Some people have given me some private messages about getting some information about some of the files in TPM. Here's some basic info that gets asked a lot.
The .baf files are indeed the character files. They're proprietary files that use data created by the ModelX tool that Jedi Knight used, but packaged in a way that added some additional flags for sound playback etc. during animations. Previously the model and animations were stored separately for Jedi Knight but Big Ape packaged that stuff into a single file. The .Mat files are indeed materials.
The .b3d files are also totally proprietary geometry files for use within Obi.exe (our basic tool), they aren't Blitz files. They're unable to be edited without the Obi.exe tool.
...and now the bad news. A computer crash ten years or so ago totally wiped out my last data stockpile from TPM. I don't have anything anymore, although I did manage to find a few of the hi-res .baf files I created a while ago. I was really excited to see that you guys had a sticky link for them :)
I'm sorry that the original program isn't available. It was a pretty damn good system for creating games.
Let me know if there are other questions. It's always a blast to realize that the game really resonated with some fans.
And to be fair, I totally understand that it REALLY DIDN'T resonate with a lot of people. :)
http://i2.cdnds.net/11/36/618_movies_star_wars_luke_ghost.jpg)
Can it be... :eek:
Welcome back, Zanzibar. :)
Had so many questions over the years, but only one comes to mind right now: back then you were working on a better Qui-Gon model. Was it ever finished?
Nope, sorry :( I remember working on both a Panaka upgrade and a Qui-Gon upgrade, I took a break and then the computer HDD ate itself.
Wow, awesome to see you back on the forum, Zanzibar!
Real shame that the original tools were lost for editing the levels. I guess it's the same situation for the mat and bad files?
My question is: if it were possible for you now to add/change one part of the game, what would it be?
Wow, awesome to see you back on the forum, Zanzibar!
Real shame that the original tools were lost for editing the levels. I guess it's the same situation for the mat and bad files?
My question is: if it were possible for you now to add/change one part of the game, what would it be?
Oh man, that's a long topic.
We had a STAP sequence where you're flying around a section of the Swamp level that was compelling as an idea but ultimately wasn't very good.
We also had a sequence where you're driving around an AAT blowing stuff up when you return to Theed. Again, fun on paper, but was difficult to implement in a well-tuned fashion. Basically if we were going to do a vehicle sequence it would have to be as fun and polished as Racer or Starfighter, which we obviously didn't have time to do. I don't think any amount of time would make the STAP sequence a lot of fun since our art set would look really boring flying past at high speed, but the AAT sequence had some good potential.
At one point I had done some work on a giant battle between the Trade Federation droids and the Gungans, where it was almost a DOTA sequence and you were trying to fight your way to destroy the MTTs. Well, it didn't really fit the narrative unless you were playing as Jar Jar since all 4 of our other characters were busy doing stuff in levels we already had going. It was just a proof-of-concept, the framerate was awful and it never really got beyond 20 or so Droids vs. Gungans slugging it out. Maybe that would have been a better fit for our AAT sequence, come to think of it. If Jar Jar couldn't fight but could only ride Kaadu around and occasionally take control of an AAT or a Flash Speeder it might have been fun to blow up stuff.
I think my most easily-realizable thing that wound up getting cut was a battle within the Hangar. There's an in-game cutscene where we take over the Hangar and the Naboo Starfighters take off. Originally that was a full-scale battle where you needed to clear all the bad guys out. All your friendly Naboo soldiers had independent AI and they'd run some waypoints, hide behind crates etc. and occasionally step out to shoot and/or advance to the next set of cover. It was fun to feel like you were part of a team, but the framerate really chugged in that area so we wound up just cutting the battle and turned it into a cutscene. It was pretty awesome, it was like a DOTA thing, you could just stand back and watch your guys do all the dirty work if you wanted.
Zanzibar, im trying to use cheatengine to force doors to open or dont close on the trade federation ship.
Especially where the viceroy is.
Im being unable to do it.. Do you have any tips?
Also,
I tried to find the memory position to change the char position but its a float variable...
Any tips on that?
How did the char position was coded?
float x,float y,float z or some Vector3 Object?
Thanks.
I love this game.
