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Guide For Sp Model Surface Alterations No 3d Modeling Software Needed


Obikenobi

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This is a tutorial for turning surfaces on and off in single player games and probably would work for multiplayer as well. We will be doing this by changing the model.

 

This tutorial is specifically for replacing Kyle in a single player game and using Jan instead. This tutorial is for using Jan as the replacement. Big deal right? Well yes because:

 

#1. The skin that comes with Jan is a boring thing to look at.

 

#2. This means you will be able to play using the Jan Model as Kyle with other skins without the goggles or chaps showing or the vest getting in the way. Anyone remember Absath’s infamous skin??? (No do not ask I will not distribute this skin and e-mails will be ignored concerning it.) or you could use one of plasmacoolents Jan skins like the pink one where all she has on is Lingerie.

 

#3. Mostly as with keeping with the theme of this board I am going to describe how to do this by altering the Model.Glm file without using 3DSMAX, MAYA, MILKSHAPE or any of those other 3D editing programs.

 

What you say? How is this possible? Well the answer to this is NOTEPAD!!! Yep that is not a typo comes free with every version of windows.

 

First I need to back up a bit and tell you about a list of resources you will need to acquire if you do not already have them.

 

A. The first release of the editing tools for this game.

B. The second release of the editing tools for this game.

C. A good zip utility like WinZip, or Ultimate zip found at the website by that name which is freeware.

 

I am not going to describe how to use these programs as they are already quite well documented elsewhere in these forums and at JKII files dot com. Look for the addendum to Spacemonkies modeling tutorial it will tell you how to set these tools up correctly with the correct directory (file structure)

 

This is critical as they will not work unless they are in the correct directory structure. The addendum also tells you how to use the Assimilate program. By the way for those who do not know directory is just a fancy way of saying folder and the terms are interchangeable.:)

 

Another tutorial I highly recommend you read is the one Darklighter has posted at the general editing section of these forums concerning multiplayer to single player conversions. Absolutely worth the read.

 

For those of you who do not know: The first release of the editing tools for this game.

& the second release of the editing tools for this game are where you will get your source files from and the programs you will need to recreate the MODEL.GLM file which is the model for the player.

 

Ok did you get everything and read your tutorials? Good now lets start.

 

#1. Go to the file where you have the game installed if you read your tutorial (the addendum you probably re-installed the game to a shorter directory than the default. EX: C:\Games\GameData\base with the tools installed after the game of course.)

 

#2. in the base directory you will find a file named assets0.pk3. (a .pk3 file is really a zip file) rename it to assets0.zip and extract the files.

 

#3. Once de-compressed go to the models folder and find the one named jan.

 

#4. Copy it to another area EX: My Documents. Now you can delete the original.

 

#5. Now open the Jan file you just placed in my document or wherever and find the Model.Glm file got it? Good now delete it. Now find the model_default.skin file in this same folder and delete it also. All done? Good now close out of here, remember where the Jan folder is because we will be coming back to it later.

 

Please see the next post as I have run out of room. :c3po:

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Continued :c3po:

 

Next part: Note I apologize if I am over doing this a bit for those of you who are old hands to this sort of thing but it can be quite confusing to someone who is new to all of this. I am doing my best to accommodate everyone. That being said let’s carry on.

 

#1. Go to your Example: C:\Games\GameData\base\models\players\jan folder you find after the tools are installed. NO this is not the same one we got the jan folder from earlier in here you will find two very special files. One is called MODEL.CAR the other is called ROOT.XSI

 

#2. Now go ahead and copy all of the files that are in the jan folder saved earlier in my documents or wherever. Copy these files and put them in this folder with the MODEL.CAR & ROOT.XSI at this point if you replacing the standard skin files which will have the extension. .TGA or .JPG remove the skins you are replacing and use the replacements instead. Make sure the names of the files stay the same and that they are for the appropriate body part.

 

NOW COMES THE FUN PART I THINK THIS WILL ACTUALLY BLOW A FEW PEOPLES MINDS AS I JUST ABOUT HAD A HEART ATTACK WHEN IT WORKED. IT IS SO DARN SIMPLE I KICKED MYSELF FOR NOT REALIZING IT EARLIER.

 

Open the ROOT.XSI FILE with notepad. DO NOT UNDER ANY CONDITIONS USE A DIFFERENT TEXT EDITOR LIKE WORD FOR EXAMPLE AS IT WILL TOTALLY SCREW UP THE FORMAT!!!!!!!!

 

Ok go it open? Good now copy and paste the following. We will be inputting it into note pad shortly.

 

 

1st group

 

hips_chaps hips_belt torso_comp

hips_chaps_off hips_belt_off torso_comp_off

 

torso_vest head_goggles

torso_vest_ off head_goggles_off

 

Above group 1. These surfaces are visible normally we are going to tell the program to ignore them.

