MD4 / DMR - Skeletal models for GZDooM (and ST) ?

[ZardoZ]

I was trying to find the limitations of MD3 format file (i found it), and i find information for a skeletal model format for Q3 that was unfinished by Id and later was finished by others for other uses of Quake 3 engine. It was the MD4 format. The MD4 it's like MD3 but using skeletal animation that give much more powerful and nice animations to any model (see any game of Unreal Tournament series...)

The problem of the MD4 is that never was finished by Id and in Q3 source code, only was part of the MD4 code... When Raven make his game ST: Elite Force (great game ), they finished his version of the MD4 format, called DMR. Other games based on Q3 launched his version of MD4 (for example Heavy Metal FAKK2).. For other side, a guy called "Gongo" working over the Q3 source code and which a great search and investigation work, finished a MD4 format....

Actually there the DMR format from Elite Force and Gongo'd MD4 format are open source and usable for other engines like Skulltag or GZdoom or any other SP of DooM or Quake 3 .... So.. my question ... GZDoom will try to implement DMR , MD4 or other skeletal model format ? Think that freedom that can give.. Goodbye to "poor fixed animations" welcome to the freedom of procedural animations that can be auto adapted to the situations, physics (yes this give the key for a future rag doll physics!), and even adapt the animations to the power of the computer were are running.

More info in :
Gongo site : http://gongo.quakedev.com/
More info about Gongo's MD4 : http://www.quakesrc.org/forums/viewtopi ... hlight=md4
Info about DMR for ioQuake 3 : http://svn.icculus.org/quake3/trunk/md4 ... iew=markup

[Nash]

All of this doesn't really mean much when actors in Doom are frame-based. Trying to implement a skeletal model format into GZDoom would also require a new kind of actor. It just wouldn't work with Doom's actor states.

[ZardoZ]

How works the Doom actor estates and animations ?

[Azure Agony]

Models in GZDoom using MD2 and MD3 format (but for animation I think only MD2, cause I can't run MD3 animation and I had errors. Does MD3 animation format run proparly or only MD2 animation model, Graf? MD2 and MD3 static models run properly). At first you have to build and animate model (in any extension) but then you must convert in GZDoom supported model. For example models from Quake 2 (MD2) run fine, you just need to write a code and decorate.

Here is example of my animated model Modeldef:
Model TRITE
{
Path "models"
Model 0 "TRITE.md2"
Skin 0 "TRITE.tga"
Scale 1 1 1

Frame POSS A 0 "frame01" //Walk animation
Frame POSS B 0 "frame05"
Frame POSS C 0 "frame09"
Frame POSS D 0 "frame13"
Frame POSS E 0 "frame17"
Frame POSS F 0 "frame21"
Frame POSS G 0 "frame25"
Frame POSS H 0 "frame29"
Frame POSS I 0 "frame33"
Frame POSS J 0 "frame37"
Frame POSS K 0 "frame41"
Frame POSS L 0 "frame45"
Frame POSS M 0 "frame49"


Frame TROO A 0 "frame80" //Idle anim
Frame TROO B 0 "frame81"
Frame TROO C 0 "frame82"
Frame TROO D 0 "frame83"
Frame TROO E 0 "frame84"
Frame TROO F 0 "frame85"
Frame TROO G 0 "frame86"
Frame TROO H 0 "frame87"
Frame TROO I 0 "frame88"
Frame TROO J 0 "frame89"
Frame TROO K 0 "frame90"
Frame TROO L 0 "frame91"
Frame TROO M 0 "frame92"
Frame TROO N 0 "frame93"
Frame TROO O 0 "frame94"
Frame TROO P 0 "frame95"
Frame TROO Q 0 "frame96"
Frame TROO R 0 "frame97"
Frame TROO S 0 "frame98"
Frame TROO T 0 "frame99"
Frame TROO U 0 "frame100"

Frame BOS2 A 0 "frame131" //Attack animation
Frame BOS2 B 0 "frame133"
Frame BOS2 C 0 "frame135"
Frame BOS2 D 0 "frame138"
Frame BOS2 E 0 "frame140"
Frame BOS2 F 0 "frame143"
Frame BOS2 G 0 "frame147"
Frame BOS2 H 0 "frame149"
Frame BOS2 I 0 "frame154"
Frame BOS2 J 0 "frame156"
Frame BOS2 K 0 "frame157"
Frame BOS2 L 0 "frame159"
Frame BOS2 M 0 "frame160"
Frame BOS2 N 0 "frame164"
Frame BOS2 O 0 "frame166"
Frame BOS2 P 0 "frame168"
Frame BOS2 Q 0 "frame169"
Frame BOS2 R 0 "frame174"
Frame BOS2 S 0 "frame176"
Frame BOS2 T 0 "frame180"
Frame BOS2 U 0 "frame182"
Frame BOS2 V 0 "frame183"
Frame BOS2 W 0 "frame188"
Frame BOS2 X 0 "frame190"
Frame BOS2 Y 0 "frame193"
Frame BOS2 Z 0 "frame195"
Frame CPOS A 0 "frame199"

