT Compressing texture .... this can take a few minutes
     Compressing DXT1
     MipMapping....
      Level 0 1024x256
      Level 1 512x128
      Level 2 256x64
      Level 3 128x32
      Level 4 64x16
      Level 5 32x8
      Level 6 16x4
      Level 7 8x2
      Level 8 4x1
Done
  [DrawableSpans 00000000_0]
   Processing Faces per Material - Totalling 1 materials
   Material MatSdw
    Object is Shadeless, not appending any lamps
 [ShadowCaster]

[Visual Object StWal.114]
 [LogicHelper]
   No actions in list
None
   Exporting modifiers
   No modifiers
None
 [Draw Interface StWal.114]
  [Material MatStrWal]
   [Layer MatStrWal-StWal.tga]
    -> Using UV map ''
    -> Err, Using first UV map
    [MipMap StWal.tga]
     MipMapInfo:
---------------
Imagename:StWal.tga
Resize Image: True
Make MipMaps: True
Calculate Alpha:False
MipMap Gauss:False
Mipmap AlphaMult:1.0
CompressionType: DXT
---------------

     Converting texture StWal.tga...
     Image uses no alpha, compressing DXT1
      Image size: 512x512
      DXT Compressing texture .... this can take a few minutes
     Compressing DXT1
     MipMapping....
      Level 0 512x512
      Level 1 256x256
      Level 2 128x128
      Level 3 64x64
      Level 4 32x32
      Level 5 16x16
      Level 6 8x8
      Level 7 4x4
      Level 8 2x2
      Level 9 1x1
Done
  [DrawableSpans 00000000_0]
   Processing Faces per Material - Totalling 1 materials
   Material MatStrWal
    Object is Shadeless, not appending any lamps
 [ShadowCaster]

[Visual Object StWal.409]
 [LogicHelper]
   No actions in list
None
   Exporting modifiers
   No modifiers
None
 [Draw Interface StWal.409]
  [Material MatStrWalTop]
   [Layer MatStrWalTop-StWalTop.tga]
    -> Using UV map ''
    -> Err, Using first UV map
    [MipMap StWalTop.tga]
     MipMapInfo:
---------------
Imagename:StWalTop.tga
Resize Image: True
Make MipMaps: True
Calculate Alpha:False
MipMap Gauss:False
Mipmap AlphaMult:1.0
CompressionType: DXT
---------------

     Converting texture StWalTop.tga...
     Image uses no alpha, compressing DXT1
      Image size: 512x512
      DXT Compressing texture .... this can take a few minutes
     Compressing DXT1
     MipMapping....
      Level 0 512x512
      Level 1 256x256
      Level 2 128x128
      Level 3 64x64
      Level 4 32x32
      Level 5 16x16
      Level 6 8x8
      Level 7 4x4
      Level 8 2x2
      Level 9 1x1
Done
  [DrawableSpans 00000000_0]
   Processing Faces per Material - Totalling 1 materials
   Material MatStrWalTop
    Object is Shadeless, not appending any lamps
 [ShadowCaster]

[Visual Object 428SizeGuide]
 [LogicHelper]
   No actions in list
None
   Exporting modifiers
   No modifiers
None
 [Draw Interface 428SizeGuide]
  [Material DimensionsGuide]
  [DrawableSpans 00000000_0]
   Processing Faces per Material - Totalling 1 materials
   Material DimensionsGuide
    Object is Shadeless, not appending any lamps
 [ShadowCaster]

@ Saving page Textures -1
@ Saving page BuiltIn -2
@ Saving page mainRoom 0
Writing pahts.fni
Writing pahts.xml
Writing pahts.sum
done in 15.67 seconds


Was wondering if anything changed with the new plugin or did I do something wrong?

[Robert The Rebuilder]

Goofy:

It looks like your Blender file does not have a page for your shell. Mar had the same problem which we addressed on another thread; I explained how to create a page object for a shell in this post.

Since you're using the new plugin, you'll need to add a page for your shell in your book script. To do this:

- Change one of the Blender panels to a Text Editor

- Click on the browser (the up/down arrow button) and choose Book. Scroll the window to the top, and you should see text for your age that looks something like this:

Code: Select all

age:
   daylength: 24.0
   lingertime: 180
   sequenceprefix: 189
   startdatetime: 0
   maxcapacity: 150

   pages:
      - index: 0
        name: mainRoom


- In the pages section, you'll need to add a page for your shell. Let's say your shell is number 123. So, you would add the following text:

Code: Select all


      - index: 123
        name: Shell123


And that's it - you've added a page for your shell.

Once you've created the shell's page in the script, you'll need to put each of your shell's objects in that page. To do this:

- Right click on the object

- Bring up the object's Logic panel (F4)

- Click on Add Property, change the type to String, change the name to page_num, and set the value to your page number, e.g. 123

- Repeat for all your shell's objects.

Then save your blend file. When exporting, do it as "Pahts.age", not "pahts.age" since the case does matter.

Good luck!

[Goofy]

ok in the logic propertys for each object it already has this property: string me: page_num 428. Was wondering do I need the shell part that I put into the script? Also should I save that file or is it saved when I save the blend file.


Edit to add: After saving the blend file, I tried to export it and got to close to the end and it gave be an error on one of the images.

Code: Select all

##
## => Exporting page mainRoom 0 <=
##
#########################################

[Visual Object DummyHector.087]
 [LogicHelper]
   No actions in list
None
   Exporting modifiers
   No modifiers
None
 [Draw Interface DummyHector.087]
  [Material DummyHectom9543F7]
  [DrawableSpans 00000000_0]
   Processing Faces per Material - Totalling 1 materials
   Material DummyHectom9543F7
    Object is Shadeless, not appending any lamps
 [ShadowCaster]

[Visual Object SdW.059]
 [LogicHelper]
   No actions in list
None
   Exporting modifiers
   No modifiers
None
 [Draw Interface SdW.059]
  [Material MatSdw]
   [Layer MatSdw-StSdw.tga]
    -> Using UV map ''
    -> Err, Using first UV map
    [MipMap StSdw.tga]
     MipMapInfo:
---------------
Imagename:StSdw.tga
Resize Image: True
Make MipMaps: True
Calculate Alpha:False
MipMap Gauss:False
Mipmap AlphaMult:1.0
CompressionType: DXT
---------------

     Converting texture StSdw.tga...
     Image uses no alpha, compressing DXT1
      Image size: 1024x256
      DXT Compressing texture .... this can take a few minutes
     Compressing DXT1
     MipMapping....
      Level 0 1024x256
      Level 1 512x128
      Level 2 256x64
      Level 3 128x32
      Level 4 64x16
      Level 5 32x8
      Level 6 16x4
      Level 7 8x2
      Level 8 4x1
Done
  [DrawableSpans 00000000_0]
   Processing Faces per Material - Totalling 1 materials
   Material MatSdw
    Object is Shadeless, not appending any lamps
 [ShadowCaster]

[Visual Object StWal.114]
 [LogicHelper]
   No actions in list
None
   Exporting modifiers
   No modifiers
None
 [Draw Interface StWal.114]
  [Material MatStrWal]
   [Layer MatStrWal-StWal.tga]
    -> Using UV map ''
    -> Err, Using first UV map
    [MipMap StWal.tga]
     MipMapInfo:
---------------
Imagename:StWal.tga
Resize Image: True
Make MipMaps: True
Calculate Alpha:False
MipMap Gauss:False
Mipmap AlphaMult:1.0
CompressionType: DXT
---------------

     Converting texture StWal.tga...
     Image uses no alpha, compressing DXT1
      Image size: 512x512
      DXT Compressing texture .... this can take a few minutes
     Compressing DXT1
     MipMapping....
      Level 0 512x512
      Level 1 256x256
      Level 2 128x128
      Level 3 64x64
      Level 4 32x32
      Level 5 16x16
      Level 6 8x8
      Level 7 4x4
      Level 8 2x2
      Level 9 1x1
Done
  [DrawableSpans 00000000_0]
   Processing Faces per Material - Totalling 1 materials
   Material MatStrWal
    Object is Shadeless, not appending any lamps
 [ShadowCaster]

[Visual Object StWal.409]
 [LogicHelper]
   No actions in list
None
   Exporting modifiers
   No modifiers
None
 [Draw Interface StWal.409]
  [Material MatStrWalTop]
   [Layer MatStrWalTop-StWalTop.tga]
    -> Using UV map ''
    -> Err, Using first UV map
    [MipMap StWalTop.tga]
     MipMapInfo:
---------------
Imagename:StWalTop.tga
Resize Image: True
Make MipMaps: True
Calculate Alpha:False
MipMap Gauss:False
Mipmap AlphaMult:1.0
CompressionType: DXT
---------------

     Converting texture StWalTop.tga...
     Image uses no alpha, compressing DXT1
      Image size: 512x512
      DXT Compressing texture .... this can take a few minutes
     Compressing DXT1
     MipMapping....
      Level 0 512x512
      Level 1 256x256
      Level 2 128x128
      Level 3 64x64
      Level 4 32x32
      Level 5 16x16
      Level 6 8x8
      Level 7 4x4
      Level 8 2x2
      Level 9 1x1
Done
  [DrawableSpans 00000000_0]
   Processing Faces per Material - Totalling 1 materials
   Material MatStrWalTop
    Object is Shadeless, not appending any lamps
 [ShadowCaster]

