Exporting to .ASS

So I'm running 3DSMax 8 sp3, I've installed and routed everything according tutorials and instructions made both here and in the help document, but I keep running into a problem.

1) As I mentioned on another thread, is the problem of pointing my 3rd party plugins to the Halo directory. Basically what happens is when I go into a subdirectory in order to have max revert to the Halo 2 Map Editor folder, I receive an error when starting Max. When I choose the root folder and have Max use the microsoft games folder, the error does not come up.

2) Either way when I go to export the .ASS file, the dialogue stated in the tutorial does not come up.

3) When compiling the .ASS file, I get 2 error lines, one states that there was no object geometry. No files get created. I'm assuming this is because there's an obvious problem with installing the plugin and exporting the file.

Does anyone have an idea to fix these problems or has anyone come across them?

Did you make a box, name it frame, and link the BSP to it?

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Originally Posted by SMASH

Did you make a box, name it frame, and link the BSP to it?

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Yep. I was gonna follow the tutorial to the letter basically and see if I could at least do that before I got all creative. I made that box called "frame" made the sphere and named it "b_levelroot". I linked the two using the link button up near the select button. Did the editable poly, the material mapping, etc.

Sphere's don't export as geometry. They are designated for nodes. So you're level geometry can't be a sphere.

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Originally Posted by SMASH

Sphere's don't export as geometry. They are designated for nodes. So you're level geometry can't be a sphere.

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That's hilarious. What a useless tutorial.

It says:
7. Now that you have your basic environment geometry, you need to create a frame node. This is an object that controls where the origin of your game world is and which objects within the max file get exported. You’ll be linking objects to this frame node, and anything unlinked is not exported later on.

Click the Sphere button, and then click and drag to create a sphere in the main work area. It doesn’t matter where it is at this point—you will move it later.
8. Select the sphere, expand the Name and Color rollout on the right-hand side of the toolbox (if it is expanded by default, you may skip this step), and then click the text box and type b_levelroot as your sphere object’s name.

You must follow this naming convention because the Halo 2 game engine uses this name when the file is exported. If you don't name the frame node correctly, the environment will not be oriented correctly in the game. There are several different reserved names, but b_levelroot is a typical one. Object and material names are important in Halo 2 editing, so get used to paying attention to this and understanding what the different keys are.

So bascially, don't make a sphere, make a box right?

The sphere that it talks about there is supposed to be the frame.

So just don't do what it says, and just make a sphere and call it frame.

Then make you're geometry and link it to the sphere named frame.

You have to use frames? I haven't been :x

I don't think the name of it really matters, but anything that's getting exported needs to be part of a heirarchy. All the Bungie levels used a sphere called b_levelroot, so far as I saw, with the level geometry underneath that.

From what I read, you use b_levelroot and not frame. Frame is for HEK for HCE. This is the output I was getting when compiling the level.

http://www.kusanagikeitaro.com/hoste...rcompiling.jpg

I played around with the names and wutnot and now my level is skybox and the reference is a box called frame. Amazingly enough, throw everything Hired Gun told you about the new names for this HEK and just stick with the old ones, the box (and your level) "skybox" and the sphere OR box called "frame". My level was then compiled.

Now I've run into another problem. After compiling the level, Halo 2 Sapien notifies me that my scenario file is corrupt and that it will now exit. I've tried going back and making the "frame" object a sphere and box and no changes were made. Any ideas on this one? This might be considered hijaking my own thread, but I'd rather not create a new one. Maybe this one should be called "The Tutorial: Errors found from start to finish." LOL. That ones sums it up right.

Lightmaps beb, gotta make em

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Originally Posted by SuperSunny

Lightmaps beb, gotta make em

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So basically, while I've already found many flaws in the tutorial, I have to make lightmaps prior to comiling the level and inserting spawn points and objects? Now I'm starting to wonder if that tutorial they included was even worth the effor of following.

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Originally Posted by kusanagikei

So basically, while I've already found many flaws in the tutorial, I have to make lightmaps prior to comiling the level and inserting spawn points and objects? Now I'm starting to wonder if that tutorial they included was even worth the effor of following.

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Indeed! Or select examples instead (reference your structure in Guerilla to the example lightmaps BSP file.) for quick placement.

I exported it lightmaps went fine for mine, but the materials were all black.

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Originally Posted by SuperSunny

Indeed! Or select examples instead (reference your structure in Guerilla to the example lightmaps BSP file.) for quick placement.

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Ok so just to confirm. From a max file you take it to .ass, then compile the level, then open in Guerilla and add lightmaps, then take to sapien. Let me know if that's out of order in any way.

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Originally Posted by kusanagikei

Ok so just to confirm. From a max file you take it to .ass, then compile the level, then open in Guerilla and add lightmaps, then take to sapien. Let me know if that's out of order in any way.

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Close enough. If you want to compile your own lightmaps instead of using examples to see your finished product then the Guerilla part can be skipped!

But to use another lightmap to test, yep, you got it!