Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Installation and Introduction to Wadmerger
Chapter 2: The First Steps in the Animation Editor
Chapter 3: The MeshTree Editor and the Structure of Animations in Tomb Raider
Chapter 4: Advanced animating - Animation Commands and StateIDs

Before we begin, the general question 'what actually is Wadmerger?' should be answered. Wadmerger is an efficient tool for creating and working on your own Wads - the "object pack" of each TR level. With it, you can copy objects from one Wad into another, delete objects, and add textures to objects. But Wadmerger contains much more - among other things a complete animation studio; with which one can change object movements. In the course of this first chapter, we will concern ourselves with this and all other features, but this should be sufficient for an introduction. This guide relates to the newest Wadmerger version 1,9 revision 7 A2 unless indicated differently, which is available for download from TRSearch Engine (current  beta 1.98 beta 3). You also need to download the required VB Runtimes.

NOTE: During the evolution of Wadmerger, there have been several released versions that perform certain functions better than others.

V 1.97.0.1002 and V1.98.0.103 handle extra statics slots.

V 1.97.0.102 handles collision problems properly.

V 1.96.0.1002 handles custom sound samples properly.

Nevertheless all lessons should be useable in previous versions starting from version 1.9 revision 5. Mostly they are updates with bugs fixed (programming errors removed). Also you need to download the example Snake Wad, and extract it to any folder, we'll use this wad later. Now let's get started.

First unzip the VB Runtime files to a temporary directory, and run the install program. Now create a directory named Wadmerger on your C: drive (or wherever you choose to place it), and extract the zipped Wadmerger files into it. Now run Wadmerger by opening this folder, and double clicking on the Wadmerger icon. When you start Wadmerger for the first time, the settings window will show. This only shows the first time, but you can access it by selecting Options (The spanner icon) in the main window.

Settings - Folders

Load WAD

You can set the default locations of your WAD folders. Use the browse buttons to point to the desired location.

Wad Folder: The default Save path

Original Wad Folder: The default Load path

Wadmerger can export objects from earlier TR Games. Here you can select the default location. There are 3 paths highlighted in red. These need to be set in order to make Wadmerger work properly if you are extracting moveables from TR1, 2,3, 5 wads:

Samples folder
When saving objects from other TR games, the samples must be saved too. This must point to TRLE\sound\samples (where TRLE is the place where you installed the level editor). The TR2 and TR3 sound file must point to the main.sfx file location. If you want to use TR3 wads a lot, you must set this. If you load levels from the CD, you can point it to the CD too. When you click 'browse' a dialog will show that needs to load main.sfx. It will be opened when saving TR2/3 levels. This file can be found in the data folder on the game disc.

Example
If you have the CD-ROM drive as D and you run TR2/3 from CD, insert the CD and choose the browse button after the filename. Go to the cd and open data\main.sfx. When you load a level, make sure the CD is in the drive so it can be loaded. After loading you can remove the CD safely.

Now we can take a look at the Wadmerger user interface more closely. One can divide the interface essentially into three areas: The red and at the same time most important part is probably the Wad preparation area. The function of all Buttons for this part are described below.

WAD Edit Section

Load WAD

Click this Button under the left window to load an existing WAD that you want to work on. Click the Load Button under the right window to load a WAD, from which you can copy objects.

Save WAD

With this Button you can save your edited WAD.

New WAD

Click on this Button, so that you can build a completely new WAD.

Load TR

With this Button one can load a TR level, (TR1-5). From which you can copy objects. NOTE: this function does not always work with custom TR4 Levels.

Delete

Deletes the selected moveable or static object in the WAD you are editing.

Copy

Copy the moveable, static or sprite you selected on the right to the left list. Should you already have the object in your WAD then you will be asked whether you want to overwrite it. Choose 'Yes' if you want to replace the object with the new one. Shift + Copy: With this Keystroke an object can be copied into another Slot. A dialog will ask you for the new slot name. Choose a new slot from the Drop-down list. Note: You cannot copy a static object into a Moveable slot using this function.

Rename

Use this button to rename an existing object into another Slot. A dialog will ask you for the new slot name. Choose a new slot from the Drop-down list. Note: You can only rename a Static object as another Static slot, or a Moveable into another Moveable slot using this function.

