v0.3.0 Custom normals, FS22 Merge Groups, FS22 Materials

v0.3.0 — FS22 compatibility, vehicle colors, merge-group robustness

Fixed

• Normals are now imported as custom split normals so meshes look smooth right after import. No manual Shade Smooth needed, hard edges preserved. (#1, normals part of #7)
• FS22 merge-group part positions were wrong because FS22 stores the verts in root space, not bone-local space like FS25. The importer now detects this via the noBindPose flag on the shape (Shape options high bit 0x80000000) and remaps to bone-local after axis correction. Covers FS22 v7 files and v10 files produced by the Giants Blender exporter. (#2, import side of #8)
• FS22 vehicle paint debug materials are no longer white. The vehicleShader colorMask UDIM model is now built out: uv.y < 0 regions use the colorMat[floor(uv.x)] palette; uv.y >= 0 regions sample the Giants material-library tile from a decoded detailArray_diffuse.dds atlas. (#12)
• PBR debug material no longer crashes with UnboundLocalError: dirt_norm_tex on materials without a base color source (FS22 vehicle materials).

New exporter patch

• Patch 03 (mergeGroup noBindPose + member-local verts) in blender_i3d_importer/patches/. The Giants Blender exporter writes merge groups in root space (FS22 style) and never sets noBindPose, which causes child positions to shift on re-import (cumulatively per round-trip) and GE → dissolve merge group to corrupt mesh/normals/UVs. The patch flips the behavior to FS25 style. (Export side of #8)

Install

Drag-and-drop the attached blender_i3d_importer.zip onto your Blender window (5.1+) and confirm the install. If you already have an older version, replace it via Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Install from Disk.

Big thanks to @modelleicher for the noBindPose lead in #8 and for the detailed test files.