Model (head) help, please

[mjpb3]

Hi all

 

I am trying to add a new female head into Kotor

and this is the first time I've tried this...

 

 

Anyway, I got one of the basic female heads - Comm_a_F.tga

into my game just fine by extracting the tga, mdl and mdx files,

then renaming the files to pfhc05.tga, pfhc05.mdl and pfhc05.mdx

and so far she works wonderful...

 

 

BUT when I tried to color her lips it doesn't change in game.

She still looks the same.

 

 

And yes I have shut the game down, restarted computer and all that...

 

 

The little hussy just refuses to wear some make-up

 

 

So, did I miss a step somewhere? Is there something

else I need to extract, rename, etc...

 

 

Thanks for any help

[Darth InSidious]

You need to hex edit the .mdl

There are tutorials on hex editing in the tut thread

[mjpb3]

I looked... I really did...

 

but I couldn't find anything about model head replacement

(hmm... that sounds like a medical procedure;))

 

Anyway, could someone point me in the right direction?

[mjpb3]

Ok, I have messed with this until I am ready to pull my hair out. I can not for the life of me figure out how to use mdlops without goofing something up horribly. All I want to do is replace an in game head with a new head model...

 

Could someone please help me?

 

I changed the files I listed in my first post. Here are the ones I want to use instead:

 

N_TatComW_F.tga

n_tatcomw_f.mdl

n_tatcomw_f.mdx

 

and:

 

PFHC04.tga

pfhc04.mdl

pfhc04.mdx

 

In Kotor 1, I want to replace in game head model pfhc04 with

N_TatComW_F, but have the game recognize N_TatComW_F as if it were PFHC04

 

I know I have to use a hex editor or something to make the game recognize my new head model and show it with the changes I made, but I have NO IDEA what to do.

 

I have replaced PFHC04 with N_TatComW_F and the new head shows up in the game and the new game selection screen just fine, but I made a few coloring changes to N_TatComW_F.tga and I understand I need a hex editor to change the files so the game reads N_TatComW_F as if it were PFHC04, and recognize the changes I made to it... but HOW???

 

All the tutorials I have found even remotely dealing with my situation are hard to follow and I don't know exactly what I need to do...

 

Please someone take pity on me and help. *BEGGING*

[Jackel]

You will need to open up the mdl file in your hex editor and replace the N_TatComW_F lines with a the name of your new texture for this head. Just use the replace function which should be in one of the tools at the top of the hex editor.

 

I would recommened actually keeping the new head texture the same length as the old one other wise it might have problems. Just change a letter or two in the file name so there is a difference.

 

You will also have to modify the heads.2da file to point the head at your texture.

 

I say keep the name of the texture file length due to the fact we dont know what would happen if the texture names are shorter/longer then the original so we just play it safe and keep the same length.

[mjpb3]

Is this what I need to do to NOT add another head model, but to replace an existing one?

 

I want to replace the fourth caucasian female (short blonde hair) with the one I recolored.

 

I don't want to add a new head in a new slot, but replace the model in an existing slot.

 

Can that be done?

[coaxmetal]

it definitely can, or the kotor section on pcgamemods would be a lot smaller.

i believe there's a thread on the topic somewhere, but i'm not finding it.

i'm asuming you've read the tutorials from the wording of your above posts, but if you haven't, well, read 'em.

[Jackel]

Coaxmetal: Most folks added new heads as if they replaced old ones people whos favourite heads got replaced might get annoyed

 

Is this what I need to do to NOT add another head model, but to replace an existing one?

 

I want to replace the fourth caucasian female (short blonde hair) with the one I recolored.

 

I don't want to add a new head in a new slot, but replace the model in an existing slot.

 

Can that be done?

Yes it can be done.

 

Its fine renaming the head model and mdx model to what ever you like. In your case "pfhc04" but the model file itself still looks at the original N_TatComW_F and will do until you make the file look elsewhere by hex editing it.

 

Follow my instructions in the above post by me and that part of it should it should work out fine.

 

If you need a hex editor I can recommened : http://www.chmaas.handshake.de/delphi/freeware/xvi32/xvi32.htm

 

Nice to use and its free which is a bonus.

 

The changes to head.2da are just there so the game itself knows what files to look at for darkside and lightside changes.

