Importing Deus Ex models in Milkshape

A refuge for those migrating from the fallen DXEditing.com and a place for general discussion relating to Deus Ex editing (coding, mapping, etc).
nerdenstein
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Re: Importing Deus Ex models in Milkshape

Post by nerdenstein »

Valve time is impossible to calculate.

But from what I know: Valve said they would release Episodes Two, Three Months after Episode One. It actually took them 16 months which is essentally 5.3333' times longer than they said they would. So using the same theory: It should be another 5.333333' Months before HDTP. :mrgreen:

But that is just one case of Valve time. :P

Another thing with Valve Time; It may take longer than ordinary time, but the outcome is usually pretty awesome. :P
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Re: Importing Deus Ex models in Milkshape

Post by Zxenop »

Understable actually, being a developper myself I can understand how long it can take to make a software.
Still looking for a Deus Ex model with it's skeleton trough, does anybody have that ?
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Re: Importing Deus Ex models in Milkshape

Post by Akerfeldt »

Oh woops I forgot about this thread lol. Stay tuned while I find some place to upload some shit.
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Cybernetic pig
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Re: Importing Deus Ex models in Milkshape

Post by Cybernetic pig »

Thread Resurrection.

Did this conversion program ever get released? There is little documentation on how to handle the whole anim conversion -> import process for DX.
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Orzene
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Re: Importing Deus Ex models in Milkshape

Post by Orzene »

Greetings, OTP. Just looking at the threads. I'm working primarily in Blender, but have the software to make things interchangeable between it and Milkshape (of which I own a licensed copy for), and am curious to know if anyone is still pursuing this.

I know the engine, and any 3D software pertaining to model import/export is damn old and probably an extreme niche here, but, well... I'd love to know if there has been any progress in this area. Call it a weird obsession, but I'm curious to get my own models into DX1. :P

Probably too much to ask for, but since this is still an active franchise, and Eidos Montreal ~ISN'T~ offering modding tools for their current games, I am holding out hope that the community is still active around the first game.

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Cybernetic pig
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Re: Importing Deus Ex models in Milkshape

Post by Cybernetic pig »

Akerfeldt wrote: I haven't used Milkshape's DX exporters in a long time, but from what I remember they had some whack-ass math involved that made the models look like they were made of Jell-o (also some shit about the model can't be bigger than 256 units wide?)
I've got a modeler using milkshape and the mesh came out distorted. As Akerfeldt never released his program does this rule out milkshape as a means to add meshes to DX until someone does release such a program?
To avoid remodeling a mesh, could one convert milkshape to .3ds, and then use .3ds to convert to DX?
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Re: Importing Deus Ex models in Milkshape

Post by Hanfling »

Reminds me again that i wanted to do sth. about mesh in/export. Still having this idea of merging the 3ds2unr into some in/exporter inside my RevisionEditor package. Btw. there is an Sequioa? 2unr source floating around on some [insert some east asiatic state here] site.

And having a direct way would be nice as 3ds2unr basically splits the content of the 3ds file in tons of import lines and two files, and that way (especially for export) would be contained in a single file.

/edit:
http://bomber.xps.jp/cgi-bin/lib/page.c ... ge0=000021
And Metasequoia it was: http://metaseq.net/en/
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DevAnj
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Re: Importing Deus Ex models in Milkshape

Post by DevAnj »

@Cybernetic Pig:

I think you need to keep these instructions in mind while exporting something from Milkshape to Deus Ex:
Milkshape 3D to Unreal export tips

These tips are just as applicable to Unreal and Unreal Tournament as they are to Deus Ex. They really have nothing to do with my converter, but it's information you will want to know when exporting Unreal meshes from MilkShape, trust me!

1. IMPORTANT: Before exporting to the Unreal format from MilkShape 3D, be sure to select all of the faces of your mesh and then use the "Mirror Left <--> Right" command from the Vertex menu. That will cause the left and right part of your mesh to be reversed, and it will also make all of your textures backwards. It will look weird in MilkShape, but as of version 1.4.1, you will need to do that for your mesh to properly export. In Deus Ex, it will look fine. I would recommend not saving the reversed version as a MilkShape file; after all, you may want to export the same mesh to Quake or something later. Just get in the habit of mirroring your model before you export to Unreal. And don't forget to run "unr2de" after you export of course! UPDATE: If you're using version 1.2 or highter of unr2de, you can simply use the "-ms" option instead of doing the "Mirror Left <--> Right" command in MilkShape.

2. Be sure to keep the outer edges of your model within a boundary of -127 to 128 MilkShape units in each direction. Although the Deus Ex format supports a much higher mesh resolution, the Unreal format does not, so you'll have to stick with those same restrictions. My converter does display the maximum and minimum values of x, y, and z in your mesh, so if you see values approaching the high 120's, you'll want to scale your model down a bit in MilkShape 3D. If part of your model goes beyond 128, you'll start seeing scrambled polygons at the edge.
http://www.offtopicproductions.com/tack ... nr2de.html
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Re: Importing Deus Ex models in Milkshape

Post by Hanfling »

1. Aren't the UNMIRROR and UNMIRRORTEX import options EXACTLY meant for this purpose?
2. You actually DO WANT to just stay slightly under the limit, as this gives you the best mesh precission. You should even go as far as to scale the individual direction, so your mesh for export comes close to the limit in all directions. You could even rotate the model so it fits better into the box and you can upscale it further. On import you can always move the origin, rotate it, scale it (per axis). Remember: You only have 16 bits per vertexcomponent in Deus Ex and you want the best precission you can get out of it!

And besides the page you linked suggest that you use the unreal format. The unreal format packs all vertex components into 32 bits (X:11; Y:11; Z:10) compared to 48 bits in dx. So if you do export _a.3d/_d.3d files for Unreal, you get a really shitty mesh resolution. However afaik Tack also wrote (probably later) 3ds2dx (based on 3ds2unr). So best you can do: export 3ds files, used 3ds2dx. Import.

Maybe it is a better idea to try to use the free version of Metasequoia -- at least I'll give it a try. Hopefully the mqo2unr source still works with current versions, and the changes needed for dx are marginal anyway. So I might do some mgo2dx sometime sone. Maybe it helps to ease the problem slightly.
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Cybernetic pig
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Re: Importing Deus Ex models in Milkshape

Post by Cybernetic pig »

Thanks for the help guys.
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Bogie
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Re: Importing Deus Ex models in Milkshape

Post by Bogie »

Thanks guys. Yeah, I'm (Probably one of) the modeller(s) for GMDX, and this help is greatly appreciated.
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Re: Importing Deus Ex models in Milkshape

Post by Hanfling »

Btw: https://web.archive.org/web/19990501082 ... Models.htm
In the 3ds2unr download there is also documentation, and if you have not found out yet, in Deus Ex SDK there is documentation about making meshes and an LWO converter.
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