.SHP files by hand?

[AzraelUK]

Does anybody here know of a guide on creating .SHP files by hand (ie. in Notepad)? I understand the positions, and I think I get the triangles, but how do the vertices work?

If anybody knows of a guide on this, it would be greatly appreciated.
[size=0]I know you lot are gonna try and pimp your favourite text editor now that I've said 'in Notepad'.[/size]

[trickfred]

There's no guide that specifically refers to making .shp files by hand, but there is nihil's guide on .shp file anatomy.

http://www.nihilesthetics.info/Darwinia ... rwinia.htm

(Click 'Intro' on the left)

Here's one of the first simple shapes I made by hand with graph paper. It's really 2D, as it has no depth (notice the 'z' coordinate column); I was lazy, and it suiteds my purposes at the time.

Code: Select all

Fragment: Box70
   ParentName: sceneroot
   up:     0.00  1.00  0.00
   front:  0.00  0.00  1.00
   pos: 0.01 7.11 0.04
   Positions: 16
   0:    7.500   17.000   0.000
   1:  10.500   17.000   0.000
   2:  10.500   -5.000   0.000
   3:   7.500   -5.000   0.000
   4:   7.500   7.500   0.000
   5:  -10.500   7.500   0.000
   6:  -10.500   4.500   0.000
   7:   7.500   4.500   0.000
   8:   7.500   -2.000   0.000
   9:   -10.500   -2.000   0.000
   10:  -10.500   -5.000   0.000
   11:   -7.500   4.500   0.000
   12:   -7.500   -2.000   0.000
   13:  -10.500   17.000   0.000
   14:  -10.500   14.000   0.000
   15:   7.500   14.000   0.000
   Normals: 0
   Colours: 1
      0: 95 240 95
   Vertices: 16    # Position ID then Colour ID
    0:  0  0
    1:  1  0
    2:  2  0
    3:  3  0
    4:  4  0
    5:  5  0
    6:  6  0
    7:  7  0
    8:  8  0
    9:  9  0
    10:  10  0
    11:  11  0
    12:  12  0
    13:  13  0
    14:  14  0
    15:  15  0
   Triangles: 10
   0,3,1
   1,3,2
   4,5,6
   6,7,4
   8,9,10
   10,3,8
   6,9,12
   12,11,6
   13,14,15
   15,0,13


It's the letter 'a' from one side, and invisible from the other (as the polygons only show on one side, and like I said, it has no depth). As you can see, I just sort of 'faked' the Vertices section, and it turned out okay.

I'm sure xander will chime in on this thread eventually, as he's made some pretty impressive shapes solely by hand.

[AzraelUK]

Thanks for that, trickfred. One thing I don't understand is the colouring - does a triangle average out the colours on the vertices it's connected to?

EDIT: Also, does each fragment have to have a name unique to the whole game? For example, if I was using your shape and I made my own with a fragment named Box70, would Darwinia be OK with that?

[trickfred]

I think fragment names only apply to the specific shape itself; many shapes have fragments named Cylinder01, for example.

[xander]

As trickfred said, fragment names only apply to a specific shape, so far as I can tell.

As far as I can tell, the color of a triangle is based upon the color of the last vertex that it hits. Therefore, if you have three colors (say red, green, blue) and three verticies (say 0, 1, and 2), where 0 was red, 1 green, and 2 blue, it would work as below:

A) triangle 0, 1, 2 would be a blue triangle
B) triangle 1, 2, 0 would be a red triangle
C) triangle 2, 1, 0 would be a green triangle

This, at least, is how it works in isolation. I am not sure exactly how triangles are colored in more complicated cases -- I have built shapes where colors seem to mix a bit in the middle. This is why I generally use this strategy: Remember that you can have more verticies than positions. If you have two triangles that share a side (say they use positions 0, 1, 2 and 1, 2, 3), assign vertices as follows:

