Just realized I forgot to ship this file with the editor.
The text file Creating Shapes in ac3d
The Aces High Object Creator Uses a specific hierarchy to build master shapes.
As follows:
===========
World
Group "Model"
Group "Objects"
Group"STR0"
Object "WHATEVER" /* this can be a living
shape */
Object "WHATEVER2" /* if there is a dead shape,
it would be this object
with the DEAD flag set */
Object "STR1"
Object "STR2"
.
.
.
Group "Ground"
Object "anything"
Object "anything"
Object "anything"
.
.
.
.
To create this hierarchy in ac3d it is easiest to just create all the end point objects and the group them together when you have finished.
The various object types available to you are as follows:
VOD This shape is static with no special meaning or game functionality
TWR Every field must have a tower. This is a tower type.
RWY Runways.
HGR Hangar.
ARM Rearm Pads.
GNG Auto Gun.
RDR Radar.
BMB Bombable.
FTE Fighter Entry Point.
MPR Map Room.
OFC Officer Club.
AMB Ammo bunker.
FUB Fuel Bunker.
BAB Barracks.
CIT City.
HQT Headquarters.
AMF Ammo Factory.
FUF Fuel Factory.
RDF Radar Factory.
AAF AAA Factory.
BAF Grunt Training Facility.
BME Bomber Entry Point.
VHE Vehicle Entry Point.
FTH Fighter Hangar.
BMH Bomber Hangar.
VHH Vehicle Hangar.
SHP Ship.
BTE Boat Entry Point.
BAT Gun Battery.
TRN Train.
CNV Road Convoy.
BAR River Barge.
STA Station.
TWN Town.
BRR Barrier.
STR Structure.
GMS Group Master.
BAS Soft Gun Battery.
BAA Armored Gun Battery.
GNH Hard Auto Gun.
GNA Armored Auto Gun.
BAH Hard Gun Battery.
In our example we used "STR", which is a structure. The benefit of defining your objects in this manner allows you to redefine them in the Object Editor as they have no attributes associated with them.
You must always add a number immediately after the object type and this number must be unique within that type.
For example, if you have 4 "STR" types and 2 "BRR" types, they would be named as follows: STR1, STR2, STR3, STR4, BRR1, BRR2 and so on.
Materials.
==========
Aces High Has a fixed material list that can be used and imported into ac3d. Just merge the file "material.ac" into your shape from the ac3d file menu.
The Aces High materials will show up as materials with a value of 17 and greater. Any materials other than the imported ones will be ignored.
Flags.
======
MinDist=10
MaxDist=100
------------
The MinDist and MaxDist values control the range at which you can see an object.
As an example, if you set the MinDist value to 10, then the object would disappear from view if you get within 10 feet of the object, in the game.
When the MaxDist is set to 100, the object will remain in view until it is more than 100 feet away, in the game.
If you have a large or complex object, you may want to create simpler versions of those object that can be used as the player gets farther away. To do this, you would have the high detailed model show up, say between 10 and 100 feet, then to have the game switch to the next lower detail model, you would set the MinDist to 100 and the MaxDist to 1000, for example.
This would cause the game to drop the high detailed model from view at 100 feet and switch to another lower detailed model from 100 to 1000 feet.
StencilAlpha=1
---------------
Terrain=1
----------
This tells the Object Editor that this is a terrain shape. Terrain shapes are special shapes which get included with a terrain and are not standalone objects.
For example, if you wanted to add a small berm or hill to a terrain, you would use design the shape, then tag it with this flag.
DoNotSmallCull=1
-----------------
Culling is a process which allows a game engine to ignore drawing things which do not need to be drawn. Such as objects you cannot see from your view in the game.
This flag controls whether or not an object should be culled down to its basic shape. If set to "1", the object is treated as a unit during culling and if it is set to "0", it it is broken down to smaller elements of the object for culling.
Obviously this can have performance impacts.
As an extreme example, you would not want to cull a simply box, but you might want to small cull a 1000 foot long building.
PolyID=20001
-------------
Runway 20001
Rearm Pad 20002
Crater 20003
Road 20004
Dirt 20005
Water 20006
Tree 20007
Bush 20008
Wall 20009
Model 20010
Train Track 20011
Dead=0
-------
NoCollide=1
------------
This flag tells Aces High is an object can be collided with or not. For example, a shape type of "Bush" would have this flag set to "1", so the "Bush" can be run over without causing damage or stopping a moving object.
While a "Tree" shape type would have this flag set to "0", to tell Aces High the shape can be collided with.
ZBias=0
--------
When you have two co-planar polys, the video card needs to know the order they should be drawn in. ZBias sets this order. The higher numbered poly will be drawn last.
Hidden=0
---------
This defines whether a poly is hidden or not. 0=it is not hidden, 1=it is hidden
