28 réponses à ce sujet

[andysks]

i was sitting today and I thought that so many people give good CC, and I would like to try. Just for the fun of it. To see how it is to create a placeable or something. If I fail, or find it too hard for me, it's all fine. I will do it in my breaks between writing convos and creating quests anyway. But here's the question. I don't even know what kind of program one has to use in order to create. Are they different for creatures, tiles, or placeables? And what would be useful to create at this moment? Certain placeable groups? Tilesets? VFX? (I don't know how to make any of those btw), and I don't want to just try and create painting and rugs, because we already have tons of them. Thanks in advance for any possible advice .

[Eguintir Eligard]

Try a few exotic couches. I saw a ton more couch types in infinity games than the single one we have now.

 

If you don't I will be.

 

That said, even placeable creation is an all consuming bit of learning. Personally I think our CC is coming out now too fast to even use it all and it's great; I'd rather see your module come out.

[andysks]

Heh, the module will come out for certain. But as a builder yourself, don't you have days where you open the toolset, on a day off work, and nothing clicks? That's the only situations where I would try to create some CC. But as you said, because this will be a rare occasion, someone else will actually do it before me .

[Tchos]

I don't even know what kind of program one has to use in order to create. Are they different for creatures, tiles, or placeables?

 

You can do most object creation work (such as for placeables and tiles) in the free Gmax, or Blender, both of which have plugins for importing and exporting NWN2 format files.

 

You can also create creatures in Gmax, though I don't know about rigging them.

[andysks]

I think creatures would be much more complicated. Adding animations and what not... too much. When we say NWN2 format files? What exactly do we mean? Around here it will show if I will actually get my hands on that or not, and leave the job to the experts as EE said.

[rjshae]

Modifying existing placeables or building new VFX is probably the fastest approach to adding content. Porting static placeables is probably the easiest way to get started if you want to add new models using modelling software. You can build your own, but it takes probably twice as long or more. Tilesets require a lot more commitment--for me it's probably about six weeks of steady work, and it gets old and repetitive toward the end. Building, rigging, and animating creatures and animated models requires time and expensive software.

 

I think there's a lot more that could be done with vfx files, both in terms of consolidating and cataloging available content and in introducing new effects. There's also a large number of free license models that would be suitable for porting to NWN2.

[-Semper-]

But here's the question. I don't even know what kind of program one has to use in order to create. Are they different for creatures, tiles, or placeables? And what would be useful to create at this moment?

 

i recommend to start with something really easy, like a static object with simple forms. dunno, a vase or a decorative shield. it doesn't really matter what it is, because in most cases you won't like your first attempts. also don't underestimate the fact that you have to learn a totally new program which will take some time if you never did something similar. to get you started try blender. it's the most powerful free modeling application and there're tons of tutorials available. combined with gimp to convert your textures you won't need something else to create static objects for nwn2.

 

When we say NWN2 format files? What exactly do we mean?

 

we're talking about .mdb files (the model itself) and .dds files (the textures for your model). the .mdb will be created after exporting your model from blender.

[kamal_]

Doing a reskinned copy of an existing placeable is probably a good way to dip your toes in.

[andysks]

Reskin, is making it look different, but the mdb won't change right? Correct me if I'm wrong...

[rjshae]

Reskin, is making it look different, but the mdb won't change right? Correct me if I'm wrong...

 

Correct. But you won't be able to reskin animated models without the appropriate software; just placeables. You might also need to be concerned about the normal map (dds file with a _n suffix), depending on the skin you use.

 

Ed.: Oops, you will need to modify the texture file name strings in the mdb file, so it does actually need to change a little.

[-Semper-]

and don't forget about the tint map if there ain't already one

best would be to first read through the stickied threads and ask questions about the crazy things which won't make sense.

[kamal_]

Figure out which placeable you want to retexture. Open the placeables.2da and find it (normally the model name is the same as the tag), so you know the model name. Make a copy of the model in your campaign/module you are going to test with.

Use a modelling program to open your copy of the model, I use gmax with the nwn plugin. Use the texture button to see which textures the model uses. Make copies of those textures into your campaign folder, and rename the copies to something unique. In the modelling program, assign the newly renamed textures to the model via the texture buttons. In the modelling program, make sure each part of the model has been given a unique name so the parts dont conflict with the original model (make sure to keep the _suffix part of the model name intact, it tells the game what is a walkmesh for instance). Save/export the edited model.

Use a 2da editor to edit the placeables entry for your new placeable. You can make a copy of the entry for the existing base placeable, and just edit the columns specific to your new placeable (first column controls appearance name, the strref column controls if the appearance name property draws from the tlk table, so for that column you want to fill in with ****, and fill in the column identifying the model to use).

Drop the base placeable in an area in the toolset, and set its appearance property to the new appearance name. At this point if things are working it will look like the original placeable.

Change the copied stock texture in some way and save it. Close and reopen your area and see if the change was applied. If so, good, if not you have to figure out wherw you messed up (I once had two copies of the texture and it was using the one I wasnt changing).

At this point your object will probably look funky because you havnt made a custom normal map and it's still using the copy of the stock normal map. Dont worry about that yet, just make sure the textures are ok. I use paint.net for handling the .dds files the game uses as textures.

Once you have your desired texture, save a copy of it. You can use Gimp and the normal map generating plugin to have it generate a normal map for your texture. Save the new normal map back to the normal map name the model expects. Close and open your area again and it should apply the new normal map.

If your model didnt come with a tint map, you will want to add that to the textures on the model via your modelling program. The tint map texture tells the game what areas of the object get what tint selections when you tint something. The tintmal is normally bright red/green/blue as these are the colors the game uses to determine what to tint. I'd recomment starting with a placeable that is tintable to begin the learning process with.

Its less difficult than it might sound. There are a lot of steps but none are particularly difficult The hardest part is figuring out which textures will look good.

[Tchos]

It's faster to just cut and repaste the object to see the texture update, as long as there's only one copy in the area.  Don't need to close and reopen the area.

[PJ156]

I don't want to put you off as I want to do something myself on the modelling front, but with all of these good people creating content right now we two do good service by getting it out there in modules so the whole world (well the ten players still out there anyway) can see all this cool stuff in action.

 

Much as I would love to do a project I see my job as being a consumer and spreader of the word.

 

PJ 

[Happycrow]

I've got an easy one for you, and it's BADLY needed.  If I wasn't wrapping up my own really hideously-long cc: project (more on that later) and trying to figure out how to make a module to tell a story, I'd jump on this.

 

Retexturing humanoids.

What we have all tends to look very crude and uberbarbarianish...meaning that outside of tinting, there's very, very little diversity.

But what if you need an armored troll?  Or an orc in mail?  For a lot of low-magic pws which give their humanoids class levels in things, that kind of diversity would be really handy, and by learning to clone models (you'll have to learn this anyway) and retexture them in GIMP or Photoshop, you'll learn texture-handling.

 

AND the end result would be instantly usable by the community.

[DukeVega]

More Futuristic content would be good! a loader from ALIENS or a Dropship ploize x

[Eguintir Eligard]

I recommend those times when you can't bring yourself into the toolset to grab some sun light and fresh air . It will do you better.

[Dann-J]

I've got an easy one for you, and it's BADLY needed.  If I wasn't wrapping up my own really hideously-long cc: project (more on that later) and trying to figure out how to make a module to tell a story, I'd jump on this.

 

Retexturing humanoids.

What we have all tends to look very crude and uberbarbarianish...meaning that outside of tinting, there's very, very little diversity.

But what if you need an armored troll?  Or an orc in mail?  For a lot of low-magic pws which give their humanoids class levels in things, that kind of diversity would be really handy, and by learning to clone models (you'll have to learn this anyway) and retexture them in GIMP or Photoshop, you'll learn texture-handling.

