6. Rigging Continued - Muzzleflash.
The muzzleflash is a simple mesh to show a flash of flame out the end of the barrel when the tank fires. You can make your own or use the one from EA's sample models. Here I have made my own mesh, named FXMuzzleFlash, and given it a material with the Add blend mode.
Pickbox
The Pickbox is a simple box mesh, which just covers the main bulk of the tank. It's used to by the game for collision detection (prevents units moving through eachother), weapon strike detection and direction and can even assist the game cursor to select smaller units.
It should only cover the main bulk of the tank, any bigger and near misses may be taken as a hit. Once you've made the box, right click on it and go to Properties and check the See Through box. Name it OBBox.
Tread effects Bones.
Bones are simple objects whose pivot point is used to mark a specific location, such as a center of rotation or, in the case of tread effects, a creation point. Tread effects bones are used to kick up dust and leave track marks in the game.
Create two on the ground and place one in the middle of each tread. You can use any primitive, but I prefer using 4 segment spheres (which appear as diamonds). The advantage of that is the pivot point is automatically in the center of the object. Name the one on the left FXTracksL and the one on the right FXTracksR.
Heirarchy Subtree.
Now we can link everything up, so when the turret turns, the barrel goes with it, etc.
To link one object to another, simply select the child object (example; Barrel), click the Link button, press H on your keyboard and double click on the parent object from the list (example; Turret). The parent object flashes white to indicate that a link has been set. Now click the cursor button to select the next child object and link until everything has been linked.
Your chassis should be the highest parent in the list. FXTracks, OBBox, all the Treads and Turret should be linked to the chassis, aswell as any chassis upgrades should you have any. The barrel and any turret upgrades should be linked to the Turret and finally the Muzzleflash should be linked to the barrel.
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