 

 

Below Group 2. These surfaces are normally not visible in the game. So we are going to tell the program to show them.

 

2nd group

 

hips_augment_off torso_augment_off hips_torso_off

 

hips_augment torso_augment hips_torso

 

Wow that would really stink if we had to read all of the code and root all of this out wouldn’t it?

 

Well that is what I did I read the entire file to get a feel for how the .XSI is written took about 3 hours.

 

But take heart there is a much easier way and I am sure most of you reading this know what it is.

 

So go back to the ROOT.XSI file now and open it up again in NOTEPAD.

 

#1.Click on edit at the top of the window and choose replace.

 

#2.Now copy hips_chaps and paste it into the top text field.

 

#3.Now copy hips_chaps_off and place it into the bottom text field.

 

#4.Now click on the replace all button. Grab a cup of coffee if you have a slow computer and watch the screen scroll by as the replacements are made.

 

CONGRATULATIONS YOU JUST CHANGED A MODEL WITHOUT 3DSMAX AND WITHOUT UNWEIGHTING ANYTHING. THOSE WHO ARE FAMILIAR WITH MODELING KNOW THIS IS A VERY, VERY BIG DEAL!

 

#5. Now go back and do the same for each of the surfaces you do not want to show in the first group. Then go back and do the same for the surfaces you do want to show in the second group.

 

#6. All done? Took awhile didn’t it? Now click save and close.

 

Want to see what you have done? Go to you tools folder where you loaded the JKII editing tools.

 

Make sure you set them up according to the addendum to Spacemonkies instructions. Open the assimilate program.

 

#1. Click open and go to the folder we just left with the .XSI file here you will see the MODEL.CAR file open it.

 

#2. If you did not follow the instructions you will get the message .GLA not found. Go into the extracted assets0 find the folder named humanoid and copy the two files in there into the humanoid directory found for example:

 

C:\Games\GameData\base\models\players\_humanoid

which is in the same player folder you got the original jan folder you have been working on.

 

Please see next post as I have run out of room again :c3po:

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Last page :c3po:

 

#3. Once you have the .CAR file open click edit then click validate AKA CAR WASH. Click yes for whatever comes up. Then you will receive a message telling you everything has been done.

 

#4.Now reopen the .CAR file and this time click on the red B button and it will build a .GLM file.

 

#5.After everything is done close out of ASSIMILATE and open MODVIEW in the tools folder and open the new .GLM file you created.

 

“Hello” “IT’S A WINNER” all the correct surfaces are on and none of the ones you don’t want to see are showing.

 

You will probably see messages about missing textures like for the eyes and mouth go grab them from the unzipped Kyle folder and add them to this one that will take care of it.

 

There you have it modeling without the use of MAX or the others.

 

If you replace the original jan folder in Assets0 with this and then rezip the folder and rename it to assets0.pk3 you will see the changes to jan as well as the jedif (jedi female see cheat codes.

 

Hold on to this folder because we are not done yet keep a copy loose. Go and read Darklighters tutorials for the rest. To create a PK3.

 

Or create a new folder with a structure like this \models\players\kyle and dump the contents of your jan file in here. Zip it all up in a compressed file called janmod rename it jan mod.pk3 than put this folder in the base directory next to assets0.pk3 and the rest.

 

You can also change the sounds by creating a folder with the following structure. sound\chars\kyle\misc dump the jan sounds which are in the assets1.pk3 file in your base folder in it’s misc folder and zip this up along with the model folder called janmod.pk3 Start the Game and have a good time.

 

I predict that this discovery may well lead to people asking the modelers out there for there ROOT.XSI flies and not just the finished product.

 

I would like to thank Lucas Forums for continuing to be a great source of information for this terrific game, The Moderators for keeping it a nice place to visit, and all of the wonderful people who have contributed to this board. In the following order but not necessarily there importance:

 

Raven for being so open with the source material for this game, Darklighter as mentioned above for his work, Plasmacoolent, Clu, Spacemonkey for his tutorial, MacD whose addendum to spacemonkeys work is priceless and better than the original in many ways for beginners.

 

I hope this is of help to someone and makes for a more rewarding gaming experience.

 

Sincerely,

Obikenobi e-mail cronpa69@yahoo.com

“Hello” “IT’S A WINNER” all the correct surfaces are on and none of the ones you don’t want to see are showing.

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True MP is much easier to do as you said. Truth of the matter though this is not all that hard to do just difficulte for me to write as I tend to be a little long winded. The actual process is quite easy just difficulte to explain.:c3po:

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Originally posted by Obikenobi

Altering the skin file will not do it when using as a single player kyle replacement. ;)

Actually, it will. All you have to do to turn off surfaces in SP is alter the .skin file to indicate what surfaces aren't to be used.

