NPC Custom Animation Help Please?

[Legacy_MissJaded]

               Excuse me?
Could anyone help me please?

I've just become aware of some custom looping animations in the nwn 1 toolset's script editor.
There's about 20 of them. Here

I've been working (on and off) on a little module for some time. (just playing around with ideas really, nothing special) In 1 area I have a werewolf which originally can only do certain animations. But I'm looking to try and add different ones than those that it's originally used to.

I started asking around in the scripting forum how I cold get my werewolf to do the victory animations, but it only seems that right now, that particular npc type can only do taunts, which isn't really what I I'd like it to do for this scene.

Also originally, as I am aware that certain npcs have had their own animations, I think it would be a nice idea to mix them all up and have all the different types of npcs be able to do each others animations. For e.g. I found that only the human/elf/dwarf npc can do victory animations right now. I think it would be rather intersting to give those animations to other npcs too. And the same for other npcs who originally have their own animations too e.t.c.


I was made aware that it was possible to do something like this, and someone in the scripting section gave me this reply from someone who had also asked on the same thing I was looking for. But some bits have me confused and I'm hoping someone might be able to help me where I'm stuck.

ragnarok_mr4 wrote

Short answer :

Yes, it is possible.

Long answer:
You can create all the animations you want, but you MUST make sure that you use the naming convention for those animations so that they will be used by the game. Otherwise you would have wasted your time as the game won't play your new anims anyway.

Moreover, you will also need to change the creature's entry in appearance.2da so that it uses the FULL ANIMATION SET instead of the SMALL ANIMATION SET. Making that change entails that you rename ALL existing animations for that creature and add all the new ones required for a the new set (that's like from 40+ animations to over 130 animations).

Another option is to use the slots reserved for the 10 animation_looping_custom hooks. However if you use those for your new animations, you will have to call them via script to get them to play. The engine will not use them otherwise.

Hope this helps

1) I'm not understanding at the start of this reply, it says a naming convention must be used.

What is that, and how do is it used please?

2)

Another option is to use the slots reserved for the 10
animation_looping_custom hooks. However if you use those for your new
animations, you will have to call them via script to get them to play.
The engine will not use them otherwise.

This seems like a quicker way around this situation than changing a whole big bunch of animations for 1 npc (in appearance .2da)  that sounds like it may take forever. But I'm not quite understanding how to do this option.

What exactly are "slots here?" And can anyone give me a scripting e.g.of how I need to call them via a script please?

Sorry this is a bit long.
Hope I've written it so that people can understand what I'm looking for.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par MissJaded, 19 octobre 2011 - 12:22 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Rolo Kipp]

               <pulling a rabbit out...>

MissJaded wrote...
Excuse me?
Could anyone help me please?

You've come to the right place ;-)

I've just become aware of some custom looping animations in the nwn 1 toolset's script editor.
There's about 20 of them. Here

You might want to download the Custom Content Guide.pdf and print <gasp!> it out. The section on animations will answer a lot of your questions.

...

1) I'm not understanding at the start of this reply, it says a naming convention must be used.

What is that, and how do is it used please?

All of the anims on a model have standard names.  If you change an anim or add a new one, it must be named for one of the existing anims.  In some cases the anims are used in specific places by the engine (like duck or sidestep) so making "duck" a howling anim would have the model howl everytime he "ducked" a blow... awkward :-P

20 of those anims are named Custom... etc. But the first 10 are by convention (for humanoids, at least) used for mount actions.

A good list of the anims is in the CCG.

2)...
This seems like a quicker way around this situation than changing a whole big bunch of animations for 1 npc (in appearance .2da)  that sounds like it may take forever. But I'm not quite understanding how to do this option.

What exactly are "slots here?" And can anyone give me a scripting e.g.of how I need to call them via a script please?

The "slots" are simply the names of the anims. If/when you change an anim on a model, what name you give it determines its slot.

Ex. You put a howl anim in custom_..._1. When you script 

ActionPlayAnimation(ANIMATION_LOOPING_CUSTOM1, 1.0, 2.0);  

 
You are saying play custom1 at speed 1 for 2 seconds.  This only works if the model *has* the custom1 animation.

You might also want to read up on the animation functions (and constants) in the Lexicon reference.

Hope that helped and didn't make you want to howl...

<...when he expected a werewolf>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Rolo Kipp, 19 octobre 2011 - 12:57 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Rolo Kipp]

               <holding up a cape...>

Another point that gets a little complicated. Every model doesn't have *every* anim... they also can inherit anims from a "supermodel". For players, there are combat supermodels and non-combat supermodels and casting supermodels...

If you put an anim on a model that exists on a supermodel, your anim will replace the supermodel.