0: 0 0
1: 1 0
2: 2 0
3: 1 1
4: 2 1
5: 3 1

Notice that vertecies 1 and 3 use the same position, but a different color. The same is true of 2 and 4. Then, triangle 1 is made up of verticies 0, 1, 2 and triangle 2 is made up of verticies 3, 4, 5. I am sure that there is a better way (nihil has probably figured it out), but that works for me -- I am OCD enough to keep making triangles. :)

By the way, trickfred, the scissors now live in desks ;)

xander

[trickfred]

By the way, trickfred, the scissors now live in desks

[nihilesthetics2]

the color of a triangle is based upon the color of the last vertex that it hits.

Yes you are quite correct my friend.

I have built shapes where colors seem to mix a bit in the middle.

Thats odd. Actually you can get a shading effect by turning on smooth shading in the game, and its amazingly easy. What you do is unpack using upx, open in a hex editor, and change all hex references of '68001D00' to '68011D00'. That means that whenever you find a reference to GL_FLAT, you change it to GL_SMOOTH. For some reason it doesnt seem to working on shapes, although it used to as shown here. Maybe there was something else you had to do that Ive forgotten.


N2

[xander]

the color of a triangle is based upon the color of the last vertex that it hits.

Yes you are quite correct my friend.

I have built shapes where colors seem to mix a bit in the middle.

Thats odd. Actually you can get a shading effect by turning on smooth shading in the game, and its amazingly easy. What you do is unpack using upx, open in a hex editor, and change all hex references of '68001D00' to '68011D00'. That means that whenever you find a reference to GL_FLAT, you change it to GL_SMOOTH. For some reason it doesnt seem to working on shapes, although it used to as shown here. Maybe there was something else you had to do that Ive forgotten.


N2

Perhaps there are a few special cases where smooth shading was used? I am fairly certain that I had solar panels that looked like your box at one point. However, as I don't really remember which verticies I changed, I am not sure that I can go back and make it look like that again.

xander

[AzraelUK]

What's going on here?

Code: Select all

Fragment: Box01
   ParentName: sceneroot
   up: 0.00 1.00 0.00
   front: 0.00 0.00 1.00
   pos: 0.00 10.00 0.00
   Positions: 8 # x y z
      0: 10.00 10.00 10.00
      1: 10.00 10.00 -10.00
      2: -10.00 10.00 10.00
      3: -10.00 10.00 -10.00
      4: 10.00 -10.00 10.00
      5: 10.00 -10.00 -10.00
      6: -10.00 -10.00 10.00
      7: -10.00 -10.00 -10.00
   Normals: 0
   Colours: 1 # r g b
      0: 190 190 190
   Vertices: 8 # pos col
      0: 0 0
      1: 1 0
      2: 2 0
      3: 3 0
      4: 4 0
      5: 5 0
      6: 6 0
      7: 7 0
   Triangles: 12
      0,1,3
      0,2,3
      0,1,5
      0,4,5
      1,3,5
      7,3,5
      3,7,6
      3,2,6
      0,2,6
      0,4,6
      7,6,4
      7,5,4


Only one triangle on each face shows up. It inverts on the inside.

Do the triangle vertices have to be in a particular order?

[trickfred]

Yes.

[AzraelUK]

What order? Do they need to be clockwise, anti-clockwise, or something else?

[trickfred]

I'm not exactly sure (just woke up from a a 2 hour nap, groggy, sorry). Try changing the order of any of the inverted ones around until they're not inverted, that should do the trick.

[xander]

What order? Do they need to be clockwise, anti-clockwise, or something else?

