Neverblender Manual

v2.0

-

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Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License (the“License”). You may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain acopy of the License at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0. Unless requiredby applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed on an“AS IS” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.May 29, 2017

Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.1 Installation 51.2 User Interface 6

2 Import & Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2.1 Import 72.2 Export 8

3 Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3.1 Empties 93.1.1 Aurora Root . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93.1.2 Dummy Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103.1.3 Reference Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113.1.4 Patch Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3.2 Meshes 113.2.1 Trimeshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113.2.2 Danglymeshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133.2.3 Skinmeshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133.2.4 Animmeshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133.2.5 Walkmeshes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3.3 Emitters 143.4 Lamps 143.5 Materials & Textures 153.6 Animations 153.6.1 Animation Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163.6.2 Animation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

List of Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

1. Introduction

1.1 Installation

Neverblender requires Blender 2.69 or newer. Neverblender can be installed like every other add-on:1. Open File User Preferences and under Add-ons, click Install from File... . Then navigate to

the file you downloaded and select it.2. It will now appear in the window as Import-Export: Neverblender. Tick the checkbox in the

upper right to enable it.3. To have the add-on enabled every time you start Blender, click Save User Settings at the

bottom.Manual installation is possible by extracting the contents of the downloaded archive and placing theneverblender folder in Blender’s scripts addons directory. It is recommended to also installthe AnimAll1 add-on, which will facilitate the editing of Animmeshes (= Meshes with animatedtexture coordinates). AnimAll ships with blender, but is disabled by default. It is listed as Animation:AnimAll.

1https://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Extensions:2.6/Py/Scripts/Animation/AnimAll

6 Chapter 1. Introduction

1.2 User InterfaceOnce installed, additional entries are available in Blender’s menu: File Import Aurora (.mdl) andFile Export Aurora (.mdl) . Furthermore several new panels are added to the Object Propertieswindow:

• Aurora Root Properties: Shown whenever an object belonging to a MDL is selected.• Aurora Dummy Properties: Shown whenever an Empty with a parent is selected.• Aurora Mesh Properties: Shown whenever a Mesh is selected.• Aurora Animation Properties: Shown whenever an object belonging to a MDL is selected.• Aurora Utilities: Shown whenever an object belonging to a MDL is selected.

2. Import & Export

2.1 ImportMDL files are imported by selecting File Import Aurora (.mdl) In the File Selector, select a mdlfile. The following options are available for this add-on:Import Geometry Import the geometry from the mdl file. This may be disabled to

only import animations to an already existing model.Import Walkmesh Attempt to import a walkmesh. If the imported model is a place-

able, the script will look for a pwk file in the same folder. If themodel is a door, it will look for a dwk file. If the model is a tile, itwill read the walkmesh directly from the mdl file.

Import Smooth Groups Import smoothing groups as sharp edges.Import Animations Import animations from the mdl file. If no geometry was imported,

the script will try to add animations to an already existing mdl.Materials None = No materials are created. Single = Attempt to merge

similar materials to reduce clutter. Multiple = Each object will getit’s own material, may result in multiple identical materials.

Image Search Search for textures in sub-directories. This may take a significantamount of time.

8 Chapter 2. Import & Export

2.2 ExportMDL files are exported by selecting File Export Aurora (.mdl) . If there are multiple MDLs inthe scene, select a part of the one you wish to export - any object will suffice. Select the file namefor the mdl. Note that the file must have the same name as the Rootdummy. The following optionsare available for this add-on:Export Animations Export animations to mdl.Export Walkmesh Attempt to export a walkmesh. The type of the exported walkmesh

depends on the models classification.Export Smooth Groups Generate smoothing groups. Method depends on the settings of each

mesh.Apply Modifiers Apply modifiers before exporting.

3. Editing

There are three types of objects which can be exported: Empties, Meshes and Lamps. Other objectslike curves and surfaces will have to be converted to meshes before attempting to export them.

LocationBlender’s location property. The engine will round it down to three decimal places.

RotationBlender’s rotation property. It is recommended to use Euler angles with animations, as the exportscript does not support other types of angles for keyframes.

ScaleBlender’s scale property cannot be exported directly as the engine only supports uniform scale.If a non-uniform scale value is used the export script will try to apply the scaling factor to theobject and it’s children. However this is not entirely reliable and may cause issues especially withanimations. Therefore it is recommended to either keep the scale uniform or apply it manuallybefore exporting.

WirecolorThis property is present for all object, but unused by the engine. It can safely be ignored and existsonly for compatibility reasons.

3.1 Empties

The "Empty" is a single coordinate point with no additional geometry. Because an Empty has novolume and surface, it cannot be rendered. Empties are used to group objects or indicate speciallocations.

