How to get export objects as children?

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Golelorn

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Posted: 20th Apr 2018 22:32 Edited at: 21st Apr 2018 02:14

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I have an animated object. My plan is to equip different outfits, and be able to move and what not. So, I made an outfit for my character. I load up the character. I have 5 separate meshes. Hair, shirt, pants, boots, and the body. I have set images to all 5.

These are not counted as children. I have 0 children loaded with the object. I am at a loss as to how to load these as children, as well as, meshes. Or even children and not meshes, since them being different meshes does not seem to help me.

I have come up empty on all my searches.

edit: Looks like we are not able to create animated objects using memblocks? Or am I doing it incorrectly? None of the objects I create from memblock have bones.

Left is animated. The right is the memblock mesh of the body, but it has no bones.

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Golelorn

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Posted: 21st Apr 2018 02:41 Edited at: 22nd Apr 2018 00:42

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So far, the only way I have been able to do this is to load every piece with its on armature/animation. I then have to align all the pieces with FixObjecttoObject, and animate each separate piece. A note is to make sure all your pieces in your 3d modeling program are offset correctly.

As you can imagine this takes up a quite a bit of memory. I only have 52 frames and it takes over 1.5MB of space for having 5 different meshes. I am gonna need to add, at least another 400 frames, plus plenty more objects. I am thinking over 20MB of space with just this character...

I know I am not optimizing this. There is no way other mobile games are using that type of space for the player character. Appreciate any guidance!

+ Code Snippet

player = LoadObjectWithChildren( "/media/WIPmale2.fbx" )
bodyimg = LoadImage("/media/bodytext.png" )
shirtimg = LoadImage("/media/clothshirt.png" )
bootsimg = LoadImage("/media/clothboots.png" )
pantsimg = LoadImage("/media/clothpants.png" )
hairimg = LoadImage("/media/hair1.png" )
SetObjectMeshImage( player, 2, hairimg, 0 ) //3
SetObjectMeshImage( player, 4, bodyimg, 0 ) //5
SetObjectMeshImage( player, 3, pantsimg, 0 ) //4
setobjectmeshimage( player, 1, bootsimg, 0 ) //2

shirt = LoadObjectWithChildren( "/media/shirt.fbx" )
FixObjectToObject( shirt, player )
SetObjectMeshImage( shirt, 1, shirtimg, 0 )

do
	if GetObjectIsAnimating( player ) = 0 
		SetObjectAnimationSpeed( player, 20.0 )
		SetObjectAnimationSpeed( shirt, 20.0 )
		PlayObjectAnimation( player, GetObjectAnimationName( player, 1 ), 1, 24, 1, 0.0 )
		PlayObjectAnimation( shirt, GetObjectAnimationName( shirt, 1 ), 1, 24, 1, 0.0 )
	endif
     sync()
loop

So, after more testing, it seems like AddObjectMeshFromMemblock is not reliable on animated models. I get terrible distortions on the model. Bummer.

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Golelorn

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Posted: 22nd Apr 2018 00:53 Edited at: 22nd Apr 2018 00:53

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Setting the model to alphamask and assigning the meshes an image of just alpha background is a solution until I can figure out how to get actual children.

Is this hard on the GPU?

The good thing is a got a ton of practice with memblocks, and they are pretty cool.

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Golelorn

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Posted: 8th May 2018 00:12

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So, I have found out how to get children objects. Simply do not add an armature to them. I am not sure how that would work on more complex meshes that need more than 1 bone to control it. But for weapons etc.. seems perfect.

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Rick Nasher

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Posted: 8th May 2018 00:39

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Example code?(always interesting..)

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Golelorn

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Posted: 8th May 2018 01:38

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Well, its more about how its done in the 3d modeling program.

Any object loaded with LoadObjectWithChildren() without an armature will be a child object. I have not ventured that much into that aspect, since I need something more complex.

I am sticking with my method of assigning alpha image to any mesh that needs to be hidden.

