attached objects bug?

[robystar]

Hi,

I downloaded the latest development release today.
Imported the fsx default veh_carrier01_high_detail_sm, removed some attached objects (planes), changed name and GUID and exported.
Result: remaining attached objects show vertically (see attachment).
Could somebody check if this is due to an attached object editor bug or something else.
Thanks,

Roby

Update: seems to be the case also when decompiling bgl's. The former correct mdl's now present aberrations for the attached objects (position and location).

[arno]

Hi,

Humm, interesting question. I never considered how the attached objects are oriented.

When you say it happens with a decompiled version as well, do you mean when you extract the MDL file but do not actually change it?

[robystar]

Hi,

If I extract an original mdl, it shows like in the screenshot attached.

Roby

[Pyscen]

Hi,

If I extract an original mdl, it shows like in the screenshot attached.

Roby

Roby,... looks like you have some spare parts... Are you sure your model didn't come with extras? (Sorry, couldn't resist that one! :D)

[robystar]

Hi Doug,

Funny!;)
I seem to have spare parts indeed and some parts missing.
Take a look at this guy! He is supposed to be driving a vehicle.:)(see attachment)

Roby

[Pyscen]

Hi Doug,

Funny!;)
I seem to have spare parts indeed and some parts missing.
Take a look at this guy! He is supposed to be driving a vehicle.:)(see attachment)

Roby

Roby,... he is only dancing right, like the jig? But if he is suppose to be driving a vehicle I think he forgot the vehicle and stomping up and down mad, LOL. Just can't find good help these days ;).

I hope you can find the problem though :).

[robystar]

I am afraid it is MCX that is still lacking some animation exporting possibilities.
Hence my thread in this forum.
But I cannot say that Arno is not doing a superb job, it is just that he is not done with it yet IMHO.
Anyway, I think that I am monopolizing the forum again and I'd better start to mow the lawn again before it starts raining.

[arno]

Hi,

I know that some animations do not export correctly. So complex aircraft or SimObjects can probably best not be exported with ModelConverterX :). I would like to improve that in the future, but then I probably need to increase my aircraft design skills first.

About your object, it could also be that there are some importing issues. It seems some parts are displaced in the first place. But that is hard to see from only a picture.

[robystar]

Morning,

For your information, the mdl is the baked2.mdl from Javier Fernandez USS Nimitz for FSX.
I convert it to a static carrier (library object) to have AI land on it and to place it where I want.
There are three problems when using the MCX exported mdl:
- the attached objects location is wrong in the preview but not always once exported;
- some animations do not work (but the radars turn, the flags wave, the dancing guy is driving a tug around and is moving but without the tug, the elevators do not work);
- the hard surface is lost, unfortunately.
Hope this gives you some clues so as to further improve MCX whenever you may feel like.

Roby

PS Upon importing I get a warning about an unsupported RIFF section: PLAL (don't know what PLAL is)

[arno]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the feedback.

The platforms are not supported yet indeed, that is also on the todo list. Maybe the PLAL (or was it PLAT) section of the MDL is related to that as well. I will look into that.

What you describe for the animations sounds quite logical. Animations that are driven by a timer should work fine, other more complex ones usually have trouble when exported again. In a static scenery object the elevator can probably not be driven at all.

I will try to take a look at the attachpoints, that is a part that should work.

[robystar]

Thank you, Arno,

Regarding the elevator, when using the original mdl in the scenery object, the elevator works.
Any idea why the hard surface is gone?

Roby

[arno]

Hi,

Regarding the elevator, when using the original mdl in the scenery object, the elevator works.

OK, then it must be part of the known animation problems :).

Any idea why the hard surface is gone?

Like I said, platforms are not supported. So they are not read or exported at the moment.

[robystar]

Understood.
Tks

[robystar]

Morning,

Back to the attached objects editor.
I tried to add a library object (a default car) to a model of a catamaran ferryboat I am working on.
Whatever I do the car shows in a vertical position. If I open MCX again I see that the direction has reverted back to 0,0,1 although I set it to 0,1,0.
Another thing I noticed (but I am not sure if this is a MCX problem) is that the attached objects and effects only appear when you move very close to the model. Once they show, you can move far away and they keep showing.
So much for my present findings.

[arno]

Hi,

I need to check, but I think the direction parameter is not used at the moment when placing attached objects. I will look into this.