3.1.1 Aurora Root

Each model requires an Empty at root level: The Au-rora Root. All of it’s children are considered to be partof the same model. It also holds additional informa-tion like animation data and model type. Any Emptywithout parent is automatically considered an AuroraRoot. It must have the same name as the model file(minus the file extension).

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ClassificationDetermines the type of MDLItem Any inventory item.GUI Unknown.Effect Visual effects.Door Doors, be it generic or for tilesets.Character Creature or placeables.Tile For tilesets.Unknown Avoid using this. It may be set during import.

SupermodelReferences another model. When a model is assigned a supermodel, the engine loads the animationdata from the supermodel onto the pieces with matching names.

AnimationscaleUsed in conjunction with the supermodel property. This will scale the current model in relation toits supermodel, i.e. a value of 0.5 means the current model is half the size of the supermodel.

3.1.2 Dummy NodeSimple Empties with a parent are either used to groupobjects like in blender or indicate a special location forthe engine to apply effect or attach other models to. InMDL files such empties are referred to as dummy’s.Empties (or dummy) with a special purpose are dis-tinguished by name and have to be unique across aMDL.

DummytypeThe following types of Dummies are available:None Simple dummy without any special purpose.Ground Indicates the ground level for spells/ visual effectsImpact Impact target for most spells/ visual effects.Head Hit Spells/ visual effectsHead Head location for Spells/ visual effectsHand Point of origin for (some) spells. If a spell/ visual is originating from this mdl, this

will be the point of origin most of the time.Use 1 Use Node for placeables or doors. Upon receiving a use command a character will

move to the closest of the two use nodes.Use 2 Use Node for placeables or doors. Upon receiving a use command a character will

move to the closest of the two use nodes.None of the special Dummies are mandatory. If one is missing from the MDL, the engine will use(0,0,0) as the default location for that particular Dummy. However, selecting the type is not enoughto make a Dummy work, they need to have the correct name or to be precise: The correct suffix.While the export script will try to generate a valid name depending on the Dummy’s type, but it isstill recommended to do it manually to avoid naming conflicts.

Use the button next to the Dummytype selector to generate a working name. The Rootdummy’sname will be used to create a working suffix for the selected Dummytype. Alternatively it is alwayspossible to name it manually.

3.2 Meshes 11

3.1.3 Reference NodeThe purpose and usage of these nodes is unknown. Supposedly they can be used to reference otherMDL files. These nodes can be found in some visual effects (they reference the fx_ref most of thetime).

Reference ModelThe name of another MDL file without file-extension.

ReattachableUnknown purpose.

3.1.4 Patch NodeThe purpose and usage of these nodes is unknown. They occur in some visual effects, but theybehave exactly like normal dummy nodes and have the same properties.

3.2 Meshes

3.2.1 TrimeshesThe Trimesh is the basic mesh in MDL files. Anynewly created mesh object is a Trimesh by default. Asthe name suggests it consists of triangles, but it is notnecessary to explicitly convert the faces to trianglesas Neverblender does that automatically during theexport process.

All other types of mesh objects will always have thebasic Trimesh properties in addition to their own set.

Self-Illumination ColorMakes the mesh glow without actually acting as a light source. It most likely corresponds to theGL_EMISSION material parameter in OpenGL. This property will not be visible in Blender.

Ambient ColorOpenGL GL_Ambient material parameter. The engine uses per-object ambient light whereasBlender’s defines it on a per scene basis. Therefore this property will not be visible in Blender.

ShininessShininess requires a matching texture information file (*.txi).

TilefadeThis property is only relevant for tiles. It controls whether this mesh will turn invisible to offer aclear line of sight on the character.None This mesh will always be visible.Fade The object will fade.Base UnknownNeighbor The object will fade along with meshes in neighboring tiles.

12 Chapter 3. Editing

Render

Controls whether this object will be rendered. The geometry will still be loaded to the memory andcasts shadows, even if this is unchecked. This is frequently used in conjunction with the Shadowproperty to create a low-poly shadow volume object to improve performance.

Shadow

Controls whether this objects should cast a shadow. It is recommended to disable Shadows forcomplex meshes with a large amount of triangles and create a lower poly mesh with disabledrendering and enabled shadows.

Failing to do so might negatively impact performance or result in corrupt shadows as the engineis only capable of handling shadows for simple, convex objects.

Beaming

For light-rays. This is how the light-rays in the forest tileset are generated. Light rays cannot bemade specifically for a tile, as tiles can rotate. Instead a different kind of shadow was created wherethe shadow volume is rendered at an alpha value and a specific colour. To create shadow volumes,make a group of simple triangles above the camera level and enable this flag.

Inherit Color

Unused. It was originally intended for tint-able objects to be able to inherit their parent’s color.

Rotatetexture

This is for ground mapping on tilesets. When a model with this flag is rotated, the engine rotatesthe uv coordinates back to the original position. This eliminates texture seams on tile edges.

