DUCK'S GUIDE TO ARENA MODDING V1

[Madiaba]

Thoughts:
1. How many startingpoint APs do you have?
2. What are their id #s ("id=1")?  (Make sure not to dup them).
3. the camera is following the bot.
.

[philetbabe]

Thank's mad, but i've tested all this cases with no result.

There's something rotten in this arena :
* if i decompile it with Serge's tool its result is not the same as the one obtained with GMFCompiler_FB
if i recompile with serge's one, without any previous modification -> it popups error
if i recompile with GMF_CompilerFB a previous decompile file with the same tool (and here also, no modif on the file) -> it does compile OK but give this strange result under RA2.

-> so without any change on the decompiled->than compiled file, the result is not the same as before ->  I give up with this arena.

[Madiaba]

If you want, Phil, send the gmf to me and I'l look at it... Actually you've got my curiosity peaked, and I'd really like to see if you don't mind...
You can catch me on Yahoo Messenger (IM) later or tomorrow.
Note, I would probably not use one decompiler with another compiler, or vise versa.
.

[philetbabe]

Thank you for you help, the problem was due to version of gmf compiler/decompiler which gives bad results.

as long as i learn few things in arena modding, i will share them in a document. here is it  (include Duck's brillant  tutorial) :
https://gametechmods.com/uploads/files/Modding Arena  Lessons_v2.0.rar

to do the 'lesson 2' i use gmf_compiler_v49
to do the 'lesson 3', i use serge's compiler which seems better

in the lesson 4 you will see how to add hazards (not explored yet, but i'm confident with a little help from my friends).

And here is the point where i need help :
The addPrismatic function is said to have 7 parameters (see http://www.robotarena.com/exporter/arena_scripting.htm#h5) but in reality, looking at the arena.py, i always found a usage with 8 parameters. what do these last parameters mean ?

[philetbabe]

Well, i have rewritted the previous tutos. It includes the excellent DuckRa2 tutorial.

This tutorial reads about :
-adding camera (static and watch)
-adding objects in your arena
-adding a spike hazard in your arena (template code to insert)

the archive comes with source samples.

Many jobs have still to be done, any contributor is welcomed, as long as he annouces clearly which chapter he would like to enrich - it should be stupid that 2 people works on the same subjects -

So enjoy.


here is the tutos :
https://gametechmods.com/uploads/files/modding_arenav3.0.rar

So, to continue ...

[Madiaba]

Nice. I'll check it out Phil.  
Thanks for you guy's efforts.
.

[philetbabe]

i learn so slowly... but i do learn, and that's the point. hope it should help some to go faster.

[GameKing3]

Thanks Phil i have never really been big on making arena's, but i took a shot at it and i really am getting quite good at it. Most of which is thanks to this thread. Thanks again Mad and Phil.

[philetbabe]

Thanks Phil i have never really been big on making arena's, but i took a shot at it and i really am getting quite good at it. Most of which is thanks to this thread. Thanks again Mad and Phil.

. and most of all DuckRA2 who is the author of the first part of this tutorial and who introduce me in RA2 modding

[GameKing3]

Well yea i was tired last night and i kind of forgot the title of this tread so yea a big thanks to duck to.

[Serge]

#1 Where is your box (and cameras) located? This is "TM_ROW3 X Y Z"(the 4th row).
Here:
The 3 verticalColumns are the Arena’s X,Y,Z coordinates:
X Y Z of Arena.
--------------------
*TM_ROW0 1 0 0
*TM_ROW1 0 1 0
*TM_ROW2 0 0 1
--------------------------
 
The first 3 (0-2) horizontal Rows are the Robot/Object’s X,Y,Z coordinates:
X Y Z of Arena.
Robot’s X
Direction:Y
Z
*TM_ROW0 1 0 0
*TM_ROW1 0 1 0
*TM_ROW2 0 0 1
 
These3 rows determines the ‘direction’ of each of the bot’s 3 X,Y,Z axes,in reference to thearena’s 3 X,Y,Z coordinates. In other terms these determine the bot’s/object’sPitch, Yaw, and Roll,withinthe arena.It tells each axis where to point within the arena at the start of the game; like the cam angles in the bot pythons. (Notice that the 2nd row (the bots ‘Y’ or vertical axis) is usually left with no x or z bias/tilt, but only 1 in the Arena’s Y axis (180degrees- ‘upright’). These numbers have an effect on one another and are therefore ‘very picky’.
I’ve got some ‘templates’ for directing bots/objects in arenas (esp. starting points for bots), so that you can start them facing square with the arena with backs against walls), or face them with backs toward each corner (diagonally).
The 4th horizontal Row only determines the ‘location’ of the bot within the Arena’s X,Y,Z.
X Y Z of Arena.
Robot’s X
Direction:Y
Z
Location
*TM_ROW0 1 0 0
*TM_ROW1 0 1 0
*TM_ROW2 0 0 1
--------
*TM_ROW3 5 3 12

