Model Import Walkthrough

Import the raw assets

1. Export from 3D Studio Max (or Maya/Sketchup/Blender/whatever). For the most convenience, save the .mesh, .skeletion, and any textures to a subfolder of ~/.mv3d/Extern/Group0/ where ~ = your home directory. In windows, this is either C:\Users\YourName? or C:\Documents and Settings\YourName?. If you create a new asset group, change it to GroupX where X is the id of your asset group.
2. Run the Importer tool, connect to your server and select (double click) or create an asset group. To create a group, use Group->New on the menu.
3. Load your first texture using File->Load.
4. Make sure that local file is filled in (if you put it in the right spot, it will be automatically). You'll also want to set the URL. This is where the asset will be downloaded from. Currently, http and ftp are supported only. You can also do local files, but the importer app doesn't support that currently. Note that if your web server doesn't do SCP (SSH file transfer), you'll need to manually copy the asset there.
5. Click File->Save and you should see a new asset in the list.
6. Repeat for each material, texture, model, and skeleton file.
7. Select your model asset (double click in the asset list) and then highlight the skeleton asset (single click if you have one) and under Dependencies, click Add.
8. Select the material and add that as well.
9. Double click the material asset and add the textures as dependencies.
10. Save again. (technically if you already added those assets, you can do this before saving the first time)
11. You can also try loading the model and then clicking Asset->Fix Dependencies, but there are still some bugs with that.
12. Leave Importer open so you can add more assets.

Make your physics colliders with Solid

1. Run Solid and connect to your server.
2. Go to File->Select Model and choose your model.
3. Click the Sphere/Box/Cylinder buttons to create collision geometry.
4. You can drag each collider around or use the text boxes once it is selected to modify it. Not all fields apply to everything (i.e. Boxes don't have a Radius).
5. You can switch the mode to change the position/rotation/scale of the collider.
6. Adding colliders is like adding polygons, too many and it'll hurt performance.
7. When you are done, File->Save, and select a name ending in .solid
8. Use the Importer app to add that as an asset. Adding your model as a dependency is optional, but good practice.

Build a complex object

Side note-- This step is required in 0.44, but will be optional in the next release.

Builder is for creating a complex object out of several models that will be placed in your game world.

1. Open up Builder and connect to your server.
2. Select your asset group in the dropdown under Assets.
3. Double click the solid asset you just made.
4. If you aren't making a complex object out of multiple models, then skip to save.
5. Otherwise, you should be able to highlight and move/rotate/scale models as needed.
6. When done, click File->Save and select a name ending with .obj
7. Use the Importer app to add the new file as an asset. Adding the referenced solid objects as dependencies is optional but good practice.

Getting it in your gameworld with Composer

1. Open up Composer and conenct to your server.
2. Under Areas, select your realm and then double click your area.
3. Under Assets, select your asset group and your builder asset.
4. Click the + Icon under tools to add new objects.
5. Click somewhere on the screen, and a new object will come up.
6. Mouse picking is sort of wonky right now since it uses Ogre and not ODE, so the best way to select something is to highlight it in the Objects pane and turn on the Lock button which will keep your selection locked.
7. Switch to move mode (the arrows, 4th button in) and move your item around. Next to move is rotate, then scale.
8. Changes are automatically saved on the server. There's currently no undo. If you are logged in as the client, you should see the changes in real time.
9. The tools buttons from left to right are: Select, Add, Spray Paint (new objects), Move, Rotate, Scale, Grab Terrain, Raise Terrain, Lower Terrain, Flatten Terrain, Roughen Terrain, Paint Terrain textures (see the Terrain tab on the Right), Add Vegetation, Remove Vegetation, Paint Vegetation.

You can also use Composer to create new realms/areas.