Import

Will show a dialog to load a moveable and add it. Theoretically the recognised file extensions are *.trwad, and *.mqo. but this function is not currently implemented.

Export

Will show a dialog to save the selected moveable to a file. Theoretically the recognised file extensions are *.trwad, and *.mqo. but this function is not currently implemented.

Add Texture

Will show a dialog to load an image file and add it to the texture data. You can use it in your own objects (with Strpix). Image size limit is 256x256 pixels.

Note: you can only add textures to a moveable object mesh in Wadmerger. If you want to add textures to a static object create a temporary wad with your static object and a dummy moveable item. Use the dummy item to add a texture and apply the texture(s) anywhere on the moveable. Save the wad, open it in Strpix, and then apply the new textures to your static object. Now save the wad in Strpix and transfer the static to your working wad.

Empty

Will make this moveable or static empty. It will be invisible in the game. You must use this on SKIN_JOINTS when using TR1-3 outfits else TR will crash.

Create new

Create a totally new Moveable object. You will be asked to select a new Object ID. Choose a suitable Object slot for your new object from the Drop-down list. After creating it, the object will be empty. In the animation editor you can add meshes to it (meshes can be created using Metasequoia and StrPix).

Make Shatter

Use this button to create a new shatter item. This function creates flat shatter walls and windows. Using the Shatter Wizard - select a suitable height for your object. Load a suitable texture to cover the chosen area. Click Build, and a new Shatter Item slot will be created in your Wad.

We will turn now to the Object Edit Section.

Object Edit Section

This consists of only a few Buttons. In the dark grey Preview window the selected object is displayed. You can rotate the object by holding click over the preview window. Use the Left and Right Arrow keys to rotate manually, and the Up and Down Arrow keys to zoom in and out. The following is an explanation of the four buttons in this section:

Disable Collision

This Button deactivates the collision of an object, so that Lara can travel through it.

Enable Collision

This Button activates the collision of a moveable object, so that Lara cannot travel through it. Hold Shift while pressing this button to recalculate collision on a static object.

Create Normals (Button not in current version)

This Button is deactivated and has no function; it may be used in one of the future versions.

Clear (Button not in current version)

With this Button an empty Mesh replaces a Mesh from the list.

We come now to the last part of the user interface, the included editors. The following is a short explanation of them:

Included Editors

Sound Manager

With this editor it is possible to add missing sounds to a WAD. Save your wad before AND after using the sound manager. In the latest beta version you can use this editor to simply delete sounds simply by unchecking them. This function was not available in earlier versions.

Note: If you add sound banks to your wad with Sound Manager, some sounds have a default chance value other than 0 that is entered. This means the sound will not be played every time it is cued from the animation. For advanced sound editing to correct these and other types of sound problems you can use Pcwadsfx, Screamer, or SFX Manager.

AI editor

The AI editor makes it possible to work on the intelligence of opponents from other TR games so that they function in TR4. It is however somewhat complicated to use. This editor is rarely used and you can perform similar functions using the main Animation Editor. So it will not be discussed for now.

Switch Manager

With this editor one can use switches from other TR games, such as the small pushbutton from TR3, which was not in TR4.

So for example, if you are using the Small Push Button in your wad, open the Switch Manager, select Small Push Switch from the OCB 2 drop-down menu, and click Save. Then save your wad. Whenever you place a push button in your map assign an OCB value of 2 to it. In game, Lara will now perform the correct 'push button' animation. You must also check that your Lara animations include the necessary animations for these special switches.

Sprite editor

Flames, ropes, smoke and frames are created using sprites. Most of these are stored in the DEFAULT_SPRITES object. However, there are also 2 other sprite objects 'MISC_SPRITES' and 'SKY_GRAPHICS'. These objects are a list of textures. If you select a sprite, you see them in the 3D window. You can edit them by double clicking the 3D window or clicking 'Sprite Editor'. You must select a sprite before you can do this. A new window will show. It has a list of all textures available. You can use the Add and Remove buttons to add/delete textures to this sprite. But remember that removing textures from the default sprites or sky graphics can look strange in game (for example, the rope looks like steam). Until a way is found to use the remove and add functions they are disabled. To edit a sprite, select a texture number. The sprite will show up in the window. You can load and save it to a bitmap. If you import a bitmap it doesn't have to be the same size, but the maximum size is 256x256. Many sprites are stored in DEFAULT_SPRITES. For example, the rope textures are texture 16. Also flames and steam are stored here, but they will look different because the colour and shape is created by the engine and can't be edited in the Sprite Editor.

Here is a list of known sprites:

0- Flame Emitter/ Underwater blood/ smoke
1- Flame Emitter / Underwater blood/ smoke
2- Flame Emitter / Underwater blood/ smoke
3- Flame Emitter / Underwater blood/ smoke
4
5
6
7
8 - when lara jumps from a high point in the water, this sprite appears as water
9 - when lara walks in the water this sprite appears around her feet
10
11- Shiny, glow of electricty arc
12
13- Underwater bubbles
14- Underwater Dust
15
16- Rope
17- Jeep 'R' for Reverse
18- Jeep 'D' for Drive
19- Unused, can be used for the Shadow Sprite in conjunction with TREP
20- Unused, can be used for the Shadow Sprite in conjunction with TREP
21- Unused, can be used for the Shadow Sprite in conjunction with TREP
22- Unused, can be used for the Shadow Sprite in conjunction with TREP
23- Unused, can be used for the Shadow Sprite in conjunction with TREP
24- Unused, can be used for the Shadow Sprite in conjunction with TREP
25- Unused, can be used for the Shadow Sprite in conjunction with TREP
26- Unused, can be used for the Shadow Sprite in conjunction with TREP
27- Unused, can be used for the Shadow Sprite in conjunction with TREP
28- Flame_Emitter 3/Lightning Conductor Sprite. The colour of the bolt depends on the amount of white in the sprite ie: very light-very light blue...very dark, darker blue.
29
30
31- Lensflare
32
33

Top Toolbar Section (listed in order from left to right)

Options

Displays Options screen. You can set-up the folders from TRLE and change skins in it.

Use Smartcopy

If it's checked SmartCopy is used. If it's unchecked, SmartCopy is ignored. SmartCopy will help you when you copy objects that can use more then 1 slot (like DOOR_TYPE1, DOOR_TYPE2). With smartcopy enabled, doors, switches, animatings, trapdoors, pushables and quest items are not copied to the edit wad with the same ObjectID. SmartCopy looks in the edit wad if there are any DOOR_TYPEx slots free. It will copy the object to the first free slot. If no slots are free, a message will warn you that you have reached the limit of available slots for that type of object. This makes it easier to build a WAD with doors and switches from many other wads since mostly DOOR_TYPE1 is the first one and you will always get messages if you want to replace it.

Turning off SmartCopy can be useful if you are adding static objects and wish to replace a current static slot with a new object.

Moveable

Displays the moveables in the list

Static

Displays the static meshes in the list

Sprites

Display the sprites in the list.

'A' button: Add Anim Button (unmarked but present in V1.97A2)(visible as 'A' button in Version 1.98.beta3)

Used in conjunction with wads that are created for exporting specific object animations. Displays the list of object animations that have been added for export from the wad. (see animation section for more detail)

About

Display the about dialog. It contains the names of the people working on Wadmerger (including the skins and documentation).

Exercise for you to try

We will now try editing a Wad in practice using the standard supplied editor wads.

Click the load wad button under the left hand window - a new window opens displaying a list of your wads (Program Files\Core Design\TRLE\Graphics\Wads). Click on the tut1.was listing. Now click load wad under the right hand window but select the city.was file. Expand the list by clicking on the small square with a + sign next to the city.was name Scroll down the city.was list and click on the SAS now click the <<COPY button you have copied the SAS object into the tut1 wad. Now click on the Teeth Spikes in the tut1.wad and click on "< < DELETE" and confirm if necessary. The Teeth Spikes should now be deleted from the Tut1 WAD. You see WAD editing is not so difficult after all. This should be sufficient as an introductory chapter, but you should practice copying, renaming, deleting and overwriting objects in a WAD, ready for the next chapter.

