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Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri : Caviar voxels converter-exporter

Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2020 12:13 pm
by mmmniple
Hello,i would love could create new models for this game and export the one created if it would be possible .
it use and old technology called caviar voxel which run on underpower computer (486) before the 3d video card could render polygons.

There have been several attempts to reverse enginer the format but sadly none was succesfull.
The most advanced was :

http://alphacentauri2.info/wiki/Caviar

I attach several files : the viewers (it could be seen with a netscape pluggin and with an independent program) , and older version of the file format than sadly is no compatible with the latest and the models from the game and the demos.

if someone could create a pluggin for exporting from any 3d program on this file format there would be wonderfull ,if it were posible open source for be able to finish the format specs (The original used 3dstudio max 4 but it is imposible found it)

Note: some .cvr files only contain animation, not geometry

A viewer the company create as a demo which was included on several cd of magazines of the era
CVRPLAY.rar
Netscape navigator +pluggin for seing the models

https://www.mediafire.com/file/5ttsq9ys ... e.rar/file

Demo models:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/ffrnlam5 ... s.rar/file

Smac models:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/wuxm1sn0 ... ar.7z/file

A older version of the viewer and the format.I have tried use the included models with the other but i was no succesfull

https://www.mediafire.com/file/h3xauyks ... r.rar/file

A lot of Thanks

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri : Caviar voxels converter-exporter

Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2020 10:13 am
by shakotay2
mmmniple wrote:
Tue Mar 31, 2020 12:13 pm
Hello,i would love could create new models for this game and export the one created
Hello,
"create new models", yeah. I'd prefer doing it step by step.
if someone could create a pluggin for exporting from any 3d program on this file format there would be wonderfull
yeah, wunderful.
(Chances are low, imho, especially for new models.)

Using the scripts the wiki linked to from https://github.com/uaEquals42/CVR-Colorizer
lead to this result (left side of pic) - not too nice compared to the real model (right side):
.
goblin-cvr.png
(some changes in the output file were required)

Re: Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri : Caviar voxels converter-exporter

Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2021 12:52 pm
by mmmniple
Hi, sadly this tool only allow change the color.

They also port it to java.

Sadly, they are no enough knowledge about the format to export an object to this format (the models we could found were exported from 3d studio with a pluggin which is no available).

It would be wonderful could have a similar script for blender, as example as it is imposible today to find the original script.