To create a mesh in blender just assign a material to it. Each material assigned to an object is 1 mesh. So, 1 object can have lots of meshes. Here is just a quick code. You can get the object mesh name through getobjectmeshname() to make assigning the images more efficient. I am not sure if these can all be part of one image or not. I am still working on a few things, before I delve into that. I don't "think" that would be a problem as long as your UVs are lined up correct.

player = LoadObjectWithChildren( "/media/WIPmale3.fbx" )
bodyimg = LoadImage("/media/bodytext.png" )
shirtimg = LoadImage("/media/clothshirt.png" )
bootsimg = LoadImage("/media/clothboots.png" )
pantsimg = LoadImage("/media/clothpants.png" )
hairimg = LoadImage("/media/hair2.png" )
stonespearimg = LoadImage("/media/stonespear.png")
alphaimg = LoadImage("/media/alpha.png")
woodaxeimg = LoadImage("/media/woodaxe.png")
SetObjectAlphaMask( player, 1 )
SetObjectScalePermanent( player, .5, .5 , .5 )

SetObjectMeshImage( player, 4, hairimg, 0 ) 
SetObjectMeshImage( player, 1, bodyimg, 0 )
SetObjectMeshImage( player, 5, pantsimg, 0 )
setobjectmeshimage( player, 2, shirtimg, 0 ) 
setobjectmeshimage( player, 3, bootsimg, 0 )
setobjectmeshimage( player, 6, woodaxeimg, 0 ) 
setobjectmeshimage( player, 7, alphaimg, 0 )  // this mesh (the stone spear) will be invisible

x# = GetObjectX(player)
y# = GetObjectY(player)
z# = GetObjectZ(player)
SetPointLightPosition( 1, x#, 1.5, z# )
SetCameraPosition( 1, x#, y#, z# )
SetCameraRotation( 1, -35, 25, 0 )
MoveCameraLocalY( 1, 7.25 )
SetCameraLookAt(1, x#, y#, z#, 0 )

do 
    sync()
	SetCameraLookAt( 1 , GetObjectX(player), GetObjectY(player), GetObjectZ(player), 0 )
	if GetObjectIsAnimating( player ) = 0 
		SetObjectAnimationSpeed( player, 20.0 )
		PlayObjectAnimation( player, GetObjectAnimationName( player, 1 ), 51, 66, 0, .15 )
	endif
    
loop

+ Code Snippet

player = LoadObjectWithChildren( "/media/WIPmale3.fbx" )
bodyimg = LoadImage("/media/bodytext.png" )
shirtimg = LoadImage("/media/clothshirt.png" )
bootsimg = LoadImage("/media/clothboots.png" )
pantsimg = LoadImage("/media/clothpants.png" )
hairimg = LoadImage("/media/hair2.png" )
stonespearimg = LoadImage("/media/stonespear.png")
alphaimg = LoadImage("/media/alpha.png")
woodaxeimg = LoadImage("/media/woodaxe.png")
SetObjectAlphaMask( player, 1 )
SetObjectScalePermanent( player, .5, .5 , .5 )

SetObjectMeshImage( player, 4, hairimg, 0 ) 
SetObjectMeshImage( player, 1, bodyimg, 0 )
SetObjectMeshImage( player, 5, pantsimg, 0 )
setobjectmeshimage( player, 2, shirtimg, 0 ) 
setobjectmeshimage( player, 3, bootsimg, 0 )
setobjectmeshimage( player, 6, woodaxeimg, 0 ) 
setobjectmeshimage( player, 7, alphaimg, 0 )  // this mesh (the stone spear) will be invisible


x# = GetObjectX(player)
y# = GetObjectY(player)
z# = GetObjectZ(player)
SetPointLightPosition( 1, x#, 1.5, z# )
SetCameraPosition( 1, x#, y#, z# )
SetCameraRotation( 1, -35, 25, 0 )
MoveCameraLocalY( 1, 7.25 )
SetCameraLookAt(1, x#, y#, z#, 0 )

do 
    sync()
	SetCameraLookAt( 1 , GetObjectX(player), GetObjectY(player), GetObjectZ(player), 0 )
	if GetObjectIsAnimating( player ) = 0 
		SetObjectAnimationSpeed( player, 20.0 )
		PlayObjectAnimation( player, GetObjectAnimationName( player, 1 ), 51, 66, 0, .15 )
	endif
    
loop

Once I have it all figured out I will try to post a cleaned up example with an example blend file.

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Rick Nasher

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Posted: 13th May 2018 17:05

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Don't meshes that are alpha-ed still get rendered in AppGameKit and perhaps even slower due to the alpha calcs?
If so, that would be a costly solution performance wise and perhaps swapping out pieces of the body mesh, or actually even better: the whole mesh altogether, would be less costly(less poly's)?

Guess it's a matter of trying out which one is the most optimized approach.

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Golelorn

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Posted: 14th May 2018 18:50

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I am not sure, but I thought I have read that before.

The other solution was to create every piece of outfit/weapon as its on animated object, then fixobjecttoobect(). That works, but takes my 4 MB file, and turns it into about 30MB. I guess, isn't the end of the world, so if the alpha solution is too costly I can do that.

+ Code Snippet

player = LoadObjectWithChildren( "/media/WIPmale2.fbx" )
bodyimg = LoadImage("/media/bodytext.png" )
shirtimg = LoadImage("/media/clothshirt.png" )
bootsimg = LoadImage("/media/clothboots.png" )
pantsimg = LoadImage("/media/clothpants.png" )
hairimg = LoadImage("/media/hair1.png" )
SetObjectMeshImage( player, 2, hairimg, 0 ) //3
SetObjectMeshImage( player, 4, bodyimg, 0 ) //5
SetObjectMeshImage( player, 3, pantsimg, 0 ) //4
setobjectmeshimage( player, 1, bootsimg, 0 ) //2
 
shirt = LoadObjectWithChildren( "/media/shirt.fbx" )
FixObjectToObject( shirt, player )
SetObjectMeshImage( shirt, 1, shirtimg, 0 )
 
do
    if GetObjectIsAnimating( player ) = 0 
        SetObjectAnimationSpeed( player, 20.0 )
        SetObjectAnimationSpeed( shirt, 20.0 )
        PlayObjectAnimation( player, GetObjectAnimationName( player, 1 ), 1, 24, 1, 0.0 )
        PlayObjectAnimation( shirt, GetObjectAnimationName( shirt, 1 ), 1, 24, 1, 0.0 )
    endif
     sync()
loop

I have not been able to figure out how to swap animated meshes correctly. As the mesh seems to get its bone weight data all mixed up. So, if I attached the shirt via memblocks there is terrible stretching.

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Blendman

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Posted: 14th May 2018 22:18

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Hi

You should use : fixobjecttobone ().

What i do if i want a character +a gun :
- rst model3d character + armature + animations
- 2hd model 3d : the gun, no bones, no anim

Loadobjectwithchildren () for the character, with bones animation.
Loadobject() for the the gun, then use fixobjecttobone.

On my character armature, i have a bone named "gun".

Only one mesh animated

And it work pretty good.

AGK2 tier1 - http://www.dracaena-studio.com

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Golelorn

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Posted: 16th May 2018 03:29 Edited at: 16th May 2018 03:31

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Hey Blendman,

That works great for a gun/weapon/etc that only needs one bone. But for a shirt/pants fixobjecttobone won't suffice, since I need it to be attached to a bunch of bones with differing weights.

I am curious as to why the boneweights are incorrect when trying to use memblocks. When I open the file created by createfilefrommemblock() its just gibberish!

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Rick Nasher

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Posted: 17th May 2018 00:53 Edited at: 17th May 2018 01:01

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Perhaps a silly question, for haven't really used this much yet, but looking at the syntax:
FixObjectToBone( objID, toObjID, toBoneIndex )

Isn't it possible to fix the object, e.g. shirt, to multiple bones using above command?

If doesn't then we know what to ask Santa for x-mas.. new commands!

(I also didn't see a 'Remove/Delete ObjectFromBone' command, which could be useful)

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Golelorn

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Posted: 1st Jun 2018 03:09

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Rick,

That strategy does not work. However, I can add a correctly animated mesh via memblock to the object. Unfortunately, I do not know how to get rid of the original mesh. Once, I am able to figure out how to do that, I will no longer need to set an alphaimage. Sadly, I am still stuck on that being my only option. I am a little surprised there are no commands to delete or hide a mesh. That is killing me.

I have tried to write a shader to get rid of any alpha colored vertices, but for so far no luck. I will continue to try this path.

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Golelorn

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Posted: 1st Jun 2018 03:32 Edited at: 1st Jun 2018 03:51

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Well, its amazing what a little booze and determination will do. I fixed the shader, and I now am able to delete the mesh, and create a new mesh with correct animation.

It was actually pretty simple, and am a little disappointed I got stuck this long.

I will post an example soon.

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