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  1. Often people ask how to change events in freeplay to change the game to fit their style of playing more then the original game did. This tutorial will break down the important lines and teach you what things to change and what effect they have. As always [b]BACKUP YOUR ORIGINAL FILES FIRST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![/b] Next, navigate to the folder your game is installed in and go to \Mods\Los Angeles Mod v1.6\Specs The files are in xml format which is just a text document and easily modifiable. Depending on your computer skill level, you can either open the files directly into notepad by right clicking the file and selecting "Open With" and selecting notepad or wordpad, OR you can change the filename from .xml to .txt There are 4 files you can change to affect freeplay depending on which version of the game you have. [i]fp_params_challenge.xml [/i] <-- Changes the Freeplay Challenge mode in EM4 and FR [i]fp_params_endless.xml[/i] <-- Changes the Freeplay Endless mode in EM4 and FR [i]fp_params_challenge_d.xml[/i] <-- Changes the Freeplay Challenge mode in Deluxe [i]fp_params_endless_d.xml[/i] <-- Changes the Freeplay Endless mode in Deluxe You can change all of the files or just the one of the mode you play the most. ------ [i]<MinDurationBetweenEvents value = "30.0" /> [/i] This is the minimum duration between two events. If things are happening too quickly for you, or one on top of another, you can change this to whatever you'd like. Most people find 120 or 140 to be a comfortable setting [i]<StartBudget value="150000"/> <MaxBudget value="400000"/> <Earnings value="30000"/> [/i] These are the initial amount of money you have, the max amount you can have, and how much you earn each time the game gives you your pay. Change these number to increase or decrease the amount you want. [i]<InitialEventWaitDuration value="5.0"/>[/i] How long from the time the game starts until you get your first event. Some people like to increase this time so they can get their units on patrol and set up the map the way they like first. [i]<starttime value="7:30"/>[/i] What time of day the game starts at. Change it to midnight or to noon or to any other time you wish. [i]<TrainCycle value="240.0"/> <!-- in seconds -->[/i] How often the train comes through. If you find yourself frustrated by the train, you can set it to a high number like 9999.0 to see it less often. --------------------- [b]Editing Events[/b] Some people only like fire events, some like police events, this section will break down an event and all of the factors you can change. [code] <EFPEventFall> <Enabled value = "1" /> <!-- AverageFrequency: average number of events per 10 minutes --> <AverageFrequency value = "0.4" /> <Worth value = "4.0" /> <SupervisorStart value = "ID_SUPERV_EVENT17" /> <SupervisorFinish value = "" /> </EFPEventFall>[/code] This is a typical event for freeplay [code]<EFPEventFall> </EFPEventFall>[/code] Opening and closing tags that describe the event itself. This would be a Fallen person medical aid. [code]<Enabled value = "1" />[/code] 1 is enabled, 0 is disabled. Like an on/off switch [code]<!-- AverageFrequency: average number of events per 10 minutes --> <AverageFrequency value = "0.4" />[/code] This tag is debatable, many of us have noticed that incidents with a lower number happen more often then those with a higher number. Setting it to 0.0 also has the effect of disabling the incident. --- There are many other event tags, but for the most part they are self explanatory such as how long a person waits, how far they run, and whether or not they are armed. Another thing you can change is the weather. [code] <weather name="fair" changeduration="15.0" minduration="60" maxduration="180"> <fog intensity="0.0" color="ffffff"/> <rain intensity="0.0"/> <storm intensity="0.0" speed="0.0"/> <flash frequencyfactor="0.0"/> <sound name=""/> <sound2 name=""/> <transition state="cloudy" weight="1.5"/> <transition state="misty" weight="0.7"/> </weather>[/code] You can see that for a nice day, all of the fog, rain, storm and everything is set to 0.0. It also shows that after that, it will transition to either cloudy or misty. If weather slows down your system, or you just accept the fact that in Los Angeles, we go nearly all year without any rain, you can change many of these factors. You can go down to the bad weather and set them all to 0.0. You can remove the transition state lines in fair, and then remove all of the other weather types. Or you can find your own happy medium that you prefer. ----- Remember to save the file to the same location and if you changed the file name to .txt, remember to put it back as .xml I hope that helps, Mike
    6 points
  2. Hello all, this tutorial will touch on the basics of lighting in Emergency 4, an essential part of a mod that can make the difference between a great mod and a mediocre mod. First off I'll touch on the different things you'll encounter in the editor. Coronas This is the most basic part of a light and can be placed wherever you want to see the glow. There's many options for colours, which can come stock, or designed through photo editing programs. http://i.imgur.com/Q29tT3p.png Here you can see the drop down menu letting you select the types of coronas. They're generally pretty basically named, so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out what one you'd like. If you're lighting a unit that has different colour/shades of lights than you see here, you can make a corona file and name it your own, as seen with my corona4_nfk_red.tga. Files are saved : Mod:Textures\Coronas and saved as targa files, 32x32 for best results. Generally speaking again, less is more however more coronas is not the most damaging thing you can do Radiation This is a very controversial part among modders. Too much will ruin your lights, your unit and possibly the game experience. The modders I spoke with on this had divided opinions on how much to use and why. No radiation, period: While this will certainly increase the overall performance of your units, and prevent any radiation related issues, it's the most extreme and not really necessary. Basic Radiation Only: This means only placing subtle radiation on brake and headlights. This means that you have at least the basics, but doesn't give you a glowing effect or the ground effects you associate with emergency vehicles in real life. Heavy Radiation: Putting a radiation box for every flash does provide a realistic lighting effect, which looks great in youtube videos and show cases but it is hard on the old engine that runs this game. Although a unit or two on a map may work well with heavy radiation, when combined with the high poly models that are commonplace now as well as the effects happening in the game, FPS will drop and the mod will become virtually unplayable. Strategic radiation: As you can tell, this is my preference, so I am biased on this, but where the game is older, even maximized systems will struggle without optimization of every part of the game, including lighting effects. Generally speaking, vehicles will have a main light system, maybe a full sized light bar, or interior lighting systems. The trick is to find the main system functioning and place radiation around it