arma3_model

[restive pond]

still does not work.....

im about to lose my mind

why there has never been a proper documentation/tutorial on a military sandbox vehicle modding from beginning to finish for more than 10 years i will never know

just the whole workflow is all over the place, you have to learn everything the hard way until you understand what it a line means, because there is no explanation for it elsewhere other than the config dump and samples, which are sometimes incomplete with its explanation

im moving to enfusion after this ffs, atleast its much more like unity

[stuck oyster]

Because it's a hell of a lot of work to make comprehensive set of instructions that don't expect one to already be proficient with basic computer skills and 3d modeling

And people who end up spending the time learning usually want to spend the time after that making stuff

[charred bolt]

It hasn't been documented by modders for the same reason that you won't document it when you do eventually get it working. But yes, Bohemia should have done more for modders, given the positive effect on sales and game longevity

[stuck oyster]

For sure

[charred bolt]

Looks like you need to add zasleh and zasleh3 as bones in your skeleton, parented to their respective gun barrels

[restive pond]

reforger modding tutorials were comprehensive enough that it was incredibly easy to comprehend without any effort. It doesn't go much into detail with 3d modeling or computer skills either, but it explains the step by step process that makes it easy to follow. Compared to arma 3 tutorials, there is no proper workflow that is thoroughly explained, each person has to learn things on their own with tiny bits of documentation here and there to aid them.

[mossy mulch]

something something reforger needs mods to sell

[restive pond]

yes, but that is not the point

[mossy mulch]

bohemia is a company driven by profit

surprised?

they dont need modding documentation to sell arma 3, they need sovietwomble youtube videos

[restive pond]

do you think people buy arma 3 for the 2035 setting? or the mods?

the more mods the community can make, the more money BI makes because more people will buy arma 3 to try out those mods

and i believe with proper documentation that could be achieved even further than before

not that BI is going to do it, but the community should atleast make one

fuck, i might even make one on just how frustrated i am with the whole workflow

[stuck oyster]

Good.

I've contemplated making some many times. Then I can't be bothered. I want to spend my time making my stuff. Maybe it's selfish. But I don't want to hear someone else say I should make tutorials either

[mossy mulch]

people buy arma 3 to play the game, not to make the mods for it

theres not a single new mod that is doable in RV4 that could be created that either:
a) already exists
b) would make someone want to try the game

[limber abyss]

One message removed from a suspended account.

One message removed from a suspended account.

[stuck oyster]

Which way forward have you modeled them?

[limber abyss]

One message removed from a suspended account.

One message removed from a suspended account.

[stuck oyster]

did you copy proxies from the sample model?

[wise stone]

can someone hop on a call with me to help with my custom uniform? if thats possible*

[stuck oyster]

it is typically best to write down your issue and people answer when they can and know

[wise stone]

gotcha, ill try to implement the fixes that you and other guys wrote to me yesterday and ill ask if it repeats itself
TY

[limber abyss]

One message removed from a suspended account.

[stuck oyster]

perhaps you missed one or moved it

binocular proxy is the only thing that controls where they attach

[limber abyss]

One message removed from a suspended account.

One message removed from a suspended account.

[stuck oyster]

easy way is just to grab all your proxies in object builder

delete

and copy the sample ones back in from another instance of OB

(unless you already moved it in the sample 😅 )

[wise stone]

Ok i have tested multiple things, i have transfered the weights for the model, i verified the models weights + took the proxies and other things from the template of A3_character_template + changed the bysta proxie to \a3\characters_f\templatertm\bysta.p3d,
Sadly its still empty

1. I have data vertex of camo, its defined in mode.cfg, example below *test_uniform is the name of the p3d

        sections[] =
        {
            "osobnost","Head_Injury","Body_Injury","l_leg_injury","l_arm_injury","r_arm_injury","r_leg_injury", "injury_body", "injury_legs", "injury_hands",
            "clan","clan_sign","camo","camoB","camo1","camo2","personality","hl", "injury_head", "insignia", "ghillie_hide"
        };
        skeletonName = "OFP2_ManSkeleton";
    };

    class test_uniform: ArmaMan{};

2. This is the config.cpp

class CfgWeapons {
    class Uniform_Base;  // Base class reference
    class UniformItem;   // Base class for uniform item details

    class template_Uniform: Uniform_Base {
        author = "Me";
        scope = 2;  // Public access
        displayName = "template Uniform";
        picture = "kk";  // Path to an icon image for the inventory
        model = "\template_Mod\apparel\gear\uniforms\test_uniform.p3d";  // Example 3D model path for folded uniform
        hiddenSelections[] = {"camo"};
        hiddenSelectionsTextures[] = {
            "\template_Mod\debug\red.paa"  // Path to the texture for your uniform
        };

        class ItemInfo: UniformItem {
            uniformModel = "\template_Mod\apparel\gear\uniforms\test_uniform.p3d";  // No specific 3D model needed here
            uniformClass = "Test_Uniform_soldier";  // Class defined in CfgVehicles
            containerClass = "Supply40";  // Carry capacity of the uniform
            mass = 40;  // Adjust to represent weight
        };
    };
}

ill send the cfgVehicles in a sec

CfgVehicles

class CfgVehicles {
    class B_Soldier_F;  // Base class to inherit from

    class Test_Uniform_soldier: B_Soldier_F {
        author = "Me";
        scope = 2;  // Public access
        displayName = "template Uniform soldier";
        uniformClass = "template_Uniform";  // The uniform class defined in CfgWeapons
        hiddenSelections[] = {"Camo"};
        hiddenSelectionsTextures[] = {
            "\template_Mod\debug\red.paa"  // Path to the uniform texture
        };
        weapons[] = {"arifle_MX_Black_F"};  // Adjust as needed, or leave empty
        respawnWeapons[] = {"arifle_MX_Black_F"};  // Same as above
        linkedItems[] = {"V_PlateCarrier1_rgr", "H_HelmetB"};  // Example items
        respawnLinkedItems[] = {"V_PlateCarrier1_rgr", "H_HelmetB"};  // Same as above
    };
}

3. Tried using with empty hiddenSelectionsTextures[] = {""} and the red.paa *Paths are correct
4. Tried placing textures on the face properties menu, its still empty

and its still transparent as this photo

[stuck oyster]

does this explain what you are doing wrong

[wise stone]

im having some trouble reading the writing, sorry 😦

[stuck oyster]

cfgWEapons entry defines the item uniform you have in your inventory and can put on or drop on ground

cfgVehicles entry defines what that wearable uniform looks like when its worn

your new model is defined only in the item

[wise stone]

oh damn, so i just need to move the .p3d importing to cfgVehicles?

[stuck oyster]

its a start

also your texture does not use suffixes

so it is unknow if it will covnert right

[wise stone]

gotcha, ill try that rn.

[stuck oyster]

also make sure your camo selection matches

right now you got camo and Camo in use

[wise stone]

yeah i noticed that, i changed everything to camo
Thanks for the heads up

[wise stone]

So after tweaking things, i got the uniform working without model.cfg.
But when i add the uniform in the model.cfg it just returns to the empty version of the uniform
(first picture is without model.cfg) (second picture is with model.cfg)
the length of the arms are correct.

[stuck oyster]

you dont seem to be assigining any default texture on it

remove all hiddenselection shenannigans and get it working normally first

then add the texture swap stuff

[wise stone]

ok, model is working but the texture is somehow incorrect, i added a total red, but its just incorrect,
Path: temp_Mod\debug\red.paa
temp_Mod\apparel\data\uniforms\bet_uniform.rvmat

uvmat is just a temporary test

but the models working 😄

[charred bolt]

red_co BEFORE conversion to red_co.paa

[wise stone]

tbh i thought that would just a semantic and that wont interfer with the textures

[marsh canyon]

The prefix does influence when the conversion is done

[wise stone]

gotcha it should work right now after that, thanks!

[charred bolt]

https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Texture_Map_Types

[wise stone]

yeah, im familiar with the texture types, but didnt think that it would make such a difference when compiling
thanks! *Im usually working with substance painter, and it exports everything, but i created a texture manually so its a bit odd

[shadow root]

Hey. First off, this is from a model from the recent Helldivers Strategem mod. It is open source. I didn't make these models. I don't make models.

I am checking some stuff out and a model is throwing 2 kinds of errors:
0:19:38 Trying to create an invalid center EMPTY
0:19:38 Warning: bax_helldivers\assets\destroyer\ses.p3d:0 Face 1012, point 802, face points 802,804,807 - very small normal -0,-0,-0
0:19:38 Warning: bax_helldivers\assets\destroyer\ses.p3d:0 Face 1013, point 805, face points 805,802,806 - very small normal -0,-0,-0
0:19:38 Warning: bax_helldivers\assets\destroyer\ses.p3d:0 Face 1014, point 802, face points 802,807,806 - very small normal -0,-0,-0
0:19:38 Warning: bax_helldivers\assets\destroyer\ses.p3d:0 Face 1017, point 804, face points 804,808,807 - very small normal -0,-0,-0
0:19:38 Warning: bax_helldivers\assets\destroyer\ses.p3d:0 Face 1027, point 805, face points 805,806,817 - very small normal -0,-0,-0

Can someone please explain what these errors are and if they are significant enough that I should attempt to fix them or avoid using this model?
I do know what a normal of a face is, and that -0,-0,-0 probably isnt good for a face normal

[analog garden]

tbh you can prolly ignore them

realistically they’d be nice to be fix but it’s doubtful it will do anything in terms of performance/issues

[shadow root]

cools

Can I get your opinion on one more set of errors?

[analog garden]

sure I’m not a pro at them tho tbh

[shadow root]

0:31:03 Warning: special LOD contains 2nd UV set.
0:31:03 Warnings in helldivers_main\support_pod\helldiverssuppod1.p3d:geometry
0:31:03 CalculateMass helldivers_main\support_pod\helldiverssuppod1.p3d
0:31:03 Cannot recalculate mass
0:31:03 ➥ Context: ShapeLoad: N:'helldivers_main\support_pod\helldiverssuppod1.p3d' P:'helldivers_main\support_pod\helldiverssuppod1.p3d'
0:31:03 Error: Trying to add LOD with resolution that already exists, duplicate shadowbuffer LOD? Res: 1.100100e+04 (11001.000000)
0:31:03 CalculateMass helldivers_main\support_pod\helldiverssuppod1.p3d
0:31:03 Cannot recalculate mass
0:31:03 ➥ Context: ShapeLoad: N:'helldivers_main\support_pod\helldiverssuppod1.p3d' P:'helldivers_main\support_pod\helldiverssuppod1.p3d'

.
Trying to add LOD with resolution that already exists, duplicate shadowbuffer LOD? Res: 1.100100e+04 (11001.000000)
I think I understand this piece

For the shadowBuffer LOD, would the 1.000 and ShadowVolume 1.000 be trying to do the same thing?

[charred bolt]

You have one or more LOD's with the LOD property of sbsource = shadowvolume.
Simply delete that property as it is attempting to create another shadow volume.
You should also rename your ShadowVolume to 0.000, not 1.

[shadow root]

Where can I find good reading material on this?

[charred bolt]

 0:31:03 Warnings in helldivers_main\support_pod\helldiverssuppod1.p3d:geometry```
Open your Geometry LOD in Object Builder, open the UV window
You will have more than one UVSet tab.
Select the UVSet 1 tab, then menu UV Editor > Delete Active

[shadow root]

The only thing I currently know how to do is rename the ShadowVolume lod

[charred bolt]

Personally I would not release something with errors like this in it as effect on performance is unknown.
In Object Builder, try
Points > Select Isolated (delete)
Faces > Degenerated Faces > Check (and Repair)
Faces > Recalculate Normals

[shadow root]

👍

[shadow root]

Im good on the UV Set. Good on the Shadow Volume. Wher do I find the sbsource = shadowvolume property?

[shadow root]

It took me a second. But I got it. It was the geometry LOD

I appreciate all the help!

2 errors remain:
1:04:32 Fresnel k must be >0, given n=2.51,k=0
1:04:47 Trying to create an invalid center EMPTY

[charred bolt]

1:04:32 Fresnel k must be >0, given n=2.51,k=0
Likely a problem with an .rvmat material.
Stage 6 in a SuperShader should look something like this

{
    texture = "#(ai,64,64,1)fresnel(1.33,1)";
    uvSource = "none";
};```

[shadow root]

class Stage6 {
    texture = "#(ai,64,64,1)fresnel(0.4,0.2)";
    uvSource = "tex";
    class uvTransform {
        aside[] = { 1, 0, 0 };
        up[] = { 0, 1, 0 };
        dir[] = { 0, 0, 1 };
        pos[] = { 0, 0, 0 };
    };
};

[analog garden]

good to know I didn’t realize that would help

[charred bolt]

I'd assume you have some other rvmats as that one is ok.
But where are you seeing this error? If it's in the rpt, it might actually be the base game files, as I think I've seen it before without mods?

[shadow root]

rpt

it occured right after placing down the object

[charred bolt]

Run Arma without your mod loaded, see if it still exists. If so, not your problem!

[shadow root]

fresnel isnt mine

Any idea what that empty center is?

[charred bolt]

Not really and I think that one is yours to fix.

[charred bolt]

Searching this discord finds this
#arma3_feedback_tracker message
So looks like something you are placing in the mission file.
Fire up Arma with your mod loaded, go into the Eden Editor (VR map), do not load a mission, check the rpt.

[shadow root]

real qiuck, here is the config:

class ReammoBox_F;
class BAX_HellDivers_SupportPod: ReammoBox_F {
    author = "Venom, Neex, Grave, Phenosi";
    displayName = "Support Pod";
    model = "\bax_hellDivers\assets\supportPod\HellDiversSupPod1.p3d";
    editorCategory = "BAX_HellDivers_Objects";
    editorSubcategory = "BAX_HellDivers_Supply";
    maximumLoad = 4000;
    scope = 2;
    ScopeCurator = 2;
    side = 4;
};

Everything looking good here?

[charred bolt]

I wouldn't use CAPS in the classname as they tend to indicate a macro.
So would suggest bax_hellDivers_supportPod

That's also only a partial config as it doesn't say which class Cfg... it is in, and there's no CfgPatches

[shadow root]

That is CfgVehicle definition. I didnt copy paste the whole config.

Still throwing

[charred bolt]

too small to read, sorry

[shadow root]

Found this a minute ago: https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Crash_Files

It says that the error should be fixed, but no explaination for what a empty center is

The error is still throwing

[charred bolt]

Can a box have a side? Not seeing that in the vanilla configs, but I'm no expert on props.

[shadow root]

yes

but let me test something

Not the issue

Everything has a side

https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/CfgVehicles_Config_Reference#side

This is simply because the model is set to the side, but it does spawn off center

And the bounding box is rather large on it

How do I move the camera around in object builder?

[charred bolt]

ALT + RMB, although I might have set-up non-default keys

[shadow root]

the supply pod went for a spin

[charred bolt]

Did you mean Object Builder or Eden Editor?

[shadow root]

where can I view controls?

object builder

nvrmnd

im being an idiot. I did ctrl not alt. Alt rmb is right

[charred bolt]

There may be an instruction manual somewhere, don't know, haven't looked for one in 15 years

ALT + LMB translates camera

[shadow root]

Do you know if there is a way to center a LOD on x = 0

[charred bolt]

Clicking one of these changes the view and recentres I think

Also ALT + * (numpad)

[shadow root]

I am good on view. Alt + *(Num) centered my view on the LOD.
Id like to move the LOD to exactly 0. Ill eyeball if i have to.

it is offset on the X axis right now

[charred bolt]

I'd use one or more of the orthographic views (side/front/top) and move the object manually.

Sometimes 4 view can be useful (F9)

[shadow root]

oh

wow

Thank you for all the help. The face normal issue from earlier is fixed. I am just left with the Trying to create an invalid center EMPTY error. Im going to shrug my shoulders for now and see if I can figure out how bad it is.

[lusty ginkgo]

strange coincidence lol

[stuck oyster]

strange indeed

[lusty ginkgo]

also RIP textures.com lol

[stuck oyster]

why rip?

doesnt it still exist

[lusty ginkgo]

It's a subscription based site now. No free options are left. You can't download previous purchases without an active subscription either

quite sad

[stuck oyster]

aa

yeah thats sad then

[lusty ginkgo]

know any tools that can automatically uv unwrap a model?

blender's tools kinda suck and placing seems takes way too long and also I'm bad at it lol

[south badge]

I heared about something called Rizom UV or something, but I never used it

[south badge]

I dont think default Blender has any tools for placing seams

except for "select all edges over X degrees and mark them as seams"

[lusty ginkgo]

the way you place seams is to select edges and make them seams

Ctrl + E, Mark Seam

[stuck oyster]

that is the best way to get best uv islands

automation is a bit iffy, especially with complex models

packing algorithms there are

[lusty ginkgo]

yeah but I don't have the patience

I use uvpackmaster for packing

[stuck oyster]

then throw the basic blender smart unwrap

[lusty ginkgo]

unwrapping is the problem

smart uv project is pretty bad. Creates way too many islands

[stuck oyster]

well that is really the options

there isnt much in 3d model to go by to generate uvs

[south badge]

Well, that´s why you select all edges over X (I usually do 70-75 percent) degrees and mark them as seams.
After that I separate my model "by all loose parts" and place a single lengthwise seam on every cylinder to unwrap it.

This will satisfactorily unwrap most of your model.

More complicated meshes you will need to clean up manually

[south badge]

What do you mean "it creates too many islands"? The amount of islands created is only affected by the amount of seams you place. If you want fewer islands, use fewer seams.

But I dont know why would you want fewer islands, because more smaller islands are easier to pack more efficiently onto a texture than fewer big ones.

[lusty ginkgo]

I'll try that, but I don't understand how that can create fully closed seams

[lusty ginkgo]

Smart UV project doesn't follow the seams

well maybe partially

[stuck oyster]

it doesnt.

[south badge]

I was told by a professional to not use Smart UV in Blender

[stuck oyster]

you can also do smart uv, mark those seams from islands and then clean up

[stuck oyster]

its not great

but hes looking for fast solutions instead doing it manually

fast != good

[south badge]

Well, I guess the quality will correspond to the effort put in

[lusty ginkgo]

Yeah for larger islands using the smart uv as a seam does save some time

[turbid pollen]

👋 I'm working on trying to start building my own custom weapon. I bought a model for a KAC KS1 from 3DMA, and I have an addon for working with A3 models in Blender, but beyond having the model I'm a little lost; is there any documentation or tutorials that are great for learning how to put stuff together?

