Texture address issue when exporting

[Branko]

Hi guys, I hope you can help me solve this:
I'm trying to convert an .ase file to .md3 using q3data, but I can't get textures to work. Every time i run the .bat, the geometry is exported but the log says:
WARNING: illegal material name 'models/powerups/ammo/rockammo.tga'
Now, I've seen a topic on this forum created by Bacon this month. He/she had the same problem though I'm not sure how he/she solved it. No doubt the line above in the .ase needs to be changed, I've tried many combinations and none of them worked. Here is a relevant part:

*MATERIAL_NAME "models\powerups\ammo\rockammo.tga"
*MAP_NAME "models\powerups\ammo\rockammo.tga"
*BITMAP "models\powerups\ammo\rockammo.tga"

Could someone please edit this for me, so that I can see what I'm doing wrong?

[obsidian]

Remove the extension. Models do not point to the file, but the shader name, regardless of whether or not you are actually using a shader. If there is no shader, the game looks for the appropriate texture file with the same file path, again with no extensions. Also make sure you use forward slashes "/".

[Branko]

Thanks for reply!
It still doesn't work though... I renamed it to this: *BITMAP "models/powerups/ammo/rockammo", material and map lines also, and I still get the error though everything seems to be in place.
There must be something I'm missing...

[Bacon]

If the model exports as MD3 just fine with no textures, you can probably use misfit model 3d to assign the materials manually.

I use backslashes in my .ase models and the textures load fine, so i'm not sure if that matters.

*MATERIAL_NAME "textures\bacon-villa-sp\79301FC3_c.jpg"
*MAP_NAME "79301FC3_c.jpg.155"
*BITMAP "textures\bacon-villa-sp\79301FC3_c.jpg"

That's taken directly from an .ase model that loads in game with the textures properly applied.

[Branko]

Perhaps this will help, it's a log file created by q3data.exe:

• Q3Data - (c) 1999 Id Software Inc.
  GtkRadiant - v1.3.13 Nov 10 2003
  --------------- E:\QuakeIIIArena\baseq3\rocketam.qdt ---------------
  qdir: E:\QuakeIIIArena\
  gamedir: E:/QuakeIIIArena/baseq3/
  VFS Init: E:/QuakeIIIArena/baseq3/
  entering E:\QuakeIIIArena\baseq3\rocketam.qdt
  Processing 'E:/QuakeIIIArena/baseq3/models/powerups/ammo/rocketam.ase'
  WARNING: illegal material name 'models/powerups/ammo/rockammo'
  stripifying surface 0/1 with 28 tris
  Triangles on surface: 28
  Total strips from surface: 12
  Average strip length: 2.333333
  saving to E:/QuakeIIIArena/baseq3/models/powerups/ammo/rocketam.md3
  1 surfaces
  1 frames
  0 tags
  file size: 1252
  ---------------------

[Branko]

Thanks Bacon, it worked like a charm!
Though I'm still not sure why it didn't work in the first place. Do you know if it works with animated characters? I'm about to test it now. The primary reason I did this is that I'm trying to import SpongeBob as a playable character I made the model maybe a year ago, but since it wouldn't show the textures i gave up. This week I decided to try and do it again, remade the model (no UV or skin) and i wanted to make sure that I'll be able to do it right before doing all the hard work. I wish I knew how to post pictures here...

[Bacon]

I have never used q3data before so i'm not sure. I made my player model in blender then exported directly to md3. I fixed all my textures on said md3 by opening it in misfit model 3d, and assigning the materials manually. You need to use misfit model I believe anyways to add an md3path meta tag, though i'm not sure if that's for Quake or just for Misfit itself. Just ask and i'll help any way I can, as I just went through all of this myself and I know how frustrating it is because of the lack of resources. If you know how to use ftp I can give you a place to upload images, if not you can just use a free image hosting site, and use the following tag in your post:

Code: Select all

[lvlshot]http://url-to-image/here.jpg[/lvlshot]

Also, for player models, making a .skin file might be an easier choice for you to assign the textures, that's what I did and it saves you from having to manually assign them in misfit every time you want to test a new model.

[Branko]

I didn't know i couldn't upload directly from my computer...
OK the first image is a model i did a year ago, static model with uv (except for the arms) and horrible topology (i didnt save the wireframe photo).
The second one is the model i plan to import mow, it's a little more than 700 quads with better topology.
http://imgur.com/avOkAg6
http://imgur.com/gH2e7aK


Mod edit: looks like image hot-linking does not work, changed to links.

[dONKEY]

Actually, for ase models, the MATERIAL_NAME and MAP_NAME lines require /, the BITMAP line requires \

[Bacon]

I clearly stated that they are all backslashes and they work in game, and his works now too. Stop giving out false information. It probably doesn't even matter what you use if you're not going to be using q3data. You only need forward slashes if you are using an actual shader for said material, not just a texture in a dir.

[obsidian]

OP did say that he was using Q3data. I don't know if he's using the tool you suggested now, but I think dONKEY suggested what he did under the impression that OP is still using Q3data. Don't get your panties in a bunch, we're all here trying to help.

[Bacon]

He said it worked, which i'm assuming is after he changed it to backslashes. My panties aren't in a bunch, I just prefer the right information to be here so that some poor guy down the road isn't stuck for hours trying to figure it out. Using both forward and backslashes at the same time doesn't even make sense (unless a shader is being used).

I should have asked if that's what he did before saying anything, so my bad on that. Sorry.

[Branko]

Hi again,
Sorry for the confusion, when I told Bacon it worked I was referring to Misfit3D.
If you're interested in the progress, well... I haven't done anything since. Except for UVs but it still needs some fixing. I figured out i need reference models for size and tag position. I remember i had a working md3 importer for 3DSMax 2010 so I installed Max 2010 an hour ago, after uninstalling the 2013 version... it won't start. So I'm trying to figure out how to get it to work but I'm to sleepy to do anything now (it's 23h in my timezone). I'm planning to start working again on Saturday and finish on Sunday, maybe even Monday. I have a computer class on Tuesday (I'm in high school) and everyone is playing Quake! That's when I plan to demonstrate it. Maybe I'll even post it on YT so all of you can see it. I know there's already a SpongeBob mod, but it's not very good, the author said it himself, also that he wishes someone would do it better . I only hope that this doesn't end up like most of my projects, half finished and abandoned...

[Bacon]

Ah, it was misfit, I was opening my mouth for nothing. Sorry dONKEY.

I still find it odd though, which is the "proper" way. If backslashes work with ase models, how come they don't when going to md3? That's weird.

Hi again,
I only hope that this doesn't end up like most of my projects, half finished and abandoned...

Try and work on it often even if it's just a tiny amount at a time. I have the same problem. 100 projects, not a single one finished.

[Branko]

Good news!
There won't be any abandoned projects on my disk after all!
That's because I accidentally erased my whole disk, no backup.
Seems like i won't be posting much here, hehe.
Unless I succeed in restoring the data, of course.

[obsidian]

http://www.r-studio.com/

[Branko]

I already got some free recommended software, I just need to get my hands on another hdd, because mine is (or was) almost completely full, so there is no doubt that I would otherwise overwrite something during the recovery process. I'll probably come back here in a couple of days.