Object types¶

Every object in the EDM exporter has an Object Type set via the EDM panel context menu. The type determines how the engine treats the object — geometry, helper, light, collision, decal, etc.

Default for all new objects is Unknown, which covers visible geometry and unspecified helper objects.

Quick reference¶

Object Type	Visible in-game?	Used for	Layer / location
`Unknown`	Yes (if mesh)	Default — visible geometry and generic empties	LOD layers
`Connector`	No	Named attachment points (weapons, mounts, effects)	LOD 0 only
`Bounding Box`	No	Box covering model + all animation extents	Root export folder
`User Box`	No	Box covering only the static model	Root export folder
`Collision Shell`	No (used for physics)	Surface collision wrapping the model	Collision layer
`Collision Line`	No (used for physics)	Vertex line for fuselage / landing gear outlines	Collision layer
`fake_light`	Yes (renders as glow)	Image-based light point (omni or spot)	LOD 0 only
`number_type`	Yes	UV-shifted digit decal for hull numbers / tail codes	Any LOD

Detailed entries¶

Unknown¶

The default. Used for:

All visible geometry (hull, wings, turrets, etc.)
Helper empties used purely for organisation or transform parenting

The exporter treats meshes as renderable and empties as transform helpers based on their Blender type, not the EDM Object Type.

Connector¶

Named attachment points. The engine, scripts, and other tools reference connectors by name to attach weapons, mount points, particle effects, or programming hooks.

Empty type: Arrows recommended (visible orientation).
Naming: specific and descriptive (the engine references this name).
LOD: LOD 0 only. Not duplicated to lower LODs.
Connector Extensions field: carries additional properties for engine-side or scripting consumption.

Unlike the older 3ds Max exporter, no manual Z/Y axis rotation is needed. Blender's exporter handles axis convention conversion automatically.

See Geometry & Animation — Connectors.

Bounding Box¶

Empty cube enclosing the whole model and its full range of animation. Used by the engine for high-level spatial queries (visibility culling, weapon range checks).

Add an empty cube.
Resize to enclose all animated extents (e.g. when the gun elevates fully and the turret rotates fully).
Place in the root export folder, not nested inside an LOD.
Required for bone export.

User Box¶

Empty cube enclosing only the static model (without animation extents). Used for purposes like UI selection bounds or hit detection that should match the visible silhouette rather than the animated volume.

Add an empty cube.
Resize to enclose the static model.
Place in the root export folder.

Collision Shell¶

Simplified mesh used for physics and damage calculations. Wraps the visible geometry but is much lower-poly.

Lives in a dedicated Collision layer alongside the LOD layers.
Has its own animation empties so collision tracks with movable parts.
Use for the bulk of the model's collision volume.

Collision Line¶

Vertex line (a mesh of edges, not faces) defining outlines used for specific physics queries.

Typical use: fuselage centrelines, landing gear contact lines.
Same layer organisation as collision shells.

fake_light¶

Image-based light point. The vertices of a fake_light mesh become individual lights in-game.

Object Type: fake_light.
Material group: EDM_fake_omni_material (non-directional) or EDM_fake_spot_material (directional).
For spot fakes, requires a child empty named light_dir.
LOD 0 only.

See Lighting & Damage — Fakes.

number_type¶

A UV-shifted decal for rendering numerals (hull numbers, tail codes, vehicle IDs).

Duplicate the part of the hull where the number appears.
Duplicate the material (the number needs a base layer to overlay on).
Create a decal-channel UV map placed over the first symbol in the texture atlas.
Set Object Type to number_type.
Assign the argument that shifts the UV.
Set the shift value to the position of the last symbol in the atlas.

See Lighting & Damage — Numbers.

Selecting an object type¶

In the EDM context menu, the Object Type dropdown shows all available values. Changing the type also changes the available settings on the object — for example, fake_light exposes texture coordinate fields, number_type exposes axis and shift fields.

If you change an object's type and lose access to settings you previously configured, those settings are still saved on the object — they reappear when the type is changed back.