Importing Your first RCT Object (A Wall)

Site Admin Joined: 25 Jul 2011 Posts: 21

In this tutorial you will learn how to create your own CSO (= Custom Scenery Objects) in a few minutes.

First you'll need a few programs:

- Google Sketchup Click
- Google Sketchup Plugins for RCT3 ! Click
- Google Sketchup ASE Exporter ! Click
- Google Sketchup Parametric Click

When the DL doesn't work anymore, just tell it, and i'll search another one. Smile

- The Rct3 Importer for cso Click
- RCT3
- Some textures (64X64 or 256X256) (Mostly 64X64) ATTENTION! These values are in Pixels!
You also can use the Texture from the Tutorial.

All right, Let's start.

1) Step One: Installing the Programs and plugins:

After you've downloaded the programs you'll need, install Google Sketchup. If you're done with that, close the program and go to the directory where you've installed it. Go now to the Map that's called "Plugins" and copy the next files there.
Mostly you can find this in the: C:/Mycomputer/programmes/google/sketchup6/plugins
directory if you've installed it on your harddisk.
- The ASE exporter
- And The Rct3 Plugins (This should be a map)
Just copy whole the map.

Now we can start creating our Object.

2) Creating the Model:

Ok. First of all we need to delete everything that's allready in Sketchup.

Do this by pressing the following combinations on you keyboard (Ctrl + A) to select everything. then push the (Delete) Button.

-Now click in the top bar of Sketchup on "Plugins/RCT3 /objects/Wall"
-Now there should be appear a small window where you can enter the settings you want to have. Just change the "Height" to 4.0 in case of 3.0 and press "OK"

Now you should have a Wall that's in RCT3 4H.

Now we are going to add a Texture. First You need to click with your right mouse button on the wall you've just added. The a small "Menu" should appear and there you have to click on "Explode".

Download now this Texture or use your own. ATTENTION THE VALUE SHOULD BE 64X64 OR IT WON'T WORK!
My texture is already (64X64).

(Click with your right mouse button and choose "Save as..." )

Now click in the top bar of Sketchup on "File/Import..."
Now select the texture You want !You need to tick off "Import as Texture" (On the left of the window).

Do this for all sides from the wall.
After this, it's time to Regroup everything again.
Use the following combination on your keyboard: (Ctrl + A) To select everything and then click with the right mouse button on the selected wall and choose in the "Menu" that appeared "Make Group".

Now you click on the wall again with the right mouse button and choose in the "Menu" that appeared "Entity Info". Now a small window should appear.

It looks like this:

Now click on the square that's marked in the picture above. And a new window should appear. It's called "Choose paint"
Just select there again the Texture you have chosen the first time, and press "OK"

We're almost done in Sketchup now. The only thing you now have to do is in the same window "Layer" changing to "Layer1" (This is mostly already set on "Layer1") and You also have to Typ a "Name" for the Texture. I suggest to Use in this case "Texture Wall", to keep it simple.

Press "OK"

Now we only have to convert our Wall.
THE WALL SHOULD BE STILL SELECTED!
Simply press on the Top Bar of Sketchup on "Plugins/ASE-exporter"

Then this window should appear:

Just set everythin on "Yes"
and press "OK"
Choose a map where you want to save the file and your done.

OH DON'T CARE ABOUT THE "ERROR" WINDOW THAT APPEARS. THIS IS SOME SORT OF "BUG" JUST PRESS "OK" AND CLOSE SKETCHUP (SAVING IN SKETCHUP IS NOT NECESSARY, BUT I RECOMMEND YOU TO DO THIS. IF YOU WANT TO EDIT YOUR OBJECT LATER...)

(This is a picture from the "Error")

3)Importing the Wall into RCT3

In this part, you need to use the RCT3-Importer. It looks very difficult the first time, when you use it, but in fact it's very easy, after practising some time.

To complete the wall, we only need a few steps:

Step 1: Creating the OVL-files (This are the files used by RCT3)

1.a:

After you've downloaded the RCT3-Importer, you need to extract the files. I recommend you to create a new folder, where you put all the content in.

1.b.Starting up the program:

Just open the folder you just created and dubbel click on the "*.EXE" file, to start the RCT-Importer. (The .EXE file is simply called "RCT3 Importer")

Now you should see the following window pop up:

In this window, you only need to fill in 3 things now.

1/ Theme Type: You need to select the Theme you want to find your object (the wall) when you play RCT3. If you select "None", then your object or set, will always be showed in the list of scenery. I would recommend you to use "General" as theme for our wall. But it doesn't matter what you choose. !!! Read the description in the Textbox next to the selectionwindow, if you don't have any RCT3-Addons installed on your Computer.

2/ Prefix: : Just type here a Prefix, for your Set. This is for exemple your name. See this as some sort of signature.

3/ Theme Name: :Give your "Set" a Name. For exemple TutorialSet.

==> Now your window should look like this:

Click now on the button "Create OVL" and a new window will pop up:

Step 2: Creating The Wall's OVL'file:

A/Now click in the upper left "window" which called "Textures" on The (+)-Symbol. A new window will appear. In this window, you need to locate and select the "Texture" we used in sketchup, for our wall.

I used in the following picture, another, RECOLORABLE texture, but you don't need to pay attention to this.

You only need to click on the "OK" button, after you loaded the texture.

B/ Now you have to click on the (+)-Symbol on the lower left corner. In the window that's called "STATIC-Objects". And again a new window will appear:

In this window, we need to locate the "*ASE" file we exported earlier from Sketchup. Do this by clicking on the "..." Button , next to the word "File" and locate it.

After this, change your "coordinate system" to "Right-Handed Z-Up" (This option, means that your Right handed and you uses your computermouse with you right hand.

Now you only need to select in the lower box, your texture, you added in the previous step.

Everything should look like this picture (Again, I used another Object and Texture, but all the rest, is the same:

Now click on "OK".

Now fill in the right part of the OVL-Creator

A prefix should be filled in Automatically (This is the same prefix as in the beginning.

A name: Give your object a Name. Exemple: Wall

Path: Select the path you want to be created the OVL Files.

Now the next box, which is called "LODS",is very easy, just click on the "A" Button and you're done.

Now the OVL-Creator is ready to create your files.
Click on "CHECK" And a message box will tell you if everything is filled in correctly. Click on "OK" and then press the button "CREATE SCENERY OVL'S" Now your ready with this part. You can close this window, and head back to the main screen.

Step 3: Creating The Set:

The Last part will come later.