Getting ingame models into a 3d modeller

[SPACEMTNMAN]

Well the day has finally come where i can say

I HAVE FOUND A WAY TO GET AND 3D MODEL BACK INTO YOUR FAVOURITE MODELLER!!!

Proof i hear you say??

http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/5571/entrancer.jpg
The Park Entrance In Sketchup

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/4664/freefall.jpg

The Freefall Car in 3DSMAX

The way it works
Is that this program takes a 3d snapshot of your entire park
It only pics up on one instance of an object
(i.e. if you had a two trees exactly the same then it would only export one of them)
It exports them in a strange .3DR format but on install it can install a 3dr importer for 3dsmax.
Once installed it can export as an wavefront obj file for you
You have to play around with the rotation because it is rotated on all 3 axis after import. But technically the posibiities open up a whole new realm. We can now change textures on everything. For example, you could put your own logo on the park entrance, add billboards to things that didnt have billboards on before and even add effects to things like walls. Make firework launchers out of plants,Add Particle Effects to Walls and trach cans, that sorta thing.

By sunday i should have a full tutorial after trying to locate (or write) a plugin for sketchup allowing obj import. (3dr is native to the program used)

Thanks
SPACEMTNMAN

[jessica14]

wow!

this is going to be really helpful!

[SPACEMTNMAN]

Thanks :) i thought so too :)

[jessica14]

any update on the plugin?

also can i pm you?

[03gibbss]

Just to be sure, is it legal to take the objects created by Atari out of the game and into sketchup and manipulate them? As we are no longer creating them ourselves but editing the actual models from the game...

[jessica14]

^ i would think so. the mods approved it.

[03gibbss]

^ Ah ok, i didn't know it was mod approved!

[SPACEMTNMAN]

any update on the plugin?

also can i pm you?

I Only posted this less than 10 mins ago lol
no update as of yet :)

And in regard to the pm'ing
yeh go ahead :)

And yes it has been approved by the mods and is fully legal Because anyone with the knowledge of DirectX could make a program to do this :)

[PB&J]

Do the models still contain bone/spline information?

[bereth14]

Yes! Perfect! I can now take the car models and make them into benches (I know it sounds weird) so that peeps can test out them, just like in reality! Yeah!

[benboid12]

AWESOME thankyou so much!
now we donthave to remake everything again like coaster trains we can just re texture and maybe edit slightly! this is so amazing!!

ive been waiting for this for months!!

awesome! (again)

and that concludes my little rant :)

[tyc∞n4life]

Interesting find but I'm still questioning the legality of this.

[benboid12]

its mod approved

[hiznik]

^^ no profit, no harm, yes?

Do I understand this correctly, that here's a way to extract the default models from the game, fiddle with them in 3D software, save and import as CSO that's under new management?

If so, I agree; it's an exciting breakthrough.

[azanderz]

If its illegal to edit the .exe why shouldnt it be illegal to edit the models ?
Did the mods spoke with atari and chris sawyer and got their permission for it ?

[superlegostarwa]

Awesome Find!!!! Can We Take Custom Scenery Out Of Parks Too And Format It? With Permission From The Author Of Course

[wabigbear]

"Mod approved" is not the same as "ok'd by Frontier and Atari's Legal Departments"...

It just means that for now the mod's haven't found a reason to not allow the thread as it's only discussion, the mods don't speak for either company's lawyers. And it has nothing to do with profit. You can give stuff away free and it can still be breaking copyright law.

Discuss all you want, but be careful crossing that fine line. On the surface it sounds wonderful.

[TheSkipper]

Custom Scenery is already available outside of game.
As long as no one is making money, OR distributing in game models as their own, I saw no issues with this.

Wagi posted almost the same time as me....
Perhaps having the ability to "crack" the ingame models is a good thing for determining how to make other models. Re-texturing might be reverse engineering.

[benboid12]

^aye.

[SPACEMTNMAN]

PB&J -Unfortunately Not :(
Bereth14 - I also had that thought and will possibly release a pack with them in :)
Benboid12 Retexturing coasters is possible already (sr3d figured it out a while ago)
hiznik - you would be correct
azanders - no profit, no harm :)
superlegostarwa - yes you can BUT MAKE SURE ITS ALLOWED!!
Wabigbear (i was gonna call you wagi out of habit lol) - thanks
Thanks Skipper :)

So yeh, there are lots of possibilities at the moment but like i said before its very hard to reorientate the objects
And just to make this clear I havent written this program, its a freely available program that i stubled upon when looking for ways to include dx9 in visual basic stuff.
I will post a video about the method sometime within the next 2 days :)
Thanks
SPACEMTNMAN

[wabigbear]

I'm really not trying to rain on the parade guys, I actually think it's a fantastic idea, I'm just advising to use caution is all.

