Scenery

[Endlesskevin]

I'm sorry if this topic has been covered already, but I dont have the time to go through all the pages of this forum.  I have made a modle in Gmax and am wondering how to export it into fs9.  I've tried tutorials, but everyone I read leads to a dead end or some kind of problem.  Any suggestions?

[garymbuska]

There is no searching needed just look at the first post on this page it is a sticky and you should find the answers you are looking for. The post is about SDK'S (Software Developement Kit) That is what you will need.
 And as for tutorials not telling you what you need the one in GMAX tells you in the very first project that in order to make any thing in FS you need to download the SDK's and gamepacks for FS. So I do not know what tutorial you looked at but it obviously was not a very good one.

[Endlesskevin]

Thanks.  I appreciate the help.

[Endlesskevin]

Hope I don't seem to "clingy" on the subject, but I just can't figure it out.  I've been trying for so long and now I'm nothing but confused.  If anyone has a tip or a method that they use that works, I would LOVE to hear it.  I've always wanted to be able to create my own scenery and I would hate to have to quit on the idea when I am literally only one step away from that goal.  Thanks.                                                                                                                           Kevin

[garymbuska]

For starters I hope you are using the GMAX that came with the game if not I strongly suggest that you use that one as it comes with tutorials one for a house/shack and one for the P38
I would suggest start with the house first it will take you through it step by step. Every thing you need is on the CD I think it is the last Cd under the extras folder. I have to caution you though I managed to build the house or shack and it is now being used as a line shack at my base airport but when I tried to make the P38 I nearly went bald I never could figure it out I had problems with the fusealge I just could not seem to do what the instructions asked no matter what. I nearly pulled every hair on my head out trying to make it work but finally gave up. I have since purchesd a book called THE GMAX BIBLE that comes with a cd  and a lot of tutorials. I am slowy working my way through it but letting my hair grow back before attempting the plane again.
If this is the first time you have ever used a 3D program than take it slow as GMAX is a very complex program for a begginer As I found out. You might want to consider the same book I bought as it explains in detail what every thing in Gmax does .
There are a bunch of people here that can help you just make sure you phrase your questions correctly and some one here can help you out

[Endlesskevin]

Thanks for the tips.  I'll see if I can find the Gmax that came with the sim.  I'm not completely a beginner with these programs.  I've spent tons of time using auto cadd, but I've never had to export anything before.  Thanks yet again.  It may not be my last question though.

[garymbuska]

NO problem glad to help. The Gmax on the disk is no different than the one you download from the web but the one on the disks have the tutorials I spoke of the process is not that hard once you have a finshed project. It envolves a couple of steps and you are done the tutorial will guide you through all of this.

[Endlesskevin]

Ok.  Extras folder?  Where is that?  I looked in my fs9 folder and I see it nowhere.  As for the Gmax that comes with Fs.  I cant find that either.  And the tuorial you spoke of with the house in it, well, thats the one I've seen, which has not halped at all.  I remember seeing Fs 2002 somewhere in the text.  I'd greatly appretiate answers to these questions.  Thankfully I havent reached the point where I'm pulling out my hair...yet.

[garymbuska]

The extra folder I was talking about is on DISK 1 of the FS9 instalition disks. When you put the disk in it will display a menu asking you what you want to do just close the window
and then explore the disk using the my computer short cut right click on the drive that has the disk in it and click on explore then you will see the extras folder Gmax is in that folder.
I had a littlle problem with the house at first but after reading the instructions again I finally managed to figure it out. Of course I got the textures in the wrong place I had the front door on the roof and the roof was at the front but I finally got it right. What I did was to print the instructions that way I was not switching back and forth .
I hope you have a full head of hair it sounds like you are going to be needing it
Just hang in there and take it one step at a time; if you try to rush through it you will not get it right. I did the same thing was a little inpatient and tried to finsh it before  I had started it and had all kind of problems .
But if you print out the instructions and follow them to the letter you will get there just save as you go so if you make a mistake you only have to go back one step

[Endlesskevin]

I found the folder(thanks to your instructions), but I can't find the actual tutorial.  Basically just a bunch of models shown at various stages of developement.  I can't find a written tutorial.  Hope I'm not getting annoying.  Thanks.

[brittair]

Gmax came with FS2002 not with FS2004.  You should have tutorials that come when you download the FS9 SDK.  Also if you download Gmax itself from discreet you will get tutorials that way albeit they are not to build a building etc (I think more 3d game orientated) but they will teach you all the techniques you need to build scenery.

I used the Gmax tutorials, spent about 10hrs working through them and have been building FS scenery objects ever since.  I must point out that I am not a particulary great with computers either.

Have fun and you will get there.

[Hagar]

[quote]Gmax came with FS2002 not with FS2004.

[garymbuska]

AS for the tutorials I can no longer rember where I got them from to be honest with you. If you would like if you send me a P.M.(private message) with your email address I will send you the needed files.

[Endlesskevin]

Maybe someone could tell me what I'm doing wrong.  I am a very creative person and my troubles do not come from making an object.  I myself do not understand the deep inner workings of computers or their programs.  Heres what I've read and tried.  1) I open Gmax and open my model.  2)  I go to the file menu and click "export".  3)  I export the model to my addon scenery folder for FS.  4)I hear a deep tone as Make MDL opens and freezes before it can open completely.  5)i am forced to close Make MDL. 6)  I get a pop-up messege saying that make mdl was either not located, or it was not able to do its thing.  I then get a messege asking me to check and see if make mdl is in my system path..........What does all this mean and what am I doing wrong?  Thanks for your responses.

[Firestriker]

The "makemdl can't be found" is a generic error message. There is either something wrong with your settings or the scene itself in that is does not meet FS standards.

First, not knowing what your location is, you might check your Windows System Settings and make sure that your decimal delimiter is set to a period " . " and not a comma " , " as is the case with many non US installations of Windows.

Besure your gMax settings are set properly. From the gMax menu bar click on Customize > Preferences... and on the General tab, in the top left corner, the System Unit Scale MUST be set to 1 unit = 1 meter. This is the scale that the scene is stored in and the only scale (except for the very first FS2002 version) that makemdl accepts.

Next, have you successfully exported anything in the past like a simple box? If so, look in the directory you are trying to export to for a file with a .log extension. This is a simple text file that is written on every export and can be opened with a program like Notepad and usually tells you what is wrong with the scene and why it failed to export. If you have this file, let us know what it says and some one can probably tell you what to do to fix it.

Lou

PS: When you export, I'd export the the:

C:\gmax\gamepacks\FS2004\meshes

directory and keep extra garbage out of the FS directories. Only put aircraft models and scenery bgls in your FS setup.

Also, the gmax12_help.exe and gmax12_tutorials.exe are  in the Extras directory on the CD with the gmax12.exe install program. When you install the FS2004 gamepack, there are tutorial docs installed in the:

C:\gmax\gamepacks\FS2004\docs directory.