in a way that looks close. Placing a radiation block near the light will work. For Ambulances where they have perimeter lighting, flash patterns can be emulated following a similar method, just moving the radiation to the lighthead. A standard LED Lightbar is likely to have a 1-2 pattern, where sides flash opposite to each other. This is particularly common in ambulances and police vehicles. By placing radiation on one light for each flash on each side will help produce a realistic ground effect without being too heavy on resources. While it will not emulate ground effects for perimeter lights or other area lighting, it gives enough detail for bird eye view, like in this game. This type of radiation works best on patterns such as seen on this lightbar: https://youtu.be/IxwxcNC8SQQ?t=24 For vehicles such as fire trucks or vehicles with one rotating light can achieve ground effects that are not taxing, but still can look aesthetically pleasing. Fire Trucks have a weird lighting layout many times, such as the Ladder in Hoppah's LA Mod. The trick lies in placing radiation on sides where lightbars would shine in real life, but by placing them in alternating time flashes as well as slight location differences. When activated, the ground effects will show a flashing effect. It differs from unit to unit, but can be achieve with some playing around and timing. I complied some images in an album here to show you what I'm talking about. How to make realistic lights LED Lights: As vehicles get newer, agencies have been shifting to LED for their superior performance in many areas including brightness, visibility, cost and maintenance. These are pretty easy in comparison to halogen lights, especially the way this game was designed. Start by placing the corona in the area you want, switch to polygon mode and begin drawing by clicking to place corners. You should try to create a box around the lighthead. What this does is puts a glowing area that is supposedly lit up by the light when it flashes. Back to light mode, you can set flash frequency and intensity. The former is of course how fast the light blinks and the latter is how quick it turns off. A higher intensity will mean a shorter, quicker blink. When you feel as if you're ready, you can copy and paste the light, changing the flash offset value, which will change timing. Depending on the speed at which your light flashes and the pattern you're trying to emulate, you will range anywhere between. A 1 is on when 0 is off. For reference, for a standard alternating strobe type pattern, I set speed of 4.00, two lights on either light head, 0.00 and 0.50 offset for the first light, and 1.00 and 1.5 for the other light, all with a 0.95 intensity. Play around with it, see what works for you. Rotating Lights: This is something that everyone has a totally different way of doing, and you'll probably change your method a dozen times before you find something you like. There's a bunch of methods, so I'll outline some that I've used and been told about. Single corona: This is the first one that was very popular seen in mods. It's featured in the LA mod and based off of the idea that you see a blink when the light flashes. It's the way the base game started. It's light, but it doesn't look all that great. Don't do it, you're better than that if you're taking the time to read this. 4 alternating coronas in a square pattern: So this is the first way I learned, and it's by placing them in a tight square, with a high intensity, speed and an offset of 0.25 each. This creates a spinning type effect when zoomed out a little bit. The problem is, this means 4 lights for every effect. Not only that but there is also the lack of a "blink" that you see when looking at a light in real life. 4 alternating coronas in a square pattern with flash: I've seen some mods with this lately, it's meant to address the blink you see in real life. You still get a rotating effect and the flash. This addresses one issue, but adds another when it puts in an additional light. The blink is usually timed with one of the other lights' offset 2 coronas with flash: So this is the one I personally use now, as well as many other people coming up. The method is placing two coronas, usually 0.50 offset apart. On models with clear lenses, it's easier to do this. I recommend trying it on this type first as it's easier to place them. Hoppah has a pack in his LA mod to practice on. I place the coronas on either side of the rotator beacon. In the middle then, I place a larger corona, at half way between the offsets (0.00, 0.50 = 0.25) at full intensity to create that blink. I personally also change the corona type to a different one. I may use 5_red for either side and _redlight for the flash. That works for me and my units, but you need to do what works for you and more importantly the units you're representing. Hopefully this provides a brief overview of the basics, some methods on how to get you started and explains some choices. If you have any questions, comments or your own thoughts to add, please let me know in the comments section
    2 points
  3. [b]1.[/b] Import both the person model you want to edit, as well as the object model you are adding. Make sure the person's .VMO file is in the same directory/folder as .v3o file you are importing - the .VMO file contains the skeleton, bones, and animation sets. [b]2[/b]. Position the new object where you want it on the person model. [b]3.[/b] Attach the object to the person model. (Modify --> Attach) [b]4.[/b] Paint influence of the desired bone onto the object's vertices. For instance: a new helmet will be influenced entirely by the head bone.[list] [*]4.1. Cycle through bones until you have highlighted the desired bone. (Rigging --> Skeleton --> Set next skeleton bone as current) [*]4.2. Once the desired bone is highlighted, select the tool to assign desired vertices to highlighted bone. (Rigging --> Influence --> Copy vertices weights between or within object). [*]4.3. Enable vertex editing mode (Key "1", click on model in viewport). Ensure "Auto" (bottom right corner) is enabled by pressing the spacebar. Using the influence tool, click and drag a box over the desired vertices to assign influence. [*]4.4. Once desired vertices are selected, disable "Auto" (spacebar). Click in viewport once. [*]4.5. Use the painting tool (Rigging --> Influence --> Paint weight of current bone on vertices) to paint bone weight onto any stray vertices. This is sometimes required if the first tool does not correctly assign all of the vertices to the desired bone. [b]Note[/b]: It may take several passes of the paint brush to correctly assign all vertices. You want all desired vertices to be the same solid color of the highlighted bone. [*]4.6. Enable object editing mode (Key "4"). Select normalizing tool (Rigging --> Influence --> Normalize weight on vertices). Click model. [/list] [b]5.[/b] Export .v3o file. [b]IMPORTANT NOTES:[/b] 1. You can check that vertices were assigned to correct bone by opening up .v3o file in Notepad and checking that all new vertices (#, 1024, #, 1024, etc) are listed under correct K/Anchor bone at the very bottom of the file. 2. Sometimes the automated assigning tool in step 4.2 does not assign all vertices correctly. Use tool described in 4.5 to clean up any stray vertices.
    2 points
  4. Emergency 4 - Adding Vehicles Difficulty: Moderate Programs used: Emergency 4 (v1.3) Editor WordPad or Notepad This tuturial will teach you how to add a new vehicle to your mod step by step. You should already have a model and texture file. Besides this tutorial, it can be VERY useful to compare your files with other mods or original files. In this tutorial, the following vehicle will be added to a mod: Image 01: Vehicle ========================== NEW FOLDERS: 1. Adding new vehicles requires the following folders in your mod if you don't have them already: Lang, Models, Prototypes, Specs and Units. Image 02: Add new folders 2. All files in your mod are sorted in subfolders. You need to create those folders too. 3. In case you want to add a police vehicle you need to make the following folders in your mod folder: .../Models/Vehicles/Police/ .../Prototypes/Vehicles/Police/ 4. Now, move all model- and texture files from your vehicle to your .../Models/Vehicles/Police/ folder. Image 03: Subfolders and the model- and texture files In case you are renaming your model- and texture files: 5. You need to make sure the texture files are linked to their model files, otherwise each model is missing their textures. 6. Open each model file (.V3O) with WordPad and look for the texture name. Change it to your new texture name and save the file. NOTE: If you're seeing a lot of weird symbols, the model is locked/packed (all Emergency 4 model files are). You can unpack the model file in the Emergency 4 editor. Start the editor. Go to Modifications -> Unpack file... It doesn't matter if your file is packed or not. Emergency 4 can read both. Image 04: Change texture name in model files ========================== CREATING AND EDITING BODY PROTOTYPE FILES: 7. When you have moved your model- and texture files to your mod you need to make prototype files. Each object of your vehicle has its own prototype file (body, doors, wheels etc...). Lets start with the body of the new vehicle. 8. Start the editor and always load your mod (Modifications -> My mod) first, otherwise the changes won't be made in your modfolder, but inside the Data folder of Emergency 4. 9. If you're not seeing the object window, go to Edit -> Scene. 10. Click on Vehicles -> Police (just like those subfolders in step 9) and click on NEW. 11. A new window will appear. The first thing you have to do is linking your model file to the prototype file. 12. Click on Browse behind Modelfile: and search the model file of the body of your new vehicle. Click OK. Your model is linked to the prototype file and can be viewed in the editor if you click on OK in the prototype window. 13. Each object in Emergency 4 has some options which need to be checked or not. For vehicles check the following options in the bottom of the prototype window: A black dot in: Physics, Children, Lights, Traits and General. A little cross in: Fire Use 'Custom' as Placement. 14. Now, you have to edit the Traits of your object. Click on Edit Traits. A new window will appear. Change the Flags first. Usually, most Emergency vehicles use Shootable, Coolable, Transportable - ASF and Recoverable - FGrR. If you want to have equipment inside the car, check some flags under Contained Equipment too (not more than 6). Voice/Sound is for the type of voice for your vehicle. Emergency 4 has 3 different voices (0, 1 and 2). Set the gender (for vehicles: Male or Female). Choose your type of vehicle under TaskForce Vehicle Type. Because our vehicle is a simple police vehicle we choose Police StW this time. Setting the Explosion Settings: Effect means which particle is used when your car explodes. Wreck Prototype is the wreck of the car after the explosion. Setting the Passenger and Transports: Those two values are only used when you place vehicles on maps in the editor. Setting the Material: Each object in Emergency 4 has a material. Normal vehicles usually have Car as Material. 15. When you're done with the Traits, click OK. 16. You need to assign commands to the vehicle. Click on Edit Commands. Required commands for most vehicles are: MoveTo, EmptyCar and GoHome. It is not very difficult to understand what those commands mean. 17. If you want to add lights to your car use the Light Editor function (Edit Lights). It is not very difficult to learn to add new lights. Comparing with other cars works most of the time. Image 05: Create a prototype file Image 06: Link prototype file to model Image 07: Check options Image 08: Edit Traits Image 09: Add commands ========================== CREATING AND EDITING WHEEL AND DOOR PROTOTYPE FILES: 18. The prototype files of the wheels and doors are basicly the same as body prototypes, except that you don't have to edit the General, Traits and Lights options. 19. Just like the body prototype file, create a new prototype file in the same folder as the body prototype file. 20. All door prototype files have to end with "_door##" and wheels with "_wheel##" (## stands for 2 numbers), so in this tutorial the first wheel prototype file name could be "new_car_door01". This is very important, because otherwise Emergency 4 won't reconize the wheels and doors. 21. When you've created a wheel or door, assign a door- or wheel model to the prototype file (step 18) and you're done. When you restart the editor, the door- and wheel prototypes can be found in Objects -> _VehicleParts_doors and _VehicleParts_wheels. Image 10: All prototype files ready ========================== ADDING DOORS AND WHEELS TO YOUR CAR: 22. Before you are going to add the doors and wheels to the body, make sure all prototype files are correct and that the models show up with the right texture. Addings wheels to your car is very easy. Go to your new car in the object window, then Edit -> Edit Children -> Edit Wheels. 23. Look for the wheel you've made in the list and press Add. If you can't find your wheel, the file name propably didn't end with "_wheel" and a number. 24. Use the Preview window to position the first wheel. Use ALT and your mouse to change the height. You might want to use Snap angles or Snap to objects to make it easier to position the wheel. 25. Use Copy Wheel to make the three others wheels which have the same height as the first wheel. Position them too. 26. Now, go to Edit Doors and add all doors to your vehicle and position them. Snap to object and Snap angles can be very useful. 27. On the right side of the Children window you can change some things. Change Axis to change the way the door opens. Change Door Action for which action the door will be opened. 28. You also want to add other objects (childs) to your vehicle like a lightbar. Use the Edit Children -> Edit Childs function then. Image 11: Adding wheels Image 12: Adding doors ========================== UNIT ID: 29. Each vehicle or person has its own ID (Identification) name. This ID is used to reconize the vehicle. The name of each vehicle is attached to their ID. Each vehicle has its own unit.xml file. All those files must be placed in a new folder. 30. So, we are going to change the Units folder. Our vehicle is a Police type vehicle so you need to create the following folders in the Units folder. .../Vehicles/Police/ 31. Create another folder in the Police folder. The name doesn't really matter. But the way how the vehicles are sorted ingame is based on the names of the folders. In this tutorial we create a folder called "001newcar". 32. Besides unit.xml, all menu pictures are also placed in that folder. The best way to change unit.xml for a new vehicle, is copying an existing file and changing it. About those menu pictures: Each car needs eight images. One large image which will appear in the lower right window when you select the vehicle. Four images are needed for the menu and three for the TransAid menu. If you are known with programs like Photoshop it's not very difficult to make new images for your vehicles. On the bottom of this tutorial you can download empty unit images. You only have to add a picture of your vehicle to those images. 33. Copy an existing unit.xml from the ".../Emergency 4/Data/Units/..." folder to your new folder and open it with WordPad or Notepad. 34. Make up a unit ID for your vehicle and enter it between the brackets in the first line. I've used: CV_LAPD. You will need that ID later! There are two large parts in this file which are basicly the same; campaign and freeplay. Most things will speak for themselves, but some things are important to know: Maximum number of 'space value' is 8. Maximum number of 'loadspace value' is 9. Don't add more than 4 unit ID's. Don't add more than 6 equipment ID's. Adding 22 to 'mission value' in the freeplay part is required to use the vehicle in freeplay. 35. When you are done, save the file. You can open .xml files with Internet Explorer to check it for mistakes. If Internet Explorer gives an error, something is wrong with the file. Image 13: Create unit folder Image 14: Files inside the unit folder Image 15: Changing unit.xml ========================== SPECS: 36. Some files in the Specs folder are required when you add a vehicle to your mod. Copy the following files from your .../Emergency 4/Data/Specs folder to the Specs folder in your mod: freeplaybase.xml freeplaybase_mp.xml portraits.xml metastrings.xml freeplaybase_d.xml (if you have EM4 Deluxe) 37. Open freeplaybase.xml with Wordpad. Every available vehicle in freeplay has their own line. 