MEX Editing

[Liberator]

I saw a MEX converter that change HWC .mex files to HW and back again. Could someone please tell me where to get it. Alternately if someone knows of a version of VME(Visual Mex Editor) that can edit HWC MEX files, I would be grateful.

[Skeeter]

There is a new mexing tool in the works i think its going to part of a special moding tool that allows the modder total modding power over hw, i think so, i think everyone is trying to get it made but ive been at their forums the HW:DT and theres not much posting telling me that its being done quickly, so may be sometime

[Captain Pierce]

Also, Spooky has promised that he will make his mex editor HW:C compatible eventually, and also add a visual component eventually. :D It may be a while, but I for one am willing to wait... ;)

[Liberator]

I got it figured out!:D Make an HW .MEX in VME, then convert it using Delphy's conversion tool. As long as you can construct or copy/paste SHP's worth a flip then that works. So far I've got a ship using 10 guns of various types. Same ship when it's done should have like 20 - 30 cannons. :wtf: Don't worry some of them will low power, high kinetic transfer anti fighter cannons, so it won't be too overpowered.:nod:

[Liberator]

Hi everybody, I'm going to be politically incorrect and wish everyone a merry Christmas! :wave: :santa: :wave: Now on to the question.

I am mexing ships for Cataclysm and I've got the weapons where I want them. I have extracted the default .SHP so that I know that four of the weapons (this is a destroyer for RACE_KUSHAN) should work fine. But they won't fire. What have I done wrong or not done at all?

[SvK]

Perhaps you did not specify normals in the MEX file?

[Liberator]

Still won't fire. I'm making the MEXes in VME and and then converting them using Delphy's conversion utility. I've got the feeling that it's my SHP files is there a SHP converter out there?

[Fokker]

Yeah, I had serious problems with doing HW:C stuff.
In fact, I just scrapped my HW:C mod project.

Every time I told my new ships to fire, the game crashed.

Anybody know what's going on? I used Spooky's MEX editor and then converted the mex w/ Delphy's tool.

I already have a HW mod, so it's not like I don't know what I'm doing.

[Captain Pierce]

Fokker: the only problem I've had like that was NPC race ships (Raider, Kushan, Taiidan) with missile weapons... They would work fine in SP under AI control, but trying to give them to a human player on an MP map would crash any time they tried to fire the missiles.

Liberator: I've noticed some problems in converting VME-created .mex files into HW:C format--sometimes garbage characters get added to the names. Try this: open the HW:C mex in Delphy's HW:C Mex Editor and take a look. If you see anything like

GUN0~~~~~~~~~~~~

then you may have trouble. Don't know that I've ever seen it happen to guns, it's usually dock points or navlights, but it's something to check, anyway.

I've gotten to the point where I only use Spooky's ME or the "original" ME to actually create or edit the .mex, although I still use VME to place the points.

[Liberator]

First, let me thank you all and Captain Pierce personally, for being so patient with me during my learning experience. I point out Captain Pierce because he has been able on many occasions to provide answers to my question.

Second, I extracted the HW mex and edited it, using coordinates copied to paper from VME. I then re-extracted the Cataclysm SHP file and made a duplicate GUN 0 entry which I then renamed GUN 1. In the game the original entry works just fine but the duplicate won't fire:(. :idea: I saw a Gun Binding entry just below the GUN entries, might I have to bind the various weapons to their specific points?

:EDIT: I did as Captain Pierce suggested and look at it after the conversion process. After the ENG 0 entry there is one blank line followed by one and a half line of 205 repeating over and over again. The same thing happens after the ENG 1 entry. Also the SALVAGE entries are followed by «««««««««««««. Am I screwed or just in a deep hole that must be dug out of? :END EDIT:

Anyway, thank you all for being so patient and understanding.

[Delphy]

Actually « is the correct "pad" character for some of the names.

So if you are seeing this it shouldn't be a problem. The conversion process basically strips out any of these characters anyway.

Regards
Delphy

[Liberator]

Okay, I understand padding a field so that there are no random numbers generated. But what about the repeating 205? I can post the debug text if it would help.

[Captain Pierce]

Delphy: No offense intended, but it doesn't, actually. The garbage characters I'm speaking are visible in your HW:C Mex Editor AFTER conversion from VME-created HW mexes via your converter.

It only seems to be a problem with VME-created mexes, though. Mexes created from scratch in Spooky's ME seem to be fine.

Liberator: If there's a gun binding line, then the original gun is a turret? Listed as Type Visible_Gimble in the .shp file gun entry? If your new gun location isn't a turret, that won't work--you'd need to change it to Hidden_Gimble...

[Liberator]

Good news and bad news.

Good news is the some of the weapons work now.:D

Bad news no main ion cannons and the projectile weapons won't work either.:boohoo:
-edit- Perhaps my Normals need to be longer? They are all set for 1 pointing directly away from the ship. -end edit-


We make progress and do not yield ground.:nod:

Thanks to dzurlord for pointing out the cone width and edge issue.:up: