COL02_???

[Coroner47]

I making some buildings in 3dsmax. Anyone know exactly what the "COL02_" is for & why i might need it? Looks like internal collision map, but why not just use the "COL01_"?

[freddy]

dunno if this the same thing but anyway

Basically, a collision mesh is like an LOD, only you don't generate it automatically because you want to make some decisions about how to optimize it. There are two collision meshes used in the game: Collision Mesh 1 and Collision Mesh 2. Each of these has a specific function.

Collision Mesh 2:

The first one we are going to make is collision mesh 2. This is the more complex of the two and is used primarily to determine A: collisions between the object and projectiles, and B: collisions between the object and the player.

Collision Mesh 1:

Collision Mesh 1 is the other collision mesh, and the thing to remember is that it deals exclusively with collisions between vehicles and collisions between vehicles and structures like buildings and trees. (There is some speculation that this may not strictly be true, but it is as far as we are concerned.)

[fo0k]

Open up the Africa farm in max and compare the meshes coroner

it's tard prevention from willy jeep lounge racing.

[Coroner47]

thanx f00k & freddy! both of your info helped. I found where you got the "collision mesh 2" & "1" quote from. "Anatomy of a StandardMesh File" from the mdt website which i forget to check. i read the whole tut & i understand whats going on now... although ive used only "COL01_" mesh for all my objects so far & all projectiles & vehicle impacts work fine so far, with just a "COL01".

I did open some vehicles up in 3dsmax from dc 0.7 & did notice that they do indeed have both "COL01_" & "COL02_" meshes... so do the open buildings that ive looked at.

Ive come up with another question.... not sure if this should be a separate post? In the tut "Anatomy of a StandardMesh File" on the mdt website they mention using "6" LODs. The mdt tools for 3dsmax defaults to "3" LODs on export & ive always gone with the defaults. I have a "3" LODs standardmesh that comes out to 2.36 KB (2,421 bytes) & the exact same standardmesh using "6" LODs at 3.70 KB (3,796 bytes). Question is... what's the magic LOD number? I would say more LODs would reduce lag... but less LODs uses less memory.

edit:
stupid question, haven't searched for any info... lazy. does the settings under "Collision_Armor" in the game.rfa use the "COL01_" mesh (vehicle collisions) & the "Damage_System" use the "COL02_" (projectile collisions) meshes?