Attachment nodes: There has GOT to be an easier way.

[LaydeeDem]

Currently when making parts, I have stumbled cross a tedious problem. Right now, adding attachment nodes in the part.cfg is mainly just painstaking guess work. Is there an easier way that I haven\'t figured out yet?

[DYJ]

The easiest way to find out where your nodes should be is placing them directly on a vertex in your model.

If you are working in blender you can get the global coord of a vertex by clicking the plus sign in the top right corner of your 3d view window, selecting global and selecting that vertex.

[LaydeeDem]

The easiest way to find out where your nodes should be is placing them directly on a vertex in your model.

If you are working in blender you can get the global coord of a vertex by clicking the plus sign in the top right corner of your 3d view window, selecting global and selecting that vertex.

Thank you! You just saved me hours of trial and error. Unless anyone else has some input, I\'m going to say the problem is solved.

[C7Studios]

If you\'re using 3ds max. Moach made a tool in maxscript that will get the part.cfg co-ordinates for you. Its included in the old part sdk.

I\'ve also had a lot of success with making a simple box in max. If you use the move commands on item, it will show the x, y, z co-ordinates of my box in the bottom of the window. I can then plug those directly into the part.cfg. I\'m also looking into having the new part tools look for a gameobjects with node names. So you can just place them in unity and be done with it.

[Maraz]

Which is the best place where to put attachment nodes?

Exactly where the collision node is, or a bit outside of it ?

Thanks

Maraz

[C7Studios]

I generally make the node colliders slightly smaller then the physical model. this allows things to fit seamlessly, without generating errors. If the node is inside the collider you\'ll generate a collision when you try to attach it. In general the part will just turn red and you will be unable to place it.

In short, put the attachment nodes aligned with the visual model, but just outside of the node collider.

[DYJ]

The way I do it is that I put my attachment nodes exactly where my mesh ends and make the node_collider(s) 98% of the mesh scale to give a little bit of wiggle room to prevent collider intersections.

But remember that the larger the distance between the colliders the less stable the connection between the parts will become.

[TerranCmdr]

Like C7 said, I usually just make a sphere and copy its coordinates. (sometimes boxes have different coords because their pivot point is not centered.)

Good tip with the node_collider, I\'ll make sure to do that from now on. For some reason I had it in my head that the node_collier had to be larger than the base mesh.

[stubbles]

For 3dsmax users, this is also a great script if you're looking for a fast way to align the helper nodes to your meshes.

http://www.scriptspot.com/bobo/mxs4/alignobject2face/