Creating a mesh building

This tutorial requires the Mesh Buildings Enabler to be installed. Download here: Mesh Buildings Enabler

Step 1: Create the mesh

First of all you need to know what type of building you want to create. There are residential, commercial, industrial and leisure buildings in the game. Next you need to choose a size. It must always be dividable through eight. Here are the sizes for the default lots::

The width is the y-axis in the modeler and the x-axis in the game. The depth is the x-axis in the modeler and the y-axis in the game. The house gets always placed in the center of the lot with the positive x-axis (in the modeler) facing the road. The axes mentioned refer to a right-handed, z-up system.

Next you need to choose a capacity of workers/residents/customers for your lot. Here you can see the capacities of the default lots:

Since the house can be placed on a sloped road, you should create a foundation for your building, that goes a few meters into the ground.

Step 2: Placement of files

Files should be placed here:

MESHES (.msh/.msh.blob):
– res\models\mesh\building\{YourSetName} (if you create a set of buildings)
– res\models\mesh\building\residential
– res\models\mesh\building\commercial
– res\models\mesh\building\industrial
– res\models\mesh\building\leisure

TEXTURES (.tga):
– res\textures\models\building\{YourSetName} (if you create a set of buildings)
– res\textures\models\building\residential
– res\textures\models\building\commercial
– res\textures\models\building\industrial
– res\textures\models\building\leisure

MATERIALS (.mtl):
– res\models\material\building\{YourSetName} (if you create a set of buildings)
– res\models\material\building\residential
– res\models\material\building\commercial
– res\models\material\building\industrial
– res\models\material\building\leisure

MODELS (.mdl):
– res\models\model\building\{YourSetName} (if you create a set of buildings)
– res\models\model\building\residential
– res\models\model\building\commercial
– res\models\model\building\industrial
– res\models\model\building\leisure

BUILDING UTILITY DATA (.bud):
– res\config\building\bud\meshbuildings\{YourSetName} (if you create a set of buildings)
– res\config\building\bud\meshbuildings\residential
– res\config\building\bud\meshbuildings\commercial
– res\config\building\bud\meshbuildings\industrial
– res\config\building\bud\meshbuildings\leisure

Step 3: Create your model

A typical .mdl file for a model looks like this:

function data()
return{


boundingInfo = {
bbMax = { 7.9, 11.9, 8.5, },
bbMin = { -7.9, -11.9, 0, },
},


collider = {
params = { },
type = "MESH",
},


lods = {
{
children = {
{
id = "building/residential0/mymesh.msh",
transf = { 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, },
type = "MESH",
},
},


matConfigs = { { 0, }, },
static = false,
visibleFrom = 0,
visibleTo = 2500,


},
},


metadata = {
},
}


end

The bounding box is (as always) very important. If it's too big, the model will not be displayed / the building will not be chosen. Always make it 0.5m to 1m in each direction smaller than the ground size is. Is the size of one direction not equal to the opposite direction, the model will be centered so that the bounding box is centered.

Also of importance is the “visibleTo” value. Buildings should be displayed even when fully zoomed out. So turn it up real high (as in the example above) and make the mesh either very low-poly or create multiple LODs.

Step 4: Create the building data

Now comes the part which is probably new to you. Create a .bud text file with the following content in the appropriate folder (see step 2):

Zitat

local dasmatze_meshbuildings = require "dasmatze_meshbuildings"

function data()
result = dasmatze_meshbuildings.create()

result.availability.yearFrom = 1800
result.availability.yearTo = 99999

result.type = "RESIDENTIAL"
result.capacity = { 1, 4 }
result.parcelWidth = { 3, 3 }
result.parcelDepth = { 3, 3 }

result.params.assetCenter = "building/residential0/mymodel.mdl"
result.params.assetGarden = { "asset/park_fountain_1.mdl", "asset/park_fountain_2.mdl" }
result.params.assetTree = { "all" }
result.params.assetProbGarden = .0
result.params.assetProbTree = .0
result.params.matWall = { "wall_stone1.btd", "wall_stone2.btd" }
result.params.shapeGridSize = 6.0

return result;
end

Alles anzeigen

The green colored lines are completely optional. If you leave them out, the default parameters are used most of the time.

"result.availability.yearFrom" and "result.availability.yearTo" must not be 0 otherwise they might crash the game. Use a very high number if you want to make it available almost forever.

Here are the rest of the parameters:

Step 5: Test it in the game

If you did everything right, you should have a a custom building in the game.
[Blockierte Grafik: http://www.train-fever.net/index.php/Attachment/15221-Picture-jpg/]

Congratulations! The Train Fever Community awaits some cool buildings from you now.

If you have any trouble concerning this tutorial/mod, leave a comment/reply here or in the Mesh Buildings Enabler Thread.