ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

WrpTool island creator utility

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Snake_Man

ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Snake_Man » 2004-04-03 14:10:56

The WrpTool package comes with ODOL Explorer, a bonus utility which will read ODOL p3d object files. Right now the latest version can read the textures correctly too and convert ODOL -> MLOD formats.

Check example screenshots from the WrpTool page at http://www.pmctactical.org/ofp/wrp.php

Snake_Man

Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Snake_Man » 2004-04-03 16:14:32

In the BIS forums right here: http://www.flashpoint1985.com/cgi-bin/i ... ct=SF;f=54 I posted this same news with these images.

From ODOL -> MLOD converted and loaded to O2 models of
BAS Blackhawk
Image

BAS Delta/Ranger
Image

BAS Littlebird
Image

And also BAS UH-60L in ODOL Explorer itself with textures
Image

Then forum nazi moderator closed the topic and deleted the post and told me that BAS complained about the images.

Err ::)

Otto
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Otto » 2004-04-04 19:15:13

I think nobody should have the right to "protect" something. People are talking like there would be thousands of stolen addons, but thats not true. There are a few, but not as many as most people say. Jojimbo, can you show me at least 10 stolen addons? I dont think so.
Protecting an addon just destroys the whole community. Most of us learned by looking at other peoples work. Without beeing able to unpack an addon, I still wouldnt know how to write a config. I learned by looking at other peoples work. Mlod-models also helped me to understand how certain things are done. Tutorials cant explain everything. For example, theres no tutorial which explains how to make working tank tracks. I had to look at other addons to learn how its done. If everyone protects, locks and encrypts his models, there is no chance of learning from them. It will make it a lot harder for beginners. Thats why we need this tool. And dont worry, BIS cant do anything against you. They will threaten you, but they cant prevent you from releasing that tool.
You are not violating any license as long as you dont open the BIS models. The license doesnt say its not allowed to write an Odol converter. It says you are not allowed to edit the game content. For example, we could use it to decrypt our OWN odol models. As long as you dont touch the BIS models, they cant do anything against you.
Another example: Hacking tools are not prohibited. USING them against SOMEONE ELSE is prohibited. As long as you use them to hack your own network, nobody can do anything against you. But if you hack microsoft, it would be illegal and they could sue you. The same thing applies to the converter. Its allowed to decrypt your own models, but its not allowed to decrypt the BIS models. If someone uses the tool to do that, then BIS can sue him. But they cant sue you for creating an converter.
Dont listen to what they will tell you, they cant sue you for writing a converter.

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Colonel_Klink
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Colonel_Klink » 2004-04-05 11:12:53

I think they would have more to complain about if the models were converted to 3DS then imported into other games, by unscrupulous game designers, which I am sure does happen.

MidShip
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by MidShip » 2004-04-05 13:01:39

Otto is right. At least by all European laws, there is absolutely nothing illegal with an ODOL to MLOD converter. I believe BIS does know it. So, releasing their model MLOD's was a wise, professional decision. Also, I do not believe that BIS inherently complains about developments which are in the nature of the OFP progress and would have come earlier or later (..wonder, why they haven't still done it by themselves ?). Inherently from these developments the ongoing and longtime success of OFP is coming from. I also believe, that it can be foreseen, that this strategy will not be changed with OFP 2. To do so, they would fall back to the mass of those half a year lasting programs. But of course, surely they will not drive it too obviously.

One has to ask, are the used addon making procedures so much state of the art, that they must be protected ? If, then there would be patents, like with the gif format. This is not the case. More, there are not very much data compression techniques in common use and all described in educational books.
About the complains of BAS one may have doubts if they hold valid. By the way, from where are the blue prints are coming from, the models are based on (directly from the chopper manufacturer ?)?