[SPACEMTNMAN]

Yeh, ive known of this method for a few weeks and have been playing with the possibilities but i had to wait for a mod to approve it and after hearing nothing back from crowheart i asked skipper who kindly said and i quote

"Let the joyous news be spread, the wicked old witch at last is dead!!
Oh.. wrong revelation.
Go for it!"

[TheSkipper]

Well, I see no harm in getting the ball rolling. Someone might want to point Frontier to this and get an opinion from their perspective.

[jessica14]

^already have. waiting for a reply

[tyc∞n4life]

It'd probably be fine if nobody puts up the models up for download. I dunno.

[Viscosity086]

I would have to agree, no harm if theres no downloadiing.

[Fisherman]

well...also...if Frontier really isn't making any more expansions, RTC4, etc...hopefully they will let us do this.

-Derek

[SPACEMTNMAN]

I cant really see the point in this mwethod if nobody can put their models up for download and it would also cause more n00bs who dont read the rules to get infractions (if it became a rule that is :rolleyes:

[gavt1976]

I hope we can do it because the community needs something like this and if we could download models for our parks and share them it will also be amazing and we all could do it has the new expansion pack that we can download for free.

[Ckef01]

It's a nice found, but I think it will caus alot of trouble.. Some people may copy some parts of models (cso is the biggest problem..) and use it.. I also think that there will be alot of texture copying, as I see the texture from the freefall in your 3dsMax picture..

Definitely a nice found, but it will give alot of trouble.. I think..

Anyway, I still hope this will be possible too :p ..

[SPACEMTNMAN]

well the method i use exports texture coordinates as dds files and when it renders in 3dsmax the textures are already placed
Im in contact with frontier who are awaiting an answer from one of their departments but so far it looks good :)
I also thought. You could make any object bigger or smaller ingame for things like mini dioramas etc. I managed to add my own logo to the water tower in the disaster canyon ride event (no animation though)

[Mr.Panda]

Wow what a very successful CS year

[Vodhin]

MODs do not own the rights to RCT3, Atari & Frontier do.

The End User Agreement for RCT3 prohibits anyone from reverse engineering any part of the game. This is exactly what you have done.

Custom scenery is user created material (presumably) that [should be] is free to use.

Personally I shudder at the thought of all the rip-off artists that will now be able to steal other people's works, modify them a little in some way, then claim them as their own.

With that said, I wish you all well and good bye...

[03gibbss]

I'm not sure all the CS creators would like their textures and models taken from the game and worked backwards through sketchup either... They all put a lot of effort into creating these models and textures and if they wanted the community to have access to their models and textures then they would provide a download for them...

I don't think this is a bad program, infact I think it could be very good and further get rid of the limitations in rct, but I think there are some boundaries which we need to respect especially to the CS creators who give their spare time to create their sets...

[Mr.Panda]

MODs do not own the rights to RCT3, Atari & Frontier do.

The End User Agreement for RCT3 prohibits anyone from reverse engineering any part of the game. This is exactly what you have done.

Custom scenery is user created material (presumably) that [should be] is free to use.

Personally I shudder at the thought of all the rip-off artists that will now be able to steal other people's works, modify them a little in some way, then claim them as their own.

With that said, I wish you all well and good bye...

But what if we said that atari made the models we just modifyed them and give atari credit for the models?

[Swordsman_02]

With that said, I wish you all well and good bye...
Are you leaving Atari, or just this thread?

[03gibbss]

^^ Even if you did there would be no way to make sure everyone did. You could post in the download for the plug in that you must give credit to atari, you can write it in the readme but someone will miss it and post a download saying they created it etc etc...

And anyway its not about giving permission its whether its legal/illegal...

(^ I think he just doesn't want anything to do with this thread ;))

[RctWeekly25]

i dont see nothing wrong with puting it up for download no one will make money off it no big deal

[Mr.Panda]

i dont see nothing wrong with puting it up for download no one will make money off it no big deal

I agree

[TheSkipper]

i dont see nothing wrong with puting it up for download no one will make money off it no big deal

I think the waters have been tested with this discussion and found to be muddy at best.
As lng as it was just discussion, it was fine to see reactions.

It is a BIG DEAL, it's about a lot more complicated issues than just making money. I't about distribution, claims, and a lot of things. The following being one of them I knew about, and all of you NEED to understand.

The End User Agreement for RCT3 prohibits anyone from reverse engineering any part of the game. This is exactly what you have done.

My little crystal is humming again, and I am sure the O.P. can see now why his little secret, needs to remain just that.