This is the model as is, I know it has a lot of objects & is pretty high-poly, but I'm very much new to this lol

[stuck oyster]

youll have to put that away for a bit and go through learning basic modeling concepts first

[turbid pollen]

I know how to do modelling and such; I've been making assets for other games for a little while now, just not really Arma 3

Plus, I tend to learn really terribly if I'm not applying it to the thing I'm interested in 🙃
If I need to do a few different takes on this until I get it right, that's not much of an issue

The things I primarily don't know are the Arma 3-specific things like the LODs and proxies

[stuck oyster]

there is a sample weapon that shows the basic technical bits in the arma3 samples

and there are some blender /arma tutorials out there too that do go through the process

the model you got you likely need to process a lot to get into a game friendly shape

[turbid pollen]

more than likely 🙂

[stuck oyster]

Id suspect its split into bunch of materials etc which would be preferable to bake into 1 or 2 max

[turbid pollen]

gotcha. i've got matcombiner on here that should work pretty nicely for that

[kind arrow]

Hey does anyone have a half decent beginner tutorial on vehicle modding for Arma 3?

[charred bolt]

This is about as close as there is, although it's a bit dated in places
https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma_3:_Cars_Config_Guidelines

And there are the Arma 3 Samples (car/tank etc) on Steam

[kind arrow]

Did stumble on that page, it does reference needing to know some things from the Arma 2 days although when I went looking for those pages just got a load of 404s 😅 can only assume they probably linked off to things from Armaholic with that sorta time period

Config is all working as it should, managed to verify it by just pointing it to the vanilla BLUFOR MRAP (the name escapes me right now) rather than the model I'm wanting it to work with

[stuck oyster]

there unfortunately is no full step by step guides on this

[kind arrow]

Damn, so I'm guessing the best approach is just load up the sample and mirror the various LODs on the new model

[south badge]

Crying is optional

[stuck oyster]

some people also lose lot of hair

I dont know if that helps though 😅

[stuck oyster]

theres also few blender to Arma tutorials on tube tha can be useful. El Tyranos, Sokolonko and Battlestads vids are bit older now but methodology is till valid

there was one newer series too I think

But the name escapes me right now

[kind arrow]

I think the problem right now is lack of weight (?) basically if you lift the thing into the air while in Zeus it won't fall back down it'll just stay in the air like a building would

[charred bolt]

Vehicles are not the easiest things to start with, in fact, aside from maps, probably the hardest.
If you were to learn, step-by-step, you'd want to start with a retexture mod, then making a simple prop, then maybe a gun, and finally a vehicle.

[charred bolt]

These are the minimum LOD's I'd suggest for a veh
LOD 0, View Cargo or Pilot, SV0, Geometry, Geo Phys, Memory, LandContact, Hitpoints, Fire Geometry

Geo LOD should have mass applied

Config class needs to inherit from something similar so it has the right simulation characteristics

Class in model.cfg needs to match the p3d file name

[kind arrow]

Assume that's the 'weights' bit. Do notice we're currently also lacking buoyancy and reversed properties on the wheel_x_x_damper bits, could that be part of it?

[charred bolt]

In your Geometry LOD (only) put these properties.
reversed is a bit more complicated to explain, and usually not a requirement

[gusty crest]

Anyone have any tutorials on importing a weapon? I bought the m16a1 from 3dma and want to put a custom stance for the default stance

[stuck oyster]

mass is a special geometry lod property

it has its won dialog both in blender and object builder

[kind arrow]

Alrighty added those in, still not falling as it should. Where would the mass window be?

[charred bolt]

Alt M in Object Builder

[kind arrow]

Yup, I'd wager that is where the problem is. That's viewing from the geometry LOD, currently it's greyed out

[charred bolt]

Select all of your geo lod objects, then you can enter a mass (in kg).

You also need to check the objects are

• closed
• convex
• named Component01 02 03 etc

[gaunt pebble]

Guys, I have a .p3d file on my old mod and now I want to rename the folder of the mod but then the .p3d needs updating, checking the file via notepad++ there are references that need to be updated with the updated folder location for example from "wow_veh\landrover\data\lr_base.rvmat" to "wow_veh_old\landrover\data\lr_base.rvmat" but doing so via notepad++ breaks the .p3d

My question is, what is the easiest way to update just the rvmat folder locations inside a .p3d file?

[shadow root]

Can anyone please link me to texture templates of the apcs, specifically the Badger and the Pandur?

[stuck oyster]

it shouldnt break it 🤔 unless its binarized p3d

[dusk frost]

I can point you to some that I’ve been using but what you’re looking for is going to require animation work if you want a custom stance I think

[gusty crest]

Already have the stance I use it on a toggle keybind rn for all weapons

[stuck oyster]

youll need a weapon holding animation too

[dusk frost]

it’s in-game already?

also that yeah

[stuck oyster]

but thats for later

youll have enough to tackle with the model first

[gusty crest]

Yeah I modded the stance in game now I want to implement it natively into a weapon model

[gaunt pebble]

I extracted the p3d files from the PBO with Mikero's tools, should that unbinarize it?

[dusk frost]

oh it sounds like you might be ahead of me with getting stuff in-game, did you still want those importing tutorials?

[gusty crest]

Yeah I have no idea about weapons since it’s a whole different ballgame

[dusk frost]

k one sec

[gusty crest]

The way it’s implemented now it’s a mask instead of an actual native way the weapon is use by default

[stuck oyster]

unbinarizing is not a thing

ripping is not a tolerated thing

[gusty crest]

I want to get it so it’s like the MGs from spearhead instead of my current solution

[gaunt pebble]

Oh no, I paid for the model, I just didn't pay for any updates for it and now it is up to me to make any updates to it

[stuck oyster]

I was hoping I was clear enough that this isnt something that should be discussed here

[stuck oyster]

you should have a source model since technically p3d is not something that cant be bought since making one requires use of BI tools that are non commercial

[gaunt pebble]

I have the model source but the model source doesn't include any of the folders used by the .p3d file, like I said I outsourced the whole creation from the model to the conversion to .p3d. I just contacted the guy and he will teach me instead without any additional costs so it is all good

[lusty ginkgo]

at what point does the amount/complexity of fire geometry actually start to affect performance?

I have never had trouble with anything I have done but I don't know how far you can realistically push it.

[charred bolt]

Not sure there's actually any data on that, either component count or poly complexity.
Personally the most complex I've used on a vehicle without reported issue is around 280 components and up to 4k tri's.

[wise stone]

im having a problem, i set the textures to be with the correct path, i have tried with different textures and im still getting the same results
paths:
\idf_mod\debug\red_co.paa
\idf_mod\apparel\data\uniforms\bet_uniform.rvmat

*same textures + UV for lods and view pilot

[charred bolt]

looks like a broken UV on the uniform, or your texture does not match the UV

[wise stone]

oh understood

[stuck oyster]

maximum component limit is 2047

or few less

no data on performance hits though

[dusk frost]

got a memory LOD question, when I imported the MX(?) from the samples it came with a memory LOD that I was able to use without much tweaking bc I was trying to import a rifle. If I’m trying to do a revolver, I know there’s revolvers in vanilla arma, but I’m not sure how I’d borrow their memory LODs. I tried importing the p3d that I thought was supposed to be for the Chiappa rhino but it didn’t seem to import anything. is there at least a list of vert groups I’d need or something like that?

[charred bolt]

All the memory point names are contained within the configs

[dusk frost]

mainly I’m expecting that the cylinder and swing-out arm use different memory points than the stuff found in the rifle sample

alright I’ll check that out

[lusty ginkgo]

so what you're saying is that I should have 2047 components for ultimate realism

[charred bolt]

except the axis type memory points, which are in the model.cfg animations

[stuck oyster]

no

least amount you can make work

[charred bolt]

I heard you say everyone should use 2047 components. HG bad man

[stuck oyster]

ok you got me. everyone should have 2047 components in geometry lods!

physX especially

[charred bolt]

yay, I'm getting to work

ultimate realism baby

[stuck oyster]

[lusty ginkgo]

so 2046

[sinful spade]

The question has probably already been answered and it is better to use the provided tools, but here is a small tip for anyone who wants to make such changes without tools. Of course, success is not always guaranteed, but it is better to use a HEX tool for this kind of work. Notepad++ is not very good at dealing with this kind of work. And usually it is only older games from the 90s that can handle it. And even then the rate is less than 50%.

[south badge]

Why use many component when few do trick

[sinful spade]

Question, are there female soldier models available as a mod for ArmA3? I would like to try to create some for the BW mods.

[dusk frost]

there's a few mods that cover that I think

[sinful spade]

Okay, then I have to look/search further.

[viral hinge]

Hi, have you ever encountered the issue of a vehicle not displaying its damage texture on a multiplayer server, even though it displays correctly in the editor?

[charred bolt]

What is it's destrType set to?

[umbral shuttle]

unsure if modeling issue or texture issue, but I have this track for tank. in game it looks like this, a few problems are:

1. that stretchin
2. when pressing w key the track looks like it goes the other way, the wheels spin forward correctly,
3. in bulldozer it looks fine,

what could I be missing?

I picture in bulldozer

[umbral shuttle]

oh and this is the track texture if that matters

[viral hinge]

Sorry for my late response ... I don't have any destrType

[stuck oyster]

the texture is not great. check out canilla tracks for reference

yours is baked full length and has huge amount of unused space

its supposed to be repeating pattern

and the uvmapping is supposed to cover multiple uvspaces

when you constrain the uv into 1 space only, the engine clamps it to that space instead of being able to repeat it

so when it scrolls the uvmapping to animate the texture it hits the edge of texture drawing only streched pixel

(this aint documented anywhere Id suppose 😅 )

[charred bolt]

Your car will be inheriting it's config from a parent car class.
Inside the parent will be a destrType parameter, so although you may not be conciously setting it, you do have it.
Go in game, select your vehicle, and then open the config viewer to look through all of it's code.