By my opinion, the complains do come from another corner. Some addon makers, having some tricks or knowledges from this or that, may keep it for a rare art and feel chased by an ongoing, learning community.
Also, do you believe, that it would be possible to tell an industrial company, not to convert their technical drawings, inhouse, in a format they do want ? Each industrial program takes provisions to convert in as many formats as possible.
Also, those who may develop similiar game brands, I'm sure may have a mild smile to be suspected, using others then their own made items, which if they would do so, would bring the own product success into danger.
So, again a good job from the WrpTool team.

jojimbo
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by jojimbo » 2004-04-06 07:56:07

i wrote this comment here after my discovery of the new feature in wrptool.i removed it as i thought its place should be on my team forum,not here.but i feel i have to post it again because of exactly the reason i dont think its a good idea.

original comment to pmc tactical:

you should either release it or not make it
available at all.now we can see there is this
powerful tool,everyone should be able to
have it.because if BIS kick up a stink,which they
will,you wont be including it in the next release
and only a very small core of people will have access  
to the tool,and people who do not will get mlod
models by influence only.which is unfair.

I for one do not relish the thought of people
ripping the arse out of my protected work,
and seeing my stuff on someone elses half arsed
addon.or converted and stolen for use in another
(commercial) game engine,
but now there is a tool for odol-mlod conversion
binarize becomes a tool for reduction of size only,
and if all have it,then mods,or individuals
can take steps to copyright their work.

apart from the obvious use of unwanted
breach of authors rights to protect their
effort and work,
what else can this tool be used for?

i see more and more people just editing
someone elses hard work and passing it
off as their own,without having to start from
the basics we all have which BIS allowed us
unofficially (demo) to use.or creating
their own models from scratch.

now see this thread on i44 public boards below
http://www.tacticalblunder.com/~invasio ... eadid=2449

this guy has unbinarized i44 models and has them sitting on his computer ready to start chopping up.it makes me wonder whether he has the beta version of wrptool and took his "snap shot" of them with it.and i am not in a position to allow permissions by authors who are not around.zwadar binarized those addons before we at i44 even got them.
already the invasion team are placed in a difficult position.

i was ready to allow this "mod leader" permission on my head be it,having seen he already got them in o2 with a "snap shot" ready makes me feel our team is being undermined.

wrptool is a fantastic tool,very proffessional.
but comments at the beginning of the thread like "nazi"
because BAS complained suggest a lack of respect

im sorry but this already sucks big time
and anyone thinking its a good idea feels the need hack and chop up other peoples work because they cant do it.
Last edited by jojimbo on 1970-01-01 00:00:00, edited 1 time in total.

Dschulle
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Dschulle » 2004-04-06 09:31:30

it makes me wonder whether he has the beta version of wrptool and took his "snap shot" of them with it
I can assure you that this version hasn't been given to beta testers yet.

Synide
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Synide » 2004-04-06 11:19:04

For as much as it's worth I approve of the odol2mlod conversion being embedded in your 'little' tool... philosophical debates aside...
Cheers, Simon.
existentialist excessionist.

Otto
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Otto » 2004-04-07 12:03:43

Any news/updates?

Snake_Man

Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Snake_Man » 2004-04-07 13:47:01

It were planned to release last night but I wasn't in front of the computer and Dschulle didn't get through our ftp security so I missed the file. Sorry :)

But tonight it should be out once I give it final test and write some sort of readme to it. Its going to be standalone download at the moment.

Otto
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Otto » 2004-04-07 20:48:01

Omg, thats graet news, faster than I expected  :D
Gj guys!
Last edited by Otto on 1970-01-01 00:00:00, edited 1 time in total.

Snake_Man

Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Snake_Man » 2004-04-07 23:31:41

It is out.

http://www.pmctactical.org/ofp/wrp.php

Here is the readme:


ODOL Explorer

April 8th, 2004. version 2.0

This utility will read OFP ODOL format p3d 3d-object files and also saves
the unbinarized or shall we say decrypted MLOD format. This also displays
the models in 3d view with textures for you to see.


Install

Unrar to directory of your choosing. Start ODOL_Explorer.exe and first time
only, configure the path to the texture directory. This is the same dir as
in Visitor and WrpTool which holds the ADDON directory subfolders.


Usage

To select the p3d files from your addon directories, just mouse click to the
left hand side window of directory tree(s) to select the wanted p3d. Then
ODOL Explorer (OdEx) will load the model and displays it in the right hand
side large 3d window. If there is problem with the p3d in any way, you get an
error dialog. Remember that error dialog can come up if textures arent found
etc when you need to properly unpack the addon pbo's and/or configure the
texture directory.

