[BNW] Custom Nexus Buddy .br2 meshes keep corrupting; need help

[AzraelZephyrian]

So... I managed to get a unit in-game, with a few minor graphical errors.

Modified T95

• AzraelZephyrian
• Apr 22, 2019

Custom barrel mesh. The model and animations need a fair bit of work...but hey, I finally...

So I made some edits, attempted to fix the normals, and tried again.
But the meshes it spits out are horrifically corrupted, and I used exactly the same procedure to export and overwrite. What's going on?

C O R R U P T _ A R M O R

• AzraelZephyrian
• Apr 23, 2019

Really getting annoying by now...

EDIT: and the .fbx version looks totally fine when I convert to .gr2. About to test the .fbx for skeleton problems.

Update: the .fbx converted to .gr2 doesn't even show up in game; the animations play and everything, but it's a ghost tank, which would be quite amusing if I hadn't spent 48 hours of work getting the darn thing to work.

 

[Deliverator]

You should use BR2 overwrite to get an uncorrupted mesh. The FBX mesh conversion provided by Firaxis is buggy and often causes corruption. So either do BR2 -> GR2 or FBX -> GR2 to get the skeleton data and then do Overwrite Meshes from the BR2 file.

The whole reason why the BR2 method was developed is because the FBX method is unstable for mesh data. By unstable I mean it corrupts differently each time you run it - you can run FBX -> GR2 ten times and each resulting GR2 could be corrupted differently. The FBX import library must have a memory leak or some other serious issue which Firaxis never resolved.

 

[AzraelZephyrian]

You should use BR2 overwrite to get an uncorrupted mesh. The FBX mesh conversion provided by Firaxis is buggy and often causes corruption. So either do BR2 -> GR2 or FBX -> GR2 to get the skeleton data and then do Overwrite Meshes from the BR2 file.

The whole reason why the BR2 method was developed is because the FBX method is unstable for mesh data. By unstable I mean it corrupts differently each time you run it - you can run FBX -> GR2 ten times and each resulting GR2 could be corrupted differently. The FBX import library must have a memory leak or some other serious issue which Firaxis never resolved.

Yep, this is with a .br2 overwrite on a .fbx skeleton (and the .fbx was generated from a .gr2 vis blender's export plugins, rather than being a firaxis .fbx). It's exactly the same when I run an overwrite with the same file (or re-exports thereof, with a slew of different small changes) over a .gr2.

It appears I have rapidly escalating post-wait times. This will have to be my last response for now.

I even tried using the original, mostly functional file and simply pasting in a piece of the more heavily customized model. 1 little piece. I also made a fresh UV. It came out equally corrupted.

 

[Deliverator]

Does your model include any quads rather than triangles? You may need to run the Triangulate modifier to turn all polygons into triangles. Other than that I'd need to see your Blender file to see what the problem could be.

 

[Deliverator]

Also let's be clear than you cannot mix and match .fgx Civilization VI format with .gr2 Civilization V format.

Game: Civilization V; 3D File Format: .gr2; Tool: Nexus Buddy 2.
Game: Civilization VI; 3D File Format: .fgx; Tool: CivNexus6.

If you want to move models between games you need to go via Blender.

I'm not sure what you mean by "a firaxis .fbx" for example as there are no Firaxis fbx files included with Civ V.

 

[AzraelZephyrian]

I'm not sure what you mean by "a firaxis .fbx" for example as there are no Firaxis fbx files included with Civ V.

Nor am I. This line:
"The FBX import library must have a memory leak or some other serious issue which Firaxis never resolved."
had me confused, so I assumed Firaxis had made some set of reference files for V (like the pantry for VI) that included corrupted FBX files.

 

[AzraelZephyrian]

Does your model include any quads rather than triangles? You may need to run the Triangulate modifier to turn all polygons into triangles. Other than that I'd need to see your Blender file to see what the problem could be.

Brilliant. I hadn't tried converting everything to tris. I assumed that since "normals can only be computed for tris/quads" was an error message, quads were fine. Thanks a ton

 

[Deliverator]

Nor am I. This line:
"The FBX import library must have a memory leak or some other serious issue which Firaxis never resolved."
had me confused, so I assumed Firaxis had made some set of reference files for V (like the pantry for VI) that included corrupted FBX files.

FBX is a format owned by Autodesk that is used as an intermediate format between different 3D applications.

FGX is the 3D model format used in Civ VI.