[viral hinge]

It's "DestructDefault"

[charred bolt]

Ok thanks - wanted to check it wasn't DestructWreck.
So can you post the contents from that same in-game config viewer of the class Damage {}?

[viral hinge]

I don't find any class Damage { }

I have this type of info : damageFull[] = {};

[stuck oyster]

youll need class damage like this

refer to vanilla configs for example

[viral hinge]

I have a class damage I just don't see it on the in-game config viewer

[stuck oyster]

paste your class damage

also do you have selectionDamage named selection covering all parts you want the damage to swap on?

[charred bolt]

If you plan on doing much Arma modding, I'd recommend you subscribe to the free "Leopards Advanced Developer Tools" on Steam workshop and run in Launcher. It makes the config viewer much easier to use.

[stuck oyster]

👆

solid advice

[viral hinge]

class Damage /// damage changes material in specific places (visual in hitPoint)
        {
            tex[]={};
            mat[]=
            {

                "AlessioGT86\data\rvmats\glass_fume.rvmat",         
                "AlessioGT86\data\rvmats\Glass_veh_damage.rvmat",             
                "AlessioGT86\data\rvmats\Glass_veh_damage.rvmat",

                "AlessioGT86\data\rvmats\Glass_veh.rvmat",         
                "AlessioGT86\data\rvmats\Glass_veh_damage.rvmat",             
                "AlessioGT86\data\rvmats\Glass_veh_damage.rvmat",

                "AlessioGT86\data\rvmats\glassint.rvmat",         
                "AlessioGT86\data\rvmats\Glass_veh_damage.rvmat",             
                "AlessioGT86\data\rvmats\Glass_veh_damage.rvmat",

                "AlessioGT86\data\rvmats\Car.rvmat",                     
                "AlessioGT86\data\rvmats\Car_damage.rvmat",         
                "alessioGT86\data\rvmats\Car_destruct.rvmat",

            };
        };

[stuck oyster]

this looks alright. how about the selectionDamage?

[viral hinge]

I don't have this selection

[stuck oyster]

in config, p3d and model.cfg section list

[stuck oyster]

that is likely the root of the issue

[viral hinge]

Thank you, I'll take a look at it.

[charred bolt]

Usually most of your car textures will have the named selection of zbytek in the res LOD's.
In config, there will be a selectionDamage = "zbytek"; entry.
And in model.cfg, you must have "zbytek" in the sections [] array.
When you have that in place, the materials will swap according to the class Damage entries, so
car.rvmat >> car_damage.rvmat >> car_destruct.rvmat

[viral hinge]

Thanks for the feedback ! 🙂

[charred bolt]

By the way, did you make the model or buy it?

[viral hinge]

I made it

[stuck oyster]

it might be good idea to make armaverse brand name instead of using a real one

[stuck oyster]

#arma3_texture message

was discussed here too

[solid sonnet]

HEY, everyone, I'm importing some buildings into A3, but I don't know the model settings in the "Paths" Lod in OB, such as the naming of the model vertices such as "in" and "ActionBegin\ActionEnd"

[stuck oyster]

you can look at the sample house for reference

[solid sonnet]

I just saw this setting in the sample house, so I don't understand why it is set this way, lol

[stuck oyster]

in points are where AI can start/exit the path

pos points are building position points AI can be commanded to go to

action points connect to config.cpp so AI can do things like open doors

[solid sonnet]

Very clear so thanks

[lusty ginkgo]

what is the best way to determine the mapSize config parameter for an object?

[charred bolt]

Does anyone know why a vehicle would not show it's second Shadow LOD as the camera moves away?
It just shows the SV0 until the Shadow display limit is reached.
SV0 and SV10.
Shadows are closed, triangulated, sharp.
SV10 at 500 tri's.

[stuck oyster]

too strong shadow quality settings?

[south badge]

Would it be overkill to model all the holes for the shadow lod? I currently dumped a solid cube there as the shadow LOD, but it looks kinda weird. On the other hand including all the holes might probably not be the most optimised way? I really don´t know.

[stuck oyster]

model them.

will look better

then simpler sv10 lod for far distance

[south badge]

fair, cheers

[stuck oyster]

you can try square holes but that might not be good enough

[south badge]

Might as well do round holes and make it look good if I go through the effort

[stuck oyster]

yep

[charred bolt]

Do you mean in my video settings?
BI Hunter when placed next to mod vehicle displays it's SV10 as camera moves away.

[stuck oyster]

weirdness then

[umbral shuttle]

ah okay, I was able to do a quickly test something out for having the uv in multiple uvspaces, that works fine just gotta retexture.
what about the issue of the track looks like it goes backwards when it should go forward? anything special for that?

[charred bolt]

You've got pas_l/passOffsetl on the left and p on the right?

[umbral shuttle]

yes, pasoffsetl on the left track, and right on the right

but pas_l?

[charred bolt]

You're positive your wheels are turning the right way (checked in game, not buldozer)?
You could try tracksSpeed = -number;

Tank is facing to the LEFT when in Object Builder LEFT orthographic view?

[umbral shuttle]

Yes in game, i was simply tapping w key and wheels would rotate correctly but tracks did not

[charred bolt]

Check in game config viewer that you have this

selectionRightOffset = "pasoffsetP";```

[umbral shuttle]

okay will check in config viewer

looks correct

[charred bolt]

pas_L and pas_P are often the selection names given to the tracks and used for material damage swapping, from the track hitpoint classes, so unlikely to be cause of backwards movement

Try flipping the track UV's in the vertical ie. top goes to bottom

[umbral shuttle]

okay will try

[charred bolt]

in fact, I'm fairly sure that will be the answer

[stuck oyster]

this was going to be my suggestion too

[charred bolt]

If it doesn't work I'll give you the credit 😉

[stuck oyster]

if it dont work Im more than happy for you to keep the credit 😅

[umbral shuttle]

it worked 🙂

[solid sonnet]

Hey guys, is there any way to quickly build a Geometry model of a house?

[stuck oyster]

no

[solid sonnet]

is only way to use 3D software and re-model every wall?😳

[stuck oyster]

pretty much

[solid sonnet]

lol i get

[stuck oyster]

it gets easier the better you are with handling the program and techniques

but theres no easy magic to skip the practicing

[solid sonnet]

yeah is truth

[normal cloud]

my fire blast doesn't want to stick with barrel

basically it just chaotically shoots around

what's might the problem?

proxy is set accordingly to barrel

i think it's model cfg issue

[stuck oyster]

is it part of some animation?

mut memory=1 in there

this is some extracted model.cfg so many thing can be wrong

you have not written it fully yourself

cant ever trust someone elses config 😛

#arma3_config message

continue here since you split up

[restive pond]

im looking as to why my amphibious vehicle doesnt float on water, it stays on the ground and behaves as if it is on land when underwater

Geo lod is set to buoyancy = 1

this is in the config

// WATER
canfloat = 1;
engineEffectSpeed = 5;
waterFastEffectSpeed = 8;
waterspeedcoef = 0.2;
waterSpeedFactor = 2;
waterResistanceCoef = 0.09;
waterResistance = 1;/// if the depth of water is bigger than maxFordingDepth it starts to damage the engine after this time
maxFordingDepth         = 0.5;            /// how high water would damage the engine of the car```

[stuck oyster]

Does it have a boyancy lod?

[restive pond]

i will check that

but i have another amphibious vehicle that works completely fine when on water but it doesnt have a geometry buoyancy lod?

nah it doesnt work

this shows up on diag.exe though

im not sure what the error means?

[stuck oyster]

make boyancy lods..

[charred bolt]

What I was gonna say

will take credit

buoyancy should be 1 component, maybe 2

[restive pond]

i am so confused because i have another vehicle that i never made a buoyancy LOD for, but works just fine

[stuck oyster]

luck

[charred bolt]

It might be that, as with fire geometry and view geometry, if they are missing, it tries to use the Geometry LOD

but that would be a terrible performance issue, even if you think it's "working"

[restive pond]

yeah it still wont work, the error still shows up

i have it as 3 components and the only property listed is autocenter

[charred bolt]

you have a Geo Phys LOD?

[restive pond]

yeah, its the same model too

[stuck oyster]

autocenter needs to be just in the normal geometry lod

[restive pond]

nope still the same errror 😭

[stuck oyster]

make the boyancy lod just simple cube

and make sure you are packing right folder 😅

[charred bolt]

also delete/replace in eden after build if using saved mission

[restive pond]

yea still doesnt work

definitely on the right folder here

and i restart arma just to pack

not a big issue if it doesnt work tbh, its just going to be a side feature

[stuck oyster]

every error stacks up in the background

[restive pond]

ok so how should i approach this problem?

[charred bolt]

remove canFloat from config, check error goes away
run game without your mod loaded, check error not present

[restive pond]

removing canfloat still produces the error, vehicle behaves the same way before (it can drive underwater)

running game without my mod removes that error

[charred bolt]

I should have said, make sure canFloat = 0.

[restive pond]

it still produces the error

although now the engine gets damaged overtime, that wasnt the case before

[charred bolt]

is it tankx simulation?

or carx?

[restive pond]

carx

the thing is most of the config (and even some parts of the LODs) are copied over from the vehicle I talked about that works on water

which is strange

[charred bolt]

can you show OB with the buoyancy LOD and also the Geo LOD properties?

