Static Meshes Request

[fudgonaut]

I've never been successful at modelling or pulling meshes from other Unreal games. Is anybody willing to make (or maybe already has) some simple static meshes that are UV-mapped?

• Cylinder (for pipes, columns)
• Curved Cylinders (pipe corners)
• Sphere (for planets/moons)

The existing UT decorations are less than desirable:

• The UT pipe has a fat rim at one end like a Super Mario Bros pipe. It doesn't look good if you want a long pipe section.
• The UT pipe curve is okay, but it would be better to have a couple different radii versions (tight bend, medium bend, large bend)
• The UT moon badly distorts textures at the poles. It would be great to have a sphere mesh that can use equirectangular textures (like the ones here) without distortion

Does anyone have mesh packages like these that they could share? Or know of specific maps that have these, so I could try extracting them?

(An ideal scenario would be a repository of non-stock mesh packages that mappers can use. Either on one of the existing UT content sites, or I could probably set up a myself if enough people are willing to contribute mesh packages.)

[OjitroC]

I have a .u file named BetterSphereMesh - no idea if it is UV-mapped as I have no idea what that means nor do I know if it is a better sphere though it looks OK when viewed in UEd's Mesh Browser.

BetterSphereMeshV1.u.zip

I have had a look at most of the .u files with 'mesh' in the name that I have and can't find much else - of course there will be meshes in other .u files but it's really a question of opening some and seeing what's in them.

I think some Bulldozer maps have custom pipes, etc which are presumably meshes so it may be worth checking those out (checked out Anubis Station, Asbestos and Bio Facility .u packages and they have a range of meshes of various 'stuff' - Asbestos has some large pipes and the other two have smaller pipes of a variety of designs plus, as I say, other stuff).

[fudgonaut]

Great thank you!

I have a skybox for a Phobos remake, which will look hella cool provided Mars isn't just a flat circle.

I will check out those map recommendations for pipes, too.

I should look at the UTR and FoT maps, they are all georgeous and may have orther cool meshes that could be re-purposed (with author permission).

[fudgonaut]

I have done multiple, multiple searches to find some usable information about getting UT2k4 assets into UT99. The info I've found is scattershot, and I don't know how to apply it.

But I just found my copy of Milkshape3D which I thought I had lost in a hard drive crash. I’m wondering if I can use it as part of a workflow for getting Unreal Engine 2 (UT2k4, Unreal 2, etc) static meshes into UT99

From what I understand, UT99 doesn’t really support static meshes. However, Unreal 227i does. So this is my thinking:

1. Extract UE2 assets using UModel
2. Rename the extracted mesh from .pskx to .psk
3. Import the .psk into Milkshape3D
4. Export the .psk to an .obj file
5. Import .obj into the Unreal 227 editor as a static mesh
6. Create a package for the static mesh
7. Copy the package to a UT99 installation
8. Use the package in UnrealEd 2.2 to add decorations to a map

Is this idea workable? Can anyone help me build a proper workflow that can be tutorialized? A method that preserves the UV mapping of the original static mesh?

[ExpEM]

I have done multiple, multiple searches to find some usable information about getting UT2k4 assets into UT99. The info I've found is scattershot, and I don't know how to apply it.

But I just found my copy of Milkshape3D which I thought I had lost in a hard drive crash. I’m wondering if I can use it as part of a workflow for getting Unreal Engine 2 (UT2k4, Unreal 2, etc) static meshes into UT99

From what I understand, UT99 doesn’t really support static meshes. However, Unreal 227i does. So this is my thinking:

1. Extract UE2 assets using UModel
2. Rename the extracted mesh from .pskx to .psk
3. Import the .psk into Milkshape3D
4. Export the .psk to an .obj file
5. Import .obj into the Unreal 227 editor as a static mesh
6. Create a package for the static mesh
7. Copy the package to a UT99 installation
8. Use the package in UnrealEd 2.2 to add decorations to a map

Is this idea workable? Can anyone help me build a proper workflow that can be tutorialized? A method that preserves the UV mapping of the original static mesh?

First of all, UT99 has no support for static meshes.
So you can't create a static mesh package in 227 and load it up in UT.

What you can do is use mesh maker to convert BSP geometry to a mesh.
For UT2k4 the way I do it is:

In the 2k4 editor:
-Find / place the StaticMesh you with to convert.
-Right click the SM and select Convert -> To Brush, this will create a red builder brush of the SM.
-Add the builder brush to the world.
-Select the newly built Adder and copy it to clipboard.

In the 227 editor:
-Create a new Additive world.
-Paste from clipboard.
You now have the geometry of the SM but not the textures.

In the 2k4 editor:
-locate the texture you require.
-right click texture in the texture browser select export to file, save it somewhere.
-repeat as necessary for all required textures.

