You need help with Graphics?

[Methuselas]

I used to work on Mechcommander Omnitech. I had issues, though, with the importing of animations, as I work mostly in Maya, not Max. If you can get me Bone support for animations and get rid of awful Targas, using something better for GPUs, I'll update all the graphics for you, since you're actually building an updated 64bit port for Windows/Linux. I actually have some models I built for the game, but never used. Problem is they ran about 5-6k polys which was too much for MCO to use.

Shoot me an email at methuselas@gmail.com if you'd like a graphic artist. :)

-M

[alariq]

Hi, @Methuselas. It is great that you have that much interest, I will have to look for those gestures and maybe can provide a Windows build, but it will not be very soon. as for normal textures, shaders have to be updated for those, this will require some time as well, because tangents have to be calculated and passed along with vertices, nothing hard but requires time and I am devoted to some other things at the moment. I'd like to return to it some day but not sure when.

[Methuselas]

It's no worries. I doing this for a series of animated shorts I'm plotting, about a merc company, circa 3025. I'm converting these all over to iClone, painting them 8k textures and then using them as the character's mechs. Since I'm doing all that work, since I already will have them and I actually loved this game (it's my favorite of all the BT games), I see no reason to not offer them up to you for this port. :) MCO is getting harder to run, it's still 32bit, doesn't offload on the GFX card, nor does it have shader support.

If I could get a 64Bit version with an editor that wasn't hard-coded, I'd be a happy man.

I'm actually about to re-install 3DMax, so I can test this. I know it works, I've done it before, but with smaller poly versions. Once I see an Atlas walking in the ViewRel and in the Editor, I'll 7z it up for you and shoot it to you, along with the PBR textures I did, so you can do debug easier. I'm going to be busy for a while anyway. I still haven't figured out how to set them up as characters in iClone yet, so it's easier to kitbash and make variants. Not to mention, I have over 300 mechs to convert, as well as around 100 vehicles from all Eras up to the Dark Age. I don't need them all....

.... but I want them. :D

BTW, I actually own the game and if MS just disabled the BIK code instead of removing it, let me know if you want all the original movies for Carver V, as well as the Pilots. I think I have them saved somewhere already on an external drive.

[Methuselas]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XsKdxjM0jcyTE1vnMx4fvYTKVEWYYDwe/view?usp=sharing

Alariq,

See if you can load this. the ASEConv is crashing on mine. I think it has something to do with it trying to use my intel chip, instead of my GeForce. I've never seen it do this. The TGA is 256, though. I was trying to open this in MCO and it didn't work, so I used the Final Build's ASEConv with the Source, but it was still no joy. At first, I thought it might be the Skeleton, as I've never actually used a non-MC2 skeleton, so I put this on the MC2 Atlas skeleton and it still wouldn't load for me.

This will use all the default Atlas animations. It's just a replacement T-pose model.

[Methuselas]

Disregard that Atlas I just sent you. I completely forgot that MC2 doesn't recognize bones, only helper objects. I thought it might, since the skeletons were made with CAT, but MC2 was made using 3DSMax 3 and doesn't recognize them. I also forgot that the meshes have to be linked in 3DMax, in a specific way to the helpers or they won't work, so that Atlas isn't going to work, at all. I am going to have to go back to the drawing board on replacing mechs, using the original skeletons and animations. Thankfully, I still have the old MAX skeleton that Magic gave me, when I was working on MCO. I just have to remember the steps to do it. In my genius, I forgot to write the steps down. 🙄

In other news, while looking for notes, to figure out why it wasn't working, I found my old project folder that had a few mechs that were reduced in polycount by about 90%. Instead of 20k-50k, they're 2k-5k. They're all Light Mechs, though and only one or two are actually from the original MC2. They also don't have UVs. I think I stopped working on these, when Magic said he didn't want to add them to MCO, as he didn't like the MWO-style Battlemechs and they were still too heavy in poly count for MCO. I honestly can't remember, as it was 8 or 9 years ago.

[Methuselas]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o6zFkMh41d-YU_YnG2YHxyjkr1JrmVhL/view?usp=sharing

Try this one. I got it to load in the Editor and it took about 10 minutes to load :P, but it appeared to load fine. It will use the default Atlas animations. I managed to load it with the ViewRel, but during the walk anim, the legs and one foot disappeared. XD There's no textures.

I don't think I'll be able to convert the other animations for you, but I can rig new models to the old animations, which really aren't that bad. I'll make a texture tomorrow and rebuild the Atlas.

[Methuselas]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/152zKL9kymiOBEMoYcBNuNqxqUIgyeI8z/view?usp=sharing

Okay, I remember how to do it now. Here's my re-poly of the MWO Raven, using the Original Raven animations. No textures.

[Methuselas]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cFOdSor7i0vuIMvbX8gwogkWK7MGRy-U/view?usp=sharing

BT Atlas rigged to original Atlas skeleton from MC2. With Textures. There's a 512k TGA for loading normally and 2k PBR textures I did, for your shader tests. MCO has a 10k model limit, which is why the legs weren't appearing in the ViewRel (and why I wanted a windows build of your version :P). This should be enough to get you started to work on shaders and high-poly models. Now that I know the steps to do it correctly again, I'll convert more mechs and vehicles, if you choose to go this direction.

I figured out where you are, so stay safe. Nothing more dangerous than Uruk-hai. ;)

[Methuselas]

Alariq,

Off topic, but I've figured out how to make MC2 use skeletons, so I can build mech rigs. It just requires me do all the animations in Maya and export the base figure and the animations as FBX. Import it into Max, set the bones to convert to dummies and volia! No more detached dummy bones that don't move correctly. :) Export to ASE and we're done. :)

Hope you're safe!