Ship Tricks: Mini-Guides. NO 3D modeling required! (Bullwinkle) [Guide][TC][AP]

[Killjaeden]

perhaps it help some people if you would mention that adding frontguns to a missilefrigate or bomber will also make their turrets shoot lasers instead of missiles. Provided they didnt forget to add weaponcompatibility. missileturrets will never work with frontguns, never ever.

[DrBullwinkle]

adding [Main Guns] to a missilefrigate or bomber will also make their turrets shoot lasers instead of missiles.

...missileturrets will never work with [Main Guns]

Good point, KJ.

The only thing that makes a missile turret a missile turret is the lack of guns. So, adding Main Guns will have the effect that the M8/M7M will only fire single missiles, and you give up the ability to control the turrets individually.

The tutorial was targeted more toward a Panther or Destroyer (but will also work with a Carrier or TL).

Adding Main Guns to Any Ship Tutorial Updated.

Also, Video Tutorial: Add External Docks to a Ship for M6, TS, and More (YouTube) Added.

[DrBullwinkle]

Testing Your Modded Ship

A few of the changes that you make in TShips will take effect immediately; just reload a saved game. The General tab and Weapon Compatibility work this way.

Most other changes work best by the following method:

• 1) Get into a *different* ship (not the one that you modded).
  2) Go to an empty sector.
  3) Save.
  4) Mod ship.
  5) Reload save.
  6) Create ship.
  7) Test.

[XDrake]

Thank you, first of all for your fine work!
I have a question on ‘Docking larger ships’.
I am using a M1 model, I can remember for the life of me the actual name, I wish to use your trick and be able to dock larger ships. My question is if I make these changes to the dummies file, will all ships of M1 class be able to dock larger ships too? I sort of want my ship to be special.
What I am getting at is there a way that I can copy and paste, a new dummies entry and change the numbering?

[The X-Plorer]

Quick! somebody! Try to make this a sticky!

This could come in extreme handy for me... I dont want it dissapearing on me....

And BTW DrBullwinkle, a few thoughts to throw out on this, think they're worth looking into?

-A Missile weapon that acts like a laser weapon? (Limited dumbfire missiles? come on, at least have a weapon that fires missile-like projectiles at the cost of energy consumption.)

-A flak missile? (Just before hitting the target it splits into a bunch of flak clouds that spread out the damage.)

-A FF jammer (An upgrade that makes your enemies unable to tell if you're a hostile, seems a bit odd but imagine how many unintended encounters with pirates that could prevent.)

-A Weapons energy siphon? (Perhaps you can steal the weapons energy from hostiles with this handy little weapon?)

-A Sheild energy siphon? (similar to above except it steals sheild energy)

Also will be tinkering around to see if I can do the following:

- Create a flak weapon that sends enemy fighters FLYING away. (More so than the CIG, but not send them dozens of KM away.) Can the push effect of the CIG be amplified for this case?

And good to hear from you again as well DrBullwinkle.

[DrBullwinkle]

if I make these changes to the dummies file, will all ships of M1 class be able to dock larger ships too?

Yes.

is there a way that I can copy and paste, a new dummies entry and change the numbering?

There is, but it is more complicated than the other edits that I have tried to explain so far. Even the X3 Editor does not support adding new entries to Dummies *sigh*.

If you open Dummies in a text editor, and be sure that word-wrapping is OFF, then you will see that there are only four lines in the file. All of the "Animated" dummies are stored in a single line. To make matters worse, I do not see how the "records" are delimited. They have varying numbers of entries per "record", and I cannot figure out how the game knows where a new record begins.

If you understand what I have said so far, then you might be able to copy and paste the last five entries of the "Animated" record, then increment the "number of entries" at the beginning of the line (22 in AP).

If none of this post makes sense, then I recommend forgetting about adding your own dummy, for now. If I figure out a better way to describe the process, then I will add a tutorial for it.

A compromise would be to edit one of the less common dummies. That way, some vanilla ships may still have your larger docks, but fewer of them will. The 19026 and 19027 docks used in the tutorial are very commonly-used.

@X-Plorer: Thanks. Those would be "Laser Tricks" or "Missile Tricks", which are beyond the scope of "Ship Tricks". Some of them are easy to figure out if you spend some time looking at TLasers, TBullets, and TMissiles in the X3 Editor.

And you can save your own bookmarks. Just because a thread scrolls off of the first page doesn't mean that you cannot find it. You can always search for "Ship Tricks" or look in my signature.

