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Pesmontis

Sacred Game Modder
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Everything posted by Pesmontis

  1. I have an idea: you could add the 'burning' effect to the shoulders, like with that horse (whatsitcalled).
  2. The yell of the year for Ancaria :-) That should be possible: as a pole arm. ehm.. I don't want to torpedo anyone's fantasy about new loot, but I think that new stuff is just easier to create if it's an object, not something that might be done with objects. In addition, it would be good to consider the bonusses of an object. Of course it's no problem to have, say, two weapons with the same capabilities, but there wouldn't be much need to create it (unless of course it looks absolutely stunning + everyone agrees on that ;-) Anyway, I'd like to suggest that if you know of a combination of bonusses that would be a niche, then it might be a lot easier to get a weapon or anything else created for it. Also, any drawing or look-alike picture would help.
  3. Suggestions sure ;-) 1. Don't develop an editor for the global.res file (see my previous post); 2. If you still want to develop such an editor, then see suggestion 1; 3. If you really, really still want to develop an editor.. then you must be a programmer, because you want to create it for the shear challenge. In this case I can only say that the CM-patch editor was built with the help of other programmers who know far more about compression algorithms than I do.
  4. The editor tool for the global.res file won't be released, because it's meant for the CM-patch (only). With the CM-patch it is important to have some kind of control over the use of scripting IDs and text hashes. Of course it is important that it will work, even if someone made his/her own changes to Sacred 2. Besides the IDs, the guys that are working with this tool know exactly how to use it in combination with their flawless knowledge of the game mechanics and scripting. There has been a great testing effort behind this, and a public release will start this all over again. I am 'only' the programmer for this tool, and I'm afraid of unlimited support questions. For Flix I have made an exception because of his continuous high quality work. I'm not saying that I regret this, but the problems he encountered have made me extra wary.
  5. Awesome, Tom ! Really slick, it looks far too good for an alpha release!
  6. A new hair style will probably be too difficult, don't you think?
  7. Do you intend to change the textures for Sophia's armor as well?
  8. Hey Wardust, I've been looking through your (heroes) textures - they're really exquisite! You've done a terrific job. The seraphim eyes look great, I tried something like that myself, but it didn't look very good. The cloth fibres are all too appropriate, with zippers, folds, creases & nicely edited normal maps.. And then the shear amount of work you put in it.. Awesome :-) <edit> The normal map for the HE default skirt seems to lack surface characteristics of mail.
  9. The GR2 modding effort with The Sims wasn't for Sims2, but for Sins3: S3RIGMaker 'Haven't tested this one though..
  10. I've described a set-up for Blender import/export here: Tutorial - Importing and Exporting GR2 Models - post #28 This is mainly in response to this remark by Schot: ".. and then editing it in blender, can I convert it back to gr2 and have it render properly in Sacred 2.." I mentioned the FBX file format as a probable means for exchange between Blender and a tool capable of GR2 export. For clarity, I have to add that the FBX file format can ONLY be used for exchange in limited circumstances: it depends on the tool capable of GR2 export. This is because Blender probably exports FBX version 2011.
  11. Since August, we haven't heard from timeonlooker. Timeonlooker, are you still there? If so, can you provide us with the global.res file from the official Chinese version of Sacred 2 ?
