Anyone know how to get the Cvr player to work?

[smacksim]

This is about the .cvr files that come with Smac and Smax.

I finally found a lone application that says it can play cvr files...you know, all those extra non-graphics files in your Smax directory. Turns out they are either animations or 3-D objects. I want to open them and edit them! Has anyone tried this? I can't get it to work at all, and there is no documentation, but it looks like a decent program.

The cvr player is from the french alpha centauri site: Les Guetteurs sur Alpha Centauri

I'll upload it here.

The funniest thing about trying to figure these files out was the fact that .cvr files typically stand for either fax cover letters or compiler files. I can just see Sid and Brian and Tim standing around the Firaxis Fax machine trying to program the Unity Rover

[GeoModder]

You want to make new .cvr files???

[smacksim]

[Darsnan]

Re: Anyone know how to get the Cvr player to work?

Originally posted by smacksim
I finally found a lone application that says it can play cvr files...you know, all those extra non-graphics files in your Smax directory. Turns out they are either animations or 3-D objects. I want to open them and edit them!

I downloaded and played with the program a little bit. The AX.cvr file is the best, IMO.
How do you plan on inserting them into the game, SmackSim?


D

[smacksim]

I wasn't able to open any of them I don't know if I tried the ax one though....probably has to be in the directory

Nope. I just get scn-handler error and crash. Ah well. So they are just the little movie animations? I was hoping to find the unit models. Change a rover into a HumV, infantry into aliens, etc. As you know, the units.pcx file is for static graphics only, so none of the fun ones. Let me know if the .cvr files have any in-game 3-d models. Perhaps they can be played with another program.

[smacksim]

I tried downloading some cad type viewers, to no avail. I've opened them in hex, which didn't help me much. Yes, I'm on the hunt for changing the standard units. Darsnan, could you tell me what some of the .cvr files look like in the player?

[Darsnan]

Originally posted by smacksim
Darsnan, could you tell me what some of the .cvr files look like in the player?

Just sent you a .jpg of what I see. FYI.


D

[smacksim]

So the question remains: Are these the 3-D models for the standard units, or are they just unused animations?

If they are the 3-D models, maybe someone will be able to edit them. I don't have any 3-D software at the moment. But how cool would it be to let people make a real Star Wars mod, or to make artillery look like cannons, or to change the hovertanks into spaceships, etc...

[gwillybj]

smacksim wants to know…
cvr files...you know, all those extra non-graphics files in your Smax directory. Turns out they are either animations or 3-D objects.
…
So the question remains: Are these the 3-D models for the standard units, or are they just unused animations?

Yes, those are the 3D models used by the game program. If you look at all of them, you will recognize all the chasses, weapons and equipment, and armor. Many of the special abilities have cvrs, too.

… .cvr files typically stand for either fax cover letters or compiler files.

In this case ".cvr" stands for "CAViAR" (ComputerAidedVIsualizAtion + Rendering), a proprietary animation technology for creating surface voxels from polygonal models (by AnimaTek, a Russian/American computer animation company which no longer exists, but Digital Element, Inc. now owns AnimaTek's products).
How to edit them? I haven't a clue . Maybe license a copy of CAViAR from Digital Element?

[smacksim]

Modelshop appears to be the closest thing they have as a product. No references to Caviar or Cvr on the site though. I still can't use the CVR player on my machine, but I did poke around the hex looking for a way in

I did find the Caviar defined/owned, but didn't know about it's current owner. Maybe I'll have to go ask Firaxis if they'd let us use their caviar editor, since it now no longer exists as far as I can tell.

The only other thing would be to find a 3-d program capable of importing the cvr files. It looks unlikely though.

[gkclarkson]

I'm getting a fatal error when opening, something along the lines of "cannot get scn handler"

Help?

[Zoetrope]

I'm not hopeful about the Caviar animations: way back, I asked Brian Reynolds why Firaxis chose that format, and he replied on one of the forums that it was a mistake.