[The X-Plorer]

Now that I think about it, I have a feeling those weapon energy and shield energy siphon weapons are quite possible, but I also have a feeling that includes some serious script crunching, which I am no master or novice at, nor do I think I will ever be.

Test my Ideas out if you want to Dr Bullwinkle. I'm no doctor ( ) and when it comes to scripting I have NO CLUE what I'm doing...

But If it has anything entirely to do with the X3 Editor 2 you know I'll get right on it.

[XDrake]

I found a way to add/ copy animated docking files!

I added the docking ports of a Mammoth to copy of another in my game.

These are the steps I used: (all in X3 Editor2)

1. Opened the Dummies file from VFS, using the text viewer

2. I copied 19026 and 19027 to the bottom of the section SDTYPE_ANIMATED

3. I renumbered them to 19300 and 19400

4. At the top of the section you need to change the number of entries from SDTYPE_ANIMATED;28; to SDTYPE_ANIMATED;30;

5. I then saved the file to games, types directory

6. I made a copy of the scene file renaming it

7. I then navigated to the copied scene and changed all the corresponding entries of 19026 and 19027 to the new ones, 19300 and 19400

8. Now this will depend on what you are doing. I saved the scene file right to the mod that I am using.

9. I opened the Tship file and changed the scene file to the new one

10. Saved all changes

11. For testing I started a new game and cheated the ships to see if the reference would work and it did

12. I then got back into the X3 Editor and change the fighter docking to the “standard”

13. Starting a new game and cheating the ships again

– so far there is no problem. Although I do have the safe docking and undocking scripts running to.

[DrBullwinkle]

Yes, that's the way.

However, I am concerned that your instructions may be confusing to others. Most of what you did is already in the tutorial, but this piece is the tricky part:

1. Opened the Dummies file from VFS, using the text viewer

2. I copied 19026 and 19027 to the bottom of the section SDTYPE_ANIMATED

First of all, the text viewer is the hard way to edit Dummies. It is much easier to extract to Dummies.txt on your disk drive ("Switch to system dialog"), then edit in a real text editor. The text viewer has no way to turn off line wrapping, which makes editing in the text viewer very cumbersome. This is true for any types file, and is doubly true for Dummies.

Second, it is difficult to describe where 19026 begins and ends. THAT is the tricky part. If you can figure it out, that's great. But for those who do not find it obvious, I would not want them to think that they should be able to do it. Adding a dummy is an advanced topic!

That said, I am glad that you got it working! Yay!

EDIT: If there is interest, I could create a Dummies file that has a few extra dummies in it. That way, people could follow the tutorial to change the Dummies, without having to figure out how to *ADD* Dummies.

(Changing a Dummy is much easier than Adding a Dummy).

[DrBullwinkle]

Here is a step-by-step example of Adding Main Guns to Kyoto in AP, at the request of Frstwlfz.

1) Looking at tships, model tab, the Kyoto scene is
"ships\X3AP\usc\XTC_usc_m2plus_scene".

2) Open from VFS:
objects\
..ships\
..X3AP\
..usc\
..XTC_usc_m2plus_scene

(Select "All" then "Text Viewer")

3) I am going to bravely past in the section that you posted; assuming that you changed ordinals correctly. If not, then we will soon know.

4) Now pull down the File Menu and select Save As...

5) Click "Switch to system dialog"

6) The system dialog opens in my addon folder. So I need to go up a level to find objects.

Then I may have to create sub-folders so that the path is correct. So navigate (or create) the same path that was in the .cat file:

objects\
..ships\
..X3AP\
..usc\
..XTC_usc_m2plus_scene.pbd (default file type of text .txt is OK)

7) Now open the .pbd in a text editor.