'count' means the number of vehicles in your garage which have already been bought. Copy/Paste or change one of the lines and enter the path to your new vehicle. Do this for freeplaybase_mp.xml (for multiplayer) and/or freeplaybase_d.xml (if you have EM4 Deluxe) too. 38. Open portraits.xml with WordPad. Just like in freeplaybase.xml has each vehicle has their own line. Copy/Paste or change one of the lines, enter the correct path to your new vehicle prototype. Enter the Unit ID which has been made up in step 40 and enter the exact same name behind 'text' and 'unit'. Image 16: Specs folder Image 17: Changing freeplaybase.xml Image 18: Changing portraits.xml ========================== TEXT (LANGUAGE) FILES: 39. Copy the following files from your .../Emergency 4/Data/Lang/[game language]/ to your mod: infotexts.xml portraits.xml 40. Make sure the paths to these files have been changed in metastrings.xml too. 41. Open infotexts.xml Each unit must have three lines with a text: ID_NAME_[unit ID] The name of the unit. ID_PURPOSE_[unit ID] Some information about the unit. ID_TOOLTIP_[unit ID] Text which appears when you move your cursur over the menu image of the unit. Make sure to enter the unit ID correctly and make up a name, purpose and tooltip text. 42. Open portraits.xml Just like infotexts.xml each unit has a line with text. This text will appear in the lower right window when you select your new vehicle. ID_PORTRAIT_[unit ID] 43. When you're done with the text files, your vehicle should be ready to use ingame. 44. Start Emergency 4, load your mod, start a mission or freeplay and play with your vehicle! Image 19: Text files Image 20: Changing infotexts.xml Image 21: Changing portraits.xml Download empty unit images: Emergency 4 Unit Images For questions about this tutorial: Ask in the forum ========================== Tutorial made by Hoppah July 2007
    1 point
  5. Game Resources This section will be broke down into several additional sections to break everything down by category. In each of these categories will be a list of the equipment types available and a list of their individual equipment abilities. This will also include a list of the various personnel available in that category and their abilities. In each of the sub-categories I will review the personnel and their abilities first. Listed behind each item/description there will be an abbreviation contained in parentheses that will be used periodically through this walkthrough. 1. Fire Units ,Personnel and Available Equipment A. Available Equipment Fire Extinguisher (FE) - Used to extinguish small fires and cool small hot spots. Fire Hose (FH) - Used to extinguish larger fires and cool larger hot spots. Rescue Cutter (RC) - Used to aid in removing trapped individuals from wreckage. Power Saw (PS) - Used to remove trees that may be blocking a path you need. Fireman's Axe (FA) - Used to break down locked doors to gain access to trapped individuals. Inflatable Life Net (ILN) - Placed near a building with individuals trapped on higher fllors to evacuate them. B. Available Personnel Fire Fighter (FF) - Cost 25 Credits. Can use all available equipment and relocate injured victims. Fire Fighter w/ Respiratory (FF/R) - Cost 75 Credits. Used in heavy smoke situations. Can use fire extinguisher, fire hose and power saw. Can also relocate injured victims. Fire Fighter w/ ABC (FF/ABC) - Cost 100 Credits. Used in situations with chemical, biological or radioactive exposure. Can use fire extinguisher, fireman's axe and relocate injured victims. Fire Brigade Diver (FBD) - Cost 250 Credits. Used to rescue vitims in water. Also used to search for sunken objects and mark them for recovery. C. Available Vehicles RW - Equipment Vehicle (RW) - Cost 1500 Credits. Transports 3 Teams. Carries all available equipment and can transport all personnel. TLF - Fire Truck (TLF) - Cost 2500 Credits. Transports 3 Teams. Equipment - FE and FA. Can transport all personnel. DLK - Aerial Ladder Vehicle (DLK) - Cost 2500 Credits. Transports 2 Teams. Carries no equipment. Can Transport all personnel. If placed near a multi-story building will transport a fire brigade team to higher floor to evacuate trapped victims. LPF - Fire Extinguishing Tank (LPF) - Cost 3000 Credits. Transports 2 Teams. Carries no equipment. Can Transport all personnel. Design makes it suitable for fighting extremely hot fires. ASF - Towing Vehicle (ASF) - Cost 250 Credits. Carries no equipment. Transports no personnel. Used to remove vehicle wreckage and certain pieces of debris. Dekon P - Decontamination Vehicle (DP) - Cost 2500 Credits. Carries no equipment. Can only transport FF/ABC. Helps decontaminate those who have been exposed to biological, radioactive or chemical substances. TFMB - Transport Vehicle Motorboat (TFMB) - Cost 750 Credits. Carries no equipment, but can carry fire brigade teams equipped with equipment. Can carry 4 fire brigade teams AND 4 rescued parties. Used to transport resources in water. Can rescue victims in water and retrieve objects in water. LF - Fire Extinguishing Aircraft (LF) - Cost 4000 Credits. Used to combat fires spread over a large area. Do not use in residential/inhabited areas as people will be hurt from spray. Once assigned to mission it will not be available again for three minutes. FLB - Fire Extinguishing Boat (FLB) - Cost 3000 Credits. Carries no equipment. Transports no personnel. Used to extinguish items on/near water. Has an extremely long range. 2. Technical Units and Personnel A. Available Personnel Engineer (EG) - Cost 500 Credits. Used to repair defective signals and crossings. Can also operate a wide variety of equipemt meant to turn on/off certain items. B. Available Vehicles FGrL - EKW Emergency Car (FGRL) - Cost 150 Credits. Used to transport EG from location to location as fast as possible. FGrR - Salvage Vehicle (FGRR) - Cost 2000 Credits. Used to lift/move heavy loads to rescue people trapped under it or to create a path to reach victims. FGrB - Bridge Laying Vehicle (FGRB) - Cost 3000 Credits. Used to lay pontoon bridge to allow emergency vehicles to cross river. Once a pontoon bridge is laid, it can not be retrieved. 3. Police Forces Vehicles, Personnel and Equipment A. Available Equipment Roadblock (RB) - Used as a barrier for blocking streets or paths. If a car runs over a roadblock it functions as a spike strip and will flatten their tires. Can be picked up and moved if neccessary. Stun Grenade (SG) - Should only be used in dangerous or unpredictable situations. Blinds and Disorients all people in bladt radius. B. Available Personnel Policeman (PM) - Cost 25 Credits. Can use roadblock. Used to interrogate and arrest people. Police Psychologist (PP) - Cost 25 Credits. Used to negotiate with hostage takers or talk to a panicked citizen to help calm them down. Marksman (MM) - Cost 200 Credits. Can use stun grenade. Can interrogate and arrest people if weapon is not drawn. Weapon provides a non lethal shot everytime. Sharp Shooter (SS) - Cost 350 Credits. Carries a standard precision sharp-shooter rifle. Used only in extreme situations as every shot is fatal. C. Available Vehicles StW - Patrol Car (STW) - Cost 150 Credits. Transports 2 members of the police forces. Can also transport arrested persons. MTW - Personnel Carrier Vehicle (MTW) - Cost 500 Credits. Transports 6 members of the police forces. Carries Roadblock. Can also transport arrested persons. SW - Special Car (SW) - Cost 1000 Credits. Transports 6 members of the police forces. Carries Roadblock and Stun grenade. Can also transport arrested persons. This is basically a armoured police van. PHC - Police Helicopter (PHC) - Cost 3000 Credits. Transports 2 members of the police forces. Can automatically track vehicles/people with its spotlight. Has externally mounted loudspeakers that can be used to evacuate a building. WaW - Water Cannon (WAW) - Cost 1000 Credits. Used to hold and/or push back a crowd with its auto slewing water cannon. FLIGHT - Getaway Car (FLIGHT) - Costs 500 Credits. If you would like to fulfil the demands made by the hostage-takers, you can provide them with such a vehicle. 4. Rescue Service Teams A. Available Personnel RM - Rescue Medic (RM) - Cost 25 Credits. Used to move victims from mission area using a stretcher. ED - Emergency Doctor (ED) - Cost 75 Credits. Only he/she can perform exam on patient prior to transport. Can also make reanimation attempt if neccessary. RDH - Rescue Dog Handler (RDH) - Cost 75 Credits. Consists of handler and rescue dog. Unit is responsible for searching for and locating people in obscure areas or trapped under debris. B. Available Vehicles NEF - Emergency Ambulance (NEF) - Cost 150 Credits. Transports 1 member of rescue services. Used to transport emergency doctor to scene quickly. RTW - Rescue Transport Vehicle (RTW) - Cost 500 Credits. Transports 2 members of rescue services. Used to transport ED and RM to scene and then take victim away from scene. RHF - Rescue Dog Vehicle (RHF) - Cost 150 Credits. Transports 1 member of rescue services. Used to transport the rescue dog handler and rescue dog to the scene. RHC - Rescue Helicopter (RHC) - Cost 3000 Credits. Transports 2 members of rescue services. Used in areas not accessible by ground. Injured can be airlifted with stretcher and taken elsewhere. ITW - Intensive Transportation Vehicle (ITW) - Cost 3000 Credits. Transports 4 members of rescue services. Transports 9 victims. Used to treat and transport a large number of patients. Victims must still be examined by doctor before entering, but will be stabilized automatically once inside.
