Major Help Needed with API creation!

[Guest]

I have EOD, FSSC, AutoCAD, and GMax. Okay, I am creating a military base by adding more buildings and scenery to allow for VFR flying around it and will later add military AI aircraft to take off and land there. I am trying to make it detailed to a point of not killing frame rates. Now, this base has satellite dishes enclosed in giant spheres that resemble golf balls. I opened EOD and it doesn't allow you to create spheres or domes (could put two domes together), I quickly made something in AutoCAD to full scale, imported it via DXF into GMax, and now I am trying to make it into an API to insert into FSSC. My goal is just to get it into FSSC via the macro insertion capability. I have most of the airport done in it and just need these because they are pretty significant to the scenery. Some PLEASE help as I am pulling my hair out trying to figure this out and don't have much left! Thanks for any help that is offered!

[arno 1]

You can make a library BGL for your object with FsRegen and then call that with a macro. I have made a tutorial about how to do this, you can find it on my website (link in my signature).

[Guest]

Thanks! Exactly what I was looking for!

[Guest JohnC]

Arno, from Gwas,couldn't he just make it as a separate bgl with MAKEMDL and stick it in the scenery folder?

[Guest]

Doesn't that require specific lat/long coordinates? What would I put in for that, and would I have to modify the API "script" to change the location? These are specific locations for these "golf balls" for VFR flights and I'm working off several mosaiked images taken from a web site. Technically I could place them in their actual location and have a non-excluded scenery file in that area, but the extra overhead of pulling in multiple sceneries for one airport (I do have a fully AI stocked DIA(KDEN) just north of it dropping my frame rates enough), that it doesn't sit comfortably. It's bad enough these are spheres.

[arno 1]

If you make the BGL direct from GMax you have no API and thus also don't need to place the object with FSSC. I think if you use the object more then once the library/API approach is also better.And for most other object I prefer it as well, to keep the number of BGL files low.

[Guest]

That's what I was thinking, thanks all for your help and different viewpoints!

[Guest Firestriker]

As a point of interest, are you using a standard Sphere or a GeoSphere? If you are using a standard Sphere you can reduce the poly count a bunch by using a GeoSphere. "This type of sphere spreads the polygon faces, which are all equal in size, around the object instead of concentrating them on either end like a normal Sphere object. This makes the GeoSphere object easier to model while using less memory. One reason for this is that a GeoSphere uses triangle faces instead of square faces." (From the Gmax Bible)

[Guest]

Oh now this complicates things. :) Well, I have another matter entirely, now I am running into a problem where GMax does not want to open any previously saved files that I create. I can open files from the tutorials. I am using version 1.2. Until I get this resolved I will not be able to create anything, gesphere or not.

[arno 1]

Your problem is due to the latest hotfix from MS. After you remove that GMax will work fine. More info here on the GMax support forums:http://d217859.bo21.bootlegweb.com/forum/c...ic;f=3;t=000091

[Guest]

Aha! Thanks again! That fixed it, now to mess around with things! I'll post how it goes here!