posted 08-07-2001 06:51 AM               

I'm new here but I've been lurking around since last November so I'm familiar with most of you even if you don't know me.

If anyone would like to host this mesh of Lara on their TR website please email me and I'll send it to you. The mesh is in 3DS format and has 724 polygons. All the textures are present but in their original format (i.e there are 227 very small textures similar to those found in the TR Level Editor's TGA files). As far as I am aware, the model was originally extracted from the PlayStation version of TR2. It shouldn't take too much work to create skin joins (smooth transitions at the elbows etc) but if you need any help don't hesitate to ask. I can also help anyone with questions on how to create a skeleton system and animate within 3D Studio MAX. I realise that no-one has managed to work out how to activate the FMV / cut-scene sequences from within the TR Level Editor but in the mean-time hopefully this model will give any clever people the incentive to try.

Best wishes,

Wee Bald Man

posted 08-07-2001 07:36 AM               

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posted 08-07-2001 08:15 AM               

Sorry I didn’t make it clear – there are 724 polygons (triangle faces) which amounts to 408 vertices total (there are less vertices because they are shared by the faces – each face consists of 3 vertices).

> is there a limit for vertices in fmv and cutscenes? cuz if there's not, you can easily jump that number, and it would look rounder

There is no limit for the amount of detail that you can have in an FMV but there is a limit to the amount that you can have in a cut-scene.

For those of you that don’t know the difference between an FMV and a cut-scene:

An FMV (full motion video) is a pre-rendered high-quality sequence which is played using a codec such as Bink.

A cut-scene is a sequence which is played by the game engine itself and is therefore much lower quality because the engine is positioning the models used in real-time.

The level of detail you can have in a cut-scene is limited by the power of the game engine and the technology (the computer speed, graphics card, RAM etc). This model is very likely to be the actual model that was used by Core for in-game cut-scenes using the TR2 engine. Therefore it would be safe to assume that it would not be advisable to push this limit any further as you can be sure that they tried to get as much detail as they could. However, because this is a relatively old model by today’s standards, you could probably safely push the polygon count up to around the 1000 mark as most computers are a lot faster than they were when TR2 was released.

> how would you make fmv anywayz?

You have to use a 3D animation program such as 3D Studio MAX, Maya, LightWave etc. MAX has been the industry standard for a long time but many games companies are shifting to Maya as the recent versions of MAX have been struggling to cope with the ever increasing level of detail which modern games require.

> great work, looks round.

posted 08-07-2001 08:25 AM               

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NOMINATED JLIBOY64 FOR THE "BEST WADMAKER AWARD" IN LIL KID'S 2001 TRLE AWARDS! CLICK sam.burke@ic24.net TO EMAIL HIM AND SAY "I NOMINATED JLIBOY64 FOR THE BEST WAD MAKER AWARD! THANX!

posted 08-07-2001 01:37 PM               

Getting the characters to talk could be done in several different ways.

Bear in mind that all of these methods could only be used in a pre-rendered video file (such as AVI or MPEG) which would have to be created beforehand, using a program such as MAX. Until somebody really smart works out a way to trigger a video file from within the TR Level Editor, FMVs and cut-scenes would have to be launched manually which is not desirable because it interrupts the gameplay:

1) You could replace the textures used for the mouth area with the appropriate visual phoneme (a visual phoneme is a mouth position that represents the sounds we hear in speech). This method has been used in many of the cut-scenes made by Core Design. To see an example: look at Lara’s mouth when she pulls her gun triggers, you will see that the texture for her mouth is replaced by a different ‘teeth clenched’ texture.

2) You could morph (replace) the character’s entire head with the appropriate visual phoneme and facial expression. This would look more realistic as when we talk, we use eyebrows, cheeks muscles etc to express ourselves.

3) You could adjust the position of each vertex by hand. This is by far the most time consuming method but also the most interesting to watch as it gives the animator full control and therefore the character starts to become ‘alive’.

