17 réponses à ce sujet

[MokahTGS]

 I'd like to make a request to the modeling community that Adonnay's Elven Weapons be made into placeable models that can be placed on shelves, counters, altars, etc.  There is a placeable item pack available, but that is limited to the default game weapons, and does not help me in this case.  I'm in need of a very special sword for Jabberwocky and would like to use these models as placeables.

This elven weapon pack has many really nice models, that would look great displayed in a shop and the community would get lots of use out of it, I'm sure.  Preferably, this pack would be most useful if the placeable models came in several versions, such as laying flat, resting vertical, leaning against a wall, etc.

Is there anyone willing to take this on?  Pretty please?

[Mad.Hatter]

The item placeables hak by kivinen references how to make new ones. He also talks about how he made tools to quickly renumber things to make it compatible with reserved placeables.2da lines. Unfortunately, I'm a complete illiterate when it comes to these sorts of things. He has the scripts set up and everything. Hopefully someone could use the information there (and maybe renumber the 2da lines): http://nwvault.ign.c...l.Detail&id=153

[MokahTGS]

Yes, but rotating and moving them around takes a 3D program and skill...two things I don't have.  I would assume, from the little I do know, that since the models already exist as weapons, then it's shouldn't be too hard to make placeables out of them.

But again...I don't know much.

Modifié par MokahTGS, 24 janvier 2011 - 08:36 .

[Dann-J]

I've experimented with making placeables out of the standard weapons by referencing them in the placeables 2DA, and they look fine - as long as they are up against walls or in some sort of rack (or for swords, stuck in the ground). Unfortunately NWN2 doesn't allow models to be rotated about anything other than the Z axis, so as you rightly pointed out, someone would have to rotate the model in a 3D package and create an entirely new model if you wanted them lying down. Not allowing full-3D rotation of placeables in the game would seem to be a major design flaw in my opinion (having mapped for Quake-engine-based games in the past). Sometimes a ruined column would look so much better on a slight lean...

Of course, if you can live with them displayed upright in weapon racks then you wouldn't need new models. Sometimes NWN2 is all about compromise (sadly).

Modifié par DannJ, 24 janvier 2011 - 09:47 .

[MokahTGS]

I've made the request and we'll see if someone will step up. I understand compromise, but I wouldn't have asked if I were interested in compromise. I'll not use it if it doesn't look right. That's how my module design works.

[Dann-J]

I should have expected no compromise from a Grumpy Strumpet pirate lass...

Modifié par DannJ, 25 janvier 2011 - 12:41 .

[MokahTGS]

Well I tried the placeable route for this and it won't work as these swords have multiple models per weapon for changeable hilts, blades, etc. I end up with a placeable sword, but just the blade, plus its standing tip up, which just looks weird.



Can somebody with a little modeling experience/software help a strumpet out?

[Dann-J]

Come to think of it, I think I only ever experimented with staves (which are one-part models).   I think daggers and clubs might also be one-parters.

However there are plenty of placeables that seem to be made up of multiple models. When you select them in the toolset, they have multiple green bounding boxes.

Perhaps what you need is some sort of blank MDB file that acts as a positional reference for all the others? I once tried duplicating the flying gulls in the SoZ placeable to replace them with other bird types, but couldn't figure out how it was referencing the individual gull models.

Modifié par DannJ, 26 janvier 2011 - 09:59 .

[Dann-J]

These links look interesting:

SnipMDB

This packages includes a simple command line application for modifying mdb files.
Basically it allows combining parts of several MDB files into a single MDB file. Its not intelligent and only allows you to select packets from multiple sources and not actually merging the meshes.

http://nwvault.ign.c...ls.Detail&id=80

--

MDB Manipulation Tool

This command-line tool will allow you to manipulate models by rotating them around the X and Y axes - creating tilted, slanted or even upside-down versions.

http://nwvault.ign.c...ols.Detail&id=4


I might just have a play around with them myself.

Modifié par DannJ, 16 décembre 2012 - 09:40 .

[Dann-J]

These tools were very easy to use - literally in minutes I was able to combine up the three parts of a simple short sword (using SnipMDB) into a single placeable. Then it was just a matter of adding an entry into placeables.2DA, and I had a short sword placeable (point upwards).

It only took a few seconds to rotate it using MDBTool. Rotating 90 degrees in the X axis made a placeable to hang horizontally on walls, or 90 degrees in the Y axis made a model that lies down flat. You could also rotate it at a jaunty angle to lean up against things if you wanted. Just remember that by default the weapon placeable will be point-up (so rotate in either X or Y by 180 degrees to having it sticking from the ground).

Below is the CFG file I used to combine up the short sword segments (I saved it as a file called 'test.cfg'). All three MDBs were copied into the same folder as SnipMDB.exe. I then ran the command snipmdb combine test.cfg in a DOS window.

--

[Target]
Output=w_ssword01_plc.mdb

[Sources]
1 = w_ssword01_a.mdb
2 = w_ssword01_b.mdb
3 = w_ssword01_c.mdb

[Map]
RIGD w_Ssword01_a = 1
RIGD w_Ssword01_b = 2
RIGD w_Ssword01_c = 3

--

All you'd have to do it change the source model names in both the [sources] and [map] sections, and give it the output name of your choice in the [target] section, and you can quickly combine up any three sword components you wanted. You just have to know how the individual file names match up with the blade, pommel and handle variations. The _a, _b and _c suffixes denote the three weapon parts (I don't know which is which - but it doesn't really matter). The number 01 in the file names in this case refered to component options 1.

