15 réponses à ce sujet

[nametab]

How can I add a simple coat of arms to a shield? Is there any quick and easy way to do this? I couldn't find anything useful on the vault or the old forums. Is it just a case of unzipping a shield texture dds file and editing it by copying the desired coat of arms onto the texture or is the process much more complicated? 

[Morbane]

no not really much more to it than that - you might want to find the correct 2da and make a custom row for your shield but basically that is it - if you do edit a 2da you will need a MDB as well but that can easily be cloned with RunnerDucks MDBCloner and modified with your custom dds as a channel - which is also a good time to consider if you want to have it be tintable or not.

[nametab]

This is way too hard. Is there a step-by-step guide for doing this? I've downloaded MDBCloner and it seems to be a simple tool, I've managed to open a shield's .dds file in PS with the help of a special plug-in but there are just too many options to choose from when saving! In the end I basicaly get a copy of the previously opened w_she_large01.dds, only with the desired coat-of-arms copied onto it. I can apply it to the w_she_large01.mdb and hope that it looks okay, but I don't know where to go from here. Which 2da should I open if I'm looking for shields? I'm kinda poking in the dark over here...

[Morbane]

I will look those things up - and will get back on this post later tonight (or day for you im in Australia)

You seem to have all the basics ready - the 2da i believe is one of those where the row number is arbitrary you just need a new row for the item to be unique instead of overwriting a stock shield. As far as editing the dds just save the image as all the default settings none of the various settings have any impact (to any large degree) on how the image is applied to the MDB (model). Have no fear once you do this you will feel like you can modify an items appearance on a whim

(I have been putting together a Tinting tutorial which really isnt much different from what you want to do here so if you are interested in tintmapping just give a yell and ill fill in the gaps for that as well)

Modifié par Morbane, 11 août 2010 - 08:09 .

[Morbane]

If you post what the NAME of the shield is and the APPEARANCE in the item properties I will be more able to give you accurate directions.

[nametab]

Well, it's a default Large Shield, model part 1 = 1, the other two parts = 0. The model name is w_she_large01.mdb. I'm not sure if this is what you asked for.

[Morbane]

I admit it - I can't find the 2da mostly because I think there isn't one for equipable items - I did look in baseitems.2da but the format I expected does not reference the Model the way I thought it would. The "w_she_large" is listed but not as a Model.



So I suggest plan B:



Experiment...



Copy the MDB and the 3 dds files associated with w_she_large01 to a safe location (ie not accessible by the game)



Make your heraldry modification to the w_she_large01.dds and put it in your override



Save the MDB with a unique easy to remember name put it in your override and try to find it in the toolset -



If that does not work save the MDB with its original name and put it in your override with the dds files- try to find it in the toolset...



As far as tintmapping is concerned it is based on the three primary colors R G B (ff000 / 00ff00 / 0000ff) as is evident in the w_she_large01_t.dds - you can make the details of your heraldry emblem with variations of the RGB map.



Sorry if I messed up with this "help" I am more familiar with placeables.



Anyway - post your trials and tribulations - I would like to know where this goes (if anywhere).

[nametab]

When I gave the .mdb a unique name I couldn't find it in the toolset. When I left the name w_she_large01 and put it in the override folder it replaced the previous model... but with a square box with question marks on it (I guess this means missing data). I'm afraid this has to be done via 2da somehow...

[The Curt Jester]

nametab wrote...

When I gave the .mdb a unique name I couldn't find it in the toolset. When I left the name w_she_large01 and put it in the override folder it replaced the previous model... but with a square box with question marks on it (I guess this means missing data). I'm afraid this has to be done via 2da somehow...

I've done retexturing of shields before and it was relatively easy for
me.  I'm not sure I remember the process right off the top of my head,
but I'll try.

Things I used:  

MDB Cloner
Model Viewer

Both of them are available on the vault.  You do NOT need the Model Viewer as you can view it in the toolset, but it can save a bundle of time loading and reloading.

If the shield you want to modify is w_she_large01, open the MDB in the cloner and set the number (01) to something that you don't have, like 250.  I think you can't go above 250 or 255.   Also, link to your new textures when you are making the new MDB.  It should work because I'm pretty positive that's the method I used when I made new shields.

You should NOT have to do a new 2da unless you wish to put it in your own category.  I don't see the point in making a new category unless you have a lot of custom items that you will be making.

Hope that helps some!

Modifié par The Curt Jester, 11 août 2010 - 08:40 .

[nametab]

That is a step forward because the toolset actually allows me to choose a different part model for the shield. Unfortunately it is still a square box with question marks on the sides so I guess I must have done something wrong when saving my .dds or .mdb.

[Morbane]

Hey - so I thought about the whole thing and TCJ has to be right - just change the number at the end - I got that from when people retexture heads - there is never a 2da involved - at least on the ones I put in my override.

Be sure the new dds (with new numbers) are in your override as well as the new MDB.

Modifié par Morbane, 12 août 2010 - 03:39 .

[nametab]

I probably should mention two things:

1. There were three .dds files associated with the .mdb, i.e. w_she_large01, w_she_large01_n and w_she_large01_t. I've only made adjustments to the first one and changed the "01" to "249" in the names of all three files. Then I made an .mdb with them in MDBCloner.



2. When saving the altered w_she_large01.dds in PS, I was informed that the size of the picture must be a multiple of 4, so I had to change the width from 611 to 612 or else I wouldn't be able to save. I'm starting to think this is the reason why the toolset can't render the model and shows that darn box with question marks instead.

[Morbane]

Just in case you missed it - the MDB needs to have the new number - the dds files actually can be named anything - as long as they are in the override together - but like you mentioned - you only edited the one dds file - so in theory that is the only one you need in your override.

Incidentally the baseitems.2da has an explaination here: http://nwn2.wikia.co...i/Baseitems.2da
and the model is indeed referenced - in this case it is "w_she_large" anything added to the end will identify it as a unique model / texture.

Just double check your spelling and case - any variation will give you the missing texture "?" 
Also make sure that your files aren't double file-typed (*.dds.dds)

Modifié par Morbane, 13 août 2010 - 12:30 .

[nametab]

I've checked and the spelling is correct.

[nametab]

I'm at a loss. I still can't figure out what is wrong with my shield model, perhaps someone who is a bit more skilled would be kind enough to create a proper texture for me, as I'm pretty sure I'm doing something wrong while editing the .dds in PS?

Modifié par nametab, 21 août 2010 - 02:02 .

[The Curt Jester]

If you have the textures already made and know which shield you want done, you could send me the textures and name the shield you are retexturing and I'll take a shot at it. When is another story as I have a rather full plate at the moment, but considering it's not a big project...