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Looking for a way to change mount models - would this work?


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So, I thought it'd be fun to have my high elf ride a saber-tooth tiger for a change. The Elite Mounts Project's dragons are cool but I don't like any variant of the Wing Serpents / Fey Drakes - vanilla, Ice & Blood, or the mod versions. I've always found the tigers to be a bit too small for a Seraphim but they might look awesome on a HE.

 

I did a bit of research and I found several possible solutions that were posted years ago. I won't have too much time to tinker with the idea over the weekend (and I'm generally awful at it) so I thought I'd use the time to double check if this method by Syraph would work. There have been no responses to it but it sounds like the best & simplest solution.

 

So, would this work? I don't want to change the properties of the mount, just its visual appearance, sounds, and combat animations. Thanks!

 

On 8/25/2012 at 2:54 AM, Syraph said:

Well I still remember how I managed to make the transition succesfully from the non-aspect wind serpent to a flaming horse, if by any chance anyone is still interested.

 

What you need first:

1. Make a copy of each of the following files: creatures.txt, itemtype.txt, creatureinfo.txt, soundprofile.txt and blueprint.txt (this one will not get modified, will only be used as a reference, but hey a copy of it cannot hurt).

2. I recommend not using Windows incorporated text editors for the following alteration (the files are kinda huge for some texts); I used Notepad++ and it worked like a charm.

 

Ok then, the steps are as follows:

1. First find the id and itemtype_id for the mounts you are insterested in. Each mount has their own id and itemtype_id. The best way of finding these is by searching with "specialmountfor = X" in the creatureinfo.txt, where X would be the class that the unique mount corresponds to. (so far I know that dryad is 2, high elf is 5 and seraphim is 1; ALSO the non-unique mounts are a bit more difficult to find since they have no "specialmountfor = X" tag describing them, which means that it would be better to search for them in the creatures.txt file since there they have a name tag, although the names are not very suggestive but they help a little).

-- btw the itemtype_id for the flame horse is 12736, for the non-aspect wind serpent is 5549; you can search on google for these itemtype_ids as well - you might get lucky;

 

2. Go into the itemtype.txt file, search for the itemtype_id of the mount from which you want to copy the 3D model from (in my case it was the flaming horse) and COPY the 3d model section (that means everything from "-- 3d model" line to just above the "-- logic bounding box" line); now search for the itemtype_id of the mount that you want overwritten (in my case it was the non-aspect wind serpent) and paste what you just copied over the same area of the target mount (it does not matter if the number of lines is different, as long as you overwrite the entire 3d model section).

-- right now the 3d model is changed, and if you try to run the game at this moment you might get a very weird mount instead of the one you got, or you might just get something usable - anyway it is not done yet).

 

3. Go into the creatureinfo.txt file. Search for the itemtype_id of the source mount (for me the flame horse) and copy everything from just below the "type = number," line down to "} mgr.creatureInfoCreate(newCreatureInfo);". Now search for the itemtype_id (just to be sure I'm reffering to the number you first found at step 1, not the string "itemtype_id") and here paste over the area of the target mount (in my case the wind serpent.

(Please NOTE that the "specialmountfor = X," line is essential and thus should not be copied over, or to be more precise it needs to survive your pasting attempt; also if a line that looks like this " eq_fallback = { number }," survives your animation during game will be messed up, which also means that if you want to paste over a unique mount - whereas the flaming horse is a normal mount - you will need to copy the " eq_fallback = { number }," line from the source mount)

-- now you might wander why the NOTE is important (and btw it is in most cases); well it is because only now will your animation work properly (for instance your flaming horse will not have a tail if you fail at this step - tailItemtype is not 0 in his case)

 

