Rlast

I agree with JrFF32, it makes you screenshots a lot easier to see and it turns the page more professional if you use the embed command.

Good Teaseday Folks! Since Xandarb is out of town at the moment, spending his life in a lovely little Finnish cottage, I'll be handling this one! Here's what we've got for you this week, a sneak peak of our EMS services: Model by NNICO and reskin and lights made by Xandarb the almighty. Have a good one! Rlast.

Don't change the original file name, just change the extension format. For example, change cv_lapd.dds to cv_lapd.dds.v3o. It looks as if you have two extensions, but you don't, as the .v3o will superceed the .dds. After that, head in to the editor, unpack as normal, and rename cv_lapd.dds.v3o back to cv_lapd.dds Hope it helps, Rlast.

Those units look pretty cool, but I can't really tell or see any detail because the screenshot size is too small. Try taking a print screen, and cropping in Photoshop, then uploading to imageshack and embedding the direct link. Rlast

Good luck, it'll be great to see some screens as soon as everything's on its way to development. May I also suggest a more detailed unit plan, categorised in to Police, EMS and Fire, listing all the engines, and policing units etc. It'll get people more interested! Rlast.

Those state units are ottimo! Why a submod by chance?

Concerning what's so far been accomplished, it looks great! I do love those models, and the textures look fantastic. Keep it up! Rlast

This game, although I have not played it, is probably the prime example of why you shouldn't pre-order games, and why you shouldn't buy a game in series, just because it has the series stamp on it. If you consider your options, are there any real benefits to pre-ordering games? Sure, you might get a cut price and a few extra items, but have you really achieved anything? The only thing that a pre-order confirms is that if on the off-chance the game is bad, you're already pretty much screwed when it's released, and nothing works properly. In fact, the items that come with many pre-order packs aren't even that special in many circumstances, and if you consider it, how many of these items would you ever buy in a DLC setting, or would you even care about them at all if they were part of the original game you were paying for? The only people who win in a situation like this is the companies themselves, because it means they don't even have to release a good game, they can simply just make huge profits even before their game has come out, and so it becomes less about creating a brilliant product that'll entice people on release, but more about creating content that'll lock people on to a deal of buying that game months before letting it out to the general public; although people can cancel pre-orders, on systems like Steam you'll almost certainly not, and probably won't even know of the horrendous errors in the programming until bought and arrived at your residence; another headache for you to refund your product. Furthermore, I know many people probably only bought this game because it was part of the Sim City Series, which of course is legendary in its presence in the gaming world. I totally understand this impulse, because I feel the same way with Total War, and cannot wait until Rome Total War II is released. However, I know how hard it can sometimes be to believe someone when they tell you that your favourite game series, that you've not shut up about for years, has suddenly been ruined, you'll refuse to admit that it's just blatantly bad; that's why these companies win, because sometimes these hardcore fans will even convince themselves that they've bought a good product just to save on the embarrassment to them and their friends that they've been ripped off; it's hard to admit you've been cheated. I'm in total agreement with Voodoo_Operator on this one; people need to admit they've been cheated, and decide not to give EA their money until they've proven on release that their game is worthy, and people have total rights to the product they've bought. This sadly reminisces of the 10 only installs per disk for some software programmes. If I could leave everyone with one word of advice; don't be tricked by this clever marketing, and certainly don't be tricked by these pre-order ploys and schemes. You can see it works because they're inventing ever more in-ingenuous ways to scam people blind, like the progressive unlocks for purchases on pre-orders. I can admit this because I frankly bought a game that in my honest opinion was not good enough, namely Red Orchestra 2 on pre-order, and I've now made my case; games companies won't be taking my money, until they prove to me they deserve it.

I use print screen and then I crop it in Photoshop to focus on the picture. Alternatively, Fraps does have an option, but I don't see the point in using it if you've got Print Screen.

Ótimo Trabalho! All your models look absolutely superb. Vá em frente!

I really like the accuracy of the fonts on the vehicles; it's often a difficult part of the texture process to master. ¡Bien hecho!, and keep up the great work! Saludos, Rlast.

The worst simulation game would probably be Road Construction Simulator, or alternatively, Pêche Simulator found here! It's a game where the case reads "Plongez dans l'univers de la pêche sportive" - Meaning, plunge into the universe of sport fishing. Who makes up this stuff? Rlast

Best of luck, let's hope it can really build in to something great. Need any help don't hesitate to ask. Rlast

Model: Walther P 08 Programme: Wings3D Render Programme: Blender Poly Count: 575 Progress: Work In Progress

