Currently there are only three POF data types supported by PCS during conversion, not including shields and LOD
| usage | limitations | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| hierarcy | data type | |||
| AutoTurret | |
This feature will set the turret data and subobject data automatically, it will also calculate the normal for it based on the average relative position of all firing points | the naming is very strict, if you have a lot of turrets you must remember to have them all named correctly and have all the firing points with the right names before them. Having a firing point named "turret01-fp01" in turret02's hierarchy will give another point to turret01 that will be in it's frame of reference | To make an auto-gen turret the base model must have a name starting with "turret" followed by a two digit number. For two part turrets it must also end in "-base" and the barrels must end in "-arms". Glue a light to the turret base model named "turretXX-fpNN" were XX is the turret number and NN is the firing point number |
| AutoEngine | |
this will generate the hierarchy and position the glow points for all thrusters you want, based on the position of lights | it will not set the size or the normal for the glow points, this is one of the less done parts of the auto-gen code and is less stable than other parts | To make an auto-gen thruster, simply place a light named EngGlowXX-NN were XX is the thruster (starting at 1) and NN is the glow point (also starting at 1) |
| AutoInsignia | |
this will generate insignias on you're ship from simple polymodels | this has quite a few bugs in it, as far as I can tell it will always treat the subobject as a normal subobject and thus you will have the geometry in your ship and the texture you apply to it will be in the texture list | To make an insignia you need to make a poly submodel like you would for thruster models or turrets named InsgLODXX were XX is the LOD you want this insignia to be associated with, it is quite important that all geometry be triangulated |
| AutoShield | |
this will generate shields from a triangulated mesh | the only limitation is that you cannot edit the geometry directly once in the POF, this isn't really much of a limitation. | To make a shield, make a mesh that is completely triangulated, it needs no UV work done on it and materials will be ignored glue a light to it and glue it to the hull of your ship, basically treat it like any other subobject |
| subobjects | |
this isn't really an auto-gen feature but I figured I should include this anyway. Submodels are used for turrets, thrusters, physical subsystems and other stuff | To make a submodel simply glue one or more objects together then glue the combination to the parent object, if you only have one object use a light | |
| LOD | |
this is how to make Levels Of Detail with PCS | To make a LOD model simply make a poly chopped version of the high detail model then glue it to the main hull. Any subobjects that have a high poly version should end in 'a', 'b', 'c', or 'd' depending on the level of detail, the high poly versions of these models should end in 'a', this rule does not apply to the main hull geometry. The top of the group must be named detailX were X is the LOD (0 being already taken by the high poly version, so it starts at 1) | |
| debris | |
this is how to make debris with PCS | To make a peace of debris you mearly need to make the geometry for the dead ship chunk, glue it to a light and glue it to the main LOD like any normal subobject. Name it debrisX were X is the debris peace starting with 1 | |