AMXdtsPlus Torque Exporter Beta-1 Released

[Obsidian Games]

I just released the initial beta version of AMXdtsPlus to the Obsidian Games website. It is available for A:M version 12 only (for now; there is an A:M bug preventing a V13 release), and is available for both Windows and Mac OSX Tiger.

 

This plugin uses the same setup as AMXtex -- the unregistered version cannot export textures, and only exports the first 5 frames of animation. I mainly want to see how everything runs for everyone in the unregistered mode, and if there are any major problems. If all goes well, and there aren't too many kinks to work out, the next step should be to allow for purchases, which would mean texture and full animation export would be be available.

 

Also available on the download page is the initial AMXdtsPlus Help File, which is currently incomplete, and the AMXdtsPlus File Pack, which includes a number of A:M Project Files along with their corresponding DTS/DSQ files.

 

I want to thank everyone again for all their patience while I worked on this exporter. It took a lot longer than expected, for many reasons, and I appreciate everyone's willingness to wait it out with me.

 

Well, that's enough from me. Please download it and take a look, and let me know what you think!

 

Thanks,

[GusM]

Cool... but wait, only Tiger?

Can we expect a Macintosh Panther version? A lot of us are still using this...

 

Thank you in advance,

Gustavo Muñoz

[Obsidian Games]

Cool... but wait, only Tiger?

Can we expect a Macintosh Panther version? A lot of us are still using this...

 

Thank you in advance,

Gustavo Muñoz

 

Gus,

 

I did not think this was going to be an issue. With the release of the new Hash Mac SDK (which is Tiger only) and A:M v13 (which also appears to be Tiger only), I did not think a Panther version of AMXdtsPlus would be needed.

 

Are there a lot of Mac users who plan to stick with A:M v12 on Panther, and not upgrade either product? If that's the case, I can try to get AMXdtsPlus to work on A:M v12 on Panther. Please let me know, either here, through PMs, or email.

 

Thanks,

[luckbat]

TSM2 for Mac is still Panther-only at the moment. Something to consider.

[gschumsky]

Would that be than Panther only, or Panther and Tiger compatible?

 

We're Tiger (though the laptop is still Panther...).

 

Greg

[Obsidian Games]

I've just released a Beta-2 version of AMXdtsPlus to the Obsidian Games website. This version now works with A:M v13, on both Windows and OSX Tiger.

 

I'm still working on a possible Panther version, but do not have any concrete info on if/when it will be available.

[GusM]

Cool. I will keep my fingers crosed for a Panther version...

Thank you for all the efforts.

[dukeschen]

Dropped a biped model in torque with the beta exporter. Worked like a champ.

[woolyloach]

I just stumbled across this topic by accident, and I'm glad I did!

 

Have you announced your work on this on the GarageGames forums, via a blog, resource, etc.? I had no idea anyone was working on such a thing! This will save me having to learn something new to get models into my Torque game..

 

The instant this is done, I'm buying it!

[ZachBG]

I gotta say, from playing around with this a little, it looks very exciting. I know this is an awful question to ask, but any ETA on the paid version?

 

I have no idea whether I'd ever produce a game, but if you set the same price (or thereabouts) as AMxTex, I'll probably buy it anyway, just to see Shaggy hanging out in the Torque demo app.

[Obsidian Games]

dukeschen - Thanks for the pic, I'm glad it's working for you! It's cool to see another A:M model in Torque besides the test models I've been using.

 

woolyloach - I haven't made any announcements yet on the GG boards. I wanted to get the initial beta out there and in limited testing before going more public with it. I will do so in the near future though, as it looks like things are going well.

 

ZachBG - It probably won't be long. I wanted to make sure that the plugin at least worked for people before putting out a paid version. Since it seems like there have been no major problems (none that I've been told about at least), I will look do do that soon. And I'm looking to sell it at the same price as AMXtex.

[ZachBG]

Say hello to Shaggy in the Torque ShowTool!

 

[gschumsky]

Nice Zach! And thanks for volunteering to work on the TWO game!!

[Obsidian Games]

I've just uploaded the Beta-3 version of AMXdtsPlus. This version has some under-the-covers fixes, as well as a bug fix for an action-export error dialog which should not have been displayed the way it was.

 

There is also a version for OSX Panther for A:M v12. There was only one thing that I could not get to work, and that's the generation of IFL placeholder images. This is essentially just a copy of one of the IFL images to a placeholder image with a different name, and is what's displayed when an IFL object hast not yet been animated. There is a dialog box which will give details when this is needed.

 

As for the error dialog fix mentioned above, there is a requirement that I had forgotten to mention. When exporting actions, you need to have each action actively open in the project workspace. The exporter uses the live action, so it has to be open or you'll get a mashed up animation. If you don't have an action open, you'll get the error dialog (if you're still running Beta-2) or a number of messages in the dump.dmp file (if you're running Beta-3).

 

Enjoy!

[GusM]

Wow! Thank you so much for the Panther version

Trying it right now...

 

Regards,

Gustavo Muñoz

[ZachBG]

As for the error dialog fix mentioned above, there is a requirement that I had forgotten to mention. When exporting actions, you need to have each action actively open in the project workspace. The exporter uses the live action, so it has to be open or you'll get a mashed up animation. If you don't have an action open, you'll get the error dialog (if you're still running Beta-2) or a number of messages in the dump.dmp file (if you're running Beta-3).

Ah ha! That makes much more sense now. Thanks, Chris!