    1 point
  6. Hi, I have made a new tutorial for the interested people. The tutorial is about creating 3D-models. A 'high polygon' 3D model is used as an example in this tutorial. That's not illegal in any way, because that model is used as example only. The purpose of this tutorial is explaining the most important functions in Zmodeler 2, so that you can make a start with 3D-modeling. The tutorial is large, so read everything very careful. Don't go further until you've understand it. I've tried to explain everything as easy as possible. But some parts were very hard to explain. Zmodeler 2 website: [url="http://www.zmodeler2.com"]www.zmodeler2.com[/url] [b]3D-Modeling with Zmodeler 2 (v2.0.7.802)[/b] Difficulty: Moderate Programs used: Zmodeler 2 (v2.0.7.802) Registered Version This tutorial will teach you how to create an entirely new model based on a high polygon model. Starting with this type of 3D-modeling, you will learn the basics of using Zmodeler 2 quickly. The example used in this tutorial is a high and low polygon Volvo XC90. The high polygon model is used as an example only. No parts or whatsoever are used/copied onto the new model. The main purpose of this tutorial is to explain you how to use the tools for 3D-modeling in Zmodeler 2. ========================== WHAT IS A 3D MODEL? A 3D model is a representation of a three-dimensional object. High polygon models are more detailed than lower polygon models, but high polygon models can cause lag in Emergency 3 and 4 and are more difficult to make. Because Emergency 3 and 4 are using top view will never see the small details of high polygon models. That's why low polygon models are good enough. Two screenshots of a high and low polygon Volvo XC90 below: [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_01.jpg"]Image 01: Volvo XC90, high polygon model (40.000 polygons)[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_02.jpg"]Image 02: Volvo XC90, low polygon model (800 polygons)[/url] ========================== TIPS BEFORE STARTING: The best way to create a new vehicle is to model one of the sides of the vehicle first. When you are finished you copy and mirror the side, so your vehicle will be symmetrical. [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_03.jpg"]Image 03: One side (half) of a model[/url] Wheels and doors are seperate models and detached from the main model. You can view all models in the Scene nodes browser window. You can hide or show models there. To activate the Scene nodes browser in case you don't see it: Go to View -> Floaters and enable Scene Nodes Browser. A very important thing is to learn to work with different views. The most important views are Right/Left, Front, Top and Perspective view. [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_04.jpg"]Image 04: Scene nodes brower[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_05.jpg"]Image 05: Active Scene nodes browser[/url] ========================== MODES AND AXES: To change positions of your polygons, you need to work with X, Y or Z axes. On the top of your screen there are three buttons (X, Y, and Z): - When you enable X, you can move your object on the X-axis (horizontal line, left or right) only. - When you enable Y, you can move your object on the Y-axis (vertical line, up or down) only. - When you enable X and Y both, you can move your object to all directions except Z-axis (depth). - When you enable Z, you can change the depth of your object. There are five different modes. Their buttons can be found on top of your screen. Explanation of the modes from left to right: - Manupulator: Is not used in this tutorial. - Vertex Mode (hotkey 1): Each polygon has three corners. Those corners are called vertices (plural of vertex). In Vertex Mode, you can move those vertices only. This is the most used mode in this tutorial. - Edge Mode (hotkey 2): Not used in this tutorial, but you can move the lines between vertices then. - Polygon Mode (hotkey 3): For polygons. - Object (hotkey 4): For whole objects. [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_06.jpg"]Image 06: Modes and axes[/url] ========================== HOW TO BEGIN ON A NEW MODEL BASED ON A HIGH POLYGON MODEL: 1. Find a high polygon model somewhere (on the Internet) and import it into Zmodeler 2. Only the shape of the model is important, so you don't have to worry about other things like colours. Some high polygons models have multiple objects (like the chassis, body, doors, wheels, bumpers, windows, interior). Only the body is important, so you can hide or delete any other objects in the Scene nodes browser. 2. Make sure you are in Object Mode (hotkey 4). 3. Then, go to Create -> Surface -> Grid and create the first polygons somewhere near the high polygon model. A good place to start is near the wheel houses. [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_07.jpg"]Image 07: Import a model[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_08.jpg"]Image 08: Create surface[/url] ========================== MOVING VERTICES: 4. As you can see in image 8 in front view, you will notice the polygons aren't positioned correctly. They are placed in the middle. This will happen all the time when add new polygons to your model. Working in left or right view, perspective view and front view is the easiest way to change the position. 5. First, enable Vertex Mode (hotkey 1) and click on the NEW model once. Red dots will appear on the corners (vertices) of the polygons. 6. To change the position you need to determine which axis you want to change. For example: If you want to move a vertex to the left in front view, you need to enable X-axis. 7. Use the Modify -> Move tool to move vertices. Keep checking perspective view too until all vertices are in the same shape of the high polygon model. [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_09.jpg"]Image 09: Moving a vertex[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_10.jpg"]Image 10: Moving the other vertices[/url] ========================== ADDING MORE POLYGONS: 8. Now, you know how to change positions of polygons, you can start adding more polygons. Make sure you stay in Vertex mode (hotkey 1) and go to Create -> Polygon -> Single. 9. You can add new polygons to your model. [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_11.jpg"]Image 11: Adding a new polygon[/url] 10. It's possible that the position of the new polygon is not right, use the instructions from step 6 and 7 again to move the vertex to the right position. 11. Try to add more polygons and try to make a nice shape. Think about important parts of the vehicle, like doors. 12. This part can be very extremely difficult for a new modeler, but you will improve when you do this more often. [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_12.jpg"]Image 12: Adding more polygons[/url] ========================== COPY AND MIRROR THE SIDE OF THE MODEL: 13. When you have finished one side of the model, you can copy and mirror that side. 14. To copy an object, make sure you are in Object Mode (hotkey 4). Go to Create -> Copy and click on your model. The model will be copied to a new object (as seen in the Scene nodes browser). 15. To mirror the object go to Modify -> Mirror and click on your model. Use one of the axes. For example, when you activated X-axis, the model will be copied on the X-axis. The Pivot helper is always used as mirror point. In case, you want to reset the Pivot helper go to Display -> Pivot helper -> Reset to origin. 