Blender > .3dp import/export script.

[Gumboots]

RT3 can do weird things at times. I've seen some odd glitches that disappear after a reboot.

Anyway at least you know it works now.

[Just Crazy Jim]

Much ado about nothing... *mutter* I had just posted about being able to rely on the RT3 EXE not reacting well to change in the building thread....

I think the EXE likes to play jokes...

In any event, thank you for testing the PK4. At least now we know the problem isn't me finding some way to muck up an idiot-proof thing. But, I will strive to do better in the future.

[Gumboots]

Just a thought, but it may have been a caching or addressing glitch. So if you had started with the flat-shaded script but then changed to the smooth one, perhaps the game and/or Windows somehow cached the model data for the flat model and stuck with that until reboot. Can't think what else it could be.

[Just Crazy Jim]

There are several times that I have fought with Windows memory caching hanging on to old data. I filed bug report after bug report before finally being told it was a sacrifice made to get the "fastest booting Windows ever". At the same time, I was told that "Windows certified software" didn't cause the problem... Funny thing, Age of Empires III has a Windows certified emblem on the CD case, yet....

Sometimes, I think it would be refreshing to hear the truth from a software rep. But, then, I just might fall over dead of surprise.

[JoshM]

Does this script import or export LODs into the 3pd? How do I get more than 1 LOD into the exported 3pd?

[Gumboots]

No, it doesn't. It will only handle one LOD.

For importing, what I do is manually split the hex file into the appropriate number of custom .3dp files (usually 5 for a locomotive body) and import those one at a time, each to their own layer.

For exporting, the reverse. Export to five custom .3dp files, then merge them manually in a hex editor.

[Gumboots]

If anyone wants to know: I've just upgraded to the latest version of Blender (2.79b) and this still works perfectly with that version, so there's no need to stick with older versions to use this add-on.

[Gumboots]

While hunting down arcane details of 1.06, I found something in an old thread about exporting models:

Milo said long ago that he made something to read them into Blender, but not to go back out to 3DP; the problem was the iterations of "INST" segments in the file.

It seems that if not for that detail, this site would have been able to have a Blender import/export plug-in available ten or more years ago. Of course, using a hex editor to paste the LOD's together manually is a piece of cake. I do them all the time and it's no drama. There's no need for the script to handle that detail (the current script doesn't anyway) but apparently Milo thought that would be a killer and consequently gave up on the idea. If he hadn't been so worried about that detail, the whole history of RT3 asset modding could have been different. Funny how things turn out.