 

For example, suppose you want to turn Toonces Obi-wan unrobed MP model into the SP Kyle.

 

The .surf file has:

 

surfOff "robe torso_robe"

 

The .skin file has the associated entries:

 

robe,models/players/kyle/robe.jpg

torso_robe,models/players/kyle/torso.jpg

 

To turn these off in SP, you just need to change them to:

 

robe,clear

torso_robe,clear

 

If you are looking to turn something on, just add the entry and the directory to the texture.

 

Zip the model back into the .pk3 and that's it! It's as simple as that. If a skin has no .surf file, you can use ModView to see what surfaces can be turned on and off.

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I tried what you suggested and the only thing that happens is that the surfaces you want to turn off show up in a whited out version and that is all.

 

If you have it working different than this how about copying the exact text of the .surf file and the .skin file and pasting it into a post that way I can see what it is you are doing different than I am.

 

Thanks

Obikenobi:)

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Okay, here is what I have for my character, Qui-Zan Buuzza, that I made using Toonces' great Mace Windu model. As you probably know, Mace has a robe that you can turn on and off. I have replaced Kyle in SP with this model and skin.

 

The .surf file contains the following:

 

surfOff "robe torso_robe"

 

This does nothing for SP, but here is my .skin file that replaces Kyle:

 

head,models/players/kyle/head.tga

head_ears,models/players/kyle/head.tga

torso,models/players/kyle/torso.jpg

r_arm,models/players/kyle/torso.jpg

l_arm,models/players/kyle/torso.jpg

r_hand,models/players/kyle/hands.jpg

l_hand,models/players/kyle/hands.jpg

l_leg,models/players/kyle/legs.jpg

r_leg,models/players/kyle/legs.jpg

hips,models/players/kyle/hips.jpg

hips_belt,models/players/kyle/hips_belt.jpg

head_eyes_mouth,models/players/kyle/mouth.tga

robe,clear

torso_robe,clear

torso_cap_head_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.jpg

head_cap_torso_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.jpg

torso_cap_hips_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.jpg

hips_cap_torso_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.jpg

r_leg_cap_hips_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.jpg

l_leg_cap_hips_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.jpg

r_hand_cap_r_arm_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.jpg

l_hand_cap_l_arm_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.jpg

r_arm_cap_torso_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.jpg

torso_cap_r_arm_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.jpg

l_arm_cap_torso_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.jpg

torso_cap_l_arm_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.jpg

hips_cap_l_leg_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.jpg

hips_cap_r_leg_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.jpg

 

This works like a charm for me. You can download this skin from my site here. It's about halfway down the page.

 

Obikenobi, perhaps you can post what you have and maybe I can see what the problem is. If worse comes to worse you can mail it to me and I'll see what I can do. But assure you, this system does work! :)

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Thank you for the info and the link I am downloading the model now. Is this the only model that it works with? I am curious because it does not seem to work when I attempt to alter th skin file and view it in modview. I get the following error poping up as MODVIEW loads.

 

R_LoadImage(): Couldn't read image:

 

"gfx/effects/clear"

 

Then the image shows with the part whited out.

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Thanks for the help with that razorace.

 

Prime I did as you said and it worked just fine. Nice model / skin by the way.

 

I remember the way of doing this now after your instruction. I did this a year ago I forgot it because it only works a little bit with the Jan model.

 

What I mean is this yes the clear used in the skin files does indeed make the surfaces disappear, works on other models too so both you and the other forum member are correct.

 

The problem with the jan model though is that once you have the surfaces no longer showing she winds up invisible through the torso and hip.

 

I believe this has to do with the hip_augment_off being set in the .glm which is what I corrected with the guide above.

 

Now unless there is a command the opposite of ,clear I do not think this way can still work on the Jan model . Yes I will post the model_default.skin contents in my next post so you can see what I have. Maybe you can get it to work It would be nice to have two ways of doing it.

:)

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This is what I have as the model_default.skin for jan

 

hips,models/players/jan/legs.tga

hips_belt,clear

hips_chaps,clear

r_leg,models/players/jan/legs.tga

r_leg_cap_hips_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

l_leg,models/players/jan/legs.tga

l_leg_cap_hips_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

torso,models/players/jan/torso.tga

head,models/players/jan/head.tga

head_face,models/players/jan/face.tga

head_goggles,clear

head_cap_torso_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

head_eyes_mouth,models/players/kyle/mouth_eyes.tga

torso_comp,clear

torso_vest,clear

torso_augment,models/players/jan/torso.tga

torso_cap_head_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

torso_cap_l_arm_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

torso_cap_r_arm_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

torso_cap_hips_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

r_arm,models/players/jan/torso.tga

r_arm_cap_r_hand_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

r_arm_cap_torso_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

r_hand,models/players/jan/accesories.tga

r_hand_cap_r_arm_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

l_arm,models/players/jan/torso.tga

l_arm_cap_l_hand_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

l_arm_cap_torso_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

l_hand,models/players/jan/l_hand.tga

l_hand_cap_l_arm_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

l_hand_watch,clear

hips_augment,models/players/jan/legs.tga

hips_cap_r_leg_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

hips_cap_torso_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

hips_torso,models/players/jan/torso.tga

hips_cap_l_leg_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

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Originally posted by Obikenobi

Nice model / skin by the way.