I have AP installed in E:\X3AP. After extraction, the full path for the scene is:

E:\X3AP\objects\ships\X3AP\usc\XTC_usc_m2plus_scene.pbd

The resulting file should look like this:

Code: Select all

/# Exported with dbox2 1.13 from USC-105_asymmetricBridge.max at 2011.09.17. 21:37:13
 
VER: 6;
 
P 0; B 19099; C 1; N B19099_1; b  // idx 0
{ 0x2002;  -1000; 5805; 624422;  0.500000; 0.000000; 1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 1; B 19098; C 1; N B19098_1; b  // idx 1
{ 0x2002;  167767; -2875; -280489;  0.256769; 0.000000; -1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 2; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 3; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_3a; b  // idx 2
{ 0x2002;  277384; 10456; 185020;  0.250000; 0.000000; 1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 3; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 3; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_3b; b  // idx 3
{ 0x2002;  277384; 10456; 141685;  0.250000; 0.000000; 1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 4; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 3; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_3c; b  // idx 4
{ 0x2002;  277384; 10456; 97970;  0.250000; 0.000000; 1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 5; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 3; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_3d; b  // idx 5
{ 0x2002;  277384; 10456; 56644;  0.250000; 0.000000; 1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 6; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 4; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_4a; b  // idx 6
{ 0x2002;  -278174; 10456; 185035;  0.250000; 0.000000; -1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 7; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 4; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_4b; b  // idx 7
{ 0x2002;  -278174; 10456; 141861;  0.250000; 0.000000; -1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 8; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 4; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_4c; b  // idx 8
{ 0x2002;  -278174; 10456; 98012;  0.250000; 0.000000; -1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 9; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 4; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_4d; b  // idx 9
{ 0x2002;  -278174; 10456; 57000;  0.250000; 0.000000; -1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 10; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 7; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_7a; b  // idx 10
{ 0x2002;  -167372; 12448; -1101448;  0.500000; -0.087156; 0.996195; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 11; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 7; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_7b; b  // idx 11
{ 0x2002;  167984; 12448; -1101448;  0.500000; 0.087156; 0.996195; -0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 12; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 7; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_7c; b  // idx 12
{ 0x2002;  167868; -12384; -1100948;  0.500000; 0.996195; 0.087156; -0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 13; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 7; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_7d; b  // idx 13
{ 0x2002;  -167492; -12384; -1100948;  0.500000; 0.996195; -0.087156; -0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 14; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 6; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_6a; b  // idx 14
{ 0x2002;  14938; -93761; -413764;  0.666667; -0.577350; -0.577350; 0.577350;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 15; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 6; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_6b; b  // idx 15
{ 0x2002;  14938; -93761; -333125;  0.666667; -0.577350; -0.577350; 0.577350;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 16; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 6; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_6c; b  // idx 16
{ 0x2002;  -14938; -93761; -333125;  0.333333; 0.577350; -0.577350; 0.577350;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 17; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 6; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_6d; b  // idx 17
{ 0x2002;  -14938; -93761; -413972;  0.333333; 0.577350; -0.577350; 0.577350;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 18; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 5; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_5a; b  // idx 18
{ 0x2002;  -40300; 73296; -11261;  0.250000; -1.000000; -0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 19; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 5; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_5b; b  // idx 19
{ 0x2002;  40300; 73296; -11261;  0.250000; -1.000000; -0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 20; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 5; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_5c; b  // idx 20
{ 0x2002;  40300; 73296; 16325;  0.500000; 0.000000; 0.707107; 0.707107;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 21; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 5; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_5d; b  // idx 21
{ 0x2002;  -40300; 73296; 16325;  0.500000; 0.000000; 0.707107; 0.707107;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 22; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 2; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_2a; b  // idx 22
{ 0x2002;  -105958; -19334; 1094992;  0.458333; 0.000000; 0.000000; 1.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 23; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 2; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_2b; b  // idx 23
{ 0x2002;  -130236; -13169; 1094992;  0.458333; 0.000000; 0.000000; 1.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 24; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 2; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_2c; b  // idx 24
{ 0x2002;  105734; -19597; 1094992;  0.541667; 0.000000; -0.000000; 1.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 25; B ships\props\bigturret4_dummy; C 2; N Bships\props\bigturret4_dummy_2d; b  // idx 25
{ 0x2002;  129516; -13324; 1094992;  0.541667; 0.000000; -0.000000; 1.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 26; B 78; N 78;  // idx 26
{ 0x2002;  0; 140600; -748228;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 27; B 78; N 78;  // idx 27
{ 0x2002;  0; 140600; -748228;  0.250000; 0.000000; 1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 28; B 78; N 78;  // idx 28
{ 0x2002;  0; 140600; -748228;  0.666667; -0.577350; -0.577350; 0.577350;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 29; B 78; N 78;  // idx 29
{ 0x2002;  114174; 119571; 1020309;  0.250000; 0.000000; 1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 30; B 78; N 78;  // idx 30
{ 0x2002;  114174; 119571; 1020309;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 31; B 78; N 78;  // idx 31
{ 0x2002;  114174; 119571; 1020309;  0.666667; -0.577350; -0.577350; 0.577350;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 32; B 78; N 78;  // idx 32
{ 0x2002;  -113976; 119571; 1020309;  0.666667; -0.577350; -0.577350; 0.577350;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 33; B 78; N 78;  // idx 33
{ 0x2002;  -113976; 119571; 1020309;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 34; B 78; N 78;  // idx 34
{ 0x2002;  -113976; 119571; 1020309;  0.250000; 0.000000; 1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 35; B 78; N 78;  // idx 35
{ 0x2002;  0; -128111; -440622;  0.250000; 0.000000; 1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 36; B 78; N 78;  // idx 36
{ 0x2002;  0; -128111; -440622;  0.666667; -0.577350; -0.577350; 0.577350;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 37; B 78; N 78;  // idx 37
{ 0x2002;  0; -128111; -440622;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 38; B effects\engines\fx_engine_emitter; N Beffects\engines\fx_engine_emitter; b  // idx 38
{ 0x2002;  0; -1832; -1133942;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 39; B effects\engines\fx_engine_emitter; N Beffects\engines\fx_engine_emitter; b  // idx 39
{ 0x2002;  -56000; -1494; -1120447;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 40; B effects\engines\fx_engine_emitter; N Beffects\engines\fx_engine_emitter; b  // idx 40
{ 0x2002;  56000; -1494; -1120447;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 41; B effects\engines\fx_engine_xtc_white_huge; C 28673; N Beffects\engines\fx_engine_xtc_white_huge_28673b; b  // idx 41
{ 0x2002;  -56000; -1514; -1150727;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 42; B effects\engines\fx_engine_xtc_white_huge; C 28673; N Beffects\engines\fx_engine_xtc_white_huge_28673b; b  // idx 42
{ 0x2002;  56000; -1514; -1150727;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 43; B effects\engines\fx_engine_xtc_white_huge; C 28673; N Beffects\engines\fx_engine_xtc_white_huge_28673b; b  // idx 43
{ 0x2002;  -382; -1704; -1164109;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 44; B ships\props\cameradummy; C 1; N Bships\props\cameradummy_1; b  // idx 44
{ 0x2002;  0; 180046; -531297;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 45; B ships\props\cameradummy; C 2; N Bships\props\cameradummy_2; b  // idx 45
{ 0x2002;  -130884; 2184; 1112294;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 46; B ships\props\cameradummy; C 3; N Bships\props\cameradummy_3; b  // idx 46
{ 0x2002;  288784; -10299; 137629;  0.250000; 0.000000; 1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 47; B ships\props\cameradummy; C 4; N Bships\props\cameradummy_4; b  // idx 47
{ 0x2002;  -295789; -10299; 137629;  0.250000; 0.000000; -1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 48; B ships\props\cameradummy; C 5; N Bships\props\cameradummy_5; b  // idx 48
{ 0x2002;  0; 90074; -68849;  0.250000; -1.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 49; B ships\props\cameradummy; C 6; N Bships\props\cameradummy_6; b  // idx 49
{ 0x2002;  0; -110622; -278843;  0.250000; 1.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 50; B ships\props\cameradummy; C 7; N Bships\props\cameradummy_7; b  // idx 50
{ 0x2002;  0; 56998; -1138874;  0.500000; 1.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 51; B 19098; C 1; N B19098_01; b  // idx 51
{ 0x2002;  -172286; -2875; -281205;  0.243231; 0.000000; 1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 52; B 19098; C 1; N B19098_1; b  // idx 52
{ 0x2002;  -172286; -2875; -350230;  0.243231; 0.000000; 1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 53; B 19098; C 1; N B19098_1; b  // idx 53
{ 0x2002;  -172286; -2875; -210812;  0.243231; 0.000000; 1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 54; B 19098; C 1; N B19098_1; b  // idx 54
{ 0x2002;  167767; -2875; -209979;  0.256769; 0.000000; -1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 55; B 19098; C 1; N B19098_1; b  // idx 55
{ 0x2002;  167831; -2875; -349703;  0.256769; 0.000000; -1.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