[Visual Object 428SizeGuide]
 [LogicHelper]
   No actions in list
None
   Exporting modifiers
   No modifiers
None
 [Draw Interface 428SizeGuide]
  [Material DimensionsGuide]
  [DrawableSpans 00000000_0]
   Processing Faces per Material - Totalling 1 materials
   Material DimensionsGuide
    Object is Shadeless, not appending any lamps
 [ShadowCaster]
#########################################
##
## => Exporting page shell428 428 <=
##
#########################################
  [QuickScript - Footstep]
Quickscripted 428FootStpTop1
To: {'region': {'type': 'footstep', 'surface': 'stone'}, 'logic': {'modifiers':
[{'flags': ['multitrigger'], 'activators': [{'type': 'objectinvolume'}], 'tag':
'Enter_Ft', 'conditions': [{'direction': 'enter', 'type': 'volumesensor', 'satis
fied': True}], 'actions': [{'type': 'responder', 'ref': '$FootSnd'}]}, {'flags':
 ['multitrigger'], 'activators': [{'type': 'objectinvolume'}], 'tag': 'Exit_Ft',
 'conditions': [{'direction': 'exit', 'type': 'volumesensor', 'satisfied': True}
], 'actions': [{'type': 'responder', 'ref': '$FootSnd'}]}], 'actions': [{'tag':
'FootSnd', 'type': 'responder', 'responder': {'states': [{'waittocmd': 0, 'cmds'
: [{'type': 'armatureeffectmsg', 'waiton': -1, 'params': {'surface': 'stone', 'a
ppend': False}}], 'nextstate': 0}], 'flags': ['detect_trigger'], 'curstate': 0}}
]}}


[Lamp 428LitShFrnt1Lit]
 [Light Base]

  Diffuse Lighting Enabled
  Specular Lighting Enabled
  >>> !kLPCastShadows <<<
  >>> !kLPShadowOnly <<<
 [OmniLight]

  Quadratic Attenuation
  Sphere cutoff mode at 2560.000000
 [Coordinate Interface 428LitShFrnt1Lit]

[Lamp 428LitShFrnt2Lit]
 [Light Base]

  Diffuse Lighting Enabled
  Specular Lighting Enabled
  >>> !kLPCastShadows <<<
  >>> !kLPShadowOnly <<<
 [OmniLight]

  Quadratic Attenuation
  Sphere cutoff mode at 2560.000000
 [Coordinate Interface 428LitShFrnt2Lit]

[Lamp 428LitShSd1Lit]
 [Light Base]

  Diffuse Lighting Enabled
  Specular Lighting Enabled
  >>> !kLPCastShadows <<<
  >>> !kLPShadowOnly <<<
 [OmniLight]

  Quadratic Attenuation
  Sphere cutoff mode at 3840.000000
 [Coordinate Interface 428LitShSd1Lit]

[Lamp 428LitShSd2Lit]
 [Light Base]

  Diffuse Lighting Enabled
  Specular Lighting Enabled
  >>> !kLPCastShadows <<<
  >>> !kLPShadowOnly <<<
 [OmniLight]

  Quadratic Attenuation
  Sphere cutoff mode at 3840.000000
 [Coordinate Interface 428LitShSd2Lit]

[Visual Object 428ShReservedSign]
 [LogicHelper]
   No actions in list
None
   Exporting modifiers
   No modifiers
None
 [Draw Interface 428ShReservedSign]
  [Material ShReservedSign]
   [Layer ShReservedSign-ShReservedSign.tga]
    -> Using UV map ''
    -> Err, Using first UV map
    [MipMap ShReservedSign.tga]
     MipMapInfo:
---------------
Imagename:ShReservedSign.tga
Resize Image: True
Make MipMaps: True
Calculate Alpha:False
MipMap Gauss:False
Mipmap AlphaMult:1.0
CompressionType: DXT
---------------

     Converting texture ShReservedSign.tga...
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<string>", line 176, in open_file
  File "<string>", line 88, in export_age
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender\.blender\scripts\alcresmanag
er.py", line 585, in export_all
    plDrawInterface.Export(self,obj,scnobj,name,SceneNodeRef,isdynamic)
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender\.blender\scripts\alc_DrawCla
sses.py", line 1549, in _Export
    drawi.data.export_obj(obj,SceneNodeRef,isdynamic)
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender\.blender\scripts\alc_DrawCla
sses.py", line 1762, in export_obj
    pmat.data.export_mat(mat,obj)
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender\.blender\scripts\alc_MatClas
ses.py", line 521, in export_mat
    self.FromBlenderMat(mat,obj)
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender\.blender\scripts\alc_MatClas
ses.py", line 417, in FromBlenderMat
    layer.data.FromBlenderMTex(mtex,obj,mat)
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender\.blender\scripts\alc_MatClas
ses.py", line 802, in FromBlenderMTex
    mipmap=plMipMap.Export(root,tex.image.getName(),tex.image,mipmapinfo)
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender\.blender\scripts\alc_MatClas
ses.py", line 1972, in _Export
    mipmap.data.FromBlenderImage(blenderimage)
  File "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender\.blender\scripts\alc_MatClas
ses.py", line 1760, in FromBlenderImage
    ImWidth, ImHeight = BlenderImage.getSize()
RuntimeError: couldn't load image data in Blender