Good to see you on Zanzibar. I've been trying to extract TPM .B3D files for a long time now and now that I know the only way to get the maps I desire (Mos Espa Specifically) is with The Lost Sacred Obi.exe my questions are; do you have any models of any of the maps left after the crash?, and could you help me in anyway with information or help on how I can extract Mos Espa and/or the other maps without manually ripping placing and stitching them? (The old architecture and backface culling makes this extremely difficult).
SkyEye: Ugh - I'm not a programmer, so I have no idea what the story is with how to 'force' the doors to not close. It's a scripted event, obviously, so you might eventually find the 'flag' that causes it to trigger and delete it, but I'm fairly certain there's no collision geo beyond that door so you won't see much.
Cyborg Maul: I'm not sure it's ever been stated, but the Obi.exe tool didn't import original models for use as level files. Everything you see as part of a TPM level file in the game is built on a grid-based block system that originates from within the Obi.exe tool.
All of the polygons are built within the tool, assigned a texture, then moved into position. The upside of this is that a lot of blocks are instanced so it saves memory. If we needed a 'special' block that included the same basic geo as another block, we could clone that block and modify it. After working on a level for a few days, you've created a 'palette' of blocks that can be stamped down all over the place, then you could go back and add some of the visual details on top of the generic pieces you've used to lay out your basic level.
The block-based system made basic level layout a cinch but, as you can guess, made doing some rounded pieces a complete nightmare. One of our level designers got good at making a sphere shape out of the block system for a dome in Mos Espa, so naturally he was 'rewarded' by having to make the entirety of the Otoh Gunga level.
So, no, I don't have any maps since they all lived within the tool.
This is a terrible idea. I should just stop right now. I shouldn't do what I'm about to do.
*sigh* I can't help myself.
I found a copy of the tool in an old hard drive copy, and it works in Win7 when running under Win95 compatibility mode.
I'll share it with you guys but I need to write up some information first and do some experimenting. There's a TON of crazy buttons that I have totally forgotten what they do.
This is a terrible idea. I should just stop right now. I shouldn't do what I'm about to do.
*sigh* I can't help myself.
I found a copy of the tool in an old hard drive copy, and it works in Win7 when running under Win95 compatibility mode.
I'll share it with you guys but I need to write up some information first and do some experimenting. There's a TON of crazy buttons that I have totally forgotten what they do.
Thats amazing. 15 yearz later and modding will finally be made possible! I know people have alot of ideaz. Cant wait to hear the newz of the release.
#Obi.exe :D
This is a terrible idea. I should just stop right now. I shouldn't do what I'm about to do.
*sigh* I can't help myself.
I found a copy of the tool in an old hard drive copy, and it works in Win7 when running under Win95 compatibility mode.
I'll share it with you guys but I need to write up some information first and do some experimenting. There's a TON of crazy buttons that I have totally forgotten what they do.
Marry me. Im single.
I love you so much.
Ah :
Do you think its a boolean flag that closes and open the doors?
Also, do you know anything about how the player position is calculated? It seems that if i teleport the player too far, it wont work... maybe ebcause the game didnt load the chunk? "its chunk-coded?"
I love you zanzi.sav
Marry me. Im single.
I love you so much.
Ah :
Do you think its a boolean flag that closes and open the doors?
Also, do you know anything about how the player position is calculated? It seems that if i teleport the player too far, it wont work... maybe ebcause the game didnt load the chunk? "its chunk-coded?"
I love you zanzi.sav
Yes indeed we all love him. How did you manage to teleport the player coordinates? With cheat engine? Ive tried many of times with no avail (every time i edit the coords all that happens is every ped and the player model disappears leaving just there shadows) could you please share with us how you managed it? Also have you managed to edit the camera position?
I know that we turn on/off several areas using trigger events in order to reduce geo overhead. Those events are set off by the player entering some kind of trigger volume. So yeah, if you teleport to a new location on the 'wrong' side of the trigger volume then you wouldn't see the level geo and/or actor placements
Y'know what, I'll try and do some research now that I have the tool to see if I can identify what's involved. I did some map creation but primarily I did NPC and Enemy model construction/animation and some AI events.
Yes indeed we all love him. How did you manage to teleport the player coordinates? With cheat engine? Ive tried many of times with no avail (every time i edit the coords all that happens is every ped and the player model disappears leaving just there shadows) could you please share with us how you managed it? Also have you managed to edit the camera position?