Hi warhunterwolf1-1, It's great you're trying to learn some new skills, and are keen to take on people's advice to develop your skills. In terms of advice, I'd strongly recommend you steer clear of SketchUp 8, as it's more of a programme that is used by architects and engineers to bring about concept designs and develop ideas for buildings; not building models, as it doesn't really function effectively in this way. Despite the fact that most of your models will probably coming out looking rather blocky and rectangular, you'll experience a tonne of problems trying to successfully get them working in Zmodeler, let alone the issues that'll arise post-import, with aligning the model and exporting successfully in to the game. A great piece of software for 3D modelling to get started on would be Wings3D. It's completely free, and I personally find it suits me great and is very simple to learn and work with as a programme. It can be found here, with some in depth tutorial videos here. Although it may take time to master the basics, I can assure you that soon enough your models will start looking a lot better than they do at current, and to a novice, 3DS Max is probably a very daunting software; it's a professional level piece of kit, incredibly complex with many different options which may take months and months to learn properly; it will provide the best models of cause, but that's not to say Wings3D won't provide exemplary content which'll match up for a real-time simulation game like Emergency 4. With regard to textures, at current I'd advise practising on pre-existent models that can be found around at numerous sites, most notably http://www.emergency-forum.de. I'm by no means saying release any of this content, but if you practice around on the UV maps (A kind of template where you paint on different sections, which is then projected on to a model), you'll soon master the basics of texturing. With regard to programmes, Photoshop CS5 and CS6 would be by far the best pieces of kit, yet again the complexities may be quite hard for an amateur to handle at first, so Paint.NET and GIMP will suffice. Overall, learning to mod is nothing to feel ashamed about, and producing content that may be criticised by the community is simply an ever-present factor on the journey to learning to mod successfully; at least you're trying, and I'm sure if you show real progress in learning skills, and start producing some basic, but high quality, skins and models, people will soon follow you and help you in any way you need. Of course, you can always ask any questions on the forums here in the Modding Related Support topic, ranging from scripting, modelling, skinning and mapping, and will be given advice and support if a member can help in your specific area. Above all, perhaps halt the development of this project until your skills are better matched for the task at hand, and then proceed. As you'll have probably witnessed, the best modifications have usually started out as small skinning jobs and moved themselves up to the innovators of the scripts and models many of us look forward to on this site. Hope it helps, Rlast.

Each model file will be in a format named .v3o, and these can all be found within the folder: Emergency 4\Mods\Los Angeles Mod v2.1\Models\Vehicles\03 LA Police These files can then be directly imported in to Zmodeler. In terms of editing these files in a different programme, you have numerous options. 1. You can find a programme which reads v3o files, and can import and export them. (Unlikely as Zmodeler is probably the only to do this cleanly) 2. You import the file in to Zmodeler and export as a different file type; .3ds for 3DS Max, for example, or .obj to be used in Wings3D and many other programmes. 3. You find a plugin that'll enable your modelling programme to important v3o; a plugin is simply something you download off the internet which enables a programme to open new file types. It would be akin to allowing Microsoft Word to open excel files by installing a 'plugin' for the excel format. Rlast

If the lightbar is part of the vehicle, the only way to edit it is by physically deleting it in Zmodeler or a similar modelling programme. If the lightbar is a child (something which is attached on to the vehicle in the editor) you simply go to the vehicle in question, edit its parameters by going to edit, then going to Edit Childs, and removing it there. I do believe the LA mod lightbars, if the original models, are attached to the models themselves though. Rlast

Yes, this is probably the kind of pepper spray SWAT, or other riot police units would carry.

UPDATED TASER AND OC SPRAY WITH TEXTURES (WIP - Slight Texture Alignment Bugs)

I don't believe that there is a tool that exists like that at the moment, but for sure I've played a mod where there was a vehicle you can select, and you could cause a plane crash, boat crash or some other incident; there were 3 boxes, like the 'halt vehicle' and 'draw weapon' boxes, which you'd press, and would cause the incidents to occur on the map. It was a UK mod I believe, so it's definitely possible with adequate scripting, though probably isn't easy to do with many incidents; just my guess. Rlast

Thanks for all the verification on everything, and thank you everyone who posted to help me, it's a lot clearer now! I'll follow what Raf said then in order to replace the map entirely Regards, Rlast.

Hi all, I've recently been getting in to the Emergency 4 multiplayer system with a couple of friends, as for many years it had previously not worked! However, I'm just wondering out of curiosity, is it a simple process to change the multiplayer map file, like I believe, Squad 55 have done? A case of switching and dragging some folders in to place, or is it something more complex? Regards, Rlast.

Yup, using a PNG file format will almost certainly make it work, however, you lose two things; 1. You can't use alpha and transparency that well, or at all I believe, with PNG file formats. 2. Your textures may be VERY slightly reduced in quality compared to what a .DDS file can offer. A good fix though, I know NNICO uses the PNG formats for his maps

If you're looking for help on how to get in to modding and learning the skills such as skinning and modelling I suggest you head over to the Modding Support Section and hit up YouTube to get some videos showing you how to use programmes such as Photoshop and Autodesk 3DS Max People aren't usually too fond of mod threads which more or less require the recruitment of a whole team to get completed; practice on your skills, and ask any questions you have in the support forums, and then when you have something to show to others you'll have a greater chance of convincing people to come and help you! In future, it's best advised to get a good start on things before posting in the Mods topic to avoid the wrath of the community! Regards, Rlast.

Not yet sir the 777 is a concept art, where as the 744 was actually a real template