Transparencyhint

As transparency can be extremely costly to calculate from alpha values on a texture, this propertygives the engine priority values on transparent objects to let it know which are more important. Ifan object has a transparency hint of 1, then it will be rendered after a transparent object that has avalue of 0. This does not work on dynamic objects, it only affects static objects.

Smoothgroup

Controls smoothing groups or shading groups are created

Separate Each face will have its own smoothing group. This results in no smoothing at all.Single All faces belong to a single smoothing group. Meshes will be smoothed completely.Auto Auto generate smoothing groups, depending on the settings in blender and edges

marked as sharp. Replicates blenders smoothing as closely as possible.

3.2 Meshes 13

3.2.2 Danglymeshes

Danglymeshes are Trimeshes which are "bouncy" or "dangly"and are affected by environmental effects like wind, charactermovement and visual effects.

In addtion to their own set of properties, Danglymeshes possessall properties of a Trimeshes as shown in the picture on the right.Note: Switching between object types, e.g. from Danglymeshto Trimesh does not delete the properties, they are saved andwill reappear when switching back to a Danglymesh. The exportscript however will treat the mesh as a Trimesh and will onlywrite Trimesh properties.

Dangle groupThe dangle group is a vertex group containing the weights of vertices for the danglymesh. Youmust select an existing vertex group. Vertex paint may be used to paint the weights. A vertex witha weight of 0.0 will not change position.

PeriodDetermines how quickly the vertices move and how fast they come to a rest.

TightnessThe ’tension’ in the object, restricting movement.

DisplacementDetermine show far the vertices are allowed to move. This is further restricted by the Danglegroup.

3.2.3 Skinmeshes

A skinmesh is used to create skeletal animations. At the moment it is not possible to use Blender’sarmature system directly. Instead several vertex groups must be created with their names matchingone of the other trimeshes in the MDL. Unfortunately this means that no animations are visible inblender which makes creation of new skinmeshes difficult.

3.2.4 Animmeshes

Animeshes are Trimeshes with animated UV coordinates or vertices, the latter requires the useof a shape key. The AnimAll Add-On is required to animate UV-coordinates and shape keys.The number of animated keyframes for Animmeshes is limited to two (start and beginning of theanimation). Unlike trimeshes, it is necessary to triangulate the faces of an animmesh before addingthe animations.

ShapekeyThe shape key from which the animation data is taken. If no key is specified, vertex animations willnot be exported. Animated UV-coordinates however are always exported if present, even if thisproperty is empty.

14 Chapter 3. Editing

3.2.5 WalkmeshesWalkmeshes indicate where a character can walk. It is necessary to select the appropriate type ofwalkmesh, which depends on the type of model itself.

WalkmeshtypeSets the type of a walkmesh. The available types depends on the classification of the MDL:Tileset Walkmesh for tiles. This will also affect footstep sounds and grass growth.

No overlapping faces are allowed. To specify the surface type, it isnecessary to add the walkmesh materials to the object. You can add allwalkmesh materials by clicking on the Load walkmesh materials Buttonin the Aurora mesh properties panel. The materials are then added asmaterials slots and accessible through the materials tab in the objectproperties. The export script will create a matching .wok file.

Door: Closed The walkmesh for the closed state of a door. Blocks movement.Door: Open 1 The Walkmesh for the first open state of a door. Blocks movement.Door: Open 2 The Walkmesh for the second open state of a door. Blocks movement.Placeable Walkmesh for placeables. Blocks movement.

3.3 EmittersSupport for Emitters is rudimentary. Blenders particle systems is too different to allow a directimport, instead Emitters are imported as plain text. While all data will be retained, editing is onlypossible by altering the generated text file for each emitter.

3.4 LampsBlender’s lamp properties for color and distance will be used for exporting a light.

It is recommended to check Sphere to better replicate the resulting effect of a light source.

Light typeThere are some special light types, all of which are used to give builders the ability to select lightcolor in the Toolset.Mainlight 1 For Tiles only. The Lamp Color property will not affect this lamp as it can be

changed in the Toolset.Mainlight 2 For Tiles only. The Lamp Color property will not affect this lamp as it can be

changed in the Toolset.Sourcelight 1 For Tiles only. This is actually a burning flame. Color can be changed in the

Toolset.Sourcelight 2 For Tiles only. This is actually a burning flame. Color can be changed in the

Toolset.Default Default type, can always be used. Blenders lamp properties will be used (color

and distance)

PriorityUse by the engine’s light manager to prevent using too many lights that affect dynamic objects.This relates to the light count setting in the game. In order for the manager to know which lightscan be culled first, a priority is assigned to each light, ranging from 1-5, 1 being the highest priority.This is the general scheme:

1. The sun & the moon2. Torches & light spells3. Spells, general lights

3.5 Materials & Textures 15

4. Un-needed tile lights5. Other un-needed lights, for example from weapons.

Ambient OnlyThis controls if the light is only an ambient light source or if it is directional as well.

