Hoppah

I'm just checking out the mod and fixing some scripts, nothing big really.

Some more advise regarding performance:

The loading times of the mod being so long are probably caused by the (playable) vehicles. Since each vehicle ID (in the Units folder) gets initialized upon loading, the game is going through all the corresponding prototype and model files of them. Now, the problem is that your vehicle folder still contains huge files, even after converting the files to .png. For example, the '03 FDNY' folder alone is already 1,4 gb. Compared to a size of 3 mb (!) for the similar folder (02 LA Fire Department) in the LA Mod it's incredibly huge. My advise regarding this issue: downsize the textures. A 2048x2048 sized texture just isn't really useful in EM4. I know the big textures are more detailed and pretty, but ingame you cannot even zoom in that close to read the brand of each screw. You mostly play the game from a birds eye view anyway. I'd convert a texture of that size to 1024x1024 pixels, which will make it 4 times as small. Doing that for the 100's of textures will probably create another performance boost.

The loading times of the map (when loading freeplay) have a similar cause, but instead of vehicles, objects (the buildings) are causing the long loading times. Same advise applies to this: downsize textures and make people happy.

I even bet you can make the entire mod as small as 1 GB (or even less) without much quality difference.

Hooper

Each object is assigned to a Material-type. Each Material has different settings like burntime, heat etc.. Find materials.xml in the Specs folder and change the values.

You dont actually need to rename the file, if you go to the pack/unpack option and find the containing folder of the file (although png wont pack and still function) and just type out the name. For example just type Example.dds after the directory name. They wont show up on v3os show up but this method does work as it confirms compression

If I may have just told Hoppah something about Em4 he didn't already know I may just collapse haha

x

Maybe I just forgot.

When I see that banner all I can think of is "Mernhertin Merd"

Sorry, I'm not familiar with Canadian English dialects.

If there is any other advice you could give us to improve performance issues, let us know

The only thing I can come up with for now, is the pack/unpack tool in the EM4 editor. By packing files you will further reduce the size of your mod. I'm not sure if this affects performance though (it might very well work) and you cannot pack or unpack multiple files at once, so -unfortunately- this is ALOT of work. You can pack any file, just rename the extension to .v3o before packing. You might give this a shot too if there's someone in your team with too much spare time. My advice is to only pack model and texture files which are 100% finished, because you need to unpack them again if you want to edit the file. I would start with buildings and other very common objects (like street objects) and have someone with an older computer compare the ingame FPS before and after packing. You can use Fraps to record the ingame FPS, but I'm sure there's other software too.

Hoppah

*Quick update*

We've now downgraded and converted 90% of the textures as of today. We will do some testing if this reduces lags, crashing, and loading time. It is up to 25% smaller in file size however.

Thanks to Hoppah for pointing out the quick technique! Worked like a charm!

You're welcome man.

What would we do without hoppah?

Get a job, get kids, and enjoy life. Basically.

Has the spelling error in the banner already been reported? Or is it street language and done on purpose? manhtt'n yo

Also in response to hoppahs suggestion please do convert to .png as may allow those of us unable to enjoy v3 to actually then be able to enjoy it as even the intel cards stand an ok chance at support the .png format!!!!!!

.png, .tga .jpg/jpeg and .dds are all fine and common file formats. Just be careful with textures that contain alpha layers as not every format supports them. Also, if you convert the texture to .jpg make sure to check the image quality afterwards. I personally prefer .png. I wouldn't use dds at anytime anymore, because it contains way too much compression artifacts (or whatever that distortion is called).

Most photo editing software have tools to convert a batch of files to a different format at once, so thats fairly easy.

Then you need to edit the .v3o manually to change the file extension. You might be able to use NotePad++ which can open files simultaneously. Then use the 'Find & Replace in All Files' function to replace ".bmp" to the new file extension. Don't forget to make a backup first and do a quick test in the editor to make sure you didn't miss anything.

Done

Related to the posts about the system requirements, I have an important suggestion to make. You might be able to really increase performance and downside the entire mod by taking a look at your textures and converting them to a format which takes up less space. I noticed you are using .bmp files, and unfortunately they take up a lot of space. Converting them to a different format such as .png, .tga or .jpg might be clever. (.dds works too, but applies too much compression imo).

It might be worth to look into this. I did a small experiment and found out that .png files are generally twice as small as .bmp files with basically no quality difference. If you manage to downsize the mod, it might create a significant performance boost as well as decrease loading times which are -unfortunately- pretty bad right now. On top of all, you will attract a hell of a lot more players if the mod runs better on older computers including mine.

http://youtu.be/f0ZGOIV6EIQ

Interested in joining MERU? Here is what you need to know

So I cannot join MERU. Dutch people are not welcome.

Clear video though. Maybe I'll just visit your channel as an 'annoying foreign tourist' soon.

Now that's one of the coolest things I've ever seen in EM4. It looks very very impressive. Looks like you still need to work on the pathfinding a little bit, but other than that it looks and feels very realistic. I don't think you can get any closer to a real NYC feeling than this and seems like you all got it to work. The stations look great and realistic too. The video itself is well made, you were sometimes a little hard to understand and the other voice scared the sh*t out of me when he suddenly started talking. Got a real kick out of the battalion chief ride though. I'd like to see some more of the NYPD soon.