Frame SPID A 0 "frame201" //Hurt animation
Frame SPID B 0 "frame203"
Frame SPID C 0 "frame206"
Frame SPID D 0 "frame208"
Frame SPID E 0 "frame211"
Frame SPID F 0 "frame212"
Frame SPID G 0 "frame216"
Frame SPID H 0 "frame217"
Frame SPID I 0 "frame218"
Frame SPID J 0 "frame219"

Frame CYBR A 0 "frame131" //Death animation
Frame CYBR B 0 "frame221"
Frame CYBR C 0 "frame222"
Frame CYBR D 0 "frame223"
Frame CYBR E 0 "frame224"
Frame CYBR F 0 "frame225"
Frame CYBR G 0 "frame226"
Frame CYBR H 0 "frame227"
Frame CYBR I 0 "frame228"
Frame CYBR J 0 "frame229"
Frame CYBR K 0 "frame230"

}

And here is a code of Decorate:
ACTOR TRITE 20078
{

Health 100
PainChance 180
Speed 10
Radius 30
Height 32
Mass 400
Monster
+FLOORCLIP +FASTER +FASTMELEE
SeeSound "trite_sight"
AttackSound "trite_attack"
PainSound "trite_pain"
DeathSound "trite_death"
ActiveSound "trite/active"
//Obituary "$OB_DEMONHIT"
States
{
Spawn:
TROO ACEGIKMOQSUTRPNLJHFDB 4 A_look
Loop
See:
POSS ABCDEFGHIJKLM 2 A_Chase
Loop
Melee:
BOS2 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1 A_FaceTarget
CPOS A 1 A_SargAttack
Goto See
Pain:
SPID ABCDEFGHI 1
SPID J 1 A_Pain
Goto See
Death:
CYBR A 8 A_Scream
CYBR BCDEFGHIJK 1
CYBR K 0 A_SpawnItem("DEAD_TRITE")
Stop
Raise:
CYBR K 5
CYBR JIHGFEDCBA 5
Goto See
}
}

[Nash]

There is no reason why MD3 animation would not work in GZDoom. Animations in MD2 and MD3 are basically vertex-transformed so I don't see the problem.

How are you exporting your animated MD3s? What program are you using and what plugin?

I use 3ds Max 8 and Chris Cookson's Pop 'N Fresh exporter and any animations done in Max export to MD3 perfectly (provided that they are properly collapsed to vertex animation beforing exporting).

This GZDoom mod uses animated MD3 models: http://www.doomworld.com/idgames/index.php?id=15130

[Azure Agony]

I use milkshape (trial). I downloaded that zombi.zip. It's good that GZDoom support MD3 animation. That mean I did something wrong with model or Milkshape doesn't properly save animation. But I save this same model in MD2 and everything was fine. Nice, now I can start works again with my Doom marine from quake 3. I made test version in MD2 format but in that format animated models are "shaking", they're strang stretching on polygons edge and all these don't look fine (this "shaking" best looks in Kingpin, but in Quake 2 we can see this problem too). I see models in zombi.zip haven't got this "shaking" problem (as know in Quake 3 this problem with new model format vanished).

[TheDarkArchon]

I would say you're doing something wrong: I've managed to import a MD3 into GZDoom, animated an all, which was exported from Milkshape.

[Enjay]

I think Milkshape has a problem importing MD3s with their animation. It can export fine, apparently. It's just importing that doesn't work.

[Azure Agony]

I forgot to say that I got problem only witn MD3 animation from Milkshape, nonanimated MD3 models works fine. It's a pity that Milkshape doesn't import animation frames

[SnakePlisskenPMW]

I am on windows 7 and vista and I have no issues with importing and exporting .md3 models into and out of milkshape 3D. I remember having issues displaying frame animations I BELIVE though I could be wrong…. Being on vista and 7 there is only one thing out there that I have found the years of searching, that works for my system., … speaking about misfits model 3D; it runs perfectly under a certain windows OS. May be xp or 2000 idk, and features bugs running on virtually every other type other type of OS though as I here…but minor things. For example, even when using windows 7 or Vista, milkshape recognizes other player model parts ( I.e: other tagged .md3 models consistent in the single model like: head, upper, lower ) when attempting to load a single tagged model I.e: _head, . but at this point what it will fail to do on 7 and vista is actually load those models. It will load models as one model correctly if certain strange conditions our met, in that where one places vertices and builds models with in empty placement. Im not sure of the proper things that need to be respected in a model in order for the model to import and open properly on windows 7 or vista but what I do know is I have found a model that dose work, I use this model that dose all in all work 100% correct in milkshape, so I use this and its tags as my canvas for new models, building over and simply replacing tags, and re packing new animations into the pre existing frames.



With that im working with .md3 models and I am thinking about, because of where ‘my line of work’ has brought me- in seeing to it that I can get another tag based model format working inside the binaries of a vr. of GZDOOM

Im thinking of doing this because im interested in porting my own highly modified version of gzdoom to the PS3 cfw interface, The Wii homebrew interface, and the PSP ofw.

[Edward-san]

Actually you could make a new thread instead of bumping a 3-year old one. Ask a moderator to move this to a new thread.