Re: New units

[DragonShadow]

Say you make a secondary version of a Star Destroyer, and you need it to have a different texture than the other one. How do you make the variant reference a different texture file?

[FormulaRedline]

I'd be willing to bet the skin name is defined by the model (this is how it works in most games).  This means you'll have to wait until Petro releases the mod tools for us to put models in before you can have two different skins for the same ship.

[DragonShadow]

That's what I figured, but I thought it would be worth a shot. ;D

[DragonShadow]

Actually, I just got an idea that I'll be preparing and testing tomorrow. If you make a copy of a model, it's anims and it's textures, and give them all the same unit name, it should work as a new variant of the original. I'll try it out as soon as I can and report my findings...

[Mikan Cyclone]

I'd be very happy for that.  ;D

[swgbex]

yeah .. it works a bit better with things that already have varients. now u can make diferent versions of lets say infantry units without editing the models :/

 

but we cant do that with SD's because there arent any yet :/

.. good luck i guess maybe some hex editing on the model might help too but i doubt it

[DragonShadow]

yeah .. it works a bit better with things that already have varients. now u can make diferent versions of lets say infantry units without editing the models :/

 

but we cant do that with SD's because there arent any yet :/

.. good luck i guess maybe some hex editing on the model might help too but i doubt it

 

Well, my method is more like a fake variant. But, it's actually an entirely new unit with the exact same properties and values as the original, but references a new model. My new unit, Star_Destroyer_Test references SITH_STARDESTROYER.ALO, which is a renamed copy of the original EV_STARDESTROYER.ALO. Theoretically, it should work creating a "variant" of the Star Destroyer with a new base texture. I won't be able to test it for another few hours though...

[Mikan Cyclone]

I smell KOTOR mod!

[DragonShadow]

Nope. Secret project. I'll probably try doing a KotOR (or working for someone doing a KotOR) mod when we have mod tools.

[DragonShadow]

D@mn.

 

After thorough testing, retesting, reretesting, prayer, consultation of oracles, demon summonings, and various other happenings, I've come to the dreadful conclusion that textures are hard-coded to models, and no amount of name-changing can change it...I'm going to go sulk in the corner now...

 

Well, I'll keep trying to figure a way out before the mod tools come out, and at the very least I can stil set up units and textures, even though I may not be able to implement them yet...

[z3r0x]

I think this is possible.. Im going to try some crazy stuff with the models tonight.. So far it looks like it will work.. I will let you know.. how it turns out.

[DragonShadow]

Cool. Nice to know someone else is helping out. ;D Thanks! I'll be trying some new experiments over the weekend as well. Hopefully, someone will get the concept working.

[Mikan Cyclone]

Gosh I hope this works.  I have a lot of ideas I could make from this!

[z3r0x]

It works... Ill have to do some more testing.. but I think I cracked it... Indeed you CAN add new textures and make new model names.. etc. DragonShadow was my inspiration on this.. I'll have to test.. more.. BUT.. so far so good.

[DragonShadow]

Really? This is good news! Perhaps I did something wrong...I've replaced textures on normal units, but couldn't seem to replace only when with two different names of the same model.

 

I'll keep checking, and good luck on your tests!

[z3r0x]

Ok... well Im having problems right now.. BUT... I still think this can work. My problem is.. Im not a graphic designer.. and I dont know alot about tga files and dds etc.. I can see... via the hex editor where the model calls the textures. Its editable. Right now.. I got invisible troops... heh...  The model refers to each texture set as .tgas.. however those files are stored in the game as .dds files. So if there is a texture guru out there who thinks they can help with this then drop me a line via AIM or MSN.. my msn is z3r0_89@hotmail.com and my AIM is z3r0.

[Mikan Cyclone]

It's so simple it's not....Why didn't I thin- oh yeah,because I can't speak hex.  anyway, this is a really good discovery for the entire modding community.  Felicitations!  do you know if the entry for this in the model is universal, or is it unique to each? (by this I mean is  the line that clarifies the texture the same in every model or is it unique to each one?)

[z3r0x]

It looks standard... there are 3 references to the textures with recurring lines.I looked at several models and all looked the same.. for example the model ei_trooper.alo in the hex editor is calling ei_trooper.tga and ei_trooper_gloss.tga ... when you look at the texture files... those names match the .dds files. I dont know about MIP mapping etc... I'm mainly scripting and coding. I know very little about graphics..

[DragonShadow]

Perfect! Nice discovery, this is exactly what I was looking for. What kind of hex editor are you using?

EDIT: Never mind, the one I have for BfME works. I'm giving you credit for this, I never would have thought to hex the models...*commence evil plotting*

[Mikan Cyclone]

And what hex editor would that be?

[DragonShadow]

XVI32...whatever the heck that means...

 

I remember the site I got it from, I just have to find it again. I'll post a link when I do.

 

Found it:

[Mikan Cyclone]

strange..it doesn't work for me when I use it.

 

Edit: Never mind, I got it working. 

[DragonShadow]

Click the search button and go to Text string, enter tga, hit the "Text -> Hex" button, and click ok. That's how you find the texture references.

[Mikan Cyclone]

Now if only we could change ala files....

[DragonShadow]

Well, while we can't change animations or put in new models, we can put in new textures and create model variants. That's something at least.