4) You could use one of many third-party programs specially designed to interpret sound files into the correct phoneme in real-time.

posted 08-07-2001 04:11 PM               

------------------
NOMINATED JLIBOY64 FOR THE "BEST WADMAKER AWARD" IN LIL KID'S 2001 TRLE AWARDS! CLICK sam.burke@ic24.net TO EMAIL HIM AND SAY "I NOMINATED JLIBOY64 FOR THE BEST WAD MAKER AWARD! THANX!

posted 08-08-2001 11:44 AM               

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posted 08-08-2001 11:47 AM               

tnx

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posted 08-08-2001 01:39 PM               

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Top 5 Favorite sayings:
-Never give-up! unless the situation is hopeless:)
-The only thing certain in life is uncertainty!
-You get what you pay for.
-Nothing is impossible, it's just not likely to happen.
-If it doesn't kill you, it can only make you stronger.

posted 08-08-2001 04:13 PM               

If there are any updates since these last comments please add them to this thread.

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Reb@Eidos
posted 12-19-2000

You actually need some lines of 'code' in the script.txt file.

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ImmortalX
posted 01-24-2001

I found out that the script packer (SCRIPT.EXE) recognizes the command 'FMV=' because it generates an error indicating that it expects a number as a value. I also found that it accepts the following format:
FMV=FMV\'video-file-here','some-number-here'

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Reb@Eidos
posted 01-25-2001

Not positive about this but I think running an FMV requires a combination of several things....one, there must be a specific line of text in script.txt pointing to the FMV; and two, the FMV must be compressed in the proper format, stored in the right folder, etc. I'm not sure about hardcoding issues, but believe they are required with some of the puzzles that needed cut scenes for completion, such as the trident/Neptune puzzle. We tried to remove those puzzles since the cutscenes, if left in, wouldn't reflect the environments created by individuals.

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tomoko
posted 04-14-2001

In the Original TR4 Script I've found this lines:

[Level]
Puzzle= 1,Golden Skull, $0001,$0180,$9000,$0000,$0000,$0002
UVrotate= 8
Layer1= 160,160,192,7
Legend= Cambodia, 1984
ResidentCut= 1,5
ResidentCut= 2,6
;Cut= 6
LoadCamera= 7835,-569,88960,5000,-323,88346,20
Name= Angkor Wat
YoungLara= ENABLED
Horizon= ENABLED
Level= DATA\ANGKOR1,110

[Level]
;FMV= 1,0
Layer1= 160,160,192,7
ResidentCut= 1,7
ResidentCut= 2,8
LoadCamera= 82362,-258,18777,84018,-1495,20276,33
ResetHUB= 3
Name= Race For The Iris
YoungLara= ENABLED
Horizon= ENABLED
Timer= ENABLED
Level= DATA\ANG_RACE,110

but I don't know how to use this lines (and also the numbers behind it)

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WereWolf
posted 05-03-2001

With the Tomb4.exe provided with the editor there's NO WAY to play FMV. Simply because THEY have removed calls to binkw32 libraries in that prog.
The only prog which contains those calls is the regular one provided with TRLR (you won't find them in the times level exe, nor in the demo level exe).
You can play home made levels with the regular tomb4.exe (and FMV) BUT the problem is the sound which is not good (not good at all!!).

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tirx
posted 05-04-2001

If you play custom levels with original TRLR executable, I think we should be able to change the SFX files, so the sound wouldn't be corrupted. Believe me, I played TR3 levels with TRLA executable and sound WASN'T wrong, cos I replaced the TRLA SFX file with the one of the TR3. It worked.

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robbase
posted 05-04-2001

..there are unofficial level editors, why not an unofficial TRLR.exe that could support our fmv's?

posted 08-08-2001 04:17 PM               

ResidentCut= 1,5
ResidentCut= 2,6
;Cut= 6