  12. I've now also tested the NiF tools for Blender (v2.49b) on Win7 32-bit. I tried to install it next to Blender v2.69. To have both versions installed means that: - you can import an SMD file from grnreader98, to create a .Blend file; - with the older version of Blender, you should be able to export that .Blend file as a NiF file (I haven't tested this yet); - the NiF file can be loaded into older versions of 3DSmax: those versions of 3DSmax that cannot load FBX files exported with Blender (eg. 3DSmax7). These steps might seem a bit long-winded, but the ultimate goal is to: - edit in Blender; - export as GR2 with 3DSmax. This is meant for those who can't use the Nexus Buddy tool with FBX files exported from Blender. The older version requires the Windows system environment variable 'PythonPath'. When this variable is removed, the newer version also works, as before. It's too bad there's no option to enable or disable this variable: I really had to remove it to use v2.69, and I have to define it again if I want to use v2.49b. I had to test several versions to get Blender v2.49b to work properly with the NiF tools. Several versions of the software below: - Python v2.x; - PyFFI (Python File Format Interface); - NiF tools v2.x.y For the installation paths of these packages, I used the recommendations in this installation description: http://oblivion.nexusmods.com/mods/12248/? - First I installed Python v2.6.5; - Then I installed Blender v2.49b in C:\Apps\Blender. I set it to store all it's files in the installation directory; - I set the "PythonPath" system environment variable to C:\PYTHON26;C:\PYTHON26\DLLs;C:\PYTHON26\LIB;C:\PYTHON26\LIB\LIB-TK - When running Blender 2.49b, it gave errors & "couldn't find Python installed"; - I added the installation of Python 2.5.4 and set "PythonPath" to C:\PYTHON25;C:\PYTHON25\DLLs;C:\PYTHON25\LIB;C:\PYTHON25\LIB\LIB-TK - Now Blender 2.49b ran flawless; - I installed PyFFI v2.1.5.cb92090 - it found both Python versions installed, but it also found the scripts directory belonging to Blender 2.69, in my Win7 user data directory; - The PyFFI installation asked whether to clear those scripts, and I said <No>; - I installed the Blender NiF scripts v2.5.5.90a8d2f; - Voila, Blender 2.49b can load NiF files & export them. Additional notes: - I deliberately tried to keep the installation of these packages apart from the directories belonging to Blender 2.69; - This configuration might also work with Python v.2.6.6. When testing, it gave me the same error as v2.6.5; - Blender probably exports FBX version 2011.
  13. In my SMD file, the first bone is "Bip01", and it has the rotations: .. skeleton time 0 0 -0.25182 34.001655 34.787541 0.000006 1.554916 -1.570789 .. In your SMD file, maybe that last rotation is a positive number (-1.570789 radians is about -90 degrees). It might be that in my mesh, some triangles (polygons) got separated. Then I probably have duplicate vertices. Your model looks otherwise OK to me, so I don't think it's a problem.
  14. Excellent testing :-) Stupid thing w. spaces.. it's one of the things that can be overlooked easily when programming for text, I hate it. Anyway, for our purposes I think it's quite useful to have SMD files, because their content can be looked through and understood w/o too much trouble. See here for the explanation of it's contents: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Studiomdl_Data Thanks to Schot I can now add an illustration to post #17: Image: Vertex weights in Blender v2.69
  15. Yes, it needs the extra node. So for the c_ancientshield I would add in a new line after "2 "Camera01" 0": 3 c_ancientshield -1 And in the skeleton section, in a new line after "2 -0.300865 -13.932366..": 3 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 One thing I'm not entirely sure about is the number of spaces that should (?) be used, in any line in an SMD file. This seems to depend on the importer: I think sometimes an importer has trouble with a space after "skeleton", or it needs to have two spaces after a node name. Something like that. If you experience trouble importing an SMD file, then it would be best to export another skinned model as SMD from Blender, and then checking each (invisible) character that might be used as a format property.. For the write-up in post 17, I used an SMD file exported with 3DSmax7 and Cannonfodder's SMD export plugin.
  16. See post #17 for the first part of this Blender explanation. In order to check your model's texture and UV mapping in Blender, do the following: - Select your model's mesh in the hierarchy tree (the node with the golden triangle); - In the 3D View menu (lower left) click the pull-down menu 'Object Mode' and select 'Edit Mode'; - You'll see the mesh triangles outlined in black; - Now simply type 'a' to select all faces; - Click the top menu 'Info' icon and select 'UV Image Editor'; - This is actually a window which you have to drag down: if you move the mouse to the lower edge of the menu, you'll see the mouse cursor change to an up/down arrow. Now left click, hold & drag; - You should now see the graphical representation of the UV coordinates of the mesh; - In the UV Image Editor menu, select <Image><Open Image>; - Browse to the texture file for this mesh, select it and click the <Open Image> button in the top right corner; - On the keyboard, hold the <Alt> key and press <z>: the texture will be shown in the 3D View; - Switch back to 'Object Mode', and type 'a' to deselect all; - To check whether the texture is propperly mapped, hold the middle mouse button to rotate the scene. Hold <Shift> and hold the middle mouse button to pan the scene. For those who are familiar with other 3D modeling programs it should be noted that for checking the model's texture mapping, it is NOT necessary to add a texture to the mesh's material. For the purpose of exporting the model to a GR2 capable tool, it's even unwanted to add a texture to any material in Blender (**). The only thing that is important with regard to the material is its name: the material name should correspond to one of the known Sacred 2 materials, listed in surface.txt. To find the mesh's material, expand the nodes in the hierarchy tree, until you see a node with a small, shield-like icon.