[restive pond]

Geo LOD

buoyancy LOD doesnt have any properties

[charred bolt]

I mean, show actual buoyancy lod

[stuck oyster]

you could try inheriting from that vehicle and applying just the chagnes you want to have

[charred bolt]

Show the whole OB window, selection names etc

[stuck oyster]

does it have component name

[restive pond]

component1

[charred bolt]

wrong

[restive pond]

i uhh, will show you do that...

[charred bolt]

Component01

[restive pond]

yes its correct like that. i used alwarrens tool to do it

[charred bolt]

You've checked it's closed and convex?

[restive pond]

i messed up the layout and never figured how to to get it back

[restive pond]

just checked that, no problems

[charred bolt]

try reducing the size of the buoyancy cube, and lifting it off the ground above the wheel tops

[restive pond]

i dont think the real issue is that atm. its that the game doesnt recognize that i dont have a buoyancy LOD

[restive pond]

because this still appears everytime the vehicle touches water

[polar fiber]

get rid of autocenter. Vehicles should not have it in any LOD

[charred bolt]

true ^

[polar fiber]

and yes, having it does effect how the vehicle interacts with water so this is probably your issue

[restive pond]

that was it!

thanks alot

[bright echo]

yeah autocenter 0 completely breaks the water sim

[solid sonnet]

Hey everyone, it's me again. I made a Geometry model in 3D MAX and imported it into OB via FBX format, but in OB the model changed from Quads to Triangles

FBX models are Quads in Blender

[bright stone]

Hi guys, does anybody install/reinstall buldozer after latest tools update? Me and my friend find out a problem, after fresh install it broke up, OB just can't found a model viewer so we can use only arma3.exe

but also the arma3_x64.exe doesn't work anymore, keybinds on it broke up too, i can move camera only by scrollwheel, freecamera mode (on F2) broken too

if i remember correctly, on spring-summer 2023 buldozer_x64.exe worked fine, and i opened 300k+ tris models by it, but now with arma3_x64.exe i can't (buldozer_x64.exe, as his x32 brother can't be seen by OB too)

[marsh canyon]

1. Is there any issues with it?
2. Why use FBX?

[analog garden]

triangulation is the usual mode for game assets

[fluid copper]

Engines convert the object to triangles anyway, some people just prefer working with quads during model/animation creation

[stuck oyster]

It should still work

But yes it can have trouble opening large models.

300k is quite a lot. Like maybe too much.

[formal halo]

maybe

[prisma mulch]

If I wanted to make a set of street signs for a map how would I deal with getting different text on the signs?

Ideally I want to make a couple signs and then change the text separately.

Saw that this can be done using a transparent plane showing part of a texture with text options and UV mapping but not how that works in practice.

Sign and text being different objects, multiple p3d files with shifted UV maps, changing something in the model.cfg or in the config?

[white oak]

Exactly how you described
Make the sign add a second texture with transparency on the front move the UV or have a different name texture for each variant

Or check the pins in terrain making

[stuck oyster]

for terrain making each sign needs its own model

since texture swapping does not work on terrain objects

Id just make the text straight on the texture since you need unique textures anyway

that way the model is kept as simple as possible

with just 1 material/texture that can be shared with many

as the sign textures can be combined into an atlas

for example

[prisma mulch]

Thanks, that makes sense

[stuck oyster]

BI has made their signs in the way you described above though

with blank base and transparent background texts

imo this does add more overhead with the 2 textures/materials

and signs are everywhere

typically 1 atlas texture is said to be better performing though

[prisma mulch]

In the example is that rusty bit shared between the signs for poles and other bits?

[white oak]

Frame of it

[stuck oyster]

frame, backside can be uvmapped on that space yeah

[tribal rain]

so ive got this UGL sight ive setup way ive done it is ive modelled two different GL sight states one flipped up and one flipped down. then in the model cfg depending on the is selected state should change which one is hidden/visible.

however the flipped down version is visible and also shrunk in scale throughout and also is in the wrong position.

Guessing im doing something wrong not sure what it is though?

            class Animations
        {
            class RearSightGLDown
            {
                type = "hide";
                source = "isselected";
                selection = "RearSightGLDown";
                sourceAddress = "clamp";
                minPhase = 0;
                maxPhase = 1;
                minValue = 0;
                maxValue = 1;
                memory = 0;
                hideValue = 0.5;
                unHideValue = -1;
            };

            class RearSightGLUp
            {
                type = "hide";
                source = "isselected"; 
                selection = "RearSightGLUp";
                sourceAddress = "clamp";
                minPhase = 0;
                maxPhase = 1;
                minValue = 0;
                maxValue = 1;
                memory = 0;
                hideValue = -1; 
                unHideValue = 0.5;
            };

[stuck oyster]

this means you have more than 1 bone selection for it and both bones fight over which one animates it

when you child/parent bones in a chain

you use only the last bone of the chain on the model

[tribal rain]

right so way to fix it? change the parent dependency?

[stuck oyster]

make sure you only have the last bone as selection for those parts

you could also make the part rotate instead have 2 parts swap with hide

[tribal rain]

ive tried rotate didnt want to work as i looked at some other examples and most people use the rotate method but for whatever reason it does not want to play ball

[tribal rain]

apologies if im bombarding you now but when we say "bone" we talking memory point or the bones in the cfg?

Speaking of:

       skeletonBones[]={
    "bolt","", 
    "bolt_catch","bolt",
    "cover","", 
    "magazine","", 
    "safety","",
    "trigger","",
    "zasleh","",
    "muzzle","",
    "op", "",
    "op_hide","op",
    "op_end","op_hide",
    "gl","",
    "gl_cartridge","gl",
    "gl_bullet","gl_cartridge",
    "RearSightGLUp", "", 
    "RearSightGLDown", ""
};

[stuck oyster]

bones in the cfg

[stuck oyster]

possibly same issue that its conflicting with another animation/bone

[tribal rain]

i thought that or its not rotating on the right axis

i forget Z and Y are swapped in arma right?

like coming from Blender to Arma

[stuck oyster]

use "rotation" type with memoryLod defined axis

liek always

rotationX rotaionY are pretty much obsolete

[tribal rain]

so as long as the memory points are in the right orientation everything else is moot?

[tribal rain]

Got it working now turns out one of the selection groups was on both optic states

i swear its these little bungles that get me everytime 😅

[stuck oyster]

yes

[stuck oyster]

🤣

[unborn juniper]

i'm not sure if this is the right place to ask but; recently i set a goal to make walking mechs in Arma. but from the bit of research i've done, i notice that vehicle models have a different animation process than making animations for soldiers, and i wonder how i'd go about making a walking mech without a rig so to speak

is it just done procedurally? i notice the HMCS mod seems like the animations are hand made for it.

[stuck oyster]

this is one of the most difficult things to make since like you have noticed, there is no walking vehicle simulation

basically there is 2 options
Mech characters with RTM
or
Mech vehicles (typically tank based) with model.cfg procedural animations

both have good and bad things

so start learning the stuff from something simpler 😅

[unborn juniper]

oh absolutely going to start simple

i just wanted to get a gist of the process first before diving into that

seems like the second option is my best bet since i'd like to at least make it a vehicle, which at least gives me some direction on what to learn. thanks for the info!

[stuck oyster]

the main thing about the tank robots that I dislike is that when they go up/down slow they look a bit silly

since they cant adapt to the slope but just angle with it

Im pretty sure there were no animation source for land vehicles that could be used to cancel that

tilt forward when going up hill and so on

characters stay straight up on slopes and can have bit of leg animation blending

that too can look bad in extreme cases though

[unborn juniper]

yeahhhh i can imagine

[stuck oyster]

there are few mech mods around for both solutions so you do have some reference that you can try out

[unborn juniper]

all i've tried was HMCS, that's primarily what inspired me to consider Arma for it since it was indeed possible, even if it's trying to bend the engine to your will to achieve it

but that's the fun part, learning to break the rules

[stuck oyster]

for sure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-8igodclDg

this is mine from a while back

still working on it figuring things out

(also was distracted with other stuff for a bit 😅 )

[unborn juniper]

oh, that's friggin awesome! i love the entering animation

is it based off of anything?

[stuck oyster]

no its my own designs

[unborn juniper]

they look great! i love how imposing this mech is

[stuck oyster]

this is actually option 3.

combination of man and tank

but its a bit trickier to do

and well

no guarantees it works 😅

so far it does

[unborn juniper]

it sounds trickier. and perhaps jankier. if i'm to start anywhere, i'd just go with procedural-ish

[stuck oyster]

but things can happen that break it eventually when features are added

[unborn juniper]

i personally want to make Steel Battalion VTs for Arma, because i've been kinda obsessed with that game lately and it seemed a perfect fit for a milsim oriented game

but! that's a long term goal. i'm not gonna jump for it immediately, especially given how ambitious it is. i've been developing stuff for external game engines n whatnot for a good year now, but Arma 3 is new territory for me. so i've got a lot of learning to do

[analog garden]

one of these days we'll get a new teaser

[stuck oyster]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/304720966137937920/1302637638670352424/image.png?ex=672e1d56&is=672ccbd6&hm=ddd04eba7b449ae92ea716c7a100c3954f3b9937595bf86fe495572c1c1b66b8&

this is what my brother is cooking for his side

it too has gone few rounds of redesigns 😅 hes starting to be happy with it though

[analog garden]

wooo worldspace normals woooo

looks nice tho

[fluid copper]

it missin a leg

[limber abyss]

One message removed from a suspended account.

One message removed from a suspended account.