Looks ok to me. The graphics are kinda similar to EM4, while EM4 was released back in 2005. Other than that, it seems its primarely focussed on the fire department/ems which is a shame. Law enforcement plays an important role at resolving incidents too (traffic and crowd control?), but apperently not in Germany. The RPG elements (personnel management) might be interesting, hopefully its a good addition and doesn't involve too much micromanagement.

Hop

Hoppah, are you revived? Again!? Welcome back both of you.

I'm still alive and well.

Welcome back

In addition to Voodoo, it should be possible by using a modified version of the flashbang script.

You cannot edit the flashbang code itself to make it injure or kill people as that code can only stun persons within a certain range.

I suggest you modify the Flashbang-script though and make it spawn an invisible object on the location where the flashgrenade is thrown (CmdPos).

Make the spawned object explode and voilá you will have something that looks like an exploding grenade.

The only problem you might encounter, is the timing of the explosion, but I'm sure thats resolvable too.

Don't forgot to change the Explosion Effect in the editor (Edit Traits menu) to an 'explosion type' of your choice, like 'explosioncar01'.

Also, change the 'material setting' of the invisible object in the editor. If I recall correctly, the material is related to the force of the explosion.

I'm not sure if the ThrowMolotov code will work. I've never used that code.

Good luck,

Mr Hop

I'm pretty sure he meant the one on the fake dollar bill. The one who looks like Kane.

Oh, I thought he meant 'the dude' from his profile pic.

Thank you all for your responses, most of which made me laugh. The man on the picture is my Economics teacher by the way.

The dude who taught me how to make White Russians looks exactly like him! What a coincidence.

Incorrect, you need to edit the LAFirestation.script in the 'scripts/game/comand' folder. Each engine ladder etc will have several numbers, like 3, 3, 5, 5, or something, you wanna change the engine so that it has all the same numbers (check on the ladder for which number is basic ff).

Hope this helped.

x

Incorrect, you need to edit both the XML file in the 'Units' folder and the script.

- The XML file in case you call the vehicle off-map using the interface

- The script, to make the vehicle staff correctly in the fire station.

Mr Hoppah, approximately 12 years old, male

1. Would you accept this in exchange for a good or service?

Yes, if you give me Boardwalk and Park Place properties in return =)

2. Why or why not?

Because investing in the most valuable real estate will hopefully get me rich and let me win the game.

3. What gives the US Dollar its value?

The boss who invented Monopoly.

It's not really a rule, more a way to advise people that high polygon models aren't necessary or that useful in EM4. You weren't misinformed though. Opinions on what a 'high polygon count' exactly is might differ, and therefore a max of 5.000 is just recommended to give people an idea.

Larger counts aren't really an issue for newer computers anymore. My computer is 4 to 5 years old and I've always noticed a slight lag when a high-polygon vehicle shows up (around 10k polygons). For newer computers that shouldn't be an issue. The principle stays the same imo: Keep the count as low as possible unless you have no option. It becomes harder when you either have to add a lot of details to your model (equipment, lights that stick out) or when the model has a curved shape (like helicopters). A nice example is the fire engine in the Los Angeles Mod. The cabin itself is fairly low polygon, it's just a box with some doors and lights, but the back of the fire engine consists of much more polygons because of all the details that stick out (bed, lights, equipment). There is sometimes no way to avoid that.

A good texture is just as important as the model itself! You can leave out many details in the 3D-model if you're good at creating textures. Take a look at MikeyPI's models. His models do not have large counts of polygons, but his textures are so rich of details and look so realistic that high poly models serves no useful purpose. Why model door handles if a texture looks just as good, especially in a game like Emergency 4? And thats actually the main reason why we try to advise people to create lower polygon models. EM4 is played from above (bird perspective).You don't look at the tiny details that much and therefore it's unnecessary to create high polygon models. Besides that, adding details to textures is a perfect alternative and a few extra pixels don't really affect game performance as much (unless you're using very high resolution textures obviously).

I personally don't have an issue with vehicles with 10k+ polygons in EM4. But I've seen vehicles with 25K polygons and a bad texture and a 3K polygon version of the same vehicle (made by someone else) still looked better in EM4 because he spend more time in a realistic texture. I've always found it a challenge to keep the poly count as low as possible and still make a good looking model by spending extra time in a detailed and realistic texture. Conclusion of my story: high polygon models do not always have an advantage over low polygon models in EM4. This is my opinion on this and hopefully you get my point.

I have tried the newest version of the modification for some time. The map looks very promising and has a good and genuine NYC feeling imo. I didn't find the gameplay that entertaining yet. My compliments for the map though. Keep up the good work.

Hoppah U gonna mod again for em5?

I don't know yet. Maybe something smaller. Let's find out what Em5 has to offer first.

I mean for mods like the RCMP mod isn't finnished and the manhathan mod just got released so these mods won't be playable

From a different perspective: the first LA Mod for Emergency 4 was released in 2006. It's about time a new EM game with modding capabilities is going to be made!

May not be the last version,

Although there are no updates?

Unfortunately not, MikeyPI's computer broke down, so he's not able to work on the mod at the moment. Therefore, I do not really work on the mod either. I've only made new trafficlights and streetligths so far. Newfoundking added those to the a new map. As soon MikeyPI has a new computer we hope to pick up the pace again.

I've put a door in a group number, but as soon as I click away from the door it whipes it and puts it back to 0. Any ideas?

Thats something really annoying indeed. After you typed a digit for the the group, you need to press ENTER. It should work then.