"Failed to Convert to Binary"

[Highball116]

I'm finishing up that depot model, and when I try to export it as an MSTS object with TSM, I end up with a 663 kb .s file that "failed to convert to binary" and won't open with Shape Viewer. The project has 17 parts with 982 polys before conversion, and each part has its axis centered to the origin. Is it necessary to have a parent part on a static scenery object? Are there any common symptoms that cause this error? Any and all help is appreciated.

- Toby

[rpicardi1]

Are you trying to do animation? If not, combine all parts into a single object. They don't have to be connected. They can be 17 separate pieces combined as one part.

Check for orphan points and duplicate parts before combining. Either can cause problems like flashing and crawling. Uncombined parts can cause display problems, the giant wedge from SRV_Shed1, of what you have.

SRV Ron

[Highball116]

Is it safe to combine all the separate parts into one big one? Somewhere I heard that MSTS doesn't really like that.

- Toby

[Hobart]

Hi Toby,
I had the same error message when I made a big depot. I had to split it in two to get the thing to work.

Regards
Patrick

[Hawk]

982 polys isn't really that much.
Look for spaces in the project name or in the texture file names. Spaces are a no-no.

[rpicardi1]

MSTS doesn't like objects that exceed 3200 polys. The overall size doesn't appear to be a problem although the orientation of very long objects can cause them to vanish unexpectedly. If you make long shapes like bridges and stations, orient them to a N S direction, (Z axis,) and center to the origin point and reset the axis orientation before creating the MSTS s files.

Watch for spaces ' / . and other characters in naming shapes. letters and numbers only. MSTS and TSModeler compiler will become confused with such naming and cause errors.

SRV Ron

[Highball116]

Arrggghhh. I've tried pretty much everything here, and it still isn't coming out right. I'll look into some other options, I guess.

- Toby

[Highball116]

No matter what I do, I can't get this thing to export properly. Has all my work been for nothing? Any other ideas?

- Toby

[rpicardi1]

Check for untextured polys and orphan points. always do the conversion while in parts Mode. Also, make sure that there are no polys marked as double sided. That will cause problems big time.

Worse case, zip up the dst file and textures and I will have a look at it.

SRV Ron