In the 227 editor:
-Import all textures to a package and apply them to the geometry created earlier.

You now have a BSP version of the static mesh
To create a static mesh for Unreal227 you can now right click the textured brush , select Convert -> To Static Mesh
follow the prompts, All done! Congratulations!

But wait, we cant use that for UT99, Dang...

To convert to UT99 you need to copy the Texture package you created over to you UT99 directory.
Then select the textured geometry (in 227ed) and copy it to clip board.

In the UT99 editor:
-Create a new map.
-Build a subtractor big enough to hold your chosen SM geometry.
-Open the texture package you created.
-Paste in your geometry, it should be fully textured.
-SAVE!
-Close the editor.
-Open the editor and the map you saved.
-Select the SM geometry and export to T3D.

Now you can use Meshmaker to turn your T3D into a mesh and package.
Note: you cant use a T3D from 227 due to a slight formatting alteration that borks Meshmaker.
Note2: if you are using UT469 you can import DDS textures directly without going through U227.

[fudgonaut]

Thank you for taking the time to write up a clear series of steps.

In the UT99 editor:
-Create a new map.
-Build a subtractor big enough to hold your chosen SM geometry.
-Open the texture package you created.
-Paste in your geometry, it should be fully textured.

Sadly this doesn't work for me. I can copy/paste brushes from UEd3 to 227ed. But when I copy/paste from 227ed to UEd2.2, no brush appears

- I was able to export a brush from UEd3 and import it into 469
- I used the BrushToMesh button (XC Engine) to create a mesh from the brush
- Next step is to figure out how to create a package for the mesh
- Then test it in-game

---

UPDATE:
After I click on the BrushToMesh button I get a 'build succesful' message and I see the mesh in the map. But I don't know how to turn it into a package. While it appears as a mesh in the map, it's still not treated as a mesh in the right-click/context menu. Unfortunately there is no documentation on how to use BrushToMesh

I tried using MeshMaker but I get a message that the texture's missing. The mesh .u file built successfully and I placed the mesh in-game, but it's invisible because it has no texture assigned to it.
Can't find indications on where/how I'm supposed to get MeshMaker to find the texture

---

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE:
I got meshmaker to locate the texture on the first pass. I placed the decoration in the map and it was still invisible. Also, got an error message that the the map couldn't save. Looks like I'm having the exact problem this guy was having:

Problem: MeshMaker create a *.u package with my mesh (without used textures), when i place this mesh on map in UnrealEd 2.0 they are invisible in texture view mode (but in wireframe view mode this mesh is placed). Also i run UnrealEd 2.0, import used textures package *.utx, open mesh package *.u and place this mesh on a map and all good, but when i am not preloaded packages mesh is invisible.

Has anyone experienced this issue using MeshMaker (mesh is visible in wireframe view, but invisible in 3D view and in gameplay)? I'm at the end of my rope here. It shouldn't be this difficult

---

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE TO THE UPDATE:
Good News: I finally got a mesh to appear in-game. Not sure how I did it, but I started from scratch and was able to go UT2k4 brush -> UT99 brush -> MeshMaker -> UT99 decoration.
Bad News: The mesh pops in and out of visibility if you get too close to it in places. If I can't fix that, it's been a wasted effort (there's no point in using a pretty decoration if it disappears when the player gets close)

Does anyone know what causes the flickering/visibility issue in-game?
Does anyone know if BrushToMesh works better?

[ExpEM]

---

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE TO THE UPDATE:
Good News: I finally got a mesh to appear in-game. Not sure how I did it, but I started from scratch and was able to go UT2k4 brush -> UT99 brush -> MeshMaker -> UT99 decoration.
Bad News: The mesh pops in and out of visibility if you get too close to it in places. If I can't fix that, it's been a wasted effort (there's no point in using a pretty decoration if it disappears when the player gets close)

Does anyone know what causes the flickering/visibility issue in-game?
Does anyone know if BrushToMesh works better?

I'm glad you got it to work, I could have written it better but lazy ha.

The flickering has been an issue since the dawn of unreal and could be caused by many things.
If its only disappearing when your up close then it could be an issue with the origin of the mesh and culling?
Other veterans would be much better to diagnose the issue.

[fudgonaut]

I'm glad you got it to work, I could have written it better but lazy ha.

No worries - it was enough to put me on the right path. I've written down my steps, and I'm iterating them until I get a consistent workflow.

The flickering has been an issue since the dawn of unreal and could be caused by many things.

I figured it'd be something like that. I'll just have to play around with deco placements. It may involve invisible collision hulls.

[[NBK]DxTrEm3Fx]

I will have to give this a try. I have a static mesh I created for my 2k4 CTF maps years ago that I wanted to bring into UT99. But have never been able to figure it out. It's something that tells the other team you are thinking of them and hope they have a great day. It rotates around during the match.