Blender Asset Creation / Export

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Overview

You can use the Blender plug-in BCRYExporter to save game assets for CryEngine. The plug-in is compatible with Blender 2.78 and it will not work with the more recent 2.8 release. You can model the assets in the newer Blender version as long as you do the export from 2.78.

An new plug-in compatible with Blender 2.80 can be found here: BCRYExporter for Cryengine 5 ported to Blender 2.80 but I haven't tested it yet.

Setting-up the render mesh

General

  • The model must use the proper scale, all dimensions are in meters.

Weapons

  • the origin coincides with the right hand position (slt_0)
  • the individual parts of the object must be joined in a single render mesh (LOD0) or the slot helpers might not work. Grouping them by using an Empty didn't seem to work. You can keep parts individually selectable by assigning their vertices to Vertex Groups before joining them in a single mesh. This is helpful for UW unwrapping.
  • all meshes (LODi, physics proxies) with the exception of slot helpers must have transforms applied (Ctrl-A)

Adding slot helpers

General

  • slot helpers include hand positions, sharpening centers, placement, pick-up points etc. 
  • you can use Empty objects with Axes visibility as slot helpers for good visibility
  • slot helpers must use the exact naming convention specified in the KC:D documentation (eg. slt_0 and slt_1 for right and left hand positions)
  • slot helpers must be transformed in Local coordinates and they must not have the transforms applied. The game engine uses the slot helper transforms to position the objects in-game. Use Object (Keep Transform) Parent when parenting (Ctrl-P)

Weapons

  • slot helpers must be nested directly under the render mesh 
  • @todo: grouping when using multiple LODs?

Adding physics proxies

General

  • physics proxies are used for collisions detection and to make objects obey the laws of physics
  • proxies must contain _proxy in their name (eg. example_proxy_0)
  • it is recommended to use the BCRY tools to add proxies as it also sets-up the correct materials so they don't get rendered in-game

Weapons

  • the proxies don't need to be linked under the render mesh but they must be in the same export group

Exporting an asset

  • the BCRY exporter uses the CryEngine resource compiler (rc.exe) which is bundled with the KC:D modding tools. Configure the plug-in with the correct path to rc.exe.
  • add all meshes, proxies, slot helpers to an export group (eg. cfg) using the BCRY tools