Thanks Man :) I'm happy with the way it turned out.

 

Originally posted by Obikenobi

I remember the way of doing this now after your instruction. I did this a year ago I forgot it because it only works a little bit with the Jan model.

 

What I mean is this yes the clear used in the skin files does indeed make the surfaces disappear, works on other models too so both you and the other forum member are correct.

 

The problem with the jan model though is that once you have the surfaces no longer showing she winds up invisible through the torso and hip.

 

I believe this has to do with the hip_augment_off being set in the .glm which is what I corrected with the guide above.

 

Now unless there is a command the opposite of ,clear I do not think this way can still work on the Jan model . Yes I will post the model_default.skin contents in my next post so you can see what I have. Maybe you can get it to work It would be nice to have two ways of doing it.

:)

Okay, were getting there now, but we haven't quite reached the finish line yet. So now we have turned off the surfaces we want, but poor Jan now has holes in her.

 

The way to do this is to add the appropriate entries into the .skin file, just like you do with all the other textures. I don't have the model in front of me, so I don't know what they are right now, but I will have a look tonight when I get home...

 

But we're almost there!

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Okay, I see what you mean, Obikenobi. It has been a while, but I'm pretty sure that with the models I used to replace Kyle, I turned on surfaces by adding the entry and directory because they weren't present in the default_model.skin file initially.

 

However, I tried this with Jan, and the surfaces that you need to turn on are already present in the default_model.skin. I also get the invisible chest. I'm not quite sure why this is. Also note that this problem is only when replacing Kyle. If you are changing NPCs, you can edit the npcs.cfg file to change models and turn surfaces on and off using "surfOn" and "surfOff".

 

I've only looked at it for a few minutes, so hopefully I'll get some time on the weekend to try a few more things, or maybe someone else can fill in this gap (no pun intended).

 

I was sure that what I had done before would transfer to Jan, but apparently not. Sorry to drag you down this dead end, my man :( Well, you now know how to turn off surfaces, at least.

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That’s all right I really do not consider it a dead end. All of this posting is good for the board in general and I honestly forgot how to do this method you reminded me of. It is very helpful with other models.

 

The other thing is this you never know who might read all of this and actually find out something they have been trying to find but couldn’t. After all that is why we start guides tutorials and threads in general to find out about things and help out others. Besides all that these mods make the game allot more fun.

 

I have recently submitted a fully functional single player Kyle replacement using Jan with all of the distracting surfaces turned off and things like torso_augment showing to both JK2FILES.COM and JEDIKNIGHTII.NET When dropped into the base folder of the game it will allow a person to play as Jan instead of Kyle sounds included.

 

Hopefully the they will make the model available so people can download it. Let me know if you want it Prime I will e-mail it to you.

 

Here is a link for a screenshot Using this as a single player Kyle replacement red saber with a Kyle npc spawn blue saber.

 

Obikenobi cronpa69@yahoo.com

 

janminus+screenshot.jpg?bc7oil.ARJe5Y3Xh

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Originally posted by Obikenobi

I have recently submitted a fully functional single player Kyle replacement using Jan with all of the distracting surfaces turned off and things like torso_augment showing to both JK2FILES.COM and JEDIKNIGHTII.NET When dropped into the base folder of the game it will allow a person to play as Jan instead of Kyle sounds included.

 

Hopefully the they will make the model available so people can download it. Let me know if you want it Prime I will e-mail it to you.

 

Here is a link for a screenshot Using this as a single player Kyle replacement red saber with a Kyle npc spawn blue saber.

 

Obikenobi cronpa69@yahoo.com

 

janminus+screenshot.jpg?bc7oil.ARJe5Y3Xh

The link you provided doesn't work for me. It says it can't find the server.

 

I check your skin out when it pops up on jk2files.com...

 

Cheers.

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I tried using the Yahoo my albums it worked last night but does not work any more. Oh well sorry for the bad link. If an administrator or moderator wants to remove the link please do so.

 

In the meantime just open the console in game and type npc spawn jedif. The single player kyle replacement looks like that, with Jan sounds for jumping etc...

 

I don't know if or when or where JK2 files will put it up I submitted it as a model single player .pk3 because of the alterations to the model.

 

JK2 is currently undergoing a makeover so I guess we will have to wait.

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