[west haven]

kinda curious, is it easy to add something like a suppressor to arma 3?

[marsh canyon]

If you know how to make a P3D, config, PBO, yes

[west haven]

Baller

I do know how to make most of that

[west haven]

also when doing a hand grenade, do I need to have one model for the ground and one thrown one sans the lever? Or is it one model with a cfg file doing the lifting

[marsh canyon]

You can set two P3Ds, but people won't really notice I guess

[west haven]

that is fair tbh

I might just go with that then yeah

[stuck oyster]

You have assigned texture on them. Or have copies of the proxy triangles that not proxies anymore.

[proven urchin]

Is this the right channel to ask for help involving a error I'm getting from a gun model?

[stuck oyster]

probably. if not we can point you to right direction

[proven urchin]

Alright, in that case this is the model in question. The error, "ModelInfo.bounding_box is not a float" appears when trying to pack the model into a PBO using PBOProject 4.17. I'm convinced that it's a issue with the model, as the code side of it works with any base game model, and I can pack the PBO just fine when the model ins't in the folder.

[stuck oyster]

try updating all the mikero tools

[proven urchin]

Did that a couple hours ago, error still happens

[stuck oyster]

could not pack it as is as I dont have your textures.

but when I removed those it packed fine at least

[proven urchin]

So you think it might be a issue with the model not drawing the right textures?

[stuck oyster]

no idea

the error does not feel like its anything textures related

[proven urchin]

What do you think I should try then?

[charred bolt]

Can you screenshot the DOS screen with the error message and also copy/paste the packing or bin log (which ever it fails at)?

[proven urchin]

Sorry for the delay, power just got back. I just did a full reinstall of the tools, and now the error is happening for most of the custom models. This is the one for a small blue laser bolt I'm using as a tracer replacement

[charred bolt]

If you updated mikero's tools manually, did you also install the latest dePbo.dll?
Or use the AiO installer.

[proven urchin]

I just downloaded each exe and ran them

[charred bolt]

Can you download and install this one again, to double check it's not a mismatched tools issue
DePbo.9.87.0.23.Installer.exe

[jaunty rune]

thorught i would ask in here because you guys would know the best, what would be better for modeling and map creation I5 or I7?

[stuck oyster]

can you try the all in one installer?

also has your armatools been updated since the 2.18 patch

[last spindle]

i7

[jaunty rune]

price for performance?

[proven urchin]

So I went ahead and reinstalled it again, and now it's working, so I'm thinking I got a bad download.

As for the all in one, I didn't even know that was a thing

[charred bolt]

At one point they had two versions of dePbo.dll next to each other on the download page, one of which was outdated, which they removed after I notified them of the issue.

[last spindle]

can not say, i have never owned anything less than an i7 since the first generation of them, i don't have the latest gen i7 and it is fine, can handle upto 16 million polygons in 3dsmax viewport.............i would say that unless you are interested in doing things that really push the limits you will be fine with newer i5 if you are after something in a lower price range

[woeful viper]

i have i5- 3570K and it's enough for modelling... if you are just an amateur modeller (like me) that is sufficient.

[jaunty rune]

dont think i will be going pro anytime soon

[last spindle]

^ unless you are regularly going to be messing with 10 million + vertices, while running texturing programs and stuff on multiple monitors i think the biggest thing is having enough RAM with a good enough speed

[woeful viper]

yes ram is an issue, particulary if you want to use DDO

[jaunty rune]

i currently got a 3rd gen i5 u sque but i got a z97 sabertooth for 150 cad whyen tiger direct closed (a computer store) so im thinking i just wana use the mobo right now

[foggy finch]

also latest i7's dont offer much of an improvement performance wise over previous generation

[woeful viper]

8GB ram is not enough to handle a 4K texture with ddo

[jaunty rune]

i got 16 cuirrently

[woeful viper]

you can do it, it's a pain in the arse however

[foggy finch]

16gb is bare minimum for quixel I would say

[woeful viper]

if you only do 2K , 8GB is ok. for 4K it's basically unbearable

<- personal experience xD i'm considering upgrading to 16gigs

[jaunty rune]

im not even on a 1k monitor currently so for now its not a issue

[woeful viper]

i'm talking about processing 2K / 4K textures

[jaunty rune]

o ok

i dont see much of a use for using 4k grade textures in arma anyway

[woeful viper]

i agree

[foggy finch]

I have an i7 4770k on an asus z97-k mobo, 16gb ddr3 ram, only thing that fucks me up is needing to get a new gpu 😃

[jaunty rune]

ya, im still, running a 560 its like a space heater

[last spindle]

you should texture in 4k super sample, then export as 2k, then you have 4k in storage for future use

[foggy finch]

everytime I get round to getting a new gpu nvidia goes and releases a new chip, the barstewards!

[woeful viper]

i only by middle of the line for a reason...

[foggy finch]

yeah

well I figured when I built this pc i'd get middle of road gpu at that time and upgrade it eventually 😄

[jaunty rune]

well thanks for a insite, appreciate it

thats what im thinking get a good cpu then gpu changes every year with alot of improvement

[foggy finch]

besides I dont see the point in buying any gpu makers flagship cards, they're completely overpriced, especially when considering for getting a lesser card you coul ddouble them up for less than one of the flagship cards

[jaunty rune]

im looking at the 970 currently but i want to get a soilid base for it to go into first

[last spindle]

i have had my i7-3770K for such a long time now ....think i had a 290x2 in it first, then 590 SLI, now 780 finally time to move onto a whole new clean start

[foggy finch]

yeah im thinking a 970 too, might just get a 960 though, the x60 cards have fared me well

[woeful viper]

for modelling the gpu doesnt really matter though... only for gaming

[jaunty rune]

the 960 isn't really worth it anymore for the slight perfomrance gap inbetween that and the 950

unless you use some the nvidias new cuda stuff that using the gpu to excelerate prosseses

[foggy finch]

😉

ill probably bite the bullet in january and get a new gpu

[woeful viper]

still on 660 gtx ti 😄

[foggy finch]

650ti boost in this pc, 660ti in htpc in living room

[cursive sleet]

Still on MSI lightning gtx 680 😄

[normal cloud]

Hey, guys

Which selection/axis is responsible for laser in weapons model?

[stuck oyster]

which ever you define in the config for it

[normal cloud]

Which class is responsible for this?

[stuck oyster]

dont remember off teh top of my head but it probably had "laser" in it

[normal cloud]

Thanks

[stuck oyster]

check out laser pointer attachments config perhaps

[hidden fern]

what size are models supposed to be in arma cause have a issue when I export the model from blender to arma 3 builder its way to small and I scaled the model to 0.01

I have been using a model from arma 3 to scale my objects but when I get them into arma 3 builder it is way to small

[stuck oyster]

1 arma unit is 1 meters in Arma

but you might have scaled your model in objectmode, which you need to apply

so the question is wheres the model from

and what do you use to export it

[hidden fern]

arma soldier from arma 3

fbx

thats how small the dude is

then I scale my building to him and this happens

Im using blender

so as you can see the model is scaled

[hidden fern]

@stuck oyster

[mortal pelican]

Alr, to preface this a bit. I've only just started learning Object Builder and learning how to make models. I have zero experience with this and am extremly stuck.
here is a photo of my object in game, I've split it into two section in object builder to try and get my paa texture to look better on it but it didn't do anything.
I don't know how I can get the texture to align with it's self any better i'm trying to use this Paa on the entire thing but make it look not awful. here is the p3d too

Super open to suggestions here not sure how to make a skin template either...

[stuck oyster]

id recommend getting the arma tooldbox addon and exporting directly into p3d from Blender (pinned messages has guide)

[stuck oyster]

Id recoomend using and learning Blender instead

doing stuff in Object builder is very tedious

and its very undocumented program

[fossil shuttle]

Maybe texture it manually

[stuck oyster]

@mortal pelican youll need to learn concepts like uvmapping to get texturing right

even if you want to do just simple meme props for missions

[mortal pelican]

i tried to use blender initially but couldn't get the arma add on to work

[stuck oyster]

for you too, guide in the pins

and in any case, way wayyy before you need to use the toolbox, youll need to have the model stuff nailed down

[mortal pelican]

im j tryna get a candy cane done...

[hidden fern]

@stuck oyster I did do it that way its showing small

[stuck oyster]

yeh no matter how simple thing you have to learn what you are doing.

[mortal pelican]

ok well

using this guide

got here

[stuck oyster]

how

[mortal pelican]

it doesnt let you select a zip

[stuck oyster]

you dont seem to have a zip

but a folder

[mortal pelican]

i unzipped bc u cannot select a zip

[stuck oyster]

did you press right button

to get to the zip selection

[mortal pelican]

i got it

[stuck oyster]

what was the problem?

so I can tell the next guy who does it 😅

[mortal pelican]

i was j blind

learning uv mapping nowe

[hidden fern]

@stuck oyster could you send me a soldier model fbx so i can see if the model that was sent to me is not to scale

im helping @ruby lion out with a project and the scaling seems to be way off when its exported

[stuck oyster]

No I don't have such fbx. I don't need fvin my workflow for arma

[hidden fern]

can I send you the file so you can look it over and see where it went wrong

[stuck oyster]

1unit,1meter in blender is 1 meter in game

You export in fbx which uses different scaling

[hidden fern]

ok..I also sent it to him as p3d

and its not working

[stuck oyster]

Well maybe you don't have the object scale set to 1.1.1

[hidden fern]

@stuck oyster I will send blend file but the textures will be purple cause im not sending texture

[stuck oyster]

sorry I dont have time to look into others models at the moment

check the scale in object mode

[hidden fern]

ok

[stuck oyster]

its all one object

this is meaningless

or well

its not

since

look at the dimensions

(why bought stuff is not a solution to skipping basic modeling knowledge)

[hidden fern]

all one object to send

[stuck oyster]

this has been scaled to tiny tiiiiny thing

youve messed up something with it

and honestly i dont want to fix it

youll have to do that

so you learn

[hidden fern]

ok can you give me a idea where it went wrong

[stuck oyster]

look at the dimensions

[hidden fern]

ok what should that be

[stuck oyster]

idk

but not that

since thats tiny

now youll have to figure out the rest

[hidden fern]

I scaled the model at 0.01

[stuck oyster]

why

[hidden fern]

the original model he said was to big

[stuck oyster]

who said?