16. When the wireframe of the mirrored side is flipped you need to flip it again. Go to Modify -> Flip and click on the flipped side once. You can also right click on the model and click Flip. 17. Because the new side is mirrored, the light perspective is messed up. To recalculate the light perspective go to Surface -> Normals -> Calculate and click on the mirrored object. 18. You also need to Attach the two sides to one object. Go to Modify -> Attach and click on the mirrored side and on the other side. [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_13.jpg"]Image 13: Pivot helper[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_14.jpg"]Image 14: Copy and mirror[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_15.jpg"]Image 15: Flip and calculate[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_16.jpg"]Image 16: Attach sides[/url] ========================== DETACH VERTICES: 19. If you look at picture 17 below, you will notice that the cube doesn't look right. The light perspective isn't right, because polygons of three sides of the cube are attached to the same vertices. Because vertices are used to calculate the light perspective, you will get a weird incidence of light. When you move your mouse over a vertex, all polygons which belong to the vertex will turn blue, as seen in picture 17. 20. What you need to do is detach all polygons from each side of the cube and recalculate the light perspective. 21. Go into Polygon Mode (hotkey 3) and use the Select -> Single tool to select polygons (with right mouse button) which you want to detach from the rest of the model. 22. Activate Selected Mode (hotkey spacebar) and go to Modify -> Submesh -> Detach and click the small square to show options. Uncheck the options "To new object" and "Enable Drag", because you don't have to detach the polygons to a new object. 23. Click on your model. Nothing visual will happen. 24. To check if the side in the example is detached from the model go to Vertex Mode (hotkey 1) and move your mouse over a vertex. You will see that either the polygons of detached polygons or the remaining polygons turn blue. Press CTRL to select the other vertex. 25. You need to detach all sides of the cube as explained in step 21, 22 en 23. 26. When you've have detached all sides, you need to recalculate the incidence of light. Deactive Selected Mode (hotkey spacebar) and go into Object Mode (hotkey 4). Go to Surface -> Normals -> Calculate and click on your model once. The light perspective of each vertex is recalculated and the cube looks much better now. [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_17.jpg"]Image 17: Cube[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_18.jpg"]Image 18: Select polygons[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_19.jpg"]Image 19: Detach polygons[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_20.gif"]Image 20 (animated): Check vertices[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_21.jpg"]Image 21: Recalculate light perspective[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_22.gif"]Image 22 (animated): Result[/url] ========================== WELD VERTICES: 27. It's also possible you need to weld vertices instead of detaching them. For example when you have copied and mirrored your model you need to weld all vertices in the middle. 28. To weld those vertices go into Vertex Mode (hotkey 1), click on your model and go to Select -> Single. 29. Now select TWO vertices which need to be welded (with right mouse button) and go to Modify -> Submesh -> Weld and click on your model. A faster way is just pressing W. 30. Do this for all vertices in the middle of your new object. To deselect alle vertices/polygons press Shift-D [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_23.jpg"]Image 23: Vertices in the middle[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_24.jpg"]Image 24: Select TWO vertices[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_25.jpg"]Image 25: Weld them[/url] ========================== CREATE DOORS: 31. Doors and wheels are seperate objects. You need to detach the door from your model first. 32. Go into Polygon Mode (hotkey 3) and use the Select -> Single tool to select all polygons which belong to the door. 33. Enable Selected Mode (hotkey spacebar) and go to Modify -> Submesh -> Detach. Because you are going to detach the door to a new object, make sure "To new Object" is checked. 34. Click on your model once. The door is detached to a new object as you will notice in your Scene nodes browser. 35. In the Scene nodes browser, type "_door01" behind the object name. An easy way to make your door thicker: 36. Copy the door in Object Mode (hotkey 4). 37. Move the copied door a little back. 38. Flip the copied door. 39. Attach the copied door to the original door (Modify -> Attach). 40. Create polygons between the two parts. 41. Detach the new polygons and recalculate the light perspective (as explained in steps 21, 22, 23 and 26). [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_26.jpg"]Image 26: Select and detach the door[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_27.jpg"]Image 27: Give the door a name[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_28.jpg"]Image 28: Copy, move and flip the door[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_29.jpg"]Image 29: Create new polygons[/url] ========================== CREATE WHEELS: 42. Wheels aren't very hard to make. The best way to make a wheel is creating one quarter first. 43. Create a new object (Create -> Surface -> Grid) and model it into a quarter of a cirkel. 44. Copy, mirror and flip the quarter. Attach both quarters. You should have a half of a cirkel now. 45. Copy, mirror and flip the half and attach them. 46. Weld all vertices and recalculate the light perspective. 47. Copy and move the copied object a little back. 48. Flip and attach the two objects together. 49. Create polygons between the two objects. 50. Detach those new polygons and recalculate the light perspective. 51. Type "_wheel01" behind the object name. [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_30.gif"]Image 30 (animated): Create a wheel 1[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_31.gif"]Image 31 (animated): Create a wheel 2[/url] ========================== SCALE: 52. Scaling objects is very easy. Make sure you are in Object Mode (hotkey 4). 53. Go to Modify -> Scale and click on an object while holding CTRL. A pop-up window will appear. 54. The value 100 is the current percentage of your model. Entering a value under 100 will make your model smaller. Entering a value more than 100 will make your model bigger. 55. Press Ok when you're ready and your model is scaled. [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_32.jpg"]Image 32: Scale object[/url] ========================== PIVOT: 56. Wheels are rotating around their pivot. Doors are opening around their pivot too. Vehicles are positioned above their pivot. So changing the pivot is important and there are two ways of changing the pivot. 57. The first way: Go to Modify -> Move and check "Move pivot only". You can move the pivot now. [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_33.jpg"]Image 33: The pivot[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_34.jpg"]Image 34: Move pivot to centre of object[/url] 58. The second way is resetting the pivot to the X, Y and Z axes. 59. You need to move the object first instead of the pivot. Because doors go open around their pivot, you need to move the door in position first. Then go to Display -> Local Axes. Check Offset instead of Orientation. Then click Reset to parent and click on your model once. The pivot will be resetted. [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_35.jpg"]Image 35: Door moved; Reset pivot[/url] ========================== EXACT TRANSFORM: 60. This can be important for doors: The units in Emergency 3 and 4 always move to the front view of a door. So you need to rotate a door 90 degrees, to make the side of the door front view in Zmodeler 2. A trunk lid needs to be rotated 180 degrees. 