P 56; B ships\x3ap\usc\XTC_usc_m2plus; N Bships\XTC\usc\XTC_usc_m2plus; b  // idx 56
{ 0x2002;  0; 0; 0;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1; 1; } // 0

/ =====================================================================
/ Adding 8 Main Guns to any ship (Bullwinkle, 2012-02-06)
/ (Based on nate10587's excellent advice)
/ 1) Change the "P 29" through "P 36" entries to next-higher
/    indexes for your ship's scene.
/    (Example is for Pirate Brigantine M2)
/ 2) Change the x, y, z locations as appropriate for your ship.
/    For example, it is OK to copy locations from forward
/    turrets on your ship.
/    The z value is most important (front-to-back axis).
/    If in doubt, just change that.
/    Don't worry about being perfect. This is mainly for visuals.
/ 3) Add the index numbers from (1) to TShips for your ship's cockpit.
/    Number of laser parts = 1
/    Model = ships\props\invisible_weapon
/    Scene node index = (next higher index for your ship's scene)
/    For main guns, leave "Secondary Model" blank and
/    Secondary Scene node index = -1.
/ 4) Add Weapon Types for your ship.
/ You're done!
P 57; B ships\props\invisible_weapon; C 1; N Bships\props\invisible_weapon_1-01; b
  { 0x2002;  -105958; -19334; 1094992;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  3333;  1; } // 1
  { 0x2002;  -105958; -19334; 1094992;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1;  -1; } // -1
P 58; B ships\props\invisible_weapon; C 1; N Bships\props\invisible_weapon_1-02; b
  { 0x2002;  -105958; -19334; 1094992;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  3333;  1; } // 1
  { 0x2002;  -105958; -19334; 1094992;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1;  -1; } // -1
P 59; B ships\props\invisible_weapon; C 1; N Bships\props\invisible_weapon_1-03; b
  { 0x2002;  -130236; -13169; 1094992;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  3333;  1; } // 1
  { 0x2002;  -130236; -13169; 1094992;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1;  -1; } // -1
P 60; B ships\props\invisible_weapon; C 1; N Bships\props\invisible_weapon_1-04; b
  { 0x2002;  -130236; -13169; 1094992;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  3333;  1; } // 1
  { 0x2002;  -130236; -13169; 1094992;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1;  -1; } // -1
P 61; B ships\props\invisible_weapon; C 1; N Bships\props\invisible_weapon_1-05; b
  { 0x2002;  105734; -19597; 1094992;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  3333;  1; } // 1
  { 0x2002;  105734; -19597; 1094992;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1;  -1; } // -1
P 62; B ships\props\invisible_weapon; C 1; N Bships\props\invisible_weapon_1-06; b
  { 0x2002;  105734; -19597; 1094992;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  3333;  1; } // 1
  { 0x2002;  105734; -19597; 1094992;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1;  -1; } // -1
P 63; B ships\props\invisible_weapon; C 1; N Bships\props\invisible_weapon_1-07; b
  { 0x2002;  129516; -13324; 1094992;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  3333;  1; } // 1
  { 0x2002;  129516; -13324; 1094992;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1;  -1; } // -1
P 64; B ships\props\invisible_weapon; C 1; N Bships\props\invisible_weapon_1-08; b
  { 0x2002;  129516; -13324; 1094992;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  3333;  1; } // 1
  { 0x2002;  129516; -13324; 1094992;  0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000; 0.000000;  -1;  -1; } // -1
/ ===================================================================== 

Note: If I try to drag-and-drop the .pbd into the X3 Editor, I get the error that you report. The reason is because the X3 Editor opens .pbd files in the 3D Viewer, by default. As you guessed, the file format is wrong for the 3D Viewer. However, the Text Viewer can work with this format, so all is well.

[DrBullwinkle]

Okay, I've done the steps above; just to be sure though: in X3 Editor, when I open the scene file and select "save as", "switch to system dialog" the only format I have available is .txt, so the scene is now:

XTC_usc_m2plus_scene.txt

Is that OK?

Hmmm... on my computer, the default extension is .pbd, even though the file format is .txt.

I think that X3 requires the .pbd extension in order to read the file, so change the extension from .txt to .pbd.

[Frstwlfz]

Alright I changed the extension.

I've been trying to add guns to this beast the whole day. I hope it'll work.

[DrBullwinkle]

Alright I changed the extension.

I've been trying to add guns to this beast the whole day. I hope it'll work.

It will work, don't worry.

(If it doesn't work the first time, we will fix it until it does. )

PS: A day is not much for learning something like this. It took me a couple of months to figure out all of the pieces.