  17. Thanks Schot, I should have added a screenshot, but I don't have a place to put them on the Web atm.
  18. Pfew.. that was quite a hassle in Blender.. Since I've not used Blender very often, I had to learn how to use the GUI. I don't think it's very intuitive, and I think it's easy to get frustrated. I think it's like being confronted with Win8.0 for the first time ;-) (where is all my stuff :)!!). I've used Blender v2.69 and the SMD Tools v1.9.0 add-on. In the SMD file exported with grnreader98 you must add something, otherwise only the bones will be imported. You can edit such an SMD file with any text editor. The first section of an SMD file contains the node names. grnreader98 only writes the names of the bones in this section. The Blender SMD importer also needs a node name for the actual mesh. So if the SMD nodes section contains 10 bone names, numbered from 0 to 9, then you should add: 10 "mesh name" -1 You must also add this node in the 'skeleton' section: 10 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 That's all for proper SMD import. -------------------------------------------- Now, to check the 'skin': - In the upper right-hand corner, Blender displays an hierarchy tree; - Click on the small '+' signs in front of a node to see the node's children; - Look through this hierarchy tree until you find the node called "vertex groups", and display it's children; - You'll see a list of all the bones; - Now, in the lower left corner, the "3D View" menu is displayed. It has a pull-down menu saying "Object Mode"; - Click on this pull-down menu and select "Weight Paint"; - At this point don't left-click in the 3D view, because you're only checking, not editing (!); - Now click on each bone node in the hierarchy tree under "vertex groups"; - In the 3D view, you'll see the vertex weights for that bone. Red = vertex weight 1.0, Blue = vertex weight 0.0; - Use the middle mouse button to rotate the scene, to inspect the entire mesh. Tomorrow I'll write-up something about the materials and exporting the model.
  19. Blender is a fully fledged 3D modeling tool, just as complex as 3DSmax or Maya, so for sure you can rig models for Sacred 2 with it. For importing animations and rigged models it's just a question of using the right import format. I think SMD, FBX, or NiF should all qualify, although I don't have experience with Blender. The OBJ format does not qualify, because it can only hold a model's mesh. In a 'rigged' model, there's a 'skeleton' with 'bones'. One bone is usually configured to have a weighed effect on nearby vertices from the mesh. The combination of the vertex weights of all bones is called a 'skin'. A 'rigged' model is also known as a 'skinned' model (as opposed to a 'textured' model **). Texturing is usually refered to as 'mapping', while modders often (I think wrongly) use the word 'skinning' for this. Anyway, all these things can be done in Blender, as long as you import a model's bones (and it's skin). Then you would have to find out how to do skinning in Blender (I've never done this in Blender), firstly (mainly) in order to check whether the import was successful.
  20. Okay, why not. This will take some time though. I think the focus should be on configuring the model's material(s) in Blender. And then exporting as FBX, so that it can be imported in Nexus Buddy 2.0, or in 3DSmax / Maya. btw. I think it's also possible to use Maya 6 with the "Blitzkrieg 2 export tools" in order to export GR2 files.
  21. Yes, it's always game specific. I think RAD encourages modeling studios to do so, maybe even actively helping out, like it comes with the package. There's also been an effort with Sims2 I think. Many modders over at the Xentax forums ( http://forum.xentax.com/ ) produce tools for Blender. For my meshing purposes I like to stay flexible with conversion software like the NiF tools ( http://sourceforge.net/projects/niftools/files/ ).
  22. That Nexus Buddy tool is really interesting. At first I thought it seemed 'just' a graphical front-end for two command-line tools, but those two are only used for extraction from GR2 files. (they're actually using one of mine). So I guess the Nexus Buddy programmers found a way to use those Firaxis tools to create GR2 files. Something similar was going on with the Expotron plugin for 3DSmax, which was used with the game NWN2. ie. GR2 export functionality being distributed freely. This is probably unwanted, and RAD will definately be unhappy about it. The Firaxis tools probably can't be used without Civ5 on the PC.
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