61. To rotate those object very exactly go to Modify -> Exact Transform and click on your model while holding CTRL. A pop-up window appears. Check Apply Rotation and Transform Geometry and fill in values and click OK. [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_36.jpg"]Image 36: Exact transform[/url] [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/3dmodel_37.jpg"]Image 37: Result of rotating door[/url] ========================== When you've mastered all steps explained above, you should be able to make objects without examples too. The purpose of this tutorial was to teach you how to use the different tools. ========================== You can download the low polygon Volvo XC90 used in this tutorial here: [url="http://www.emergency-planet.com/tutorials/volvo_xc90_model.zip"]Volvo XC90 model by Stan & Hoppah[/url] The .z3d file contains a body, two doors and a wheel model. Authors: Hoppah & Stan For questions about this tutorial: [url="http://forum.emergency-planet.com/index.php?showtopic=1739"]Zmodeler2: 3D-Modeling[/url] ========================== Tutorial made by Hoppah May 2007
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  7. Emergency 4 - Adding Vehicles Difficulty: Moderate [background=#ffffff]Programs used: Emergency 4 (v1.3) Editor WordPad or Notepad[/font] This tuturial will teach you how to add a new vehicle to your mod step by step. You should already have a model and texture file. Besides this tutorial, it can be VERY useful to compare your files with other mods or original files. [background=#ffffff]In this tutorial, the following vehicle will be added to a mod: Image 01: Vehicle[/font] ========================== NEW FOLDERS: 1. Adding new vehicles requires the following folders in your mod if you don't have them already: Lang, Models, Prototypes, Specs and Units. Image 02: Add new folders 2. All files in your mod are sorted in subfolders. You need to create those folders too. 3. In case you want to add a police vehicle you need to make the following folders in your mod folder: .../Models/Vehicles/Police/ .../Prototypes/Vehicles/Police/ 4. Now, move all model- and texture files from your vehicle to your .../Models/Vehicles/Police/ folder. Image 03: Subfolders and the model- and texture files In case you are renaming your model- and texture files: 5. You need to make sure the texture files are linked to their model files, otherwise each model is missing their textures. 6. Open each model file (.V3O) with WordPad and look for the texture name. Change it to your new texture name and save the file. NOTE: If you're seeing a lot of weird symbols, the model is locked/packed (all Emergency 4 model files are). You can unpack the model file in the Emergency 4 editor. Start the editor. Go to Modifications -> Unpack file... It doesn't matter if your file is packed or not. Emergency 4 can read both. Image 04: Change texture name in model files ========================== CREATING AND EDITING BODY PROTOTYPE FILES: 7. When you have moved your model- and texture files to your mod you need to make prototype files. Each object of your vehicle has its own prototype file (body, doors, wheels etc...). Lets start with the body of the new vehicle. 8. Start the editor and always load your mod (Modifications -> My mod) first, otherwise the changes won't be made in your modfolder, but inside the Data folder of Emergency 4. 9. If you're not seeing the object window, go to Edit -> Scene. 10. Click on Vehicles -> Police (just like those subfolders in step 9) and click on NEW. 11. A new window will appear. The first thing you have to do is linking your model file to the prototype file. 12. Click on Browse behind Modelfile: and search the model file of the body of your new vehicle. Click OK. Your model is linked to the prototype file and can be viewed in the editor if you click on OK in the prototype window. 13. Each object in Emergency 4 has some options which need to be checked or not. For vehicles check the following options in the bottom of the prototype window: A black dot in: Physics, Children, Lights, Traits and General. A little cross in: Fire Use 'Custom' as Placement. 14. Now, you have to edit the Traits of your object. Click on Edit Traits. A new window will appear. Change the Flags first. Usually, most Emergency vehicles use Shootable, Coolable, Transportable - ASF and Recoverable - FGrR. If you want to have equipment inside the car, check some flags under Contained Equipment too (not more than 6). Voice/Sound is for the type of voice for your vehicle. Emergency 4 has 3 different voices (0, 1 and 2). Set the gender (for vehicles: Male or Female). Choose your type of vehicle under TaskForce Vehicle Type. Because our vehicle is a simple police vehicle we choose Police StW this time. Setting the Explosion Settings: Effect means which particle is used when your car explodes. Wreck Prototype is the wreck of the car after the explosion. Setting the Passenger and Transports: Those two values are only used when you place vehicles on maps in the editor. Setting the Material: Each object in Emergency 4 has a material. Normal vehicles usually have Car as Material. 15. When you're done with the Traits, click OK. 16. You need to assign commands to the vehicle. Click on Edit Commands. Required commands for most vehicles are: MoveTo, EmptyCar and GoHome. It is not very difficult to understand what those commands mean. 17. If you want to add lights to your car use the Light Editor function (Edit Lights). It is not very difficult to learn to add new lights. Comparing with other cars works most of the time. Image 05: Create a prototype file Image 06: Link prototype file to model Image 07: Check options Image 08: Edit Traits Image 09: Add commands ========================== CREATING AND EDITING WHEEL AND DOOR PROTOTYPE FILES: 18. The prototype files of the wheels and doors are basicly the same as body prototypes, except that you don't have to edit the General, Traits and Lights options. 19. Just like the body prototype file, create a new prototype file in the same folder as the body prototype file. 20. All door prototype files have to end with "_door##" and wheels with "_wheel##" (## stands for 2 numbers), so in this tutorial the first wheel prototype file name could be "new_car_door01". This is very important, because otherwise Emergency 4 won't reconize the wheels and doors. 21. When you've created a wheel or door, assign a door- or wheel model to the prototype file (step 18) and you're done. When you restart the editor, the door- and wheel prototypes can be found in Objects -> _VehicleParts_doors and _VehicleParts_wheels. Image 10: All prototype files ready ========================== ADDING DOORS AND WHEELS TO YOUR CAR: 22. Before you are going to add the doors and wheels to the body, make sure all prototype files are correct and that the models show up with the right texture. Addings wheels to your car is very easy. Go to your new car in the object window, then Edit -> Edit Children -> Edit Wheels. 23. Look for the wheel you've made in the list and press Add. If you can't find your wheel, the file name propably didn't end with "_wheel" and a number. 24. Use the Preview window to position the first wheel. Use ALT and your mouse to change the height. You might want to use Snap angles or Snap to objects to make it easier to position the wheel. 