Farming Simulator Modding For Dummies

Introduction 1 About This Book 2 Foolish Assumptions 3 Beyond This Book 4 Icons Used in This Book 4 Where to Go from Here 5 Part I: Getting Started with Farming Simulator Modding 7 Chapter 1: Introducing GIANTS Editor 9 Knowing the Editor s Parts 10 Loading Assets 12 Opening an existing map 13 Previewing objects 14 Navigating in 3D Space 15 Using Framed Rotate 16 Choosing camera views 17 Transforming Objects 18 Translating, rotating, and scaling 19 Selecting objects 21 Chapter 2: Creating Map Mods 23 Preparing a Map Mod 23 Selecting, Organizing, and Placing Props 26 Making complex selections in the Scenegraph 26 Using interactive placement 27 Organizing your map 29 Importing external assets 31 Adjusting User Attributes 31 Triggering Events in Your Map 33 Chapter 3: Editing Sur face Details in Maps 35 Editing Terrain 35 Sculpting the surface 37 Painting textures 43 Painting Foliage and Ground Details 46 Creating farmable land 47 Adding plant life 49 Working with Navigation Meshes: Adding Spaces for Animals 51 Painting information 52 Defining navigation mesh boundaries for objects 54 Generating your navigation mesh 55 Chapter 4: Using the Material Panel 59 Modifying Material Properties 59 Viewing Material Textures 63 Chapter 5: Playing with Particles 65 Discovering the Uses for Particles 65 Working with the Particle Editor 66 Adding Particles in Your Mod 71 Part II: Creating Custom 3D Mods 73 Chapter 6: Set ting Up a Basic modDescxml 75 Creating a New modDescxml 76 Defining Mod Title and Descriptions 77 Adding In-Game Store Items 79 Including Specializations 83 Chapter 7: Making a New 3D Mod 85 Setting Up a New Scene 86 Establishing Object Hierarchy 88 Configuring Materials and Textures 90 Defining material settings 92 Unwrapping objects for texturing 93 Using Your Triangles Effectively 96 Getting your normals right 96 Reducing polygon count 97 Generating normal maps for additional detail 100 Chapter 8: Exporting Your Mod for GIANTS Editor 103 Exporting from Blender 104 Installing the I3D exporter add-on 104 Exporting your mod 107 Exporting from Maya 109 Installing the I3D exporter plugin 109 Exporting your mod 111 Exporting from 3ds Max 112 Installing the I3D exporter plugin 112 Exporting your mod 113 Exporting with FBX 115 Importing Your Mod into GIANTS Editor 117 Part III: Enhancing Your Mods 119 Chapter 9: Adding Texture to Your Mod 121 Working in Proper Texture Sizes 121 Understanding the Texture Types Used on a Mod 123 Coloring with diffuse maps 124 Adding details with normal maps 131 Adjusting shininess with specular maps 132 Baking ambient occlusion textures 134 Using the dirt channel 137 Assembling a Complete Specular Map 139 Optimizing Textures for the Game 141 Chapter 10: Working with Sounds 143 Getting Your Sounds 143 Recording your own sounds 144 Searching online 146 Editing Sound Files 147 Exporting Sounds for GIANTS Engine 149 Bringing Sounds into Your Mod 150 Part IV: Customizing Mod Behaviors 153 Chapter 11: Tweaking Vehicle XML 155 Understanding Object Indexing 157 Discovering the Structure of a Vehicle XML File 159 Setting Correct Collisions 161 Working with Motors and Wheels 165 Focusing on the wheels 166 Moving with your motor 167 Setting Up Cameras 168 Adding Lights 170 Chapter 12: Defining New Objects and Behaviors with Lua 173 Getting Started with Utilslua 174 Understanding a Specialization Script 176 Adding Custom Specializations to modDescxml 185 Chapter 13: Getting Out Your Mod 187 Finalizing Your Mod 187 Creating Store and Brand Icons 189 Editing a store icon 189 Adding a brand icon 190 Submitting and Sharing Mods 190 Exporting and packaging your mod 191 Distributing and maintaining your mod 192 Part V: The Part of Tens 197 Chapter 14: Ten Powerful Tips When Creating Mods 199 Use the Correct Image Format for Textures 199 Use Texture Sizes that Fit Your Mod s Physical Size 200 Consolidate Your Texture Data 200 Set Useful Clip Distance Values 200 Avoid Spaces and Special Characters in Filenames 201 Be Aware of Case-Sensitive Paths 201 Convert WAV Files from Stereo to Mono 202 Check the Game Log for Errors and Warnings 202 Test Your Mod in Single and Multiplayer Modes 202 Put Your Mod into a Single Zip Package 203 Chapter 15: Ten Valuable Community Resources 205 GIANTS Developer Network 205 Modhub 206 Farming Simulator Forums 206 Farming Simulator Modding Video Tutorials 206 Farming Simulator Script Source Code 206 GIANTS Software Company Website 207 Luaorg 207 Freesoundorg 207 Blenderorg 207 CGTexturescom 208 Appendix: Error and Warning Message Reference 209 Index 223