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Animation modding! v3.13



For the first time, you can now import animations into Rolling Line!
Prop mods can now make use of fully animated models (.FBX), as well as a bunch of other modding improvements and features.

To quickly summarize:
  • Animated models for prop mods
  • Paintable animated meshes
  • More collision options (custom box colliders)
  • Scale & rotation randomizer options
  • Hue randomizer options
  • Prop placement angle & surface options
  • Ability to play/pause and control animations (just like audio)
  • Changing animation play speed
  • Modding menu cleanup
  • All sorts of modding fixes

Modding is coming along really nicely, and I'm blown away by the kinds of things the community is making!
Animations are unlocking a whole new avenue of possibilities for modders, and it really brings a scene to life when you see things actually moving about.

To demonstrate the new modding features I've added a bunch of animals from an older VR game I made in the past called "FrontierVR" and imported them into Rolling Line!



I've uploaded these mods to the Steam Workshop and you can find them here:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2205192683
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2205215999

As well as a paintable version!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2206136457

These mods (and Blender source files!) are also included in the "example props" folder along with all the other template mods you can have a look at if you are interested in making your own:

(these are found in the "Rolling Line -> Modding -> templates -> prop mod examples" folder)



[h2]How to import animations [/h2]

Including animations is remarkably simple!
Just export your model in .FBX format (with the armature, mesh and animation data included) and the animation will be automatically used when you load the model in-game.

You can further customize things like the animation play mode (e.g. loop or play once), playback speed, and change the "Animation clip index" if your FBX file has multiple animations included:



If your animation has multiple clips included like this:
(I'm using Blender as an example)



Then you can set the "Animation clip index" to change which animation is used.
if you find that your animation is not playing, then I recommend trying to change this value incase your animation is at a different index than the default.
Remember: this is a programming-style "index" value, so the first animation = 0, the second = 1 etc...

You can also control how animations (and audio) are controlled in the new "general options" menu.



From here you can make the animation play/pause on click, play automatically etc.
(exactly like with audio in the previous update)

[h2]New randomizers and surface-snap settings [/h2]

This update also adds the option to make use of the "randomizers" like scale & rotation as well as a color hue shift for paintable props.



The scale & rotation randomizer is pretty self-explanatory, it makes props rotate and scale with small random changes each time you place it, which is perfect for foliage/trees:



The hue randomizer is a little more complex.
when props are paintable you have the option of adding a slight hue-shift color randomness to props. Again, this is perfect for trees & foliage to add variation:



As well as these randomizer settings, you can also now control whether props snap to surface by default:



And a useful little setting for making props snap to wall surfaces. This is perfect for making windows:



[h2]Other features[/h2]

You can manually adjust the box collider bounds now, which is very useful for fine-tuning the collision for your props.

There is also a visual box to show the size of the collider:



You can also now (after many, MANY, requests) completely disable the in-game spray.
The "Spray" is a custom .PNG image you can place on the ground anywhere (like in Team Fortress 2)
The option to enable it is in the "Misc" menu:
(it is now disabled by default)



There is also now a "remove preview prop" button.
this simply hides the preview prop when editing a mod. The preview prop is now automatically hidden when you exit out of the mod edit menu.



And lastly, here are a bunch of smaller features/fixes:
  • If a model is imported with empty UVs (or corrupted UVs) then they will be automatically generated onto the default paint texture.
  • Mods are now updated when you save on the mod edit menu (previously they were only updated when you refresh the preview mod)
  • Fixed issues where audio files would not copy when duplicating a mod, which lead to other issues on top of that.
  • Fixed a minor mesh issue on the Commodore car model (part of the paintable rim was not paintable)
  • The mod edit menu is opened automatically after adding a new mod or duplicating a mod.
  • Added a warning when a modded prop is exceptionally large (in case it is a mistake and the model has broken geometry)


And that's everything!
Another update full of modding features and lots of quality-of-life improvements.

Keep an eye on the Steam Workshop to see what kind of things people are making with these new features!
Enjoy!