Chapter 2: The First Steps in the Animations Editor

We now move on to probably the most interesting, and difficult part of Wadmerger: the Animation Editor. Before we begin, it's important to clarify some fundamental ideas. These are the following:

Slot

A Slot designates a "container" specified in the program code of TR for objects, which possesses completely determined characteristics. For example: Altogether there are 525 Slots in TR, each slot stands here for an object from TR4. If you go through the objects in your Wad in the LE in the Object Window, the names of the objects are the names of the Slots they are in. In order to make the different characteristics clear, let's take the Harpy and the Crocodile Slots as examples. If you copy an opponent to the Harpy Slot, then the program code regards the opponent automatically as a Harpy and the opponent can in theory fly (however only in theory). If you copied it into the Crocodile Slot, then the opponent could swim under water.

NOTE: If you want to make an opponent or trap from another TR game function in the LE then it's best to look for a Slot, in which a TR4 opponent sits, which possesses the same and/or similar characteristics, to the object from the other TR game. If the opponent can poison, but not fly, then only the Scorpion Slot is applicable, since it and the Harpy in TR4 are the only opponents, who can poison. And an opponent would fly in the Harpy Slot, so only the Scorpion Slot remains. If you copy an object into another Slot, then only the "appearance" is exchanged; the object actually takes over automatically the characteristics of the opponent that was originally in the Slot, i.e. an eagle in the Harpy Slot is not exactly the same as when shot it dies like a Harpy. Unfortunatley you cannot change that, since the characteristics of the Slots are firmly integrated in the program code. With enemies from other TR games there is also an issue with different State Ids which affect the behaviour of the enemy, but that subject deserves a separate topic. In brief summary, you cannot simply copy an enemy from an earlier TR game into a wad for TR4 and expect the enemy to function properly as it did in its native game engine. StateIDs will be discussed in Chapter 4.

Mesh

A Mesh is a "part of the body" of an object. A Mesh consists of many polygons and is the "raw material", of which each object is composed. We can take Lara's head as an example, likewise her hands, legs, arms, and torso are all meshes. Objects consist in principle only of meshes, with each one having a number (Mesh 1, Mesh 2, Mesh 3...).

Animation

An animation is simply a series of slightly different pictures known as frames. The human eye can notice only pictures; if many pictures are played very fast one after the other, then it appears to us as movement. We will create a simple animation, which is nine frames long. In each frame a snake's head will turn 10 degrees further to the right, at the end we'll have an animation, in which the head turns 90 degrees to the right. At the beginning you downloaded a small Wad (Snake.wad). We are now going to work with this Wad. It contains the snake from the TR3 Temple level in the Scorpion Slot. Start Wadmerger and load the Wad in the left hand window. click on the object "Scorpion" and then on the Button "Animation Editor". If the camera is automatically rotating, click the Auto Rotate Button (3rd Button from the left) to stop the object from rotating, and then click on the Reset View Button (with the small camera) in order to centre the camera.

Now we'll look at this window more closely.

In the above diagram, the Buttons are divided into green and red Areas; everything within a green border has something to do with the generation of animations; all red on the other hand refers to the building of objects, and the possibility to rebuild objects from other TR games for our LE so that they function correctly. Let's start with the simpler part, namely the Animations.

First the Button explanation (the upper, green Toolbar Buttons), from left to right:

The square arrow (Move button)

With this Button, one can move the object in an animation forward, back (the z axis), to the left or to the right (the x axis), or up and down (the y axis). If no animation is selected; you can arrange the Meshes of an object and can push for example the head under the legs. 0.25 is equivalent to 1 click, so for example moving the object to 0.5 on the Z axis would move the object forward 2 clicks, making it appear on the edge of the square.

NOTE: The y axis is upside-down in the game engine. Thus as the y value grows more negative, the object is raised higher, not lower, and vice versa.

The move button only changes the visual position of the object, not the actual position. The actual position can only be updated by either using the speed/acceleration fields explained in Chapter 3, or with a set position command explained in Chapter 4.

The round arrow: (Rotate Button)

Clicking on this Button enables us to rotate a Mesh in all directions. Mainly with this Button, the illusion of a movement is produced.

The little man with the circle: (Auto Rotate Object Button)

This button stops/starts the object rotating in the viewing window.

The little man with the arrow in the hand: (Auto Animate Button)

A click on this Button plays the current animation, clicking again stops it.

The camera (Reset View)

Clicking it returns the camera to the default position.

The 2nd little man with an arrow (Animation Wizard Button)

Here one can start the Animation Wizard (animation assistant). Details further down.

The little man with a blue + (Add a new frame)

With this Button, one can extend the animation by a frame. It duplicates the frame currently selected.