4. This one is OPTIONAL. At an earlier reply the attribute parts of your mount are mentioned. The "mgr.addCreatureBonus" and the rest of the attributes are correctly mentioned. Now let's see what those things mean. First of all at this point you have to use the id that you found at step 1 rather than the itemtype_id. How to use this id is explained by Malachor. So let's see the meaning behind the code presented there. The first three blocks (out of 6) refer to the positive bonuses that you get from that mount; to be more precise the first block refers to the resistance/aspect cooldown reduction that you get from you mount. The second refers to the health bonus, and the third to the defense bonus (they are described ingame in the same order that they are presnt in the creatures.txt file). Now how can you find out what they really are about? Well in that block you have two variables: intensity and bonus. Increasing and decreasing the intensity will make that bonus greater or loewr. The bonus variable is mapped in the blueprint.txt file. You can search for it with a string similar to this one: "createBonus(number", where number is the number that the bonus is equal to (in the case of the first block it would be "createBonus(248"). By searching this way you can find out what the added attribute means.

Now regarding the 4th and 5th block, well I still don't know their exact purpose but I saw no difference wheter I left the code there or if I just deleted it.

NOTE that the +54% in all aspect cooldown cannot be removed from this place. It seems to be directly linked to mount itself, and even if you will delete all attributes of the mount in the creatures.txt no description will be available but the increase in cooldown will still be applied.

As for the last block, from what I could gather it is linked to what you see in your inventory. I did not bother to alter it but if anyone is curios he/she can try and perhaps give some feedback.

 

5. This is also OPTIONAL. At this point some of you will probably still be bothered by the sounds your mount makes. The animation was changed but the sound is still the old one. So in order to change this go into the soundprofile.txt file, search for the itemtype_id of the source mount (the line should look something like "typex = itemtype_id" ) and replace it with the itemtype_id of the target mount. Then swap the itemtype_id of the target mount from the place where it is originally put with the itemtype_id of the source mount (basically now the non-aspect wind serpent makes horse sounds and the flame horse that you can buy under normal circumstances makes wind serpent sounds). If you are wondering why I did not use a more professional method, well I tried, but it seems that adding new line or comment others can results in a total loss of sound ingame, so be careful).

 

Guess this is just about it. By the way I tried this on CM 0130. Hope it works for you.

Edited by RetsReds
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1 hour ago, RetsReds said:

So, would this work?

The limiting factor here would be the lack of proper animations for a High Elf's model mounted on the Sabertooth Tiger model.  The above solution works because the High Elf already has appropriate animations that allow her to ride Horse-type models.

I'd predict she won't quite fit in the right spot on the saddle. She might clip into the model, or more likely float above it.

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1 hour ago, Flix said:

The limiting factor here would be the lack of proper animations for a High Elf's model mounted on the Sabertooth Tiger model.  The above solution works because the High Elf already has appropriate animations that allow her to ride Horse-type models.

I'd predict she won't quite fit in the right spot on the saddle. She might clip into the model, or more likely float above it.

Hm, pity... Well, I'll try it some time next week and report back. :)

 

Edit: So, I'm guessing the Draconicon can work on pretty much all characters, including the HE because the animations for riding horse-type models would work on the Draconicon as well? 


Edit2: Or, I might just try taking the Flaming horse model, that should be guaranteed to work... It's so frustrating that we can't cast combat arts while on horseback, I actually really like the horse models....

Edited by RetsReds
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Edit: IT WORKED! I'm an idiot.. I was trying to copy the wrong models all this time - the ones below the itemtype_id number, not the ones above it as I should have. :)

Unfortunately, the Flame Horse looks a bit silly as the High Elf floats a bit above it. Does she do that on a normal flame horse as well? Weird...

I tried with a Draconicon as well, she clips its saddle a little bit but it looks better overall. Edit2: Is there a way to change the position of the HE model in relation to the model of the mount? Maybe via the numbers under the "-- logic bounding box" line in itemtype.txt? Edit-I-don't-know-witch-one: No, tinkering with the logic bounding box numbers didn't change anything for me... there HAS to be a way to move the HE model a bit forwawrd on the saddle...

Edit3: I tried with a sabertooth tiger and she fits even BETTER on it! Oof, the choice between a tiger and a draconicon will be hard now. :D

Edited by RetsReds
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1 hour ago, mewkang said:

It does look pretty awesome!:yay:I didn't even know you could do something like this...