 

AND the end result would be instantly usable by the community.

 

One thing I'd like to see is female versions of various monsters (especially giants), but that would require new creature models.

 

I've given an ogre mage a mithral chain shirt, and normal ogres ragged chain mail, just by cloning and reskinning the existing models. The new armour type has to conform to the shape of the underlying model, and you have no choice as to how the new texture maps to it, but a new and detailed normal map can work wonders.

 

It certainly should be possible to create a bladerager troll, which have metal plates surgically rivetted to their bones. The armour plates would conform to the underlying body shape, and could be delineated from the surrounding skin using the normal map (and bloody seams on the texture). The normal map could also make the metal plates smoother and shinier than the surrounding skin.

[kamal_]

One thing I'd like to see is female versions of various monsters (especially giants), but that would require new creature models.

 

I've given an ogre mage a mithral chain shirt, and normal ogres ragged chain mail, just by cloning and reskinning the existing models. The new armour type has to conform to the shape of the underlying model, and you have no choice as to how the new texture maps to it, but a new and detailed normal map can work wonders.

 

It certainly should be possible to create a bladerager troll, which have metal plates surgically rivetted to their bones. The armour plates would conform to the underlying body shape, and could be delineated from the surrounding skin using the normal map (and bloody seams on the texture). The normal map could also make the metal plates smoother and shinier than the surrounding skin.

Thread for requests, I don't think andy sounds like he's ready to do creatures :

http://forum.bioware...reation-offers/

[andysks]

Well, creatures or not, they might also have techniques to teach. One thing I really need is a gibering mouther. Well, I cannot possible create it or animate this thing, but doing the texture thing that kamal did on my own could be a start to see how things work. I think I once heard that vfx are quite easy to work with, easier than creating placeables, and seeing that we now have so many more, like statues and paintings maybe I could try to create more vfx.

[Tchos]

I don't think it's that creating VFX are much easier than creating placeables...it's just that visual effects don't need to be entered into a 2DA before you can use them.  They can be more convenient in some cases, and more compatible.

 

VFX can also do some things that placeables can't, like use 8-bit transparency maps.

 

I'd say that creating new VFX and creating new placeables are somewhat different skill sets, and it would vary from person to person which one they think is easier.

[rjshae]

Well, creatures or not, they might also have techniques to teach. One thing I really need is a gibering mouther. Well, I cannot possible create it or animate this thing, but doing the texture thing that kamal did on my own could be a start to see how things work. I think I once heard that vfx are quite easy to work with, easier than creating placeables, and seeing that we now have so many more, like statues and paintings maybe I could try to create more vfx.

 

If you're interested, I have a suggestion for you: see if you can create an SEF that applies an ice-like appearance to a creature, door, or a placeable. That is, a slightly transparent ice-like texture with a matching normal map. This way anybody could create an ice or glass golem-like creature or an ice/glass structure. You could have several different textures for varying appearances.

 

For an enhancement to the above, you could add an actual model to the effect that has the normal directions reversed. This allows you to view the back side of the interior through the transparent ice surface. If you don't want to mess around with a 3D modelling tool, you could have somebody else build the last one for you; it's not difficult.

[Eguintir Eligard]

Applying ice texture is easy. We used that all over in Islander and wizard apprentice two. Don't really need that to be prepared by anyone.

[rjshae]

Applying ice texture is easy. We used that all over in Islander and wizard apprentice two. Don't really need that to be prepared by anyone.

 

Well you can say that, but it's also exactly why we need a combined pack of available effects (rather than relying on tribal knowledge). If somebody didn't know that was available somewhere, then they would either not be able to do it or just end up reproducing the effect.

[Eguintir Eligard]

I guess. I just figured adding a skin vfx was so easy, that you would prefer to find your own unique ice or glass texture for your own work. All you need is a texture and you slap it on, no 2das. I'm always looking for ways to cut out work but when something is that easy I like to have my own texture choices, know'm sayin?