Updated: October 11th 2003

In this tutorial, you will learn how to modify models for Battlefield

Models for Battlefield are stored primarily in the standardMesh.rfa archive. The two major formats in use are .sm and .tm.
Tools to import and export Battlefield models were included with the Battlefield mod developer's kit. The tools are written for 3D Studio Max version 5.1

Requirements:
- You have already completed the tutorial on creating a mod with the Mod Wizard.
- You own a copy of 3D Studio Max 5.1 or higher.

Load up 3dsmax and you will find a new menu named "Battlefield Tools", choose RFA Tools from the Battlefield Tools menu.

Choose Open .rfa from the File menu

Browse to the /mods/bf1942 folder. The "bf1942" folder has Battlefield's data files for a normal game.

Choose "standardMesh.rfa" and press Open.

Select the files Colt_base_m1.rs and Colt_base_m1.sm. These files are part of the colt pistol weapon. The .rs text file containing shader information as show in the window below, the .sm file is the geometry data file that contains the mesh data.
From the Extract menu choose Selected.

Select the My_Mod folder in the Browse for Folder dialog and press OK.

In 3dsmax choose Model Import/Export from the Battlefield Tools menu

Press the Import button under 3D Models to bring up the Mesh Import dialog screen. Set your options to Only Main LOD/Mesh, Visible, and Shadow then press the IMPORT... button.

Browse to the /My_Mod/standardMesh directory.

Select "Colt_Base_m1.sm" and press Open

Here is how the model looks imported into 3dsmax.

Set modify mode and sub object vertex on the LOD01_colt_base_m1 node. Then use the selection and scale too to deform the mesh into an odd shape. This is so we can see that we have changed the model in game.

Goto the export 3d model screen and press Add LOD, then pick the LOD01_colt_base_m1 node. This is the primary visible model. Check Auto Generate LODs and set the Min # of LODs spinner to 6, this will tell the exporter to generate 5 additional meshes of progressively lower detail to use. LOD meshes are used to increase game performance by switching to lower detail versions of the primary visible model when the camera is further away from the object.

Make sure Simple Shader is unchecked if you wish to have all the material settings exported.

Pick the Colt_base_m1_ node as the shadow geometry. This model will be used to cast real-time 3d shadows onto the terain while in game.

You can now press the export button and choose the existing Colt_base_m1.sm file inside My_Mod/Standard mesh as the filename.

Press yes to the dialog box that pops up to overwrite the existing file

In /my_mod/archives/ run PackRfa.exe, select standardMesh from the folder drop down list and press the Pack Folder button.

Here is a screen shot of the My_Mod/Archives directory with the file archive standardMesh.rfa packed.

Here is how the new colt model looks in game: