Pipeline

 All game engines have a "pipeline" which is the group of applications, processes, and tasks done in order to get an asset such as an entity or segment into the engine.

Entities
We will first cover the entity pipeline.

The first task is to create the 3d model of the entity. This can be done in any of the many 3d programs used by TGC community.

The next step is to export as direct X, or the .x format. This is the format of models used by FPSC. If your modeling program does not export to .x, use Fragmotion to convert it.

Next, you need to create the folder structure of your entities. There are many ways to do this, but a common way is this:

Find your FPSC directory, then go into files>entitybank. Create your base folder, and name it (myusername). Open it, and add a subfolder. Name this the name of your entity, or model pack you are creating. Now, go back to your username folder. Right click, and insert a text file. This should open notepad. Copy and paste this code into it:

;Created by (username)

desc = ;ai

aiinit = appear1.fpi aimain = default.fpi aidestroy = disappear1.fpi ;spawn

spawnmax = 0 spawndelay = 0 spawnqty = 0 ;orientation

model = .x offx = 0 offy = 0 offz = 0 rotx = 0 roty = 0 rotz = 0 fixnewy = 0 defaultstatic = 1 materialindex = 0 collisionmode = 1 strength = 0 isimmobile = 1 soundset = soundset1 = ;visualinfo

textured = effect = castshadow = 0 ;Animationinfo

animmax = 0 anim0 = 0,0 Now save as, and call it Base-FPE.fpe

Copy the FPE file, and paste it into your subfolder. Rename the fpe to the name of the entity. Also put in the description, which is what will appear when placing the object in the editor. Now open a new library window. Get to the directory of your model. Copy it, and open the other library again. Go up two levels. You should be in the "files" folder. Enter the meshbank, and create the same base folder and subfolder. Paste your model into this folder. Do the same thing with the texturebank and your texture for your entity. Now, go back to your subfolder in the entitybank. Open the .fpe file, and change the corresponding lines to these:

model = meshbank/(myusername)/subfolder/modelname.x

texture = texturebank/(myusername)/subfolder/texturename.tga OR .dds

You will notice I said .tga OR .dds The reason for this is FPSC reads only two texture formats, .tga and .dds .tga cannot handle alpha channels, while .dds can. But many modeling programs use .tga and not .dds.

Now open FPSC (the program), and test your entity. You should have per-polygon collision, and it should show up fine. If the model is too small or large, open the .x file in Fragmotion and scale it. Then re-export, put it in the same folder, then delete the .dbo file. Now open the folder the .fpe file is in and delete the .bin file. Re-test your entity.

So in a small summary, the entity pipeline is:

modeling program>(fragmotion if needed)>entitybank>meshbank>texturebank>FPSC>(fragmotion again if needed)

Please note that (myusername) and subfolder should be changed to your username and the name of your subfolder, not left the way they are.

Design Runner 22:13, July 12, 2011 (UTC)

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