Tools Required
D3Edit
OOF Editor
GamTool
QuickTest or MN3Edit

Note: This tutorial assumes you have already created a ship model (with no regard to scale, for that can be easily changed) but have not created the necessary faces used for gunpoints, attach points, etc.

I'm using one of my pre-made models for this tutorial. Save it as a .ORF. Open OOF Editor and open *your ship name*.ORF and see what it looks like.


Since we don't have any faces to be used for gunpoints, attach points, attach normal points, ship logo face(s), and engine glow points, we need to go back and add them. Here is the full list of the aforementioned things, all of which are necessary to have to have a good, fully functional ship model:

Name
Description
Gunpoints (GPNT)
Maximum of 8 [numbered 0 - 7]. For firing weapons.

Note: After you have used up all the available gunpoints in the .OOF file, if for instance it only has 5, then all the remaining gunpoints in the table file will fire from the last available gunpoint, so gunpoints 5, 6, and 7, in the ship table properties, will all fire from the one rear-facing gunpoint.

Only make one gunpoint, and, regardless of what gunpoint is set in the table file, everything will fire from that single gunpoint.
Attach Points (ATCH)
 Used for attaching objects to the ship, like the flag objects in the Multiplayer mode, "Capture the Flag".
Attach Normal Points (NATH)
 Determines which way is "up" for the corresponding Attach Points.
Glow Points
 Typically for engine glows.
Ship Logo Faces
 Faces used to display the users' ship logo. Can be more than one face.*

*Note: If so, then they must be all one part. How to combine separate entities into one object is described here.

To get ideas as to where you will want your points placed, here is where they are located on the Pyro-GL. The points are numbered by the order in which they are created:



In making them, use a small square or triangular face. (I use 2 x 2 unit squares because they're easier to line up with gun barrels and engines.) In this image, the gunpoint faces that have been placed are in blue:



Go back to OOF Editor and open *your ship name*.ORF. On the menu on the right there's a list of "parts": "Unnamed1", "Unnamed2", "Unnamed3", etc.:


Find the main body, or the bulk of the ship and name it "Chassis" (Naming is not nessesary, but is very handy in keeping track.).

Note: If you haven't made the ship into one whole piece, then combine all the separate ship parts except the soon-to-be gun/attach/normal points, glows, and custom faces, by pressing SHIFT + the Left Mouse Button and holding both down, clicking on a part, and "dragging" it to another separate part. The currently selected part will display as green until it has been merged with another part. When you're done, there should be only one body part -- the rest are points, custom, and glows. Here is the Pyro-GL hierarchy as an example:


Back to your model; select one of the little squares in the menu and drag it to the Chassis. It will show up under the Chassis in the menu.

This is called Assigning. Assign all the little squares to the Chassis.

So, to begin, right-click on one of the little squares you want to be your 0 gunpoint, then click "convert to", then "gunpoint". It should now show up as a yellow + with a white line going toward the front (like with GP #0 in the Pyro-GL picture). (When de-selected, it's red with a white line.) Do the same thing for the other gunpoint squares, then choose the squares to be your Attach and Attach Normal Points and convert them.

Now, Select an engine glow face, go to the properties menu, look down at the bar that says "none". Click the drop down menu and select "Glow \ Thruster". The point will seem to disappear. Under the properties menu a "Glow" section has appeared. Pick the color and size you like, and then save the ship as an .OOF.

Go to the "Batteries" menu and click "Add Batteries"; the gunpoints you have will show up in the "Available" box. Click each one and click the ">" button; the marked one will move to the "Assigned" box. Do so until all gunpoints are in the "Assigned" box. Then save.



Go to the "tools" menu, and click on Scale. Choose scale by radius, and put in a value near 6, plus or minus 0.5 units. Values within those limits are generally good.


Open GamTool and either open an existing .GAM file or open a new one: Edit Menu -> New -> Player Ship. Click the + and replace the Ship Model with your *Your ship name*.OOF. It's not necessary to also replace the Dying, Medium and Low model names if you haven't made a ship model specifically for them -- so in this case just make them completely blank.

For QuickTest: open the program and add *Your ship name*.OOF and the .GAM file to your map (Make sure the .GAM file name is identical to the .MN3 file name or else it won't work).

For MN3Edit: open the program, add your level, name the mission, and then add *Your ship name*.OOF and the .GAM file into the "Additional Files" section. The .GAM file name must be identical to the .MN3 file name or else it won't work.