Adding your models to the Falcon4 DB Part 1

SAAFOPS MODELING TUTORIAL

Adding your models to the Falcon4 database Part 1

So you have finally finished modelling, lodding and skinning your masterpiece Su-27 and you cant wait to see it fly in Falcon 4.0. There is no quick easy way to do this, but it is not as impossible a task as you might think. In this tutorial I want to basically show you how to insert/add a new model/record into the Falcon 4 Objects database.

This is really one of the steps required to achieve your goal, I will show you later how to add your new aircraft/ship/tank whatever to a unit/squadron and make it available in the campaign or as a flyable aircraft (ships can fly ???).

Enough yabba – lets get to the task ahead…

Tools Needed

F4Browse – Falcon 4 database editor (written by Julian “Codec”).
LODEditor – Falcon 4 LOD/database editor (written by Fred “BaldEagle”).

Part 1

- Fire up LODEditor (LE), browse to your terrdata/objects folder for the KoreaObj.HDR file.
- File >> Open Model File…

- Browse to your finished LOD model and open it

- You will see this screen below next – pay special attention to the detail I highlighted in the red block (I always write this info down on a piece of paper or in a notepad file). This is basically telling you what the last known numbers in the database is – and makes it easier to locate your new entry later as you go along.

- Click on the Edit LOD… button and you will see a screen similar to mine below.
- Under Utilities choose Model/Texture SetUp…

- The next screen is exceptionally well laid out (ty Fred !!!). The steps are easy. So ..
- Choose Append/Select a Parent as our first step.
- In the Enter Data panel that pops up, just click ok (It defaults to -1 which means we want to add/append a new model to the DB)
- Click on OK

- Do the same for Append/Select LOD… it will ask you to locate the LOD file of your model on your hard drive and after that some distance view information. Now I must admit, here I am a bit in the grey myself, so I type in 10000 and ok that.
- The distance data can be changed afterwards in anyway, so don’t worry too much about it for now.
- Click on Update Parent Record…
- Click on Add/Replace Texture(S)… and another browse screen pop ups which allows you to add whatever textures you have made for this model (CTRL click to select multiple textures)
- That is basically that – BUT BEFORE you click on Close – WRITE DOWN the new Parent ID and LOD Number assigned to you model. (I circled them in blue in the screen below)