Official Guide to Habitat Junk Workshop

The official guide from 4gency to creating and modifying space junk for use in Habitat, through Habitat's "Junk Workshop" feature, first released with Steam Workshop sharing functionality in v0.25. Updated as new features are available.

Introducing Habitat Junk Workshop

Habitat gives you the chance to construct, navigate, and battle with space stations you build from space junk in orbit. Your ship is your custom creation.



With Habitat's Junk Workshop feature, you can take that customization one step further by importing custom models and textures to create individual space junk pieces that you can use in your game or share with others using Steam Workshop sharing.

Features and Updates

Junk Workshop was introduced in Habitat v0.25. The following features and settings are available:

Model: FBX format, maximum 5000 polys
Texture: Diffuse only, PNG format, maximum size 1024x1024 px
In-game Properties: Health, Mass
Sharing: Steam Workshop, free sharing and re-use

As Habitat's development continues, more options will be exposed to give creators further flexibility to create the kinds of in-game items they want. Stay tuned to our Steam Community Page for updates.

Requirements

In order to create your own space junk for Habitat, you'll need the following:

• A copy of Habitat, available on Steam
  
• A 3D modeling program that can export in FBX format (Blender is available for free)
  
• An image program that can export in PNG format (Photoshop, Fireworks. Paint.NET or others)

If you're only interested in downloading space junk for Habitat through Steam Workshop, you'll just need a copy of Habitat - you don't need the other programs.

Downloading and Using Custom Space Junk

If you're interested in downloading and using other player's Habitat Junk Workshop creations, it's a simple three-step process using Habitat and Steam Workshop:

Step 1: Launch Habitat and select Junk Workshop. Click "Get More Junk" to launch the Steam browser to the Habitat Steam Workshop page.



Step 2: Select a piece (or multiple pieces!) of space junk from the Steam Workshop page, clicking "Subscribe" on each piece you'd like to use.



Step 3: Back in Junk Workshop in Habitat, click "Refresh" and the subscribed pieces will download and become visible in the Workshop list. You're all set!



Once you start the game, all the items you've subscribed to will show up randomly in junk fields throughout the game. As we evolve game play, we will add new ways for you to request community-created space junk in game.

Note: You can prevent individual space junk items you've subscribed to from appearing in the game by un-checking its check box in Junk Workshop. Check the box again to make them show up again.

Modeling and Texturing Your Own Space Junk

Creating and sharing your own space junk pieces is a straightforward process using Habitat Junk Workshop. Overall, you will probably spend most of your time in the modeling and texturing process. Read on for a step-by-step guide to creating and importing space junk.

Model and Texture Creation

Every space junk item in Habitat has a 3D model file textured with a diffuse texture to represent it in-game. If you're going to make space junk, you'll need to create these first.



Habitat reads .FBX files, and .PNG textures. Be sure to follow the restrictions set out earlier in this guide around poly counts and texture sizes. Most modern digital content creation tools such as Blender, 3D Studio Max and Maya will correctly output the FBX file format needed.

If you're new to modeling and texturing, plenty of great tutorials exist out on the web for efficient and effective modeling and texturing of 3D game assets. Remember to keep your poly counts low and textures within size bounds - for performance reasons Habitat restricts these to reasonable maximums.

Scale of Items

As you build you will want to be cognizant of in-game scale. We use meters when modeling to scale our objects. Here's a handy chart to help you scale your items to appropriate in-game size:

Item	Scale
Engineer (people)	2m high (feet to head)
Space Capsule (small item)	7.5m high (base to top)
Statue of Liberty Head (large item)	43m high (neck to tip of crown)

Alignment

Habitat is played on a 2D plane. When loaded in the game, a piece of space junk is placed on the X-Z plane where Y=0, aligned to the local origin of the model. All weld points for the junk will similarly be on this plane and can only move on X and Z coordinates. This means in order to be useful your models need to follow a few additional rules:

• In general, models should be built to "lay down", longer and wider than they are tall, with the Y-axis pointed upward.
  
• Try to ensure the orientation of your model leaves room for weld points around the surface at Y=0.

Output and Saving

Once you've created a model and a texture, output them separately from your modeling tool. You will need to have an FBX file for your model, and a PNG for your texture. Using Habitat's Junk Workshop, you will put them back together again, along with some additional data, for saving and/or uploading to Steam Workshop.

Importing Your Space Junk Into Junk Workshop

You're all done with modeling and texturing. Now, you can import them into Habitat's Junk Workshop. Once you have your files, launch Habitat from Steam and select "Junk Workshop". From there, choose "Create Your Own Junk".