I will post a little tutorial of what i did here, i think with zanzibar help, we will be able to do hack a lot :P
I love you zanzi.
I will post a little tutorial of what i did here, i think with zanzibar help, we will be able to do hack a lot :P
Most definitely. Finally model, texture, collision, anim mods, hopefully entire complete scripting can be done! Everything from slight graphical improvements to entire total conversions could be perceived in the near future. I hope the tool supports exporting because then with these models there will be no limit to what can be done for this game.
At last we will reveal ourselves to the forums. At last we will have our mods.
http://i60.tinypic.com/2db9v5u.jpg)
Long Live The Phantom Menace!
This is a terrible idea. I should just stop right now. I shouldn't do what I'm about to do.
*sigh* I can't help myself.
I found a copy of the tool in an old hard drive copy, and it works in Win7 when running under Win95 compatibility mode.
I'll share it with you guys but I need to write up some information first and do some experimenting.
http://31.media.tumblr.com/3151c41e9796181fea70d79ceec5d7a1/tumblr_ndypk4PcjM1s6w6foo1_500.gif)
Thank you.
At last we will reveal ourselves to the forums. At last we will have our mods.
How the heck did you got the red glow on Maul's lightsaber?
Be patient with this, it will take some time to write up something that will help instead of hinder your progress. I'm also MUCH less proficient with level construction and texturing in this tool.
I'm also terrified because you'll see the hacks that we did to create the game - nobody wants to see how the sausage gets made. It's an ugly system compared to today's tools.
I couldn't find a copy of ModelX yet, which is crucial to build new .baf model files or exporting higher-res model assets or new anims. I'll take a look again.
I've been experiencing some problems with reliability, particularly with the tool rendering. It uses old-style VGA for the tool, 640x480. I'm encountering an awesome bug where if you move the mouse around it leaves a trail of black sprites that occludes the tool. Yay.
Again, please be patient, once I post it I probably won't be able to answer a lot of tool support questions so I want to create as much documentation as I can ahead of time.
Again, please be patient, once I post it I probably won't be able to answer a lot of tool support questions so I want to create as much documentation as I can ahead of time.
Please, take your time. While we're all excited due to the possibilities, we don't want to rush you.
Be patient with this, it will take some time to write up something that will help instead of hinder your progress. I'm also MUCH less proficient with level construction and texturing in this tool.
I'm also terrified because you'll see the hacks that we did to create the game - nobody wants to see how the sausage gets made. It's an ugly system compared to today's tools.
I couldn't find a copy of ModelX yet, which is crucial to build new .baf model files or exporting higher-res model assets or new anims. I'll take a look again.
I've been experiencing some problems with reliability, particularly with the tool rendering. It uses old-style VGA for the tool, 640x480. I'm encountering an awesome bug where if you move the mouse around it leaves a trail of black sprites that occludes the tool. Yay.
Again, please be patient, once I post it I probably won't be able to answer a lot of tool support questions so I want to create as much documentation as I can ahead of time.
Zanzibar. Im a programmer.
If you need my help, im sending you my skype in private.
Im a OPENGL , Java, C , Assembly Junior Programmer.
You can count on me.
Excellent!!!
I have heard not to much older stuff will run on newer Win OSs (Even with compatibility layer)
Nothing is impossible!
I will code a fuqing new OS just for zanzibar if thats needed.
PS : ReactOS ? lol
Btw dude, stay with us.
Lets revive this game! We may even make an online mod if its possible.
Besides, we can always disassemble softwares and force it to run.
I dont care. We will do this.
Thank you....... I love this place and already have reported 3 spam posts.........
Its sad this site has that also (Almost every site I am on does)
Dont worry.
The moderators and admins here are real nice.
And we are into the same objective : Revive Star wars 1.
And keep the forum alive of course.
This is a new account of mine, but im up for the task.
Zanzibar is going to kill me.... I will post a new topic.
I hacked the collision system LOL
I found a secret place of flask grenades on mos espa arena... and i also.. dude, you will have to check it out.
I'm dreaming. I must be. That's the only explanation.
WOW! This is awesome guys. Looking forward to hearing more news Zanzibar.