Yes. I haven't actually bothered to figure out which direction it should go. I generally just double them up. For instance, these two triangles are the same, only facing different directions:

0,1,2
0,2,1

Use them both. By the way (done by hand):

Code: Select all

Fragment: crane
   ParentName: sceneroot
   up:     0.00  1.00  0.00
   front:  0.00  0.00  1.00
   pos: 0.00 1.00 0.00
   Positions: 49
      0:   0            0            0
      1:   10            0            1.1111111111
      2:   10            0            -1.1111111111
      3:   -10            0            1.1111111111
      4:   -10            0            -1.1111111111
      5:   0            10            0
      6:   8.8888888889   -2.2222222222   0.66666666667
      7:   6.6666666667   12.222222222   0
      8:   10            13.333333333   1.1111111111
      9:   10            13.333333333   -1.1111111111
      10:   14.444444444   6.6666666667   0
      11:   -8.8888888889   -2.2222222222   0.66666666667
      12:   -12.222222222   20            0
      13:   0            4.4444444444   2.2222222222
      14:   0            7.7777777778   3.3333333333
      15:   0            11.111111111   6.6666666667
      16:   0            12.222222222   11.111111111
      17:   0            11.111111111   15.555555556
      18:   0            7.7777777778   18.888888889
      19:   8.8888888889   4.4444444444   2.2222222222
      20:   8.2222222222   7.7777777778   3.3333333333
      21:   6.4444444444   11.111111111   6.6666666667
      22:   4.2222222222   12.222222222   11.111111111
      23:   1.7777777778   11.111111111   15.555555556
      24:   -8.8888888889   4.4444444444   2.2222222222
      25:   -8.2222222222   7.7777777778   3.3333333333
      26:   -6.4444444444   11.111111111   6.6666666667
      27:   -4.2222222222   12.222222222   11.111111111
      28:   -1.7777777778   11.111111111   15.555555556
      29:   0            4.4444444444   -2.2222222222
      30:   0            7.7777777778   -3.3333333333
      31:   0            11.111111111   -6.6666666667
      32:   0            12.222222222   -11.111111111
      33:   0            11.111111111   -15.555555556
      34:   0            7.7777777778   -18.888888889
      35:   8.8888888889   4.4444444444   -2.2222222222
      36:   8.2222222222   7.7777777778   -3.3333333333
      37:   6.4444444444   11.111111111   -6.6666666667
      38:   4.2222222222   12.222222222   -11.111111111
      39:   1.7777777778   11.111111111   -15.555555556
      40:   -8.8888888889   4.4444444444   -2.2222222222
      41:   -8.2222222222   7.7777777778   -3.3333333333
      42:   -6.4444444444   11.111111111   -6.6666666667
      43:   -4.2222222222   12.222222222   -11.111111111
      44:   -1.7777777778   11.111111111   -15.555555556
      45:   8.8888888889   -2.2222222222   -0.66666666667
      46:   -8.8888888889   -2.2222222222   -0.66666666667
      47:   0            0            1.1111111111
      48:   0            0            -1.1111111111
   Normals: 0
   Colours: 1
      0:   255   255   255
   Vertices: 49
      0:   0   0
      1:   1   0
      2:   2   0
      3:   3   0
      4:   4   0
      5:   5   0
      6:   6   0
      7:   7   0
      8:   8   0
      9:   9   0
      10:   10   0
      11:   11   0
      12:   12   0
      13:   13   0
      14:   14   0
      15:   15   0
      16:   16   0
      17:   17   0
      18:   18   0
      19:   19   0
      20:   20   0
      21:   21   0
      22:   22   0
      23:   23   0
      24:   24   0
      25:   25   0
      26:   26   0
      27:   27   0
      28:   28   0
      29:   29   0
      30:   30   0
      31:   31   0
      32:   32   0
      33:   33   0
      34:   34   0
      35:   35   0
      36:   36   0
      37:   37   0
      38:   38   0
      39:   39   0
      40:   40   0
      41:   41   0
      42:   42   0
      43:   43   0
      44:   44   0
      45:   45   0
      46:   46   0
      47:   47   0
      48:   48   0
   Triangles: 124
      0,1,5
      0,5,1
      0,2,5
      0,5,2
      0,3,5      # 5
      0,5,3
      0,4,5
      0,5,4
      0,1,6
      0,6,1      # 10
      0,2,45
      0,45,2
      0,3,11
      0,11,3
      0,4,46      #15
      0,46,4
      1,3,5
      1,5,3
      2,4,5
      2,5,4      # 20
      0,7,8
      0,8,7
      0,7,9
      0,9,7
      0,6,8      #25
      0,8,6
      0,45,9
      0,9,45
      7,8,10
      7,10,8      # 30
      7,9,10
      7,10,9
      0,11,12
      0,12,11
      0,46,12      # 35
      0,12,46
      47,13,19
      47,19,13
      13,14,20
      13,20,14   # 40
      14,15,21
      14,21,15
      15,16,22
      15,22,16
      16,17,23   # 45
      16,23,17      
      1,19,47
      1,47,19
      19,20,13
      19,13,20   # 50
      20,21,14
      20,14,21
      21,22,15
      21,15,22
      22,23,16   # 55
      22,16,23
      17,18,23
      17,23,18
      47,13,24
      47,24,13   # 60
      13,14,25
      13,25,14
      14,15,26
      14,26,15
      15,16,27   # 65
      15,27,16
      16,17,28
      16,28,17
      17,18,28
      17,28,18   # 70
      3,24,47
      3,47,24
      24,25,13
      24,13,25
      25,26,14   # 75
      25,14,26
      26,27,15
      26,15,27
      27,28,16
      27,16,28   # 80
      48,29,35
      48,35,29
      29,30,36
      29,36,30
      30,31,37   # 85
      30,37,31
      31,32,38
      31,38,32
      32,33,39
      32,39,33   # 90
      2,35,48
      2,48,35
      35,36,29
      35,29,36
      36,37,30   # 95
      36,30,37
      37,38,31
      37,31,38
      38,39,32
      38,32,39   # 100
      33,34,39
      33,39,34
      48,29,40
      48,40,29
      29,30,41   # 105
      29,41,30
      30,31,42
      30,42,31
      31,32,43
      31,43,32   # 110
      32,33,44
      32,44,33
      4,40,48
      4,48,40
      40,41,29   # 115
      40,29,41
      41,42,30
      41,30,42
      42,43,31
      42,31,43   # 120
      43,44,32
      43,32,44
      33,34,44
      33,44,34
      