So, if you animate a werewolf, but you never gave it a casting anim, if it uses the casting supermodel, it can still cast.  If you later add a were-wolf shaman super special casting howl anim... it would replace the supermodel's version.

<clear as primordial ooze, boss> Hmmm... well, just realize you don't have to animate *every* action, because a lot of the defaults work fine.

<...and smiling cynically>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MissJaded]

               Hi... back again. '>
Thanks a lot for the replies there. It's all useful stuff indeed!
But it's taking me some time to get my head around as some of it is starting to send my head in a bit of a spin.


I downloaded and looked through the Custom Content Guide you sent me a link to.
It's certainly packed full of various info relating to NwN. But I can't quite see a section referring to animations. There's something in the creature list on there where it starts to talks about opening a creature's model file ("models_01.bif" in the "Source" folder) and changing its appearance to a new one and some other stuff e.t.c. But then it goes on to say about using GS Max to change some stuff on the model which I'm under the impression relates to animations in some way.

I know of that editing program, but I've always found it too complicated to understand.
There's no amount of explanation from anyone that will ever help to understand that thing.
So I think I'm going to leave that part to the experts who do understand it instead.

I didn't really find anything about the naming/re-naming of custom animations either.
Maybe I'm not looking in the right place.... dunno. As I said, it's taking me some time to get my head around.

I have a question though, which I'm quite sure you wouldn't mind answering for me.
How do I get inside an NPC to see which animations it is limited to, so that I can choose which animation to change and give a new one to?

I noticed you mentioned a *primordial ooze, boss* there.
I guess it's obvious really that you can never give animations to these types of NPCs, (there's also the big slimy gelatinous cubes) as they don't really have much in the way of an animation (not like waving your arms around for e.g.) as far as I know. (unless any of them suddenly grew a pair of limbs overnight '>) So I guess that wouldn't really work.

You also mentioned super models.
Could you explain what they are please?

Again, thanks for your replies.'>
I hope to get my head around all this with a bit of time.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par MissJaded, 20 octobre 2011 - 03:30 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Rolo Kipp]

               <mutters and scowls...>

MissJaded wrote...
...
I downloaded and looked through the Custom Content Guide you sent me a link to.
It's certainly packed full of various info relating to NwN. But I can't quite see a section referring to animations. There's something in the creature list on there where it starts to talks about opening a creature's model file ("models_01.bif" in the "Source" folder) and changing its appearance to a new one and some other stuff e.t.c. But then it goes on to say about using GS Max to change some stuff on the model which I'm under the impression relates to animations in some way.

The animation stuff starts on page 109 and, yes, it involves digging into the modeling programs :-/ Sorry.

I know of that editing program, but I've always found it too complicated to understand.
There's no amount of explanation from anyone that will ever help to understand that thing.
So I think I'm going to leave that part to the experts who do understand it instead.

Animations are probably one of the trickiest parts of modeling (except scripting), but I find it pretty worthwhile, myself.
Actually, I love it :-)

I didn't really find anything about the naming/re-naming of custom animations either.
Maybe I'm not looking in the right place.... dunno. As I said, it's taking me some time to get my head around.

I have a question though, which I'm quite sure you wouldn't mind answering for me.
How do I get inside an NPC to see which animations it is limited to, so that I can choose which animation to change and give a new one to?

Unfortunately, this is where you need the modeling program :-/ You open the model up in GMax or 3DS Max with NwMax and it will show a list of the animations and what frames they use. There is also a dropdown list of animations that are available.

I noticed you mentioned a *primordial ooze, boss* there.
I guess it's obvious really that you can never give animations to these types of NPCs, (there's also the big slimy gelatinous cubes) as they don't really have much in the way of an animation (not like waving your arms around for e.g.) as far as I know. (unless any of them suddenly grew a pair of limbs overnight '>) So I guess that wouldn't really work.

Ahhh. You've run a-foul of a fowl <Hey!> My familiar, a large, lovely raven <better...> named Wings-of-Shadow-Under-the-Vanguard-of-Storms (you can see why I call her Bother), makes a habit of snide <cynical> comments to keep me awake <humble>.

In regards to animations for oozes and puddings and cubes... it is quite possible to give them animations (watch the gelatinous cube in HotU ;-) A bit more difficult to give them arms to wave... :-P

You also mentioned super models.
Could you explain what they are please?

A supermodel is basically a collection of default animations. So there is a model that has the basic player animations, another has non-combat anims, a third has "med" weapons, another has casting anims.

When you build (in a modeling app) a humanoid model along the lines of a player, instead of animating it yourself, you can give it the a_ba supermodel and Viola! it will have all the animations inherited up the chain from a_ba<-Non-combat<-med weapon<-casting.

The total number of player anims is around 140.

Did that help any?