The shield clips the leg, unfortunately, but it does that on many mounts and for many classes, including on normal horses. 

As for the snowy effect under the tiger - that's the Crystal skin, I changed its visual with another aura this way, with some help from Flix. :)

Edited by RetsReds
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4 minutes ago, Flix said:

That's impressively done! I'm surprised she fits so well on the mount.

As was I. :D I just followed the guide, there was no improvisation on my part. I used the Arcane Wind Serpent (10889) and the I&B Frost tiger (12867)

I tried to see if I can make the Draconicon (12978) look better but I couldn't figure out how to align her with the mount - she sits a little too far back on the saddle and looks silly. But the tiger was an easy fit, surprisingly. 

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16 hours ago, RetsReds said:

The shield clips the leg, unfortunately, but it does that on many mounts and for many classes, including on normal horses. 

As for the snowy effect under the tiger - that's the Crystal skin, I changed its visual with another aura this way, with some help from Flix. :)

Ah, I see. At least it's good to know that other mounts have this problem as well.

I remember your post about changing the visual of Crystal Skin and Ancient Bark. Ever since reading Flix's response, I've also been implementing that change to my game as well.

It's really amazing how much you can change in this game even without having much knowledge about modding.

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  • 3 weeks later...
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Hey everyone! So, I've got a follow-up inquiry on the subject of changing mount models - can I move my character so that he/she fits on the saddle better? I was going under the assumption that there's no way to do that but than I thought of the high elf dragon mount in the CM patch - the elf has clearly been adjusted somehow to the new height of the mount, unless I'm missing something and the fact that the dragon is flying is independent from the elf's position on the saddle.
 

Edited by RetsReds
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  • 1 year later...

Hey everyone. Sorry for resurrecting this thread but I got a related question.

 

I got tired of trying to make a horse riding build viable (and fun) past Gold and I went back to the idea of changing the special mount model to that of a horse. So, I:

1. Changed a hellhound into a warhorse 

2. I changed all the special mount animations from the \pak\models\heroes\centurio folder with those of the horse mount 

3. Then I switched some of the animTypeSpecial lines in spells.txt to further match each CA to the appropriate horse mount animation

4. I fiddled with the sound folders too to make things match

 

Most (of the CAs I intend to use) work fine now - all permanent and temporary buffs, ruinous onslaught, and demonic blow are ok. There are a couple of exceptions I can't quite figure out, however:
1. Belligerent vault worked partly - it preformed the leap with the appropriate horse leap animation but didn't do any damage or anything else. I then changed the EE version of Belligerent vault in spells.txt (I'm using the CM patch and EE) to the CM patch/vanilla version, I.e. the one that doesn't need to target an enemy. Now the vault works just fine - it not only leaps but does its additional effects too. So, my question is - how can I make the EE BV work too?

2. Scything sweep doesn't work at all. I tried changing its animation to the Horse Rear animation and then I tried changing it to "ANIM_TYPE_RIDEATTACKA-SPECIAL", (which is actually the renamed RIDEATTACKA-HORSE) which works fine for Demonic blow. Unfortunately, SS just doesn't do anything with either animation - no damage, no nothing. 

Can someone help me out? @Flix? It's not urgent in any way but I'd really like to try this. I want to play a more paladin-themed SW with Charo's gleaming fist and the Denderan set but riding a hellhound doesn't quite fit the theme. :)

 

EDIT: Actually, I'm ok with the vanilla Belligerent vault in this case, it makes sense that a horse would be able to leap wherever and not need an opponent to target. I just buffed up the distance and breakroots back to EE levels. But I still can't figure out why Scything sweep doesn't work when the hellhound is transformed into a warhorse... A Rear-looking Scything sweep would be slow and less effective but also sweet to use. :)

Edited by RetsReds
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Side question, why do EE Belligerent Vault and the Horse CA Leap allow jumping over walls but the vanilla Beligerent Vault doesn't? I've been staring at the three of them in spells.txt and I can't figure out what to change in the vanilla BV to make it act like Leap or like EE BV but without the need of a target enemy.

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