[hidden fern]

hungry

[mortal pelican]

uh

what do i do with overlapping uv map?

[hidden fern]

Im helping him with a modeling project

[stuck oyster]

fix seams so it unwraps different

[stuck oyster]

well you probably scaled it in wrong place

and definitely too much

like I've said now many times

1 blender unit

is 1 meter

in blender

and in game

[mortal pelican]

ok ive made progress

wym unwrapping different tho, it did everyhting else perfect but its liek it ran out of room on the template

is it possible to slect one of these wings and j move them w/o selecting the other?

[hidden fern]

@stuck oyster that human model is like that when I import it to blender

the bunker is the orignal size so not sure what the crap is going on

[mortal pelican]

yeah idk its still doing that every time even with new edges

[pallid island]

"scale 0.010"

[stuck oyster]

it has been made in different program with different scale

[hidden fern]

I made it in blender

[stuck oyster]

youll have to first normalize its scale to 1,1,1 (apply transforms or apply scale)

[hidden fern]

Im exporting to arma 3 builder

[stuck oyster]

and then scale it to right size in edit mode

that arma man is also not in right size

id recommend you stop using fbx and get the blender toolbox

so you can import the arma man in right size easily

from p3d

[hidden fern]

the arma man is how it cam in as

[stuck oyster]

no need to explain

just move to better workflow so you have less issues

[hidden fern]

i was given a fbx file of arma man I was just following it to get scale

[stuck oyster]

well that was a mistake

since it was not in right scale

so you got to do the scaling again

[hidden fern]

yeah well I told it was

thats why I asked for a fbx of a man to get the scale back

I used a man I had for ref but Hungry said it wasn't correct size

[stuck oyster]

again

ditch fbx and use the toolbox and your scaling problems go away

[hidden fern]

ok whats in the toolbox that helps with scaling

im new to this tool box thing

When I model I use a ref model to scale from but i guess arma is different

[stuck oyster]

it allows you to import p3d and export p3d

so you dont have to mess with fbx

[pallid island]

you a) in Edge mode select caps and a single line between them (as in screenshot 1)
b) open Edge menu (or press Ctrl+E, or right-click the selection) and press "Mark Seam" (as in screenshot 1)
c) select faces/edges by pressing A, press UV (top menu or U on keyboard), press "Unwrap".
Bam, you have more usable UV already (screenshot 2)

[hidden fern]

@stuck oyster I did that but how does this fix scaling issue

[stuck oyster]

did what?

[mortal pelican]

these are the seems I was using

that output this

the one line seeme made this

[pallid island]

after that in UV part of the window switch to edge mode (2 on keyboard) and make sure pivot is set to "Bounding Box Center" (screenshot 1 here)
get to any quad on the map, select upper quad border, press S-Y-0(zero)-Enter to make it horizontal. Select bottom, press S-Y-0(zero)-Enter as well. Select left border, press S-X-0(zero)-Enter. Repeat with right border. I'd become an axis-aligned rectangle. (screenshot 2 before, screenshot 3 after).
Change to face selection mode by pressing 3 on keyboard. Hover over rectangular quad. Press L to select all linked faces. Shift-click the rectangle quad to deselect it. Then Shift-click it again to select it and make it active. Right-click it and press "Follow active quads".
Bam, you have nice rectangular UV map of the entire round part of the cane (screenshot 4)

[mortal pelican]

hollup

get to any quad on the map, select upper quad border, press S-Y-0(zero)-Enter to make it horizontal.

this is where im at

little bit stuck

unsure what this means

[restive pond]

does the vanilla 12.7 mm magazine not have a proxy?

[stuck oyster]

quite possible

[restive pond]

seems like it is, magazine wont appear in my proxy, but other types do

same for the .408

[stuck oyster]

what proxy is that?

you mean in the vanilla gun?

[pallid island]

Be in the edge select mode (press 2 on keyboard if not sure), click the edge (the one arrow points at) to select it. On the keyboard press S (for Scale), then Y (for Y axis), then 0 (zero size over Y = edge is horizontal), then Enter to apply. https://youtu.be/bHbgQs8zkpw?t=184 for the video guide on that made by person who's way better than i am at explaining

[restive pond]

yeah the one for GM6

magazine proxy

[stuck oyster]

it probably dont have one yeah

[pallid island]

seemingly no modelSpecial property in 5Rnd_127x108_Mag magazine class used by GM6

[hidden fern]

@stuck oyster I used the the p3d tools

The p3d man was way bigger in blender so this should work correctly for scaling my model to a human

[stuck oyster]

correct yes

you were in sub millimeter sizes there

[hidden fern]

yeah the fbx model he sent was the issue

[mortal pelican]

holy helpful

@pallid island u have been extreemly helpful thank you bro!

[hidden fern]

is it possible to export the texture path
with the toolbox @stuck oyster

we got the model in perfect now, we need the textures how do I export those

[stuck oyster]

yes when an object is set as arma object for exporting its material tab has dialogs for arma texture and arma material

this kind of objects should use multimaterials though

[hidden fern]

ok

[mortal pelican]

https://gyazo.com/61805862caaea49c21801d6c667cecd3

[south badge]

so much worthless geometry on this trivial model, no?

[mortal pelican]

Idk, I j wanted to make something and learn

It’s my first model ever

[stuck oyster]

congratulations!

[south badge]

Gotta learn optimisation early

[mortal pelican]

Gotta learn how to use all the tools too LOL

[mortal pelican]

Thanks

[ruby lion]

Hey , is someone out here expierenced with blender ? Trying to get different lods into one p3d export via arma toolbox

but not really sure how to do it

are there different layers in blender where I can model for example the fire geometry and lod 0 for example and then export it both together

[hidden fern]

https://chatgpt.com/c/672fe9e6-8a1c-800a-986e-b5e909e21b16

omg must be a easier way . NO way some is going to make hundred lods after its all said and done just to get a model in

[stuck oyster]

Each object you want to export need Arma properties set and there you define what lod that object belongs to.

[stuck oyster]

Single model don't need hundreds of lods.

[stuck oyster]

Also chatgp links don't have anything in them.

[stuck oyster]

It's your personal conversation

And don't ask chatgp Arma things it knows nothing

[hidden fern]

I have all these pieces I modeled which makes a bunker

[stuck oyster]

Ffs

[hidden fern]

so do I have to make lods for them

[stuck oyster]

Yea you make a whole building out of those

[hidden fern]

yes i did

[stuck oyster]

They should not be separate

Look at the sample house

For reference

And read the wiki page bout lods

[ruby lion]

yea but is it possible to export for example the lod 0 lod 1 fire geometry and what so ever of an object within one export ? Like when you edit an object in blender, do you have than 5 different probjects for each lod or is there a way to load all in one project ?

[stuck oyster]

Yes

Import the sample house as reference

From Arma3 samples

From steam

[ruby lion]

I will send it to him and we will try it out

ty

[lusty ginkgo]

Do you think we will ever have access to silvador? I inquired about it once years ago and never got acknowledged and the page for it has long since disappeared.

It seemed promising. No other tools exist that come close

[stuck oyster]

Well one would probably have to buy license for it.

If its sold anymore

[white oak]

Tree it is a nice alternative

[stuck oyster]

Even that one built in blender can work alright. And with geometry nodes you can do wonders.

Of course ready dedicated program can be faster start.

[white oak]

the blender built ones are nice but they often make high poly leafs instead of a single texture pane

[restive pond]

whats up with the model of my muzzle being blurry like that?

its not part of any vertex group other than zasleh which is only at the very tip

[mossy mulch]

you have motion blur on

sometimes the end of guns gets blurred when moving

turn off all blur and then try

[restive pond]

yeah, it is a long gun

[lusty ginkgo]

I figured as much. I doubt it is at this point.

[lusty ginkgo]

So is the 50m scale limit only for x/y axis on a model? It seems that models can be a lot taller then they can be wide before the geometry problem starts

or is that just a quirk of buldozer?

[stuck oyster]

its XY since the terrain grid is XY

taller things work to an extent

but you cant tilt them beyond the grid

[lusty ginkgo]

what

like tilt them during placement?

[stuck oyster]

yes that can make them go over the adjacent grid tile and lose collision

the limit comes from the tiles

and that simulation only reacheas the tile a thing is at and the surrounding 8 tiles

[dusk frost]

got a hat in-game but it's floating at (I think) the origin point of the character instead of on the head, and it's also missing its texture. I'm working on what I think is the texture problem right now but the position is baffling me more

ok yeah texture fixed

[stuck oyster]

requirements are listed in a pinned message

[dusk frost]

will check, ty

[dusk frost]

#arma3_model message assuming this is the pin you're referring to. I made some headway, the hat is now waist height and floats rigidly (so if you crouch, it stays waist height, doesn't follow your head, etc.) so I am assuming this is an issue with assigning it to the skeleton?

it's hard to tell if it being waist height is just a skeleton problem or if it's something to do with the setup of the model itself when I made it, i.e. wrong position in 3d space on export

this is the biped I imported from the samples that I've been using to model around, its origin is inside the pelvis rather than at the feet so I assume my hat's origin needed to be there as well.