<...at his angry bird>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Rolo Kipp, 20 octobre 2011 - 10:21 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_MissJaded]

               Hi again.

Thanks a lot for the helpful reply you sent me.'>

I have been downloading NW Max, G Max and NwN Explorer and reading up some stuff already.
It's kinda funny. Where I said before, I found that program so complicated and I quote "no amount of explanation will help me understand it" (e.t.c) well in the past, this was because I used G Max only and no other program like NwN Explorer. (which is very helpful in locating the file to export and load up in G Max) I never knew G Max was accompanied by another program, nor NwN Max either.

So I guess when I attempted to use it back then, I opened it with a blank space and a bunch of squares e.t.c and no clue where to start.'>

I think you've actually helped me realize that G Max does indeed need another program with it, (NwN Explorer for the most part) unless you were super.... SUPER talented and could make your own placeable object or NPC for the NwN game engine with absolutely no help whatsoever..
But you can call me a noob when it comes to modelling. So this is where these helpful programs like NwN Explorere come in very handy.'>

I also downloaded a tutorial Here

I've been following some instructions on editing a placeable table in that and found it quite fun learning. I'm still a massive noob, '> so still have a lot to learn where modelling is concerned.
But I know it helps though.'>

Then a bit later on, I went to reading about editing a spider creature model from the Custom Content Guide you gave me a link for, and have learnt  a little about that now.
And.... yes.... still a noob there too. Needless to say, I'm quite pleased that I actually know how to load something up from NwN 1 into G Max now, like I never could in the past.'>

You've really helped me on that part. So thanks for that.'>

I'm glad you explained to me what a super model was too.
I initially thought it was an npc creature model type. How wrong I was.'>
It was a good explanation. Think I have understood well enough there.
Again.... thanks!'>

I do think that NwN explorer tends to lack something though.
There is a certain type of werewolf creature I was looking for in it which didn't seem to appear within the files. Click Here

So maybe NwN Explorer isn't up to date with NwN 1.69 to be able to show that particular model.
Guess I could try to learn how to change the appearance of an existing werewolf model in NwN Explorer, which could take me some time. But I'd like to have a crack at it anyway.

Just 1 question for now. slightly different and unrelated this time.
I've been wondering..... about your sig.
"The Gemworld Of Amethyst"
Hmm.... if you don't mind me asking, you wouldn't happen to be formerly known as
"The Amethyst Dragon" by any chance..... would you?

It's just.... I've seen 1 or 2 things made by him on N.W Vault in the past.
He made some new elementals for NwN 1 which are looking excellent at the moment!'>
Feeling a bit too lazy to dig around the vault site to find them right now though.
Just wondered whether or not that was you, and if you wouldn't mind telling me please?

Well anyway, thanks again for your help and advice.'>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par MissJaded, 22 octobre 2011 - 06:38 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_The Amethyst Dragon]

               

MissJaded wrote...

Just 1 question for now. slightly different and unrelated this time.
I've been wondering..... about your sig.
"The Gemworld Of Amethyst"
Hmm.... if you don't mind me asking, you wouldn't happen to be formerly known as
"The Amethyst Dragon" by any chance..... would you?

It's just.... I've seen 1 or 2 things made by him on N.W Vault in the past.
He made some new elementals for NwN 1 which are looking excellent at the moment!'>
Feeling a bit too lazy to dig around the vault site to find them right now though.
Just wondered whether or not that was you, and if you wouldn't mind telling me please?

I can answer this one for you.  We're different people. '>  My handle is The Amethyst Dragon, while my PW is The World of Aenea.  If you're looking for the "D&D classic Elementals" (or anything else I've put on the Vault), there's a link in the self-promo thread in my signature.

I don't plan on changing my web name/handle anytime in the foreseeable future (after all, it hasn't changed since I started using it in 1996).

Good luck in your model making quest.  Once you get some practice, and play around with the software just to see what happens, you may find that it can be kind of exciting to have an idea and then be able to at least start to make it.

I often start with existing models, then modify them (removing/adding parts, resizing, rotating, moving individual vertices, adding new textures, etc.).  For instance, if you look at my water elemental, you'll see that it has a supermodel set as something like a stone golem or earth elemental (I don't remember which, but the default NWN models are basically the same).  I actually started with an existing model (partially for the shape, partially for the existing animations), but with removing parts (legs, pelvis) and adding parts (the outer skin, which started as 3 cylinders), and some retexturing, I came up with something different and in line with my mental image of a water elemental (to replace the default NWN jet-powered genie thing).

