Giants World Domination
     
 
Random GMM Map:
Small Battlefield - RichardMH
Name: Small Battlefield
Author: RichardMH
Type: MvRvK
Exporting Giants Models
by SSJBardock

1. Preparing

To create your own map with your own made models, you'll need a few basic ingredients:

  • A model
  • A map to place the model in
  • Some textures to apply to the model
If you have ever used 3dsmax before, and probably too if you didn't, this tutorial will be easy to follow.

To export your model into giants, you will need to find an object that you are going to replace.
Obviously, this needs to be an object you don't use in your map.
You will need to know the filename of the object.

There's a little limitation to creating your own objects for giants, and that's the textures.
The newly created object can't use any more textures than the object you are replacing uses.
You will need to know the names of these textures.

So go into GiantsEdit 5.4, open a map, and click special->model debugger, then enter the number of the object you will replace (if you don't know this number, use objlist.htm that comes with GiantsEdit 5.3 to find out) and press Load.
Now count the number of different (!) texture names (3rd column), and note down the names.
The textures you will use for your own-made object will need to have a name similar to the name of a texture in the replaced object.

Now go into 3dsmax and open your object.
Open the material editor (press M), create some new materials, and apply your textures on them.
Then all you need to do is aplly some UV mapping, and you're ready to export your object.

2. Exporting

In 3dsmax, go to file->export, choose giants model from the filetype drop down box, and save the object under the name of the object that's being replaced.
A dialog box will pop up asking you wether you want to export the texture coordinates and/or the vertex rgb values.
Check the texture coordinated checkbox, and make sure the vertex rgb values checkbox is blank (you will find yourself using this functionality very rarely, probably never).
Click ok and wait for the model to be exporter.

3. Implementing your newly created object into your map

To make your object show up the way it should show up in GiantsEdit, you will need to put the gbs file + the used textures into the override folder of giants.
Now go into GiantsEdit, and put your object somewhere in the map.
If you're using GiantsEdit 5.4, you can choose to "view real objects", and you'll be able to see your object "in action".

Save your map as you would usually.
Then, you will need to add your object file + textures into the gck file you just created.
As you might know, a GCK file is a zip file, and a way to add the files to the archive would be using a utility like winzip or winrar.
Just cut the files, go into winzip/winrar, open the gck file, and press CTRL-V, the files should now be inside the archive.

Your map should now be finished and ready to be used with GMM.


have phun,
-Borre "SSJBardock" Mosch

Suggestions/Questions/Comments? mail me at: borre.mosch@hccnet.nl
 
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