Load Your FBX and Navigate Around

Once the editor opens, your first task is to load up the FBX file of your model. Click "Add A .FBX File", and use the browser that appears to navigate to where your FBX file resides. Click on the FBX file and it will load up.

Note: If the FBX fails to load, you can press "D" on the keyboard to open up the debug console and view the error that appears. Let us know in the forums!



Navigate around your model using the mouse:

Action	Result
Right-Click and Move Mouse	Rotate around object
Middle-Click and Move Mouse	Pan around object
Mouse Wheel	Zoom in or out

Now, the model needs a texture.

Apply Texture to Model

Click the "Change The .PNG Texture" button, and use the browser that appears to find your .PNG texture file you exported. Click on it and the texture will be applied.

Note: If the PNG fails to load, you can press "D" on the keyboard to open up the debug console and view the error that appears. Let us know in the forums!



That's all you need for the look of your space junk. Now, it needs some data about how to behave.

Setting the Collision Volume

Every space junk item in Habitat has a collision volume that tells the game the bounds of the object when it's moving through the world. From bouncing off items to taking damage from flamethrower T-Rex heads, collision volumes are critical pieces of data.

When your FBX is loaded, Junk Workshop will auto-assign a collision box based off the model itself, but this is often too large - your object will be too sensitive to collisions, even registering hits when not actually touching other objects.

To fix this, you will need to modify the size and position of the collision box. Click "Junk Collision Box" to bring up the collision box editor.



Using the controls you can move and resize the box to the dimensions you want. Here are principles to keep in mind when making collision boxes:

• Cover as little "empty" space as possible. The box should be only big enough to cover most of the polygons of the model, and not space around the model.
  
• Leave room away from potential weld points (see below). Weld points need to be mostly outside of the collision box.
  
• X and Z matter more than Y. Unless the object is free-floating, most of the collision that matters is on the X and Z axes.

Setting the Weld Points

Weld points are the key to making your space junk usable as part of a habitat. Weld points allow engineers to attach space junk pieces together to create a habitat. Therefore, every space junk piece must have at least one weld point, but can have many.

Click "Weld Point Position" to open the weld point editor.



The first weld point can be moved by dragging the X and Z sliders around, and rotated so the weld point's green arrow is pointed away from the model and collision box.

You can also move the weld point by clicking "Set Position" and left-click on the weld point and drag with the mouse.

Add additional weld points by clicking "Add" and repeating the steps above.

Here are the principles you should keep in mind when placing weld points:

• Weld points should be almost entirely outside the collision volume of the object. If they are within the volume physics problems will occur in-game.
  
• The green arrows should be rotated to an increment of 15 degrees to correspond with the construction system in-game.
  
• When creating multiple weld points, they should be set apart from one another by at least 45 degrees and at least half the distance across the object in order to keep connected objects in-game from intersecting from one another.

Setting the Description and Properties

Now, you should give your object a name, a description, a mass and a health value. You can set these properties using the properties box at the bottom left of the Junk Workshop editor.



Here are the principles you should keep in mind:

• Names can be up to 20 characters in length. Do not use symbols.
  
• Descriptions can be up to 200 characters in length.
  
• Increasing mass will make the object do more physical damage on impact, but will take more thrust to move.

Creating a Screenshot

Before you save or upload, you need to use the Screenshot function to create a preview image of the junk you're creating. Click "Create a Screenshot" to create the preview image at your current camera angle and mode. You may want to ensure Weld Point and Collision Box mode is off before taking your shot.

Saving and Uploading to Steam Workshop

You're ready to save and/or upload your creation to Steam Workshop! Simply click "Save" to save your creation to disk!

If you'd like to share your creation with the Steam Workshop community, you can click "Upload to Steam" to start the upload process.



Note: If you can't Save or Upload your creations, check to ensure you've given your space junk a name in the property box.

Note: As of the current build, each time you click "Upload to Steam" it will create a new copy of your junk, regardless of whether it's an existing item. This will be fixed in a future release.

And we're done! The junk will appear in your Junk Workshop list when you return to the main menu, and - if you chose to Upload, will be in your Steam Workshop list in your Profile and on the Workshop page in Steam.

[Vis'Nil]

is junk workshop no longer in existence?

[Vis'Nil]

where do i find this in game?

or how do i acquire this?

[76561198144548035]

wewe

[St8kDinner]

Just remember your Mad Scientist speech training: "They all laughed when I [x], but we'll see who has the last laugh when I [y]!"

[Nerdsoft]

Science has gone too far.

[Xhorxh Bush]

Oh no. Not giant laser space penises. This is going to be a bumpy ride.

[St8kDinner]

Whatever they are, we're ready. And eventually they'll all be able to shoot lasers.

[Xhorxh Bush]

I can't wait to see what amazingly vulgar things people will make.