Retexturing a module

[Darth InSidious]

Is the name of your .lyt still the same as it was for the original module?

[Miltiades]

Have you replaced a large number of textures, and/or very large textures? Keep in mind that since TGA textures aren't DXTC compressed, unlike TPC textures, they will take up more memory on your graphics card, and if your card doesn't have a lot of VRAM you might run out of memory and the game might decide to clear out far-away textures to free up memory.

 

I have replaced a large number, yes. And I retextured the TGA textures, not TPC textures. I don't think my graphics card couldn't handle it, I have a Radeon X800 Pro.

 

Did you check the TXI information for the original textures, in case there was something in there that needs to be applied to your new textures as well?

 

Do you mean the info in the Image Viewer when you open a texture? And if that's the info, how do I apply that?

 

Is the name of your .lyt still the same as it was for the original module?

 

Uh, doesn't the .lyt file have be renamed?

[Darth InSidious]

Yes. But if you don't, that black-room thing can happen.

 

Sorry to ask stupid questions, but it can be something really obvious that causes this kind of thing

[Miltiades]

No, it's good to know, but I have renamed it, so that's not the problem.

[Miltiades]

Just found something out: the black emptyness between the rooms are actually doors. I can go through every door without opening it because it's just a black emptyness. What have I done wrong?

[Darth333]

Did you packed the doors within your .mod file? Double check the .utd to make sure the info in there is correct. (Unfortunately I don't have kotor installed at this moment so I can't check all the details. I'm waiting for my new pc to arrive before doing so so the help I can provide is only limited for another few days)

[Miltiades]

Uh... no. I didn't know that was necessary, because I used an existing module, and I thought everything was in there, including the doors. No other files need to be in the .mod file apparantly, because they are in the module. I also haven't made a new .utd file, because I use the same as in the existing module.

[Darth InSidious]

Extract the door files and put them in the .mod .

 

You may have to do that with the placeables, too

[Miltiades]

I placed the door files in the mod and yes, there are doors in my module now. They aren't the retextured once though, I don't know how to link the doors with my retextured files.

 

And although the doors appeared, once they're open, the blackness reappears. And when the doors are still closed, you can see through the wall close to the door and see the hallway around the corner.

[Pavlos]

Whereabouts is this blackness in the Harbinger module? To my memory, there is one error with it - near where the broken door is in 151HAR (Right near the entrance). It causes the room models on the other side of the door to disappear until you step over the threshold and upon doing so, the rooms behind disappear too.

 

Is this what you mean? If so: There is no soultion other than to have a permanently locked door there.

 

I have no idea what could be causing blackness for all doors. Have you updated the doorhookcount and the list beneath. I'm pretty sure that they have something to do with the internal toolset the developers used but it is worth a shot.

 

Edit:

 

For example: If I change all the names of the models within the layout file as follows:

 

      PAHARSB 96.9817 67.7872 0.0
     PAHAR16 42.1658 58.3836 -0.060816
     PAHAR10 36.9242 81.9698 0.0
     PAHAR06 39.5591 98.5296 -0.0395661
     PAHAR05 39.1752 81.6386 1.23543
     PAHAR04 39.9431 81.6386 1.23543
     PAHAR03 51.5617 107.402 1.275
     PAHAR02 39.1057 120.741 3.05176e-007
     PAHAR01 34.1285 146.727 0.0
     PAHAR15 23.6645 54.1265 -0.0395686
     PAHAR17 22.0325 41.213 -0.0395668
     PAHAR07 7.26811 86.4587 -3.43323e-006
     PAHAR08 4.59096 71.0048 -3.43323e-006
     PAHAR09 3.23787 52.9573 -3.43323e-006
     PAHAR13 27.883 127.639 1.275
     PAHAR14 23.6145 98.397 -1.52588e-006
     PAHAR11 25.5088 112.311 -1.2207e-006
     PAHAR12 23.2973 114.381 1.275

 

Then I must also edit the doorhooks:

 

      PAHAR06 door_11 0 39.5629 106.035 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR05 door_12 0 39.5508 66.9464 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR03 door_09 0 50.1461 115.569 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR03 door_10 0 52.8669 99.4203 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR01 door_01 0 29.1853 135.627 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR01 door_02 0 39.5061 135.627 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR15 door_13 0 24.8903 62.2997 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR15 door_14 0 22.169 46.1408 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR17 door_15 0 22.169 35.8937 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR07 door_06 0 8.49093 94.6174 -7.62939e-007 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR07 door_07 0 5.77494 78.4642 -3.8147e-007 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR08 door_08 0 3.05781 62.3066 -3.8147e-007 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR13 door_03 0 26.4597 119.478 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR13 door_05 0 23.7505 103.321 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR11 door_04 0 18.6092 114.219 -7.62939e-007 0.707107 0.0 0.0 -0.707107