Then it's just a matter of rotating them as desired using MDBTool. Make sure you make a copy of the MDB though, because it modifies the original rather than creating a copy.

Modifié par DannJ, 28 janvier 2011 - 07:56 .

[dunniteowl]

I know this will be useful information for later on. Thanks Dannj! And thanks to you, MokahTGS for asking!

dno

[MokahTGS]

Oh great!! Thanks for the work....I'll get to working on those placeables now.

[MokahTGS]

Ok...I have no idea how to use command line tools...someone needs to make a plugin for this...

[MokahTGS]

Success!!

480x300http://www.thegrumpystrumpet.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/NWN2_SS_012811_222625.jpg[/img]

Thanks DannJ for all the tips!

Modifié par MokahTGS, 29 janvier 2011 - 06:46 .

[Mad.Hatter]

So for those of us who still don't know how to use command line tools?

[Morbane]

MokahTGS wrote...

Success!!

Thanks DannJ for all the tips!

Is this your work Mokah - or DannJ? Or just a chat session full of helpful tips? Wish I was there - this seems like a real PLUS for placeable creation!

Mokah! Tutorial in the future? DannJ?

Modifié par Morbane, 29 janvier 2011 - 10:25 .

[MokahTGS]

Ok, I'll do my best to explain things.  This tutorial is going to assume some basic skill level with file manipulation and file structures in Windows.

Step 1
Download these two tools:  SnipMDB and MDB Manipulation Tool

Step 2
Place these tools into and easily accessable folder via the dos command prompt.  I suggest inside your NWN2 install folder in a new folder called "Utilities".  (For example c:\\nwn2\\utilities\\)  If you don't have this folder, create it.

Step 3
Locate the model files that you would like to combine.  For this tutorial, I'll use Adonay's Elven Weapons.  For ease of use, I suggest downloading the override version so that you have the loose model files.  Place these files into a folder that you can find easily.  (Tip:  I keep a folder in my NWN2 My Docs folder called "Custom Content" where I put files I use.  You will also need to have these files associated in a hak, or in your override as the placeable will be using the textures from this hak.

Step 3.5
Vote for any content you use, and give credit/praise when you do!

Step 4
Copy the model files that you are going to be creating your placeable from.  For this tutorial, I'll be using the elven blade models.  Locate and copy w_lsword107_a, w_lsword107_b, w_lsword107_c.  These are the three parts of the weapon model that will be combined into a single model by SnipMDB.  Copy these files into the same folder that you placed the SnipMDB tool.

Step 5
Create a .cfg file for the SnipMDB tool to use.  I did this by opening Notepad and typing in the following:

[Target]
Output=w_longsword_plc.mdb

[Sources]
1 = w_lsword107_a.mdb
2 = w_lsword107_b.mdb
3 = w_lsword107_c.mdb

[Map]
RIGD w_lsword107_a = 1
RIGD w_lsword107_b = 2
RIGD w_lsword107_c = 3

Save this file as "longsword.cfg" in the same folder as the SnipMDB tool.

Step 6
Launch the command line window and navigate to the SnipMDB folder by typing:
cd nwn2
cd utilities
cd snipmdb

Your cursor line should read nwn2\\utilities\\snipmdb\\ if you did this right.  Type in the following at that prompt:
snipmdb combine longsword.cfg

This will create a new file in that folder called "w_longsword_plc"  This will be the file we use to create our placeable.  Copy this file to your override folder or put it into a hak for your module.  If you want to rotate the default model in some way, don't copy this file yet and move on to step 8.

Step 7
Open your placeable.2da and add the following line to the end:

12779 longsword_plc                     ****   0                  0    w_longsword_plc                ****         0               ****                       ****                       ****                ****             0           RESERVED   ****       ****         ****         ****         ****         ****       ****    ****    ****       0           0        ****

         

Put this new 2DA into your override or hak.  When you open the toolset you can use any placeable you want and change the model to the "longsword_plc" model in the placeable's properties.

Notice that the sword is standing on end with the point up?  If that is how you want the placeable, then you're done.  If not, continue onto the next step and the next tool.

Step 8
Open the command line window again and navigate back to the utilities folder (nwn2\\utilities\\snipmdb\\).  I'm going to assume your are wanting the model lying flat on a table for this tutorial, so you will rotate this model on the Y-axis by 90 degrees.

Type in mdbtool w_longsword_plc.mdb /rotatey=90

This will flip that model by 90 degrees on the Y-axis.  Proceed to repeat step 7 to get the newly flipped model into your module.

I hope this helps, and let me know if I got something wrong.  I'm no expert and I also bet there is a faster way (read:batch process) for doing this.

[Dann-J]

For step 6, you can change straight to the folder you want with the DOS command:

cd c:\\nwn2\\utilities\\snipmdb
(note that this forum replaces each slash with a double-slash - those should be singles).

Great tutorial! And very cool looking sword (like the one the 'legless' elf in the Lord of the Rings movie used).  

If you want the sword to hang on a wall, you can rotate it 90 degrees in the X axis (rotatex=90). That will make it hang horizontally. For a 45 degree angle, rotate it in X either by 45 or 135 degrees, depending on whether you want point up (the former) or point down (the latter).

By using two 45 or 135 degree swords on a wall, and rotating one of the placeables around in the toolset, you can have a pair of crossed swords on the wall.

Modifié par DannJ, 30 janvier 2011 - 10:04 .