 
 
 
#2. Here's what I have of the latest from Serge's stuff (includes a 3D viewer:-D): GMF_Serge
 
 
#3. The Bot's heading and starting positions are dictated by 'startpoint', which complete section is below(example only: don't copy and use, formatting may not be in tact):

Code: [Select]

*GMID_ATTACHMENTPT
 {
  *NODE_NAME Point01
  *NODE_TM
  {
   *NODE_NAME Point01
  [COLOR=seagreen] *TM_ROW0 -0.707107 0.000000 -0.707107[/COLOR]
[COLOR=seagreen]    *TM_ROW1 0.000000 1.000000 0.000000[/COLOR]
[COLOR=seagreen]    *TM_ROW2 0.707107 0.000000 -0.707107[/COLOR]
   [COLOR=blue]*TM_ROW3 6 0.3 6[/COLOR]
  }
  USER DATA type = [B][COLOR=black]startpoint[/COLOR][/B]
id = 1
 
 }

Hope this helps, Phil. Gottta get back to work...
.

You are talking about 3x4 transformation matrices (hence the TM). Here it is explained very well about how to manually change the values to rotate, move and scale your stuff in-game.
http://www.ruthless.zathras.de/facts/apps/polygonesia/3d-transformation-matrix.php
Look in the paragraph entitled The Five 3D Transformation Matrices.
(ignore the last column of the matrices given in the examples)

Also, keep in mind that my viewer ignores the TM's (I am a lazy man), and should not be used to read arena data, since it will most likely display all the objects at 0,0,0, with random rotation and scaling.

GMF stands for Gabriel Meta File.

When you get values like -7.751465E-07 , it's -7 * 10^-7. It's so small you can round it down to 0.

Oh, and please, please, please use my compiler and decompiler. They'll give you much more detailed error messages. They'll not be bastards and crash on you. They don't bite. They allow you to compile/decompile wheels, the flextop arena, the car steering, and whatnot. http://code.google.com/p/gmftoolkit

[Madiaba]

...Oh, and please, please, please use my compiler and decompiler. They'll give you much more detailed error messages. They'll not be bastards and crash on you. They don't bite. They allow you to compile/decompile wheels, the flextop arena, the car steering, and whatnot. http://code.google.com/p/gmftoolkit

I agree. And much appreciated too.
 
BTW, Serge, While trying to compile the DSLSoocer arena, I got an error, but it wasn't 'lethal' to the gmf. (Decompiling worked very well, thanks.) It looks like it would be a minor tweak to fix, if you've time:
("readFloat(): Expected "LIGHT_INTENS. but found .000000 instead!" and LIGHTASPECT, LIGHT_ATTNSTART, LIGHT_TDIST, and a parenthesis issue. Most of them were just switched locations.
 
Dziekuje, Serge. (hope i spelled it right, ...hehe)
.

[philetbabe]

Serge compiler/decompiler seems to be the best for components, when working on arena, with my little experiment which is no more than one month old, it appears that decompiling is fine (can be compiled with other gmf), but compiling brings error even with unmodified files.gmf. maybe we should create a thread to expose the defect we found so Serge's compiler should improve better and better as time goes on ?

[Reier]

Nothing comes up on my compiler after the first time! Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong?
Edit: Wait...I figured it out. Nevermind. ><

[philetbabe]

[TEASER]

Before i go on holidays, i will try to post the last version of the tutorial  "arena Modding". Here you will learn how to replace walls with fences and how to make thess fences scroll down after a certain amount of time :

[Madiaba]

Nice, Phil. Looks good. You guys are getting it...
Are the fences triggered via 'time' or 'botlocation' or something else?
(A vid would help, but NP.)
.

[philetbabe]

they are "timed" : after a counter down (timer), i apply force to make them scroll.

my learning on arena modding relies mostly on other arena study. Typically, i copy here the mechanism used in bbean arena.

btw there is something i don't understand : what does that "addPoV" and "AddCollisionLine" stand for in the py ? What is a POV ? what is a use of  adding collision line when that may be delegate to the gmf (and seems to be enough) ?

[JoeBlo]

wow phil your getting really good at this.. I really need to dedicate more time to learning this but study comes first :-(

[philetbabe]

here is the movie of this arena that will come with the tutorial.

[media]https://gametechmods.com/includes/flvfiles/pinkArena.flv[/media]

Well, nothing to do with apanx's, trovaner's or Madiab 's arena... but i'm a beginner.

[ianh05]

^ do need for robo-zone arena, just need to make walls around bots in pos. 1 and 2 that come down O.o would be much appreciated :) and the walls would have to come down separately :P good job though.