Mod / Mob creation in Blender - a quick-start guide/basic cr

[ExeterDad]

@Dilkarishta. Glad you had some success. Nothing worse then pulling your hair out, trying to get something to work. It's pretty rewarding seeing your creation come alive in game isn't it? :D

[drpeppercan]

Hi all,

I installed the B3DExport.py file in Blender 2.71, but I don't see it available inside Prefs/Addons from within Blender. Neither it is available when going in File/Export/
I've got the file from here: https://github.com/RainWarrior/B3DExport

What am I overlooking?

Thanks in advance guys :)

DPC

[Nathan.S]

I don't know if this version https://github.com/minetest/B3DExport is any different than the one you have, but you could always try it.

Install by going to user prefs and then add-ons click the button on the bottom that says to install. I believe that addon should show as soon as it is installed in the space directly above where the install from file button is, if not find it by searching for b3d. The add-on will be listed as Import-Export: B3D (BLITZ3D) check the box to enable it. It should then show in your file export options. I'd recommend saving your user prefs after you enable as well so it is always loaded and ready for you, and you don't have to keep opening the prefs and enabling it every time you open Blender.

[drpeppercan]

Nathan, thanks a bunch for your very complete reply.
I have been installing it both ways:
the way you suggested (using the "install from file..." button), and
by manually putting the file in the addons folder.
Either way it won't show in the File/Export menu. For both .py files :(

I am running Blender in Ubuntu Studio 16.04 btw.

What else could it be?

[Nathan.S]

Do you ever see the add-on listed in the user prefs after installing it?

Maybe you're Blender version is too old? I'd try downloading the latest stable from blender.org and see if it works then.

[drpeppercan]

No, that's the problem: the add-on won't show in the list.
I have tried Blender 2.77, and 2.71.
The only reason I tried 2.71 is because it was recommended in the instructions to use Blender for Minetest.

[Nathan.S]

Okay, here's an idea, launch blender via a terminal, and see what kind of errors it spits out when you try to install the add-on.

I just tried to install an add-on that I already have installed and it gave me errors about it already being installed and the directory that it resides in. Just possibly we'll get some important bit of information if you try this.

[drpeppercan]

Good idea Nathan!
Here's what I got:

Code: Select all

javier@javier-Predator-G3-710:~$ cd Applications
javier@javier-Predator-G3-710:~/Applications$ cd blender-2.77a
javier@javier-Predator-G3-710:~/Applications/blender-2.77a$ ./blender
connect failed: No such file or directory
Read new prefs: /home/javier/.config/blender/2.77/config/userpref.blend
found bundled python: /home/javier/Applications/blender-2.77a/2.77/python
fake_module: addon missing 'bl_info' gives bad performance!: '/home/javier/.config/blender/2.77/scripts/addons/B3DExport.py'
fake_module: addon missing 'bl_info' gives bad performance!: '/home/javier/.config/blender/2.77/scripts/addons/B3DExport.py'
fake_module: addon missing 'bl_info' gives bad performance!: '/home/javier/.config/blender/2.77/scripts/addons/B3DExport.py'
Modules Installed from '/home/javier/Applications/blender-2.77a/B3DExport.py' into '/home/javier/.config/blender/2.77/scripts/addons' ()

fake_module: addon missing 'bl_info' gives bad performance!:

Does the next step involve knowing Python to fix the missing 'bl_info' ?

Back to you...

[burli]

Why is a guide in the WIP mods forum?

[twoelk]

Why is a guide in the WIP mods forum?

iirc it started as discussion on irc some text was put on the forum and then it was copied to the wiki as Using Blender. feel free to add to the wiki version.

[burli]

I'm just wondering. Would make more sense if this thread is in General Discussions. It is not a mod

[Nathan.S]

Yes, this thread should probably be moved to modding discussion or general discussion.

drpeppercan, I've never seen or heard of
fake_module: addon missing 'bl_info' gives bad performance!

A google search for that error message does pull up quite a few results, from looking through them it sounds like there is probably some problem with your addon file. I'd try re-downloading the add-on, and remove any copies of it from in your blender directories and try again. If that still gives the same problem I really don't know what could be going on.

[drpeppercan]

Did as you recommended, still same issue.
I added this as an issue in the GitHub page of that addon
Hopefully it'll be resolved soon.

DPC

[Nathan.S]

odd question, but do you have python installed on your system. Maybe the bundled version that comes with blender doesn't have some library that the add-on needs.

[drpeppercan]

At this point there's no "odd question" ;)
According to the Ubuntu Terminal, Python 2.7.12 is installed already.

[Nathan.S]

Well then, I'm up a tree, I don't know what else you could possibly do.
I guess you could try starting with a fresh install of Blender, removing the old config folder, or just renaming it, so Blender creates a new one. That's about the only thing left that I can think of.

[drpeppercan]

Right-clicking on the add-on file link, to choose "Save link as...", to download the .py file (as I was doing), unfortunately, it gives an HTML file instead.
Therefore the solution is to just click on the same link so that it shows its code. Then copy all the code into a non-formatted text file, and change its extension to .py
Needless to say, now the add-on is working :)

[Nathan.S]

Ah yes, I hadn't thought if that.
Well glad you got it working.

[drpeppercan]

Thanks for all your help Nathan.
Hey, where can I find Guidelines to make Minetest props, to ensure they'll fit with the overall look. Clearly the most noticeable point is that things should look blocky. This being said, is there a specific number of cubes per whatever to use? I hope you see what I mean....

[twoelk]

it is nice if the pixels in textures fit the model -> 16*16 pixels to a block seem the default with 32*32 also used a lot. So choose your favorite texture and decide from there what resolution your models should have to look well in the game. Most models look better if the edges are on pixel borders.

[Nathan.S]

I don't think there really are any guidelines, I've made models that only have 90 degree edges, and ones with angles, it all depends on what you want to create.
As twoelk said the textures are nicer if they keep to that low resolution look that the rest of the game has.

[drpeppercan]

Excellent!
Thank you both for this info, it's certainly putting me in the right direction.

Where should I go to learn the right settings for each item? I have noticed some are consider nodes, but not all.
And some will sit nicely only on a small table while others will on a taller one, etc

Thanks again,

DPC

[Nathan.S]

You honestly can do whatever you want. You'll never make everybody happy, so just focus on doing what you think looks good.

Any item you make will take up a full node space, no matter how small the model is, the placement of objects should usually be at the bottom of a node so it will sit on the top of any other node.

If you want/need any videos on certain things, assuming you learn better from videos than text, let me know and I'll do what I can to make some tutorials.

These two videos may be of some help, if you are just getting started with creating meshes for Minetest. I also have some about doing mobs and animation and such.
https://youtu.be/KfH8-OJ56ok
https://youtu.be/YDN-6lc0t2A

[drpeppercan]

This is amazing!
Thank you so much for the help :)
And thank you kindly for the offer to make tutorials. I'll take a rain check for now, I would not want to abuse your generosity. I'll start with the links you shared :)
I am doing this whenever I can, so it might be a while before I come back with more questions. Or I might just surprise myself, I'll see ;)
Thanks a bunch again Nathan :)