It wasn't necessary for Firaxis to release a set of reference files for Civ V because the GR2 3D models were directly used by the game. All that you had to do to access them was unpack them from the .fpk library format.

The problem I was referring to was a problem with the art tool code provided by Firaxis - not a problem with the models themselves.

 

[Deliverator]

Brilliant. I hadn't tried converting everything to tris. I assumed that since "normals can only be computed for tris/quads" was an error message, quads were fine. Thanks a ton

Yes, if you notice a lot of gaps in your mesh in Granny Viewer then converting everything to triangles is the first thing to try. The Granny engine used in Civ V and Civ VI only supports triangular faces.

 

[AzraelZephyrian]

Yes, if you notice a lot of gaps in your mesh in Granny Viewer then converting everything to triangles is the first thing to try. The Granny engine used in Civ V and Civ VI only supports triangular faces.

Thanks for the info.

Alright, the model is in game and looks passable...but a few faces are just...nonexistent. I’ve tried it with normals oriented both ways, and checked that the faces were in the UV unwrap; I figure you probably have experience with this sort of graphical failure (unless I’ve done something very dumb). Any ideas?

Sorry for all the questions; I’d ask someone else, but there are very few people to ask, and you seem to have the best understanding of the process.

 

[Deliverator]

I'd have to see the specifics. If you upload your test mod and the Blender save I can potentially take a look later.

 

[AzraelZephyrian]

I'd have to see the specifics. If you upload your test mod and the Blender save I can potentially take a look later.

Ok, sure. Thanks. Here ya go.

 

[Deliverator]

Which faces are not showing in game? Can you point them out?

 

[AzraelZephyrian]

Mesh errors

• AzraelZephyrian
• Apr 23, 2019
• 1

The inside-facing track covers, the hole through the barrel (muzzle break), some of the paneling around the back end, and the backside of the gun-mount.

 

[Deliverator]

Sometimes I resolve these sort of issues by doing the following:

1) Use Remove Doubles to remove any doubled vertices.
2) Fix up normals - manually if necessary.
3) Make the mesh double sided by duplicating everything and doing Flip Normals on the duplicate.

 

[AzraelZephyrian]

Sometimes I resolve these sort of issues by doing the following:

1) Use Remove Doubles to remove any doubled vertices.
2) Fix up normals - manually if necessary.
3) Make the mesh double sided by duplicating everything and doing Flip Normals on the duplicate.

Brilliant, thanks. And thanks for all the work you put in to nexus buddy.

 

[AzraelZephyrian]

Currently making a "bombard" unit.

Eventually I want to make a war wagon, like the one from AoE III, but with more cannons. Gonna be a pain in the rear to modify all the animations of the battering ram. Gotta remove the crew, remove the whole ram element, and rig up cannon animations. But it'll be worth it. A moving fortress, a one-unit-army.

 

[Deliverator]

Currently making a "bombard" unit.

There is a bombard here but you might want something different:
https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/civ5-bombard.21881/

It's always worth checking the Civ 5 Unit database here as there is quite a lot of useful stuff in there already.

If you go to this page you can then do a search and it will search Civ 5 units only:
https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/categories/civ5-units.128/

 

[AzraelZephyrian]

There is a bombard here but you might want something different:
https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/civ5-bombard.21881/

It's always worth checking the Civ 5 Unit database here as there is quite a lot of useful stuff in there already.

If you go to this page you can then do a search and it will search Civ 5 units only:
https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/categories/civ5-units.128/

Ah I'd call that an 1800's field howitzer or mortar. They put a lot more work into, it seems, the animation than I did; I just remeshed a cannon, for something similar to an Ottoman Bombard.

Bombard

• AzraelZephyrian
• Apr 24, 2019

Thanks for the heads up regarding the database!

I think i may make a model similar to Wolfdog's "bombard" (EDIT: never mind, I'll use his; I thought it was a civ 4 model); I've found some good 3rd-party models for the industrial era, but I need a light siege weapon for the early gunpowder era. I'm planning to make an extended version of my "industrial combat overhaul" mod that introduces a couple of upgrade lines for gunpowder units from the late renaissance up through the modern era/information era. It'll probably come with the option of a major tech-tree re-balance, so that you spend a lot more time in the gunpowder eras.

One question: how would I fix the ignition stick animation? As you can see, it is bound to the gun carriage, rather than involved in the crew animation. I tried weight-painting it in the same manner as the unmodified file, but this resulted in the cannon crew literally carrying the cannons like anime swords. I wonder why they didn't just make it its own mesh...