Ripping the models from SF: Assault

[Thomas Draco]

Ripping models huh? I wonder why no one has hacked wolf from multiplayer into the main campaign missions, like replacing his model with foxes or the Arwings with wolfens?

 

Not my department, sadly. If I could hack the game this whole process would be so much easier, but the files the game uses aren't readable or editable by anything out there, I think.

 

In other news, I may resume model ripping soon, as well as making a video showing what I'm doing exactly.

[Setsuna]

Well it's still a start. I always wanted a closer look at the prototype mech and the cornerian cruiser

[Thomas Draco]

Well it's still a start. I always wanted a closer look at the prototype mech and the cornerian cruiser

Well, I'm feeling generous tonight so...

 

and

 

 

I'm also noticing an interesting trend with the Venomainian enemy designs. They have that little pod camera thing with the green and pink lenses a lot (as seen on the crotch of this mech). Also to note, within the SFA files the name of this enemy is "Sarudesu" and the little drones it launches that shoot at you are called "funnels", most likely a nod to the funnels weapon systems within the Mobile Suit Gundam series that do the same thing basically: fly around and shoot things semi-independently.

[Setsuna]

Wow! That's awesome ^^ I of course am pleased of the gundam reference since I am a big fan of the series. Heck, my title name is the one from my fave character. Thanks man

[Thomas Draco]

I do have an open question before I continue, though: Does anybody have any experience taking files from 3DS Max and putting them in GMod? I've looked and guides are surprisingly hard to find.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Icy]

I do have an open question before I continue, though: Does anybody have any experience taking files from 3DS Max and putting them in GMod? I've looked and guides are surprisingly hard to find.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I've put my own models in Gmod before. Figured it out from a member on here, actually. That was over 2 years ago, though.

 

If you just want a static prop in Gmod, it's super easy. Actually getting a rigged model in there is very complicated, especially with a model you just ripped from some other game with nothing attached to it already.

 

It is VERY hard to find a good tutorial online these days. Kind of weird.

 

But these links will help you a lot for any program you want to use. 3DS Max or Blender or whatever. Shows you how to export it, compile it, and then after that it -should- be pretty easy to import into Gmod as a prop, at least.

 

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Exporting_a_model

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Compiling_a_model

 

http://chaosincarnate.net/cannonfodder/cftools.htm

 

(StudioCompiler is what I used to use iirc to get all the various files compiled from smd files to all the various stuff the Source engine uses)

 

Once you get your *.smd files... What I used to do, basically, was make 2 copies of the smd file. One with "modelname_phy" and another "modelname_ref" .smd

Then you want your texture to be a vtf and somehow you compile all this (should be in those links) into .vtx files and .mdl files, etc, and then put it in the appropriate folders in Gmod.

 

Nice work, too, by the way. I tried to grab the Arwing too the other day but 3D Ripper DX is annoying sometimes because when I grab a scene from SF Assault it's all skewed and it's really hard to undo that. Maybe I should try the older version since I was able to do this fine before.. huh.

 

I am trying to get an Arwing model I made a few weeks ago into Gmod at the moment, and if I succeed I'll come back and tell you how I did it.

If that works, it would be pretty awesome to finally have a fully interactive Arwing in Garry's Mod.. so that may be pretty easy or it might be hard. I dunno yet.

[Thomas Draco]

Thanks for the help, man! And yeah, some of the scenes I've ripped have come out skewed sometimes too. If an older version of 3D Ripper DX works, please tell me.

I'll try to get the Cornerian fighter proptized and into GMod sometime this week.

[Icy]

Aha! Found a complete, picture tutorial specifically for 3ds Max.

http://www.wiremod.com/forum/off-topic/12460-how-make-models-garrys-mod.html

 

And good luck with that! I've been trying very hard all night to get something into Gmod, but sadly the method I used to use is no longer possible so it's got to be all manual and I haven't been able to get any textures to work... but I think I may have figured that out now. I guess maybe I will be forced to use 3DS Max too since it seems to be the go-to choice for Gmod importing. >:

 

 

 

EDIT: Seems to be working well now. Just ordinary props, but hey, it's a start to having something like that awesome flyable Arwing everyone has always wanted!