To move the viewpoint in the 3d window, use your mouse and left mouse
button (LMB) to rotate. Right mouse button (RMB) to move left/right/up/down.
Control key CTRL + LMB to zoom/unzoom. SHIFT + LMB to bank.

The buttons you find in the center down part of the OdEx screen are the following,
Ground Txt button is to load a texture to be displayed in the 3d view's ground mode.
Data Dir button will configure the data/texture directory. Save MLOD, well duh.

Save MLOD

You can save the currently loaded ODOL format p3d into MLOD format which can
be then loaded and edited with Oxygen (O2) lateron. When you want to save,
simply press the Save MLOD button on the center bottom part of OdEx screen.


Disclaimer

OdEx helps modelers to LEARN from other peoples work. If you want to change or
use parts of an external model, ask the author for permission and give credits.
We also remind you about the copyrights regarding BIS models.
WrpTool Team is not responsible for any "model theft".

WrpTool official homepage
http://www.pmctactical.org/ofp/wrp.php

Regards,
WrpTool Development Team
Dschulle & Snake Man

Image

Have fun.

Otto
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Otto » 2004-04-07 23:34:34

Great, thank you so much, downloading now ;D

jojimbo
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by jojimbo » 2004-04-14 07:27:28

well i have to say its an excellent tool.
the good reasons for it far outweigh the bad.
so ill come down off the soap box and join the ranks.
thx to the authors,and thx for wrptool.

Synide
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Synide » 2004-04-17 22:57:59

Conratulations Dschulle & Snake Man,
An effort that I'm sure will be of humongous benefit to the OFP community at large.
I'll toast you both this evening when cracking open my beer !
Cheers... S.
existentialist excessionist.

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dropbear
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by dropbear » 2004-04-23 23:43:35

Just a little problem
when I try to run prog I get err
cant find Pal2pac.dll

anybody know where I can find this?
Last edited by dropbear on 1970-01-01 00:00:00, edited 1 time in total.

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Lester
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Lester » 2004-04-24 12:54:10

eg. in the BIS Binarize Package ;)

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dropbear
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by dropbear » 2004-04-24 22:12:30

All fixed
bout 4 weeks ago I deleted all addons I didn't use uno BAS and other mega mb mods.
So I just did a sysrestore.

Kikill
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Kikill » 2004-05-31 18:07:47

i don't know if it has been reported, but there is a bug (at least it happenned with falklands' mirage III) from odol to mlod convertion. the mlod version cause a ctd to ofp. i was able to solve that by opening the p3d in o2 and save again. meanwhile, the plane is now uncontrolable. the animations work nicely. but when on the ground, it can't start its engine and in flight, it can't pull up or down, turn etc... it just flies straight right

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Lester
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Lester » 2004-06-02 15:53:31

I feel confident that in the next version this bug is fixed,
imho it have to do with the wrong mass values ::)

Kikill
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Kikill » 2004-06-04 23:07:10

yeah maybe, and i also noticed some wrong LOD values

Dschulle
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Dschulle » 2004-06-05 20:47:59

The "wrong Lod" values are produced by binarize! There are even BIS models with "wrong Lod's". The maximum LOD value seems to be related to the modell bounds (which is quite logical ;))

Matthijs
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Matthijs » 2004-09-01 11:27:06

I noticed that ODOL explorer breaks models up by their texture designations.
For example: if I have a ball, with 2 different textures for the upside and downside, the MLOD export will be broken up into 2 parts.

Also, I noticed that only 1 of these segment is member of a selection.
For example: when converting soldiers, only the top of the helmet is member of the HLAVA selection.


Any tips?

Dschulle
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Re: ODOL Explorer; ODOL -> MLOD convert

Post by Dschulle » 2004-09-03 07:09:33

I haven't looked into details, but this might not be an ODOL Explorer bug, but comes from binarize. At least nothing like a texture break up was coded into ODOL Explorer ;)

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