xander

[nihilesthetics2]

Do the triangle vertices have to be in a particular order?

Its to do with the winding and normals. Each triangle has a normal, that points out from the face of the triangle at 90 degrees in one direction only. Light only reflects in the direction of the normal. So a triangle is always visible from one side and invisible from the other. Considering the viewers position, if the triangle is wound counter-clockwise, i.e if v0, v1 and v2 turn widdershins ( I cant believe Ive actually found a valid place to use that word - that alone is worth the post, surely ), then the normal points towards the viewer and the triangle is visible. If the triangle is wound clockwise, i.e. if v0, v1 and v2 turn clockwise, then the normal points away from the viewer and the triangle is invisible. This is slightly complicated by the fact that you can flip the normals in the code that renders the image - but you have no control over that. So you cant tell, without looking at the code, whether counterclockwise or clockwise winding is visible to the viewer.

If you think about this at all, you will probably find it is too complex to figure out the winding in your head such that every non-occluded triangle is visible from any angle for all but the most simple of shapes. What Xanders trick does is to always have two triangles back-to-back, so there is always a visible triangle ( and by inference always an invisible triangle ) from the viewers position.

When you make a shape in a modelling package, the program will automatically wind the triangles correctly so that the shape is visible.

N2

[trickfred]

When you make a shape in a modelling package, the program will automatically wind the triangles correctly so that the shape is visible.

I've had to manually 'flip' a few pieces of objects made in 3DS Max 5, but it's quite possible I bunged something up being such a greenhorn with the software.

Plus, making manual shapes is, as has been said before, trial and error.