 

Just follow the tut right there. Don't have to worry about skinning, though, unless you just want to for some reason.

If the texture doesn't show up, go into the original smd's in NOTEPAD before compiling, find & replace if it has some kind of material name as a header over a bunch of numbers over and over again. Replace that material name (will look something like Material xx__) with the name of the texture. Compile again.

 

 

I got two tests done:

 

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=146711420 (Bad UV map for now but it was just a test)

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=146711427 (Random Assault ship)

 

I'm gonna look into making interactive objects later.

 

EDIT2: Also just found a really good resource: http://www.facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=542906&highlight=mariokart

[Thomas Draco]

Alright, awesome. Great work.

 

Also, did using an older version of 3D Ripper DX solve the skewing problem or not?

 

[Robert Monroe]

My god.

 

Assault's models and art direction is so horrible :

[Thomas Draco]

My god.

 

Assault's models and art direction is so horrible :

 

[Thomas Draco]

Alright, I has very well been a while since I last updated

 

The last thing I really did was: http://thomasdraco.tumblr.com/post/53074875256/the-cornerian-fighter-from-starfox-assault-i#notes

 

And that's not much. I've gotten busier with other things is all, and I have a job now.

 

Unfortunately, I tried ripping a bit tonight and ran into some age old problems, mainly models coming out skewed with 3DRipperDX 1.8.2

 

I'm really not sure how this can be fixed, so if anybody has any idea, please feel free to speak up. Thank you.

[Thomas Draco]

Double posting to update:

 

http://deltadragoon.tumblr.com/post/58907333754/ive-finally-did-it-i-finally-figured-out-some

 

I've fixed the model skewing/warping problem by importing the .3dr files instead of the .obj files

 

As soon as I get more free time, I will start importing some models into Gmod.

[Thomas Draco]

Another update:

 

http://deltadragoon.tumblr.com/post/59222987913/the-arwing-all-range-mode-from-star-fox-assault
 

Arwing and other models have been ripped

 

I've saved them as Autodesk (.FBX) files, and I may put what I've got so far into a .rar and upload it so that anybody else with Autodesk 3DS Max can look at it.

[Icy]

Wait, importing the 3DR fixes skewing problems? Is that a permanent fix for every skewing problem, or do the 3DR files still mess up sometimes?

 

I need to get back into ripping, just been too busy with other stuff for so long now...

 

Nice work, though. Glad to see you're keeping at it after all this time.

 

I can get simple props into Gmod, by the way. I'm not experienced at all with real Gmod modifications, though, or I would definitely try and finally get some real Star Fox addons working in the game. I still wonder why no one out there has really done that yet, after so many years.

[Thomas Draco]

According to the thread at Facepunch someone did rip some of the models but they didn't really say much about it.

 

And yes, 3DR import did fix the problems with all the models skewing when imported as .obj. The only major problem with 3DR import is that sometimes the textures come out wacky, but that's just textures.

 

I'm gonna try out importing to Gmod tomorrow with a simple model.

[Thomas Draco]

Posting just to let people know I'm still working on this.

 

I haven't been able to import a model into Gmod properly yet. I've tried following the instructions in the various tutorials only to get various errors. Not to mention I think Valve changed how the file system works with the Source SDK and Gmod. All I've been able to import so far is an untextured box, as a test. Icy, if you're still around, some pointers would be greatly appreciated.

 

'>

 

And that's just to show how sexy the Arwing from Assault is. 

[Setsuna]

glad to see you're still doing this. i'd like to see the aparoid infected mech. =)

[Icy]

Sorry. I am still around, just super busy. I completely intended to try and help you out, like, the day after you posted that, but eh. Stuff got in the way.