[mjpb3]

But aren't you supposed to rename n_tatcomw_f to pfhc03 in the hex editor and then rename that file to pfhc03.mdl?

 

Ughh! I am doing something wrong somewhere because my female model still has the same base modeled (shape) head but MY TEXTURE on the model.

 

Poor thing looks like a victim of a freak science experiment

 

Darn it... I just am not getting how to do this...

 

It would help if I could find a tutorial that's NOT about how to remodel a lightsaber...

 

Ahhhh... Ok, I'm not stupid by any means, but apparently I need someone to give me step-by-step instructions on how to do this, because I just don't get it :|

[Kristy Kistic]

In Kotor 1, I want to replace in game head model pfhc04 with

N_TatComW_F, but have the game recognize N_TatComW_F as if it were PFHC04

 

What you name the mdl and mdx really doesn't matter. For the game to see it as PFHC04 you need to put the name of your model and head textures (you need 5 for all the transitions) on line 39 in the heads.2da file. (in an unaltered heads.2da file) Start with normal head in slot 1, and then work backwards from full darkside to the first darkside transition.

(1 normal, 2 full ds, 3 ds trans 3, 4 ds trans 2, 5 ds trans 1)

 

Your normal head texture name will have to be the same length as n_tatcomw_f (11 characters). Open the mdl file with a hex editor and use find and replace to replace all instances of n_tatcomw_f with your new texture name.

 

For what you want to do you should need the mdl and mdx files, 5 transition textures, and the heads.2da file in your override folder.

 

To clarify: absolutely nothing you do needs to be named after pfhc04.

 

Lets say you rename n_tatcomw_f.mdl and n_tatcomw_f.mdx to mjpb3.mdl and mjpb3.mdx. You then make 5 textures. The first ( the normal texture ) has to have a name 11 characters in length. So your normal texture is sometexture.tga. To follow Bioware's suit you would the make dark side transition 1 and name it sometextured1.tga. Second transition sometextured2.tga. 3rd Transition sometextured3.tga. And the final transition sometextured.tga.

 

Now you have to open n_tatcomw_f.mdl with a hex editor and replace all occurences of n_tatcomw_f with sometexture.

 

Open the heads.2da file and on line 39 (of a fresh heads.2da file) You will input mjpb3 in slot 1, sometextured in slot 2, sometextured3 in slot 3, sometextured2 in slot 4, and sometextured1 in slot 5.

 

For naming conventions, rather than naming the model mjpb3.mdl its less confusing if you name it the same as your first texture (which is what bioware does.) In this case you'ld have sometexture.mdl and sometexture.mdx.

 

Anyway, hope this helps

[Kristy Kistic]

Btw are you sure you didn't rename your model file pfhc03.mdl instead of pfhc04.mdl? (Read your posts.) I ask because taking a model and renaming it (even without hex editing ALWAYS works for me, unless the texture for it isn't in the override.) Then it will default to the filename it finds in the mdl file. If you take n_tatcomw_f.mdl

and rename it to pfhc04.mdl and rename the texture to pfhc04.tga it should work.

 

Just before I posted this I took the exact files you were talking about (n_tatcomw_f.mdl) renamed them to pfhc03 (the model I use) painted green hair on the texture so I'd know it was mine and renamed it to pfhc03.tga. No hex editing. Worked just fine.

[mjpb3]

Well, I did everything 'to the letter' like you wrote and my game freezes everytime I try to make a new character, so I am done with trying to work on this. I just thought it would be fun to have new heads to select from besides the standard female heads, but apparently I am not meant to be the one to make them :}

 

I'll try to work on this again some other time.

 

Thanks for your time and help, though. I really appreciate it

[Kristy Kistic]

I seem to have given you some wrong information. For a replacement you WILL have to hex edit the file. Your normal texture will be named after whatever you renamed n_tatcomw_f to in the mdl file. Your dark side transitions will still be named after pfhc04, though. And don't do anything with the heads.2da file.

 

Btw: Check your PM's

[mjpb3]

kristykistic: I tried to answer your PM, but the site keeps freezing up on me everytime I hit submit.

 

Quite simply, you rule.

 

Thank you so much and it works perfectly. Here's a screenie:

 

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b218/mjpb3/annastar.jpg

 

I really appreciate this. I was so ready to tear my hair out because I couldn't get this model's head into the game.

 

Thanks again:)