6 réponses à ce sujet

[DeepImpact]

The goal of the tutorial is to show how to create a new appearence for a monster without changing every critter of that kind in the whole game.

Tutorial-Level: Advanced
This tutorial is written for experienced user of the toolset, because I do not explain every single step, where to click and so on. GDA-edition and monster-creation should be know.

What do we do?
We will create a second appearence for the rage-demon, to give it the look of a air-elemental.

What do we need?
We need the following:

• APR_Base.xls (C:\\Program Files\\Dragon Age\\tools\\Source\\2DA)
• DA-TOOl (social.bioware.com/project/41/)
• DDS-able Program (GIMP, Photoshop,...)

Step 1 - Retexture
Following Adinios Instructions, we extract the ragedemons textures into a new folder.
It is found under Browse Model » Creatures » c_
Press CTRL + RIGHT till you found this:



Now you could edit the file c_ragedmon_0d.dss!
For this tutorial you could also download an alternative file.
http://dl.dropbox.co...al/Tutorial.rar

Back in the DATool retexture the rage-demon with the new DDS-file
[img width=201 height=199]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2611105/DAO/Tutorial/rage2.jpg[/img]

and then SAVE MODIFIED. Save the files as:

• c_aireleme.mao
• c_airelement_0.mmh
• c_airelement_0.phy (automatically generated)

Step 1b - Copywork
- Copy the three new-files (mao + mmh + phy) in the your Addin-Folder
\\Documents\\BioWare\\Dragon Age\\AddIns\\[YOUR_MOD]\\core\\data

- Copy the DDS-file to
\\Documents\\BioWare\\Dragon Age\\AddIns\\[YOUR_MOD]\\core\\textures\\medium

Step 2 - Editing the GDA
Copy the APR_Base.xls from C:\\Program Files\\Dragon Age\\tools\\Source\\2DA
Open this file and delete every line expect ID 27 - Rage Demon.
Change the follow:
ID = 100 (anything higher than 88 - must be unique)
Label = Rage Demon B
MODELName = c_airelement_0 (Filename of the mmh-file)



Generate a GDA-file from the xls and copy the produced file as APR_base_rage_b.GDA into the folder:
\\Documents\\BioWare\\Dragon Age\\AddIns\\[YOUR_MOD]\\core\\override


Step 3 - Toolset
Now open the toolset.
Search the rage_demon and duplicate it as elemental_air.utc


Open the new creature and look for the attribute "Appearance"


The entry "Rage Demon B" is new! Its labeled via the GDA-file.

The new creature should look like that:


Thats a difference compared to the original creature.


Anything must have be forgotten, but I think we could get that later.

Step 4 - Corrections
For some reason, the DATool didnot show or ask for the EmissiveMask, so we have to correct that manually.
Go for the folder \\Documents\\BioWare\\Dragon Age\\AddIns\\[YOUR_MOD]\\core\\data
and open the MAO-File with an editor (I´m using notepad++)
correct the 6th line like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<!-- Exported by Material Editor --><!-- dc:source=file:///C:/BioWareDrive/DragonAge/SourceControl/ArtContent/Art/Characters/MATERIAL_PROJECTS/C_RageDmon.matproj --><MaterialObject Name="C_RageDmon">
	<Material Name="Character.mat"></Material>
	<DefaultSemantic Name="EmissiveNoTint"></DefaultSemantic>
	<Texture Name="mml_tDiffuse" ResName="c_ragedmon_0d_blue.dds"></Texture>
	[color=red]<Texture Name="mml_tEmissiveMask" ResName="c_ragedmon_0d_light.dds"></Texture>[/color]
	<Texture Name="mml_tNormalMap" ResName="c_ragedmon_0n.dds"></Texture>
	<Texture Name="mml_tSpecularMask" ResName="c_ragedmon_0s.dds"></Texture>
	<Vector4f Name="mml_vFalloffParams" value="0.76 6.61 1.50 1.50"></Vector4f>
	<Float Name="mml_fSpecularReflectionMult" value="0.52"></Float>
</MaterialObject>

Now the elemental should look perfect!

This is an ingame-shot:

Modifié par DeepImpact, 12 janvier 2010 - 09:44 .

[DarthParametric]

You don't need to use DATool at all. In fact you have much more flexibility if you edit the model files directly, as you aren't limited by character restrictions going that route (DATool is hex editing the files I imagine, hence why the filename lengths must match). Just extract the MMH and PHY and edit them in the GFF Editor as detailed elsewhere.

[DeepImpact]

Editing the mao-file later on functions as well But right the "same-length"-limitation is a bit annoying

What is the GFF Editor?

[DarthParametric]

GffEditor.exe in the toolset folder. It's a standalone version of the editor in the toolset. Just quicker and easier to use than loading the toolset every time. Best thing is to associate it with all the GFF file types so that all you need to do to edit one is double click on it.



In a similar vein, ErfEditor.exe is a standalone version of the toolset's ERF editor used to open ERFs and RIMs. You can use that to extract the original MAO and edit it as required.



By the way, my personal feeling is that black boxing stuff for a tutorial is a bad way to go. If you just teach people to press a "make mod" button then they aren't learning anything. Best to go the long winded route so people understand what is actually going on behind the scenes and how everything works. Then later on if they want to black box stuff for expediency they can.

[DeepImpact]

Where am i "blackboxing"?

[DarthParametric]

Using DATool. However I was also referring to tutorials in a more general sense as well.

Modifié par DarthParametric, 12 janvier 2010 - 01:46 .

[FalloutBoy]

Blackboxing is okay as long as you describe what is going on under the hood. It also helps if your black box works perfectly, which it does not. I had issues trying to retexture the dragon. The body looks great, but the wings have a messed up material it looks like. I'm glad you posted this Darth. I will try doing it by hand tonight. Not to criticize this tool too much though. It is still very handy.

This is what my dragon looked like when I used DATool and this tutorial to retexture it: http://i79.photobuck...otos/dragon.jpg. I'm guessing there are issues with creatures made of multiple meshes?

EDIT: Nevermind. My problem was my own fault, easily fixed.

Modifié par FalloutBoy, 13 janvier 2010 - 03:32 .