[stuck oyster]

There is a sample hat in there you can use as reference

Also use arma toolbox to import and export p3d

Addon install guide in the pins

[dusk frost]

I have arma 3 object builder, isn't that newer

[stuck oyster]

Sure. But it also works different in some parts.

As long as you know how to use it and import P3d for reference and export P3d out correctly.

I might suggest to clock to change the name of the addon. I can see people getting confused by the name and the actual object builder from Arma tools..

[dusk frost]

the only difference I'm seeing between my model and the hat from the samples is that my hat didn't have a camo vertex group, but I'm not sure what difference that makes. the Head vertex group is there, weights are assigned to it at 100% for all LODs

my model.cfg is basically the same as the one in samples\addons\test_character_01 except with the name of the p3d swapped out where needed

[south badge]

Do you have autocenter 0 in your geometry lod?

[dusk frost]

yes

[formal halo]

Changing the name would require a bunch of code change and resubmission to the blender extensions platform

[stuck oyster]

[sharp halo]

Hey, got a question.
Normally I used Object Builder, but wanted to transfer my workflow to Blender since I use it for everything.

1. Does ArmaToolbox allows full features of OB, or atleast features that allow me to freely build models?
2. I also can't figure out if materials can be set in Blender for export - I filled slots for rvmat and texture but they neither show up in Blender (unless I have to manually define Blender material)

[formal halo]

Wikipedia is typing give him a sec

[stuck oyster]

nearly all things can be set in blender with it. some render flags may not have tools but in typical use you dont really do much anything in OB anymore

checking model.cfg animations and texturing/material look via buldozer

as for the material, when you have set an object as arma object via tapping the arma properties on the blender material tab will have a new dialog for each blender material where you can define output texture and rvmat path

[formal halo]

I'm a bit biased but I prefer clocks a3 obj blender addon to the a3toolbox

[stuck oyster]

it does have nice tools that the original toolbox dont have

[sharp halo]

And I did that, but neither my viewport changed (I assumed, maybe incorrectly that it will be represented by atleast color texture being applied to model in blender) or after exporting and opening with OB my model did not have material applied to it

[stuck oyster]

did you assign that blender material on the model?

[formal halo]

that won''t happen when you apply it to the mat in blender

where in the materials tab did you assign the material

[stuck oyster]

ah this is blender messing the path making it relative

youll have to untick that in the file selection dialog

OB/Arma needs the absolute P drive paths

the export will cut off P: from the paths too so its fine if its there in this case

[sharp halo]

Yep, found that. Didn't know about this toggle in Blender, thank you :d

But these materials wont be previewable in Blender?

Hmm, after a second I guess I can just add Image Texture in surface tab to Base Color, nvm then 😄

[formal halo]

somewhat related I think clock finished up his feature for importing paa's into blender. Not pushed to live but its somewhere on a branch

[stuck oyster]

you can set up blender material with same textures

the rendering and lighting will be different though so it does not fully match what you might see in Arma

I've noticed it gets easier to kinda see what a thing looks in Arma once youve stared at same textures in both programs for a while

[sharp halo]

Understood, big thanks. As for other parts of the toolbox, is there any documentation for this plugin? I haven't really found anything

[stuck oyster]

for alwarrens box, not much. 😅 there are few older workflow tutorials on youtube that are still valid

UI changes just mean buttons are in different places

El Tyranos, BattleStad, Sokolonko have made some in the past

[sharp halo]

Ok, got it. I'll just try to figure it out as I go. Worked with MSFS
Bleder is intuitive 😉

[onyx mountain]

if you're still stuck on this, it's probably a model.cfg error

[dusk frost]

that’s what I was guessing, I just don’t know what I did wrong (or didn’t do)

[onyx mountain]

send your model.cfg here

also the camo vertex group is for texturing

[dusk frost]

there should be a link to the documentation on the GitHub page I think?

[dusk frost]

will do when I get home

[dusk frost]

this is what I have, it is virtually identical to the model.cfg in the A3 Samples folder where the headgear/vest/facewear models are.

[charred bolt]

Can you post a screenshot of the hat in Object Builder, comparable to this one from Samples?

[umbral shuttle]

in the samples weapon p3d, why is the side attachment proxy to the right in the left mode viewer, I was expecting the side attachment proxy to be directly on say the picatinny like the top proxy

[onyx mountain]

you're missing a bracket to close class CfgModels

[dusk frost]

😔 I'll see if that does it

always something tiny like that lol

[onyx mountain]

the error your experiencing I'm like 95% sure is a model.cfg error

add }; to line 161

[dusk frost]

that's what I was thinking too bc the model was appearing fine, it just wasn't parenting to the head properly. it just followed the player around at what I'm guessing was the root

[onyx mountain]

well it's where it is in blender right? middle of the model

[dusk frost]

yeah

lol that fixed it

well, "fixed"

I gotta mess with the origin I guess

but it appears to be following head movements now so 👍

[onyx mountain]

dont forget to apply scale/rotation/location in blender

looks like you may have modelled it in blender, then moved it up in object mode but didn't apply location

[dusk frost]

I had moved it up during my troubleshooting bc I thought maybe the problem was that I set the origin too low before i figured out it was a skeleton issue

just forgot to fix it before compiling the mod this time :)

thanks for the help :D

[onyx mountain]

that'll be it then, my job here is done 😂

[stuck oyster]

I'd recommend getting mikeros tools and pboproject. So it can catch those config structure errors for you.

[dusk frost]

pboProject actually didn't catch it for whatever reason

[onyx mountain]

I just used vscode and the open bracket was red lol

[dusk frost]

I've been using it since apollo suggested it when I was working on that delisle carbine

[stuck oyster]

Unusual. But can happen

[dusk frost]

yeah I have visual studio and it does stuff like that when I open the .cpp files, I should start opening .cfg files in it too I suppose

[onyx mountain]

but if the model is ever vibing at the origin, it's a model.cfg error

[dusk frost]

noted

[onyx mountain]

I use vscode for everything

[stuck oyster]

Notepad++ also has language code highlight

[dusk frost]

also something weird I've noticed with the object builder for blender plugin, I guess for future reference, is that it doesn't properly assign the mass tag. every time I export something that needs a geo lod I have to pass it through object builder and add it in there otherwise pboproject fails to compile it

[onyx mountain]

I use clocks tools, havent failed me yet

[stuck oyster]

how do you assign it?

[dusk frost]

I go into object builder and add it in the named properties window

[stuck oyster]

so you use clocks toolbox yes?

[dusk frost]

let me check

[stuck oyster]

object builder is part of clocks addon.

[dusk frost]

https://github.com/MrClock8163/Arma3ObjectBuilder

believe so

[stuck oyster]

yes that one

[dusk frost]

that addon has given me trouble with exporting geo lods, which I then have to import into Object Builder, the BIS-official tool, to correct

[stuck oyster]

what kind of trouble?

I believe this is the dialog you should be using

in edit mode

[dusk frost]

when adding mass in the Named Properties, for some reason it doesn't get read as valid when I try to compile it with pboProject. the error I get says the geo lod lacks a mass tag, despite it being there

[stuck oyster]

mass is not a named property

[dusk frost]

the wiki says it is?

https://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma_3:_Named_Properties#mass

[stuck oyster]

it is not

as you can see the wiki entry is wildly incomplete

[dusk frost]

🤷 so it goes for much for the wiki, it seems sometimes

[stuck oyster]

indeed

anyway use that dialog to set the mass

you can even tweak it for each vertex individually if you like

[dusk frost]

so as to make it heavier on one side, for example?

[stuck oyster]

yes

[pallid island]

is this some new version of toolbox? I don't think my 4.0.5 does look the same 🤔

[stuck oyster]

that is the one git linked above, mrClocks remake

[pallid island]

ah, i'm blind, sorry and thanks

[restive pond]

does autocenter need to also be in geometry physx for vehicles?

[stuck oyster]

no. but vehicles generally dont have that property at all

so it defaults to the "on" state

though if I recall right someone (dedmen? reyhard?) has said theres actually 3 states, the "default on" where no autocenter property is defined, then autocenter= 0 where its disabled and then autocenter=1 where it is enabled (which may differ from the first mentioned default state)

so for vehicles, dont define the autocenter property at all

How BI basically uses it is for "objects to be proxied somewhere"

but I prefer buildings and terrain props to have it too

and them being designed right to be centered properly in the model

[mortal pelican]

anoher newby question

how do you add collision to custom objects?

[pallid island]

^

[mortal pelican]

so just make new LOD named geometry?

[south badge]

You need to respect the parameters listed in the pinned message or on the wiki

[sour bough]

Is that a snowman

[mortal pelican]

Maybeee

[sour bough]

He's so big

[mortal pelican]

Bro is large

Easy to scale down tho

[charred bolt]

In your screenshot you have made a named selection called geometry, not a new LOD, so that is wrong.
Open the LOD window (Alt L), right click, new LOD.
Right click the LOD you just added, Properties, select Geometry

[mortal pelican]

ok

i feel pretty good ab it other than the last part