The little man with the red X: (Delete current frame Button)

This Button deletes the currently selected frame.

Sub-section: Objects frame

This section allows you to view certain objects together. For example if you open the Lara Vehicle Extra animations you can also select te Motorbike from the drop-down list and view both objects animations being played together.

Sub-section: Render Options frame

By default the Animate button is selected for viewing animations. To edit textures click the Model button.

V button -  to view mesh Vertices

L button - to view mesh Lines

F button - to view textured meshes

Grid button - to view floor grid

The upper red toolbar buttons will be explained in the next chapter.

Now a short description of the lower green area.

In the Current Animation Drop Down menu, you can see all the animations of the object listed. Select each one to view it.

With one click on Add an additional animation is added to the object. You cannot delete an Animation in Wadmerger. the 'Remove' is deactivated at present. An alternative to this is to go to the frames menu and select "delete all frames" to delete all frames in the selected animation.

The Button Chain Plays back all animations in a chain. If for example an object's animations are arranged such that after Anim 1 Anim 3 is played and after Anim 3 Anim 4, is played with one click on this Button, all three Anims are sequentially played back.

With one click on Replay the animation will loop upon playback.

We'll leave the Mesh editor and the red Buttons for now. Next we'll look at the functions of the mouse.

Mouse Functions

If you click with the right mouse button on a Mesh, it will select it.

Hold simultaneously ALT and the right mouse button - moving the mouse will zoom in & out.

By holding only the right mouse button pressed and moving the mouse, you can turn the object in any direction.

Finally one can shift the entire view by holding both the Shift key and the right mouse button.

To return again to the original view, click on the camera button.

Now, we venture into our first animation.

Making an animation

Using the Snake wad as an example, ensure that the camera is not revolving and press the camera button to get the original camera perspective back.

Select Animation 0. Pull the slider under the menu, in which you can select the animation number, all the way to the right in order to select the last frame. With this slider, frames of an Animation can be effortlessly selected. Now add an additional frame by clicking on the Add Frame Button (Button with the blue +).

Now click with the right mouse button on the head of the snake; the Head Mesh is now selected.

Now click on the round arrow and you should see three axis lines with coloured spheres at the ends also a little window, into which values for the "x, y, z" axes may be entered.

The three lines stand for the three axes, around which objects in the three-dimensional room can be moved. With the red sphere at the end of the red X axis you can turn a Mesh to the left or to the right; with the blue sphere at the end of the  blue Z axis you can tilt a Mesh, with the green sphere at the end of the green Y axis, you can rotate a Mesh towards the top or bottom. Yes, very important, we said rotate and not move. With an animation there is a difference, whether one says, one moves a Mesh or one rotates a Mesh. If one moves a mesh, it "leaves" its original place, therefore it separates itself from the rest of the object and places itself some centimetres or metres away in any direction, from the remainder of the object. The moving of a single Mesh is not supported by the LE however (also it would look somewhat strange, if the head of an opponent removed itself). Therefore one can only move the total object (multiple meshes) with the movement Button ("Move button with the 4 arrows) and not single Meshes within that complex object.

NOTE: If an object consists only of one mesh, then it can be moved. If one rotates a Mesh on the other hand, it remains at its current place and "leans" itself only in the corresponding direction. We can rotate the Mesh directly by clicking and dragging one of the spheres with the mouse; it's more exact however with the new window. Here one can input the number of degrees behind X, Y or Z, which you want to turn the Mesh. Input 10 in X, and the mesh revolves around 10 degrees to the left.

NOTE: If you experience very slow or no movement using these toggle spheres, try going into your Options menu and adjust the Animation Editor Undo Buffer Size to 0.

Now input in Z 40 so that the head moves down some degrees. Now close the window and add a further frame. Repeat the procedure, only input 45 instead of 40 so that the head tilts further down. Add three more frames - enter successively in Z 50, 55 and 60. When the animation is viewed you should now see the snake move its head down at the end of the Animation. Congratulations, you have just generated your first custom animation!

Now perhaps you're thinking, longer animations with several hundred frames will be very complex to create in this manner. It can be achieved in an easier way with the Animation Wizard.

Delete the last 5 frames (the Button with the red X) and start the Animation Wizard.