25. Use Copy Wheel to make the three others wheels which have the same height as the first wheel. Position them too. 26. Now, go to Edit Doors and add all doors to your vehicle and position them. Snap to object and Snap angles can be very useful. 27. On the right side of the Children window you can change some things. Change Axis to change the way the door opens. Change Door Action for which action the door will be opened. 28. You also want to add other objects (childs) to your vehicle like a lightbar. Use the Edit Children -> Edit Childs function then. Image 11: Adding wheels Image 12: Adding doors ========================== UNIT ID: 29. Each vehicle or person has its own ID (Identification) name. This ID is used to reconize the vehicle. The name of each vehicle is attached to their ID. Each vehicle has its own unit.xml file. All those files must be placed in a new folder. 30. So, we are going to change the Units folder. Our vehicle is a Police type vehicle so you need to create the following folders in the Units folder. .../Vehicles/Police/ 31. Create another folder in the Police folder. The name doesn't really matter. But the way how the vehicles are sorted ingame is based on the names of the folders. In this tutorial we create a folder called "001newcar". 32. Besides unit.xml, all menu pictures are also placed in that folder. The best way to change unit.xml for a new vehicle, is copying an existing file and changing it. About those menu pictures: Each car needs eight images. One large image which will appear in the lower right window when you select the vehicle. Four images are needed for the menu and three for the TransAid menu. If you are known with programs like Photoshop it's not very difficult to make new images for your vehicles. On the bottom of this tutorial you can download empty unit images. You only have to add a picture of your vehicle to those images. 33. Copy an existing unit.xml from the ".../Emergency 4/Data/Units/..." folder to your new folder and open it with WordPad or Notepad. 34. Make up a unit ID for your vehicle and enter it between the brackets in the first line. I've used: CV_LAPD. You will need that ID later! There are two large parts in this file which are basicly the same; campaign and freeplay. Most things will speak for themselves, but some things are important to know: Maximum number of 'space value' is 8. Maximum number of 'loadspace value' is 9. Don't add more than 4 unit ID's. Don't add more than 6 equipment ID's. Adding 22 to 'mission value' in the freeplay part is required to use the vehicle in freeplay. 35. When you are done, save the file. You can open .xml files with Internet Explorer to check it for mistakes. If Internet Explorer gives an error, something is wrong with the file. Image 13: Create unit folder Image 14: Files inside the unit folder Image 15: Changing unit.xml ========================== SPECS: 36. Some files in the Specs folder are required when you add a vehicle to your mod. Copy the following files from your .../Emergency 4/Data/Specs folder to the Specs folder in your mod: freeplaybase.xml freeplaybase_mp.xml portraits.xml metastrings.xml freeplaybase_d.xml (if you have EM4 Deluxe) 37. Open freeplaybase.xml with Wordpad. Every available vehicle in freeplay has their own line. 'count' means the number of vehicles in your garage which have already been bought. Copy/Paste or change one of the lines and enter the path to your new vehicle. Do this for freeplaybase_mp.xml (for multiplayer) and/or freeplaybase_d.xml (if you have EM4 Deluxe) too. 38. Open portraits.xml with WordPad. Just like in freeplaybase.xml has each vehicle has their own line. Copy/Paste or change one of the lines, enter the correct path to your new vehicle prototype. Enter the Unit ID which has been made up in step 40 and enter the exact same name behind 'text' and 'unit'. Image 16: Specs folder Image 17: Changing freeplaybase.xml Image 18: Changing portraits.xml ========================== TEXT (LANGUAGE) FILES: 39. Copy the following files from your .../Emergency 4/Data/Lang/[game language]/ to your mod: infotexts.xml portraits.xml 40. Make sure the paths to these files have been changed in metastrings.xml too. 41. Open infotexts.xml Each unit must have three lines with a text: ID_NAME_[unit ID] The name of the unit. ID_PURPOSE_[unit ID] Some information about the unit. ID_TOOLTIP_[unit ID] Text which appears when you move your cursur over the menu image of the unit. Make sure to enter the unit ID correctly and make up a name, purpose and tooltip text. 42. Open portraits.xml Just like infotexts.xml each unit has a line with text. This text will appear in the lower right window when you select your new vehicle. ID_PORTRAIT_[unit ID] 43. When you're done with the text files, your vehicle should be ready to use ingame. 44. Start Emergency 4, load your mod, start a mission or freeplay and play with your vehicle! Image 19: Text files Image 20: Changing infotexts.xml Image 21: Changing portraits.xml Download empty unit images: Emergency 4 Unit Images For questions about this tutorial: Emergency 4: Adding vehicles ========================== Tutorial made by Hoppah July 2007
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  8. [size="4"]OK. [b]Perma-Modding[/b] is the art of getting mod files, working out where they go, and making them work [i]without having to load them[/i]. [/size][size="3"]This tutorial will tell you how to do this to any mod you choose! [list=1][*]Get the mod you want, and run the mod-installer on it to put it in the mods folder.[*]Cut (Ctrl+X) and Paste (Ctrl+V) the content of the [ModName] folder into the Data folder.[*]Go to "Data/Specs" and open "metastrings.xml" with Wordpad or an XML Editor.[*]You will see each one says "mod:" and a file path.[*]Remove the filepath (just leaving the filename, such as "command.xml".[*]then insert just before the filename you left "lang:"[*]This should make the lines look somthing like this:[*][font="Lucida Console"]<file name="lang:command.xml" />[/font][*]Once every line has this general layout, save it.[*]Start the game.[*][u]If for some reason it doesnt work, message me.[/u][/list][/size]
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  9. Open the editor and folow the instructions Click on CREATE A NEW MOD (if not already done) [img]/modules/Page/html/tutorials/equipment/en_1_01.gif[/img] Enter your MOD name and click on OK [img]/modules/Page/html/tutorials/equipment/en_1_02.gif[/img] Load the mod, click on NO if editor asks you to save map [img]/modules/Page/html/tutorials/equipment/en_1_02b.gif[/img] Click on Edit => Scene [img]/modules/Page/html/tutorials/equipment/en_1_03.gif[/img] Click on Vehicles, select the vehicle category and chose the vehicle then click on EDIT [img]/modules/Page/html/tutorials/equipment/en_1_04.gif[/img] A new window will open, click on EDIT TRAITS [img]/modules/Page/html/tutorials/equipment/en_1_05.gif[/img] A new window will open, now you see \"Contained Equipment\", all equipmen with an X in front of it is in the vehicle, just chose the ones you want... [img]/modules/Page/html/tutorials/equipment/en_1_06.gif[/img] Now click on OK, and close the editor. Now go in: [quote]\\sixteen tons entertainment\\Emergency 3\\Mods\\your_mod[/quote] And copy the Vehicles.xml located in: [quote]Specs[/quote] to: [quote]\\sixteen tons entertainment\\Emergency 3\\Data\\Specs[/quote] ----------------------------------- *If you have new vehicles in your main vehicles.xml in [quote]\\sixteen tons entertainment\\Emergency 3\\Data\\Specs[/quote] You will need to open the 2 xml\'s with an text editor and copy the line for your edited vehcile to keep the other vehicles intact. Tutorial by Stan
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