 

So that the full thing would look like this:

 

#MAXLAYOUT ASCII
filedependancy 151HAR.max
beginlayout
  roomcount 18
     PAHARSB 96.9817 67.7872 0.0
     PAHAR16 42.1658 58.3836 -0.060816
     PAHAR10 36.9242 81.9698 0.0
     PAHAR06 39.5591 98.5296 -0.0395661
     PAHAR05 39.1752 81.6386 1.23543
     PAHAR04 39.9431 81.6386 1.23543
     PAHAR03 51.5617 107.402 1.275
     PAHAR02 39.1057 120.741 3.05176e-007
     PAHAR01 34.1285 146.727 0.0
     PAHAR15 23.6645 54.1265 -0.0395686
     PAHAR17 22.0325 41.213 -0.0395668
     PAHAR07 7.26811 86.4587 -3.43323e-006
     PAHAR08 4.59096 71.0048 -3.43323e-006
     PAHAR09 3.23787 52.9573 -3.43323e-006
     PAHAR13 27.883 127.639 1.275
     PAHAR14 23.6145 98.397 -1.52588e-006
     PAHAR11 25.5088 112.311 -1.2207e-006
     PAHAR12 23.2973 114.381 1.275
  trackcount 0
  obstaclecount 0
  doorhookcount 15
     PAHAR06 door_11 0 39.5629 106.035 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR05 door_12 0 39.5508 66.9464 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR03 door_09 0 50.1461 115.569 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR03 door_10 0 52.8669 99.4203 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR01 door_01 0 29.1853 135.627 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR01 door_02 0 39.5061 135.627 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR15 door_13 0 24.8903 62.2997 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR15 door_14 0 22.169 46.1408 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR17 door_15 0 22.169 35.8937 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR07 door_06 0 8.49093 94.6174 -7.62939e-007 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR07 door_07 0 5.77494 78.4642 -3.8147e-007 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR08 door_08 0 3.05781 62.3066 -3.8147e-007 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR13 door_03 0 26.4597 119.478 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR13 door_05 0 23.7505 103.321 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
     PAHAR11 door_04 0 18.6092 114.219 -7.62939e-007 0.707107 0.0 0.0 -0.707107
donelayout

[Miltiades]

It happens to all rooms. I don't think it has something to do with the doors after all, because the blackness happens between every room. A hallway which is divided in 2 rooms for example, has a blackness where the second part of the hallway begins.

 

So what you suggested didn't work. And although the doors are there now, they're not the reskinned ones. I know the reskinned doors can't appear in the module if I don't link them to .mdl files or .lyt files or whatever, like reskinned walls, but I don't know how to do it.

[stoffe]

I know the reskinned doors can't appear in the module if I don't link them to .mdl files or .lyt files or whatever, like reskinned walls, but I don't know how to do it.

 

The UTD files have a field called GenericType which links to a line number in genericdoors.2da. This 2DA file contains the name of the Model file used for the door, as well as what sound it makes when it opens/closes and some other things.

 

If you want to add a new door type you'll need to add a new line to this 2DA file where you set your modified door models and use this line in the UTD files for your doors.

[Miltiades]

Are all doors included in that 2da file? Because I can only find one Harbinger door with it's mdl file in the 2da file, but if I look into the model list, I find 3 mdl files.

 

Also, do I have to change something in the mdl files again, and what exactly?

 

And if I would copy the HarbingerDoor row, what do I have to change of that line?

 

Finally, do I have to change something in my .utd file?

[stoffe]

Are all doors included in that 2da file? Because I can only find one Harbinger door with it's mdl file in the 2da file, but if I look into the model list, I find 3 mdl files.

 

Hmm, which ones are you referring to? Genericdoors.2da line 48 (Hammerhead1), 58 (BrokenDoor) and 78 (HarbingerDoor03) use the models DOR_HAR01, DOR_HAR02 and DOR_HAR03 respectively. Are there any others?

 

Also, do I have to change something in the mdl files again, and what exactly?

 

Change the names of the textures and the name of the model inside the MDL files, and rename the MDL (and corresponding MDX) file to something new.

 

And if I would copy the HarbingerDoor row, what do I have to change of that line?