Step 1 - Welcome to the Animation Wizard - Click once on Next

Step 2 - First frame of animation - move the window so that you can reach the Buttons. Select again the head and click on the Rotate Button. Input in Z a value of 45, click OK in this small window and click on Next in the Wizard. This step has generated the first frame of the animation,

Step 3 - Last Frame of animation - Now input in Z 60, click OK in small window and click again on Next. This step has generated the last frame of the animation.

Step 4 - Animation Length - Input 5 in the upper field; this tells the program that the animation should be 5 frames long. Enter 41 in the field; the original animation had 40 frames and we are adding an additional 5 frames to the end of the animation; our new Animation will start on frame 41.

Click on Finish and Wadmerger generates the animation automatically. To view it  click the Auto Animate Button. The result is the same animation produced much more quickly.

Should you make a mistake, it can be undone with the Edit > Undo command (Ctrl+Z).

NOTE: The object's position can appear incorrectly while using the Animation Wizard. Here is a way to avoid this bug: Have both the first and last frames finished in the normal animation editor, and select frame >copy with the last frame selected. Then select the first frame and start the wizard. Click next twice and then select the main window and do Ctrl+V or use Frame > Paste (replace) to paste in the last frame. This way you have it use two frames that have been finished beforehand, so you know that they are correctly positioned. Click next and, because of this method, you need to add one more frame than you intend to use, and then click Finish.

Review the animation and remove any extra frames at the end of the sequence.

These are all the menu commands in the animation editor:

Toolbar Menu
File> Save Wad
File> Quit
Edit> Undo
Meshes> Move Center
Meshes> Scale
Frame> Copy
Frame> Paste (Replace)
Frame> Paste (Insert)
Frame> Delete all frames
Frame> Set position for all frames
Frame> Set rotation for all frames
Animation> Add to AniFile
Animation> Copy
Animation> Paste (replace)
Animation> Paste (add to current)
Animation> Paste (play)Animation> Export
Animation> Import (replace)
Animation> Import (add to current)
Animation> Invert animation
View> Frame calculating
Sound> Add sounds
Textures> Import
Cutscenes> Load cutscene
Collision> Disable collision (frame)
Collision> Calculate collision (frame)
Collision> Calculate collision (animation)
Collision> Show Bounding Box
Collision> Disable mesh sphere
Collision> Show mesh sphere

You can save your animation changes in your wad using the menu File > Save Wad. Alternatively, when you close the Animation Editor window (File> Quit) you will be asked if you want to save changes. If so, click Yes and then click the Save Wad button in the Main Wadmerger window to save the changes permanently. When creating animations, Edit> Undo (Ctrl+Z) will undo the previous animation you made.

Meshes> Move Center - This allows you to move the point of a "parent" mesh at which its "child" meshes connect. The relationships between meshes are explained in the next chapter.

Meshes> Scale - Use this function to resize an entire object. For example entering values of 0.5 in all three axes (x,y,z) will reduce the object size by half.

The Frame >Copy command will copy a frame and the Frame > Paste (add to current) command will insert the copied animation after the current one. The Paste>Replace command will replace the current  frame by the one you copied. With Frame >Delete all frames you can remove all frames from the current animation. Both commands "Set position for all frames" and "Set rotation for all frames" are also quite useful. An object in an animation moved with the Move Button to a certain place and you want the object to remain there in each FRAME, simply select it and click' Set position for all frames" this places the object at the same place in each frame The same applies to the rotation, only that here it determines, that the head of the snake is for example turned 60 degrees to the right in all frames.

The Animation menu works similarly to the frame menu, except you can also export and import frames to/from external files. The "invert animation" option orders the frames in reverse order, so the animation is backwards from before. The collision menu allows you to have the program calculate the collision box for either the current frame or the current animation, as well as delete the collision box from the current frame. Newer WADMerger versions calculate the box more accurately than the version in which this feature was introduced. One last reference: When closing the Animation Editor a message appears "Save Changes?" click "Yes". Nevertheless click the 'SAVE WAD' Button because sometimes the changes are not stored.

Bug warning: If you are viewing an object from a WAD or TR file loaded on the right side of the WADMerger interface, clicking "Yes" for "Save changes?" may change the corresponding object on the left side.

Sound> Add sounds: allows you to add new sound samples to an object. The sounds can then be assigned using the Animation Commands.

Textures> Import: Allows you to add new textures to an object of any size up to 256 x 256 pixels.

Cutscenes> Load cutscene - Function not known.

Exercise for you to try

Use animation zero and generate a completely new animation in which the snake moves its head (Mesh 11) downward by 15 degrees then back up by 15 degrees and repeats these movements three times. Altogether the animation should have 30 frames. Keep a secure copy of your wad, so that it's the original for future chapters.

Chapter 3: The Mesh Tree Editor and the Structure of Animations in Tomb Raider

At the beginning we are going to return to the exercise set at the end of the previous chapter. A completely new animation was to be created, in which the snake over a period of 30 Frames should move it's head down 15 degrees then back up 15 degrees repeating these movements three times. There were two ways of doing this. The first and simpler possibility is to use the animation Wizard. But we need to employ a few fundamental considerations. Altogether the snake is to move its head six times (three times downward and three times upward). We know that we need to provide the animation Wizard with the first and last frames of an animation, and Wadmerger automatically calculates all frames between them to create the final animation. Since the head is to always move the same number of degrees), in the last frame of the animation it will be in exactly the position it started in. Therefore we cannot simply enter 30 frames as the animation length, since Frames 1 and 30 of the animation are identical the result would be no animation at all. How do we get around this problem? Now, we must use the animation Wizard in several places in the animation, exactly 6 times. If the 30 Frames must be divided into 6 head movements, how can this be achieved within one animation? 30� 6 = 5  i.e. each movement has five Frames.

We'll now do this step by step:

Select animation 0, then click Frame = > DELETE all Frames - this makes a completely empty animation available.

Start the animation Wizard.

The first frame is already correct, therefore click on "NEXT ". Now right click on Mesh 11 (the head), then on the Button with the round arrow. The axis window shows Z=34 and we now want to add 15 (the number of degrees we want the head to move), so change the value to 49 and click 'OK.' Now the snake lowers it's head by 15 degrees, click again on "NEXT'.

Enter 5 for the animation length, and 0 as the Startframe. Click on "finish" This gives us the first part of our animation.

Now the procedure is repeated starting from step 3, with the difference that we take 15 off, so that the head lifts up again by 15 degrees. Likewise the animation begins this time on Frame 5. Altogether the whole process is repeated six times, until our animation is completely finished. This was the easy way with the help of the animation wizard.

The second possibility consists of creating all 30 Frames by hand with the help of a pocket calculator to calculate how many degrees the head should move in each frame downward or upward. This method is far more time-consuming, however it's very suitable for practicing. We turn now to something new.

We have discussed creating our own animations, but now we need to learn the "structures" and characteristics of animations. It is very important to understand why for example a soldier in the SAS slot is not the same as another human enemy in Baddy 1 or 2 slots. For this purpose we are occupied now with the MeshTree Editor. You'll find the appropriate Button to open it in the lower right corner of the Animation Editor. After opening you should see this window:

If you look more closely, at how the Meshes are connected, then this "list" will remind you of a 'Family Tree". Also, in the Mesh Editor you can specify, where each mesh stands in the relationship. This is very important for the animation, because if you rotate a mesh other meshes automatically also rotate. Also the logic behind it corresponds to a family tree. Beginning with Mesh 0 all other Meshes are connected amongst themselves. It's constructed like a genuine family tree with "children" and "parents". With the snake's mesh tree, Mesh 0 represents a "parent" to Mesh 1. Mesh 1 is therefore the "child". At the same time Mesh 1 is also again the parent of Mesh 2, which is again the child of Mesh 1. Thus it continues sequentially. Mesh 12 and 13 are finally again children of Mesh 0, they possess however no children. Why is this parent child relationship important?. Fundamentally a "child" always moves along and/or rotates with it's parent. In this case it would mean that all other Meshes move with movement and/or rotation of Mesh 0, because they are all "relatives' with Mesh 0, as one can recognize by the lines. If you rotated for example Mesh 7, the Meshes 8, 9, 10 and 11 also move, these are the "children", "grandchildren", "great-grandchildren" etc from Mesh 7 . All Meshes above Mesh 7 however do not move, since they are not children of Mesh 7, but "parents", "grandparents", "great-grandparents" etc.. Mesh 12, and 13 also do not move, they are related only to Mesh 0. It looks pretty complicated, but with time you'll be able to quickly move through a Mesh Tree. Altogether it is always advisable to study the Mesh Tree of an opponent before providing a new animation in order to understand better, which Meshes are to be connected and which not. In addition it is very important for authentic animations to provide a physically correct Mesh Tree. For example: you have a human opponent (Baddy etc.) and would like to raise its thigh. Now it is very importantly that the lower leg is a child of the thigh, otherwise it will not move. Likewise the foot must be a child of the lower leg, have you tried to lift your thigh while trying to keep your foot on the ground? It's impossible. The foot lifts up just like your thigh. Now, you know, what a Mesh Tree is and how it's constructed. However, how can you change it? Now the Buttons and check boxes at the edge come into the play. With the "ADD" Button you can add a further mesh to the object. This however is only used with Strpix. Therefore we'll leave this Button for now and come back to it later. The "Replace" Button doesn't appear to function as it usually crashes the program. With the "DELETE" button you can delete a selected mesh. With the "UP" Button one can shift a mesh in the family tree upward, and with the 'DOWN' Button " downward. Here it's important to note that not only the meshes in the list shift up and down, but also in the object itself. You will need to use the MOVE Button afterwards to put it back in the correct place. With the check boxes one can specify now whether a Mesh is a "child" or a "parent". Here one can ignore the Dummy Button. It allows Lara to have the dummy meshes in the LARA slot replaced with the correct meshes from the LARA_SKIN slot. If one would like to specify a Mesh as a "child", then leave the check boxes unmarked. If the Mesh should be marked as a "parent", then "Push" must be marked. The last box, "Pop", means return to parent level. If a mesh has a set of children, grandchildren etc and one now clicks the next mesh "Pop" on, then a line to Mesh 0 will form directly to this mesh. In the object this mesh will connect with mesh 0, if no other mesh above it in the mesh tree has the designation "Push". In order to clarify, open the Scorpion mip in the snake wad in the Animation Editor and open the Mesh editor. Click now on Mesh 19 and untick the "Push" box. Meshes 21, 22 and 23 aligned themselves previously with Mesh 19. Now Mesh 19 is no longer ticked in the "Push" box, the scissors of the Scorpion now align themselves with Mesh 17 because this is the next Mesh, which has push box ticked. Close the Mesh editor and view the result. Now use the 'Move'to reposition Meshes 21 and 24 back to the body. View one of the animations now, the Scorpion does not move correctly although we have the scissors attached again to the body. What has gone wrong? Now, we attached the scissors at the body again, but they depend on the animations of Mesh 17 because this is marked with "Push" and is the next "Push" Mesh-to-Mesh 21. You see therefore, it is not at all simple to generate a good mesh tree. Therefore you should always make yourself familiar with the original opponents if you intend to build a completely new opponent. The goal of this section was to explain, how the Meshes "react" with one another so that it can be taken into consideration during animating and so avoid unpleasant surprises. In theory there should be a balanced relationship whereby the number of 'Pop' meshes should equal the number of 'Push' meshes.

The other animation characteristics are not so complicated . Right beside the Frame selector you find a few fields (with the overview red borders). In addition, these are important for the building of opponents, as some have influence on the animation. So for example Speed: The number entered here determines the speed with which the object moves itself with the Animation playing. The higher the number, the faster the object moves. A good example is Lara. When normal running the speed value is 42. when sprinting it has a value of 82. The Acceleration field adds the given value to the object's speed for each frame of the animation. This is used for when objects start or stop moving (use a negative value to slow it down). Framerate value: The normal Framerate is 1. The higher the number, the more frames are calculated by the game engine between the defined frames (frames given in the animation editor). With 2 entered, the animation  has 1 frame added between the defined frames, with 4 entered, the animation has 3 frames added between the defined frames, etc. You can use this to stretch the length of an animation. For example if you had a door that had an opening animation that lasted 1 second (30 frames), you could extend it to open more slowly by increasing the framerate to 4, The door would now take 4 seconds (120 frames to open). Make sure to adjust any existing animation commands and stateID changes (next section) when changing the framerate of the animation.  The function of the stateID field will be discussed in the next chapter. The next animation field tells which animation the object will go to after the current animation, and the next frame field tells which frame the object will start with in that new animation.