 

I will definitely try to figure it out again and help you, if I can. Probably this weekend since I'll have a lot of free time.

[Robert Monroe]

Hey, a hateful angry post about Assault that I -don't remember making-. Weird, that (I tend to remember my scathing criticisms).

 

Anyway, I actually take back some of what I said. Some of it. Wolfen and Arwing are aaaaass, but those Venomian fighters are pretty damn cool. Just wish they had more definitive sillhouettes.

 

All the same, good work on all the rips, it is nice to see some of these things up close.

[Scourge]

Okay, I cant be the only one whose noticing that the Arwing and Cornerian fighters seem to use the same standard fuselage, and that the arwing is basically that, with the G-diffusers strapped to the side

[Robert Monroe]

I did notice that, Scourge. The "Deltas" (is that they're called?) have a very lazy design. It was probably intentional to save resources because you'll almost never see one up close, even on the Orbital Gate level, but still.

 

Why are the wings on all the ships in this game so thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin aughhhh.

 

(However, those weird V shaped missle-frigate things are cool looking. Neat sillhouettes anyway.)

[Scourge]

I'm also trying to figure out how the hell the Cornerian fighters have any pitch control... the wings would allow shittons of yaw control but thats about it

 

course none of that matter in space but these ARE fighters capible of atmospheric flight... so why the wing configuration? What sense does it make? Why do this?

[Thomas Draco]

I'm also trying to figure out how the hell the Cornerian fighters have any pitch control... the wings would allow shittons of yaw control but thats about it

 

course none of that matter in space but these ARE fighters capible of atmospheric flight... so why the wing configuration? What sense does it make? Why do this?

 

You got me, those things defy all aerodynamic engineering practices. Hopefully since we only ever see them in space they're space only fighters.

 

As for progress: I have made absolutely no progress into getting the Arwing model into Gmod. I can't get the various programs to work properly and I basically just gave up. I'm probably just going to compile all the models I've ripped, rip some more, and put them in a .rar, so that at least other people more experienced in Gmod importing from 3DS Max can do it if they want to.

 

Being able to see the models and to render them in 3DS Max is good enough for me, since just getting them in a view-able environment outside of game screenshots was my whole intention with this project anyhow. It just would have been nice to play around with the models in Gmod, and maybe even replace the RoBro 3000's model in TF2 with the Wolfen (it's a joke since the Engie's VA is Wolf from Assault).

[Scourge]

You got me, those things defy all aerodynamic engineering practices. Hopefully since we only ever see them in space they're space only fighters.

 

 

We actually do see the Cornerian fighters, only the aparoid corrupted versions in the Corneria ground level. They're most easily seen when you have to shoot them off of Krystal using THE FUCKING SNIPER RIFLE AND OH GOD I FUCKED UP SO MANY TIMES COS OF THAT THING UGH

 

The only differences being giant multi-coloured spikes on everything so, still a lack of control.

 

and another thing

 

 

HOW THE FUCK DO THOSE THINGS LAND?!

 

The arwing's lower G-diffusers appear to be able to angle further backwards until their surface is parallel to the ground, making the Arwings able to land on much of any flight-deck when its not just hovering there in what appears to be a standby mode (which I'm convinced the only reason they didnt do what I just said about the lower G-diffusers because of hardware limitations or time crunches or something.

 

But with the cornerian fighters..... how the fuck do you land that thing? The same standby-mode crap that the Arwing pulled?

 

I understand that the CDF could have specilized hangars for these things or maybe they're just suspended from the ceiling using launch clamps like the Arwings in the Greatfox with walkways or ladders brought up to the side but just... why this wing configuration?!

 

I'm thinking im going to make a Kerbal Space Program video in which I attempt to build this thing to the best of my ability and show how utterly worthless it would be in actual-flying because this is now bothering me