BF1942-Blender-add-on Usage

On this page I will explain how to use the different features of the add-on

Installation:

• download the add-on zip: https://github.com/Ahrkylien/BF1942-Blender-add-on/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
• open Blender
• in Blender go to: Edit -> Preferences -> Add-ons -> Install....
• select the zip you just downloaded
• now the Add-on is added. You only need to enable it by clicking the checkbox
• in Object-Mode on the right panel (press 'n') you will find the BF1942 menu

Heightmap (.raw) import/export

..

StandardMesh (.sm & .rs) import/export

..

TreeMesh (.tm) import/export

..

Level Editing

1. First make sure you extract all the game archives (.rfa) files with a tool like winRFA. The structure of your extracted files should be as follows:

   • Battlefield 1942/
     • ai/
     • aiMeshes/
     • animations/
     • Bf1942/
       • Game/
       • Levels/
         • Wake/
           • AI/
           • Conquest/
           • Ctf/
           • GameTypes/
           • Init/
           • Menu/
           • etc...
         • etc...
     • Font/
     • menu/
     • Objects/
     • shaders/
     • sound/
     • StandardMesh/
     • texture/
     • treeMesh/\

   Always first extract the base archive (standardMesh.rfa) and then the patches (StandardMesh_001.rfa) in order of patch number (001). If you are editing a map for a mod then you will have to extract the mods-archives over the extracted archives of the base game. So first you will have to extract the base game and then the mod.

2. Now we can can go back to Blender. In Object-Mode on the right panel (press 'n') you will find the BF1942 menu. It can help to expand that panel to the left, such that you can see everything more clear in the panel. Scroll all the way down in the bf1942 menu to the Level Editing section. There you will have to add the Battlefield 1942 folder to the first input field (Base Folder).

3. Click on Select Level if you want to edit/import an existing Level. For now there is no build-in function to create a level from scratch.

4. Press Load Files. This might take a while, especially if you are editing a MOD.

5. Now you can see more options below. Click on Import Heightmap if you are editing a map. This takes a short while.

6. If you know what you are doing and you want to improve future workflow press Pre-Load Meshes. This will take a very long time. For me it takes 20 minutes to load the standard game. It might even say that it is not responding. But you can ignore this message, just wait. I advice skipping this step.

   • After importing the meshes you can hide them all via the top right menu where all objects are listed.

7. Click on Import Static Objects if you are editing a map. This takes a short while.

8. Now can add extra Static Objects via Add new Static Object.

   • For conveniently using this you will have import a terrain FIRST.

9. Click Export Static Objects to export all static objects to the staticObjects.con file in you map folder.

   • All Blender objects inside the bf42_static_objects collection will be exported with the name given there.

10. Click Export Light Maps to generate Lightmaps which will be exported to the ObjectLightmaps folder in your map folder.

    • All Blender objects inside the bf42_static_objects collection will be lightMaped if they have a UV channel for this.
    • This is a very advanced option, and thorough knowledge of Blender is required to get the correct lighting for your scene.