A couple stadium modding questions

[xman]

So, I've got a little time off and I want to try my hand at some stadium modding. I followed the oedit tutorial about to the limit, but it doesn't really get into structurally modding a park. So, I have a few questions for the "fraternity" of stadium modders. Try to be patient!

1. How exactly do you move around the outfield fence in oedit? It's in several parts, and it's a little confusing which is which

2. Are the collision points contained in the wall model or somewhere else?

3. Can someone describe briefly how to move a component of one park to another with removable.o? I'm trying to move the water from SBC into another stadium.

Thanks for any help you can give me. I have read through as many posts as I could find and there's a lot of good stuff there, I just need a little more help.

[xman]

Ok,I'm starting to get this down. As I gather, it is more desirable to use the removable files as the primary stadium, so the "spare parts" stadium should occupy mstadium. Doing this I successfully imported SBC park into aa02. Now, all I want from SBC are about 40 parts or so, comprising the ocean and the shipping terminal over the right field fence. Is there any way to import only these shapes or do I need to sink the rest of SBC park underneath my stadium?

[xman]

Now I'm getting somewhere. Stupid question: how do you repack cram32.fshafter extracting the files with nfshtool?

[xman]

never mind, I found how to repack in an old post. I can't, however seem to get the alpha map to work. I crated the file, and added the command line in index.fsh as per the tutorial, but when I run it I get an unsuccessful termination. Here are the lines I edited.

ads0 0015-%d.BMP

MBP+2 60 x4 512 256 {0 0 0}

alpha 0015-%da.BMP

ETXT 69 64 16 {0 0 0 0}

EAGL64%20metal%20bin%20attachment%20for%20runtime%20texture%20management%00%00%00%00%00%00

ETXT 70 ads0%00%00%00%00%00%00%00%00

Why is it not working? When it is convenient, I would be very greatful for a response so I don't look like I'm spamming by replying to myself everytime I learn something and have more questioins

Edit: *dope slap* I fixed it. I didn't add 61 after MBP+2

[MarkB]

Did NFSHTool give the reason for the unsuccessful termination? Usually that gives a clue as to what's wrong (bitmap the wrong size etc.).

Nice job so far. :)

[xman]

It was a format error. I realized it was because I forgot to change MBP+2 60 to MBP+2 61. By the way I'm working on The Ballpark @ St. George, home of the Staten Island Yankees. Even though I'm a Sox fan, I figure the Cyclones need their rivals in the game. I also created their uni's, but they're a rough draft at best, not suitable for release in my opinion. As I get closer to release with this mod I may consider teaming up with a more experienced jersey modder to get that part done. Here is my plan for the stadium:

I'm using AA01, which has a nice, flat polygon over the outfield wall. I can't tell if that's water or grass, but I can edit the texture. I'll extend the polygon a little farther and move back the backdrop and replace it with the New York skyline (since the ballpark overlooks New York Harbor). If I'm really feeling adventurous, I'll import the shipping pier from SBC park, as a similar one exists in right field at this park. So far I have removed the awning from AA01 and used an ad polygon to put up the scoreboard in left field. I'll throw up some screenshots when I'm a little farther along.

[Sean O]

Wow, you did research before posting? That's awesome. Yeah, switch around removable and mstadium, and you won't get disappearing vertices.

I'll be back to answer some questions after I cook dinner, I just don't want you to get discouraged at a lack of responses.

edit:

1). What I always do is start with the last part in oedit, and scroll through all of the parts until I've selected all of the wall elements. You can make them stick by clicking the box next to the part. Then, once I figure out what the wall is, I move the parts I want.

As a hint, use Vertex Properties, as sometimes you can see the exact coordinates of a point, if you select just one vertex. Then, just move all the sections (usually 3) around to what you need.

2). Since you've already selected the three wall units, write down the approximate values of each wall location in x/y coordinates. I always have notepad open next to me when I'm editing wall.dat. Then, open up wall.dat in Word (you cannot open it in notepad, because it won't be properly parsed) and try to figure out the exact coordinates to the approx. ones you had above.

Then, just change the wall.dat coordinates to wherever you moved the wall vertices.

3). Sink everything else in SBC except for what you need.

Here are a few tips from someone who's spent more time in oedit than anyone should.

1). Stay patient. When it's getting to the point where you're ready to punch through your computer screen, and it will happen, take a break and get some air. When you come back, it'll make a lot more sense.

2). Make backups. Let me repeat, make backups. For my work on Yankee Stadium, I probably made 80 backups of removable.o. And for every major part you finish, make a backup like "standsfinished" or whatever. There's nothing more frustrating than losing hours worth of work.

3). Have as much research as possible at the ready. You don't want to guess any more than you have to.

4). Think before you start. There are some parks that are great bases fpr the park you're trying to create, and there are others that are really terrible. Picking the right one will save you a ton of time.

And, similarly, have an idea of what you're trying to do within the park. Yeah, it's great to shave some time by doing a particular method, but if it totally screws up your next major section, you're not really helping.

5). Not that I think you'll fall into this, but this is important. There is a difference between patience, looking for information, and trying to get the forum to answer your problems for you. When I was learning, I didn't ask anyone for answers apart from the handy Pirate Oedit tutorial, and so I learned everything else by brute force. We're here to make that a whole lot easier for you, but you still need to do the work to learn how to make things happen.

People in the past have tried to get us to answer all their questions, and they've never made it anywhere. My suggestion, after seeing it happen, is to try something until you are absolutely stuck, and then ask us. If we feel like you've put in the honest effort, not one modder on this site will mind answering the question.

Good luck brah, you're in a great spot so far.

Good luck, and feel free to post here or PM me if you need help.

[MarkB]

Great advice, as usual, from Sean.

Well, you've killed my next project, if I ever did get around to it. Looking forward to seeing the final product. :)

[xman]

Thanks for the advice seano! I've been seaching the forums incessantly over the last few days trying to learn the stuff the tutorial doesn't cover. I have limited experience in other 3D editors but it's hard to learn all the tricks it takes to get oedit to do the things you want. I'm glad this knowledge base is here, but I'll try to figure more things out on my own first. I just wish that oiftool worked with MVP05 .o files. That would make it a heck of a lot easier. Anyway, I'm a big fan of your stadium work, in fact I've taken to playing with some modern teams in their retro parks in my dynasty. Can't wait for your '61 series to come out!

Well, I guess I'd better get back to work on this, since I took your project MarkB. I was also considering doing Keyspan, but I know a few people already are either working on it or planning it. It seems like you could take the lightpoles, roller coaster and "parachute jump" - like thing out of a002, but sinking all the other junk in that stadium would be a pain. Maybe you could just export/import the points files and remap them? Doing that unorthodox grandstand would also be a pain.

Enough typing. I'm gonna shut up and get back to work :)