FadingWhen a light is loaded or dropped from a scene, the light will ’flick’ on and off. If this check is on,the light will take a moment to fade on or off for a better overall feel. In some cases it’s best tohave this un-checked, for things like spells where you want the light to be at it’s brightest as soonas it appears.

ShadowsDetermines if this light is capable of producing shadows.

Is DynamicUnknown.

Affect DynamicThis controls whether this light affects dynamic objects, i.e. characters. Disabling this will preventthis light from producing shadows with dynamic objects, but it will in turn improve performance.

This is a less strict version of the Shadows setting.

LensflaresAdd a series of lens-flares for this light. Lens-flares are unavailable for Mainlights or Sourcelights.The flare radius is global for all flares of this light source and is in cm (as opposed to meters inother distance values).

Radius Radius for all flaes of this flight sourceTexture Texture for this flareColorshift Unknown. Possibly color difference from the light color.Size Size of the flares. This will scale the texture.Position Distance from the lights origin. Values from -1 to 1.

3.5 Materials & Textures

MDL files support a single material with a single texture. If multiple materials or textures areassigned, the export script will choose the currently active one or, failing that, the topmost one.

The following properties are exported from blender’s default material properties:• Diffuse• Specular• Alpha values

AlphaNeverblender can export either material or texture alpha. When both properties are present thelatter takes precedence. This matches the output in blenders renderer and 3D view (with GLSLmode enabled).

3.6 Animations

Mdl files support multiple animations. They are defined by name and start/end frame. The followinganimations can be exported to an mdl:

16 Chapter 3. Editing

• Location• Rotation• Scale (Uniform only)• Material or Texture Alpha• Self-Illumination color• Lamp color• Lamp distance (Light radius)• Texture coordinates (using AnimAll, 2 key limit)• Vertices (using AnimAll, 2 key limit)

Keep in mind that the engine uses linear interpolation between keyframes, whereas blender defaultsto bezier interpolation. In order to get an exact representation of how the animations will look like,it may be useful to switch to linear interpolation in blenders graph editor.

3.6.1 Animation Properties

The animation property panel is always availablewhen any part of a model is selected. Note that theproperties of the animations are actually stored in theAurora Root, therefore deleting it will result in the lossof animation data.

Animations are stored as frame intervals from the time-line. At the very least each animation has to have aname and start and end frames.

NameThe name of the animation determines its usage. Eachname has to be unique.

RootSimilar to the Supermodel property, however this over-rides only the nodes below the root instead of all ofthem.

Transition TimeThis value influences how much mixing occurs withthe previous animation in order to fade smoothly intothe current animation. Most animations use the defaultvalue of 0.25.

Start & End

The animations first and last frames. It’s possible to re-use the same (key)frames for multipleanimations, however some of the animation-tools will not work if the animations are convoluted inthis way.

Emitter Data

Emitter data or other incompatible data will be imported as plain text and saved in a text object.The time values are converted to frames during this process.

Animation Events

Events like footstep sounds. Each event has a name and associated frame.

3.6 Animations 17

3.6.2 Animation ToolsA number of tools are available to make editing of animations easier. They are located at the right-hand side of the animation list. Some of the tools will not work if the animations are convoluted,i.e. start and end frames are overlapping.

Add & Delete Add or delete an animation. Note that the keyframes will be deleted too. Ifan animation is to be excluded from exporting, it may be preferable to simplydisable it by clicking the eye symbol next to it’s name.

Move Back Move the animation and its keyframes to the end of the timeline for easierediting. This operation will fail if keyframes are shared between multipleanimations.

Focus Sets the start and end frames of the timeline to the currently selected animation.Clone Copies an animation and its keyframes. The copy is added to the end of the

timeline.Scale Scales an animation up or down. If the fps value is not adjusted this will result

in the animation being slowed down or speed up. This operation will fail ifkeyframes are shared between multiple animations.

Pad & Crop Add or remove a specific amount of keyframes at the start or end of an an-imation. This operation will fail if keyframes are shared between multipleanimations.

Index

A

Affect Dynamic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Ambient Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Ambient Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Animation Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Animationscale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

B

Beaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

C

Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

D

Dangle group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Dummytype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

E

Emitter Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

F

Fading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

I

Inherit Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Is Dynamic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

L

Lensflares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Light type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

N

Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

P

Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Priority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

R

Reattachable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Reference Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Render . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Root . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Rotatetexture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

S

Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Self-Illumination Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Shadow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Shapekey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Shininess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Smoothgroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Start & End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Supermodel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

T

Tightness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Tilefade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Transition Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

20 INDEX

Transparencyhint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

W

Walkmeshtype . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Wirecolor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9