 

Change the label column to something unique so you and others knows what it is more easily and change the modelname column to the name of your renamed MDL file.

 

Finally, do I have to change something in my .utd file?

 

Yes, as hinted in the previous post you must change the GenericType field to the line number of your new line in genericdoors.2da to make the door template use that door type.

[stoffe]

It happens to all rooms. I don't think it has something to do with the doors after all, because the blackness happens between every room. A hallway which is divided in 2 rooms for example, has a blackness where the second part of the hallway begins.

 

If no one else has a more informed suggestion about this I'm going to make a wild guess. It might be an incorrect assumption, but perhaps the .VIS extension stands for "Visibility"? Have you created a new .VIS file for your renamed area, which properly refers to your renamed rooms etc inside it?

[Miltiades]

Hmm, which ones are you referring to? Genericdoors.2da line 48 (Hammerhead1), 58 (BrokenDoor) and 78 (HarbingerDoor03) use the models DOR_HAR01, DOR_HAR02 and DOR_HAR03 respectively. Are there any others?

 

No, I couldn't find the first two. My bad.

 

Yes, as hinted in the previous post you must change the GenericType field to the line number of your new line in genericdoors.2da to make the door template use that door type.

 

I can't find the GenericType field in the .utd file.

[Miltiades]

If no one else has a more informed suggestion about this I'm going to make a wild guess. It might be an incorrect assumption, but perhaps the .VIS extension stands for "Visibility"? Have you created a new .VIS file for your renamed area, which properly refers to your renamed rooms etc inside it?

 

I had created a new renamed .VIS file, but I hadn't changed anything inside it. I have now, but it didn't change anything.

 

Edit: Oh wait, that did work. Made a mistake. Thanks, stoffe. Only need to get those retextured doors in the module now.

[stoffe]

I can't find the GenericType field in the .utd file.

 

Are you sure? It should look like this:

 

.

 

It should exist in all templates since it determines how the door works. If that field doesn't exist in your UTD templates you could try to add it. Make sure you set the data type correctly.

[Miltiades]

It worked! I opened the .utd files with Kotor Tool instead of it a GFF Editor. Above that, I worked with the wrong .utd files. So, thank you.

 

But now that works, I have some other questions. I'll use the Harbinger as an example.

 

In certain rooms in the Harbinger, there are tables, desks or computers. Can I remove these things or is it impossible? And can I place things like that in the module, such as cages?

 

Another thing I would like to do, is if you look outside the Harbinger, you can see ships flying in space. How would I need to do that? And because I used the Harbinger modules, I see the Peragus Facility through the windows. How can I make it disappear?

[stoffe]

In certain rooms in the Harbinger, there are tables, desks or computers. Can I remove these things or is it impossible? And can I place things like that in the module, such as cages?

 

If you can remove objects depend on if they are part of the area model or if they are placeables. If they are placeables you can delete them from the PlaceableList in the area's GIT file.

 

If they are part of the model it becomes a lot trickier, since you'd need to edit the room model it's part of and re-import it back into the game, and modify the walkmesh to characters can walk where the furniture used to be. Someone else will have to answer if that's feasible since I'm not very knowledgeable about 3d modeling for the KotOR games.

 

The same thing applies for adding things, but in reverse. Placeables = easy, area model = not so easy.

[Miltiades]

How do I know what's a placeable and what's a area model? Filenames don't say much, how can I see those files as objects?

 

Edit: Never mind, I got it. But could someone tell me how to make the Peragus Facility disappear and make ships fly through space when you look thorugh the window?

[Pavlos]

Hmm...

 

Theoretically, if you find the name of the skybox model you may be able to replace it with the skybox model from Darth Nihilus' ship - with all the laser shots and a couple of fighters. This can be done with simple editing of the .lyt. I'm not sure if we can create new room animations, perhaps someone else will know more on this matter.

[Darth InSidious]

^You could do, but in all probability you wouldn't be able to walk from one room to another in that module.

 

It would be easier to extract the right textures and HEX-edit the skybox model.

[Miltiades]

And where exactly can I find that model?

 

Edit: And my "door" problem isn't over yet. It seems I can just walk through them. Any idea how that's possible?

[stoffe]

Edit: And my "door" problem isn't over yet. It seems I can just walk through them. Any idea how that's possible?

 

Did you copy the .DWK file with the same name as the MDL for the original door and rename it to match your modified door model? DWK files contain walkmesh info for doors, which might cause the problem you describe if it's missing. (Walkmeshes for doors (DWK) and placeables (PWK) describe where creatures/characters cannot move.)