[DrBullwinkle]

Just a side note Doc, so he understands the extensions, and the why behind them.

These options are only available when you are using the .cat plugin inside X3 Editor.

.PBB = .BOB(compressed) : Using the 'extract' function inside X3 Editor allows you to extract a .pbb file to your desktop or wherever, and will convert it to .bob. THIS is the 3d model file, which X3 Editors built in 3d viewer will allow you to open.

.PBD = .BOD(compressed) : Using the 'extract' function inside X3 Editor allows you to extract a .pbd file to your desktop or wherever, and will convert it to .bod. THIS is the 'scene' file created by the DBOX extension for 3dMax. IT is a text file, Asking X3 Editor to open it, will generate the exception error you got, since it is not a 3d model.

Using the 'add' function in X3 Editor will bring up a dialogue box with drop down selections by Compress and Compression. The defaults will automatically do the conversion from .bob, and .bod to .pbb and .pbd, respectively.

Just a little explanation for future ventures inside X3 Editor.

While that is correct, as far as I know, it is not relevant to what we are doing here, because we are not using the .cat plugin. But it is good background info, so thank you.

[DrBullwinkle]

Next, let's look at tships.

1) In the X3 Editor, open tships from VFS, find the Kyoto, and look at the turrets tab. Select the "cockpit" turret for main guns.

2) In the lower panel, click the gun icon to add a gun to the cockpit turret.

(Actually, my Kyoto already has a blank entry, so instead of the gun icon, I will double-click the blank gun. That is only for the first gun... I will use the gun icon for the rest.)

3) Weapon dialog:
Number of laser parts = 1
Model = ships\props\invisible_weapon
Scene node index = 57

Click OK (ignore the Secondary parts)

4) Repeat for the rest of the guns. The only thing that changes is the scene node index, which will go up to 64.

5) On the Weapons Compatibility tab, add at least one gun type.

6) When you are done, it is time for the "Smoke Test". (That's engineer-talk for "Plug it in and see if it smokes.")

[Frstwlfz]

Okay, I've followed the steps but it still won't work

The guns show up the cockpit, I can install them but they just don't want to fire.

Thanks again DrBullwinkle for your time. It's really appreciated.

[DrBullwinkle]

Okay, I've followed the steps but it still won't work

The guns show up the cockpit, I can install them but they just don't want to fire.

Thanks again DrBullwinkle for your time. It's really appreciated.

I am happy to help.

Yeah, mine "smoked", too, during the "Smoke Test".

OK, time for debug. Something is close-but-not-quite-right with the scene. Either our copy-and-paste was wrong or the Kyoto lacks a part that other destroyers have. I will figure it out and report back... but this is a good time for a break, if you need one.

[Frstwlfz]

Okay, I've followed the steps but it still won't work

The guns show up the cockpit, I can install them but they just don't want to fire.

Thanks again DrBullwinkle for your time. It's really appreciated.

I am happy to help.

Yeah, mine "smoked", too, during the "Smoke Test".

OK, time for debug. Something is close-but-not-quite-right with the scene. Either our copy-and-paste was wrong or the Kyoto lacks a part that other destroyers have. I will figure it out and report back... but this is a good time for a break, if you need one.

I just can't take a break until it works

But I must admit I've tried a million things and none of them worked. I've reached a point where I just don't know what to do anymore.

[DrBullwinkle]

Don't Panic.

Copy and Paste... Check.

Weapon Compatibility (I forgot to mention it, but it sounds as though you added at least one gun type on this tab).... Check.

(Unlikely to be a format issue. Many people use text editors for editing scenes. )

Sanity Check (Did the same thing with a Brigantine and it worked)... Check.

Re-created the Copy-and-Paste Section.... Bingo!

[Frstwlfz]

Weapon Compatibility (I forgot to mention it, but it sounds as though you added at least one gun type on this tab).... Check.

Yes I tested with some. (EMPC, PSP, SSC mainly)

I've also tried adding the invisible_weapon with 3DS Max but it went horribly wrong The ship was invisible, except for the hangar parts and the weapons didn't even fire.

I've tried something else; encoding the scene file in UTF-8 with NotePad++ but the whole ship was invisible this time, and I had strange graphical glitches with the icons of the stations and the ships on the screen. The weapons fired though, it was buggy but it seemed to work. Thus why I was led to think it may have had something to do with encoding...

I've tried all the encodings though and I got either the same result as above, or no change at all over the default ANSI.