Neil187 Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Hi all. I'm working on a mod which will require the right ambience to set the proper tone. What I am trying to do is have ships "dogfighting" in the sky. Now, I don't actually need them to be actively chasing each other, just kind of randomly flying in random directions through the sky. Ideally, they would simply be static objects and not actual NPC's/vertibird actors. The other thing I would like to attempt is have random explosion effects high up in the sky, to add depth to the dogfighting. Also, having laser bolts would go a long way as well. They don't technically NEED to be emitting from the static objects, mind you. Essentially, I am looking to somewhat replicate the ambient sky battles you see happening in some Battlefield/COD/Battlefront maps. If anyone has any ideas on how to do this, I would really appreciate your help. Thank you very much and have a great weekend everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South8028 Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 yes, it can be done, but it's probably a lot of work. You will have to create and animate models in 3ds max 2013 with bgs exporter. If you have a good level of 3d modeling, you can animate the whole scene with shooting and destruction using low poly meshes. But normal animations of static meshes are only visible to the player within the uGridsToLoad area that is loaded around the player. Outside this region, animations do not play. But, in the game there is an animation of moving the Prydwen, therefore it is possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil187 Posted February 12, 2022 Author Share Posted February 12, 2022 Thank you for the reply, I wasn't aware of the uGrids limitation,but I suppose that won't be a major issue as the mod involves heavy fog and a shorter view distance anyway. I was reading up on xMarkerHeading (I think thats what it was called?), which are used to move objects via scripts, usually through activating a switch in game. What I'm hoping to do is just have a static object move from one set of coordinates to another. Also, I wonder about implementing distant explosions into the sky box. I think I recall a shooting star mod for Skyrim which may work for what I'm going for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorkaz Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 Maybe it still works if you check "Is Full LOD" on the object. Just thinking of the Prydwen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieFeM Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 (edited) As Zorkaz said, "Is Full LOD" would make them visible at any distance. To move them I would use the function TranslateToRef, much easier than animating them in 3dsmax if you ask me. Edited February 12, 2022 by DieFeM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South8028 Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 (edited) Maybe it still works if you check "Is Full LOD" on the object. Just thinking of the PrydwenI tried it and it works. Thank you. With this I can create vehicles. Before this, the character was thrown off flying meshes when crossing the uGridsToLoad boundary, but with the "isFullLod" mark, the character flies perfectly all over the map. Now I can assemble controlled aircraft, trains and boats with sequences. Do you know of a way to do this with workshop meshes so you can insert vehicles directly into the workshop? It would be perfect. Edited February 13, 2022 by South8028 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorkaz Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 No clue. Maybe add a keyword to them."Must Persist" might help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil187 Posted February 13, 2022 Author Share Posted February 13, 2022 As Zorkaz said, "Is Full LOD" would make them visible at any distance. To move them I would use the function TranslateToRef, much easier than animating them in 3dsmax if you ask me. Maybe it still works if you check "Is Full LOD" on the object. Just thinking of the Prydwen Good call on the "Is Full LOD". When you say TranslateToRef, are you referring to the ObjectReference script? I have yet to attempt scripts in CK so I want to make sure I'm understanding you properly. I agree that creating movements in CK would be much more feasible than animating in 3DS. I am okay with creating my own meshes, but animation is also uncharted territory for me. Maybe it still works if you check "Is Full LOD" on the object. Just thinking of the Prydwen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil187 Posted February 15, 2022 Author Share Posted February 15, 2022 yes, it can be done, but it's probably a lot of work. You will have to create and animate models in 3ds max 2013 with bgs exporter. If you have a good level of 3d modeling, you can animate the whole scene with shooting and destruction using low poly meshes. But normal animations of static meshes are only visible to the player within the uGridsToLoad area that is loaded around the player. Outside this region, animations do not play. But, in the game there is an animation of moving the Prydwen, therefore it is possible. Okay so I've made a bit of progress, and actually I do find it easier to animate the nif in 3ds MAX like South8028 suggested above, and then have the animation play in game. There will be no player or NPC interaction with these objects, so no issues will arise there. This leads me to another question which I think is more NifSkope related. How do I set up the animation so it just plays by itself without the need for scripting and activators in CK? I just want the animation to play on an indefinite loop as soon as the game loads. I have seen someone ask this question on a forum from 2013, and they ended up solving their own problem but they did not describe the solution in enough detail. It was also for the original Skyrim which could be different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South8028 Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 yes, it can be done, but it's probably a lot of work. You will have to create and animate models in 3ds max 2013 with bgs exporter. If you have a good level of 3d modeling, you can animate the whole scene with shooting and destruction using low poly meshes. But normal animations of static meshes are only visible to the player within the uGridsToLoad area that is loaded around the player. Outside this region, animations do not play. But, in the game there is an animation of moving the Prydwen, therefore it is possible.  Okay so I've made a bit of progress, and actually I do find it easier to animate the nif in 3ds MAX like South8028 suggested above, and then have the animation play in game. There will be no player or NPC interaction with these objects, so no issues will arise there. This leads me to another question which I think is more NifSkope related. How do I set up the animation so it just plays by itself without the need for scripting and activators in CK? I just want the animation to play on an indefinite loop as soon as the game loads. I have seen someone ask this question on a forum from 2013, and they ended up solving their own problem but they did not describe the solution in enough detail. It was also for the original Skyrim which could be different.There are two ways. 1. Use sequences in gamebryo animation manager in max. For example SpecialIdle. This vanilla sequence starts the animation without scripting. Don't forget to set the "loop" flag. 2. Create an animation without sequences, assign a material and export as you like. Like pe weapon, or static art, it doesn't matter. Pass through elrich as usual. Open in nifscope. Change the flags of the Transform controller or others, depending on what exactly you are animating, from "clamp" to "cycle".https://disk.yandex.ru/i/TuVwyKy61gbiYghttps://disk.yandex.ru/a/v4X893bWsCCJYw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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