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Shapes

              Special thanks to David 'Moritz' Layton  and Zen Meister Icky

      Each .3ds/materials .zip can be downloaded below from the
      Objects ID list below. With any aircraft files , be sure to get
      the ACMatGen.zip at the bottom of the page , for the shared         
      materials needed to build game files with MCU.exe.

Shape Naming Conventions

Red Baron names all of its shapes according to a numerical identification system. The benefits for doing this are enormous - it both speeds up things in the code and freaks the heck out of us art-types! Personally, I believe that when programmers get together, they communicate with a series of numbers, clicks, and whistles. Anyway - we're stuck with naming simple things like a "green truck" as a series of eight numbers.

 

These eight numbers tell the program everything there is to know about the shape. These eight are in four pairs:

The first pair of numbers designate the CLASS of the object.

The second pair of numbers designate the TYPE of the object.

The third pair of numbers designate the DETAIL of the object.

The fourth (and last) pair of numbers designate the SQUADRON of the object (used only for planes).

 

Class

The object's CLASS tell the program whether it's an Aircraft(03), Vehicle(06) an Air Defense object (07), a Ground Force object (08), or a normal Building (09). All the objects fall into one of these classes.

For example, all trucks, tanks, trains, or anything else that has an engine and drives around would be in the Vehicle Class, so all are named with the numbers "06" at the beginning of their ID.

 

Type

Once we tell the program what Class the object belongs to, we need to tell it what TYPE of object within the Class it is. There may be any number of types in a class.

For example, once we tell the program that something is in the Vehicle Class, we need to tell it what kind of vehicle it is. A Gray Boxcar object has the Type number "07", so the first four numbers in the ID for a Gray Boxcar vehicle would be, "0607". A Brown Boxcar object has the Type number "08" - its ID number would be, "0608".

 

Detail

Next, we need to tell the program what DETAIL level of object. As an object gets closer, it needs to be shown in greater detail. At the same time, objects far away are represented by a less detailed shape. This is important for framerate - by cutting down on the detail of far away objects, there is less for the computer to draw, leaving it more power to increase the frames per second (FPS).

All shapes in Red Baron have four (4) Detail Levels. Level "80" is the "maximum" level - you'd only see this shape when you get close, and then only when the "Max Detail" setting is ON in the preferences area of the game.

Next is the "81" level, or "high" detail - this shape is displayed when objects are a few hundred yards away (or more, depending on the shape's size and user preference settings).

The "medium" detail level or "82" is next - this detail is shown at greater distances, when you just need to recognize the object and it's facing/bearing.

Finally, the "83" or "low" detail level is shown. This shape is little better than a dot, but may hint at the object's basic outlines and is often displayed miles away.

Continuing with the example of the boxcars above, a maximum detail level Gray Boxcar shape would have the ID, "060780". As it moves away from the user in the game, it would cycle from "060780" to "060781" to "060782" to "060783" before becoming a dot on the horizon. Notice that the first four numbers don't change - it is still a Gray Boxcar, no matter how far away it is.

 

Squadron

The SQUADRON pair of numbers are unused by the ground objects. In all cases except Aircraft, leave it at "00". This number is used on aircraft bitmap files for different Squadron paint schemes.

 

So, to complete the saga of the Gray boxcar, let's show it's Red Baron numerical ID's in all their glory:

06078000 - Gray Boxcar, Max detail

06078100 - Gray Boxcar, High detail

06078200 - Gray Boxcar, Med detail

06078300 - Gray Boxcar, Low detail

06088000 - Brown Boxcar, Max detail

06088100 - Brown Boxcar, High detail

06088200 - Brown Boxcar, Med detail

06088300 - Brown Boxcar, Low detail

You'll find over time that you'll be able to know a shape by just looking at its numbers. You'll begin to communicate with other shape builders by stating its first four numbers. Do not be alarmed! You are still an artist - you are NOT becoming an alien or <gasp> a programmer!

 

Object IDs

Class
03 - Aircraft
06 - Vehicles
07 - Air Defenses
08 - Ground Forces
09 - Structures


Vehicle Types
0600 - AA Truck
0601 - Truck 1
0602 - Truck 2
0603 - Staff Car
0604 - Ambulance
0605 - Train, 2-end Engine
0606 - Train, Normal Engine
0607 - Train, Gray Boxcar
0608 - Train, Brown Boxcar
0609 - Train, Coal Car
060a - Train, Passenger Car
060c - Train, Flat Car
060d - Tank, Large Allied
060e - Tank, Large German
060f  - Tank, Small Allied
0610 - Tank, Small German


Air Defense Types
0704 - Observation Tower
0706 - Flak Gun, Allied
0707 - Flak Gun, German


Ground Forces Types
0801 - MG Nest, Allied
0802 - Artillery, Allied
0804 - Slit Trench
0805 - MG Nest, German
0806 - Observation Point
0807 - Observation Balloon, Allied
0808 - Observation Balloon, German
0809 - Artillery, German


Structures Types  sorry , no .3ds files are available for these
0900 - Warehouse
0901 - Green Tent
0902 - Hangar, Large
0903 - Hangar, Small
0904 - Barracks
0905 - Zepplin Hanger , not enabled in game , but the files appear to be in rb.vol
0906 - Church
0907 - Town Building 1
0908 - Town Building 2
0909 - Town BUilding 3
090a - Farm House
090b - Barn
090d - Shack
0910 - Bridge, Road Ramp
0912 - Train Station
091b - Factory
091d - Manor House
091e - Cement Bunker
091f  - Wood Bunker
0922 - Bridge, Road Center
0923 - Bridge, Steel Sides
0924 - Bridge, Column
0925 - Bridge, Rail Center
0926 - Bridge, Rail Ramp
         
Aircraft Types *flyable*  AC type ID  in decimal (used in paintcfg.ini)
          0300 - Fokker  E.3                             00
          0301 - Aviatik  C.1
          0302 - Albatros C.3                           02
          0303 - Roland CL.2
          0304 - Albatros D.2                           04
          0305 - Halberstadt D.2                      05
          0306 - Albatros D.3                           06
          0307 - Rumpler C.4
          0308 - Albatros D.Va                        08
          0309 - Gotha G.4
          030a - Fokker Dr.1                            10
          030b - Hannover CL.3
          030c - Pfalz D.3                                 12
          030d - Halberstadt CL.2
          030e - unused , intended for LVG  ?
          030f  - Fokker D.7                              15
          0310 - Pfalz D.12                               16
          0311 - unused , ?
0312 - unused , ?
          0313 - Morane Saulnier "N" (Bullet) 19
          0314 - Nieuport 11                              20
          0315 - Nieuport 17                              21
0316 - unused , intended for Caudron G4 ?
          0317 - Spad 7                                      23
          0318 - Nieuport 24                              24
          0319 - Salmson 2a2
          031a - Breguet 14
          031b - Spad 13                                   27
          031c - Nieuport 28                              28
          031d - B.E.2e
          031e - D.H.2                                        30
          031f  - F.E.2b
          0320 - Sopwith Strutter 1.5
          0321 - Sopwith Pup                            33
          0322 - Sopwith Triplane                     34
          0323 - R.E.8
          0324 - Sopwith Camel                        36
          0325 - S.E.5a                                      37
          0326 - D.H.4
          0327 - Hadley Page 0/400
          0328 - Sopwith Snipe                         40
0329 - unused , unknown intended use
          032a - Bristol Fighter
032b - possible extra *slot*
 
    ACMatGen a bunch of shared .bmp and .pab files necessary to
       "Build" aircraft .mcu ,.dts and .dml files with MCU.exe
AC3dsGen a bunch of *sub-assembly* .3ds files , including some
        early developement examples and other wierd stuff
ACOldBMPs  some very kEwL old stuff dating back to late 1995 !
        Seems like someone thought of  hi-res wheels long ago , but HONEST,
I didn't see these till I was cleaning up the original *sourse* .zips recently !:)

       More fun files !:)

Bonus.zip  hope this file blows your mind like it did mine ! ... he he

        this page was mostly ripped from the mind of Zen Master Icky ..Muahahahahahhaha !:)

 

                      Copyright Erik Coucheron-Aamot 1999,2000                                    
                      For problems or questions  contact Flybert.
                      Last updated: January 08, 2000.