NWMax is an add-on for gmax.  Once installed, I actually start NWMax, and it launches gmax with the proper plugins running.  NWMax has several very handy functions for making different models for NWN.  I often load a model (geometry only, not geometry and animations) if I just want a part of that model for use in another.  As an example, I recently made a new armored unicorn model for high level paladins in my PW.  I loaded in an existing unicorn model, removed everything except the horn, then loaded in a white horse model that has armor I desired (without resetting, so the horn remained behind).  I then linked the horn to the head part (not the head node), renamed the model base, and exported a brand new creature.  It was already set to use the regular horse animations, so there was nothing else that needed to be done (except add it to my appearance.2da, tailmodel.2da, and put them all in a hak).

Best of luck to you.  It is a challenge to get started, but once you start to find even a little success, I find that it just encourages more experimentation.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par The Amethyst Dragon, 22 octobre 2011 - 07:51 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Rolo Kipp]

               <adjusting his lenses...>

Amethyst is a fascinating gem. The Amethyst Dragon and the Eye of Amethyst (this old wizard) are two very different creatures, but we both share a fondness for the gem of dreams, drunkenness and madness (it is such a *lovely* shade of purple!).

Edit:
Throughout history amethyst has been used to guard against drunkenness and is thought to be helpful in overcoming addiction. It has been used for hearing disorders, insomnia, headaches and other pain. Some sources suggest it is used to stabilize mental disorders.Worn to make the wearer gentle and amiable. Amethyst powers include: dreams, healing, peace, love, spiritual upliftment, courage,  psychism, protection against thieves, and happiness.

I have immense respect for the creativity and sheer productivity of TAD.  He's awesome :-)

Unlike his Aenea, The Gemworld of Amethyst is not planned as a PW, as the community currently uses the phrase. You can not go log in and play upon Amethyst.  You can with Aenea.

And, like TAD, I've been using my handle for a long time (three decades), and was the original co-moderator of the NwN forums (2000-2001) with Cord Grimwinder (I do *miss* him).  It would be confusing if I changed now :-) So I won't :-P

Besides, I like The Amethyst Dragon :-) It's an honor to be compared to him, even by mistake. Someone who read my Dark Mistress hook on the Vault once accused me of being a pen name for George RR Martin (who, at the time (2000), I'd never heard of). After vehemently denying the charge, I actually read his books (all of them) and decided I was flattered :-) So am I now.

Thank you.

<...and then peering over the top, anyway>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Rolo Kipp, 22 octobre 2011 - 05:36 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Rolo Kipp]

               <drawing a picture...>

MissJaded wrote...
There is a certain type of werewolf creature I was looking for in it which didn't seem to appear within the files. Click Here

That particular werewolf is found in the CEP2_core2.hak (Where they got it, I don't know. There is no author info in the model) as werewolf_d.mdl.
The white texture is in CEP2_core1.hak as c_werewolf-d.tga.

You can edit the texture in GIMP or Photoshop. You can edit the mdl in NwMax/Gmax.

Does that help?

<...with his fingers>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Rolo Kipp, 22 octobre 2011 - 05:38 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_MissJaded]

               

The Amethyst Dragon wrote...
I can answer this one for you.  We're different people. '>  My handle is The Amethyst Dragon, while my PW is The World of Aenea.  If you're looking for the "D&D classic Elementals" (or anything else I've put on the Vault), there's a link in the self-promo thread in my signature.

I don't plan on changing my web name/handle anytime in the foreseeable future (after all, it hasn't changed since I started using it in 1996).

Oooh Hi Amethyst.'>
Please forgive my little personality mix-up there if you will.
It is very clear now that Rolo Kipp and you are most definitely, without a doubt 2 very different people.

It's a pleasant surprise to get a very helpful and friendly reply from you.
Didn't realize you were trawling around the forums there.

It's understandable for you to keep a hold of your only handle/username for so long.
It's so we can all recognize who you are. I think you're quite famous already.'>

Thanks a lot for letting me know where your d & d classic elementals are.
I have downloaded them already and look forward to having a bit of fun playing with them in some type of a module scene. '>

I think I have spoken to you on another occasion.
You may remember someone commenting on a certain portal you made in your PW, then later posting at your PW forums asking for help on removing the center part from 1 of the portals in the CEP so I could add these.

Portals & Portal VFX

Yep.... that was me.'>
And you helped me out greatly too, much to my appreciation. Still having fun with them  from time to time.
It looked quite a complicated thing to accomplish at the time. (removing parts from placeables) But I think it's only 1 part I've learnt myself so far. Takes time to learn all this moddeling, and I'm still learning now.

Good luck in your model making quest.  Once you get some practice, and play around with the software just to see what happens, you may find that it can be kind of exciting to have an idea and then be able to at least start to make it.

Yes.... it does feel kind've exciing I guess.'>
As I said, I've only just learnt how to remove parts right now, and still have a long way to go, to even take an existing model and build something new on top of it  In time I think I'd really like to know and learn how that is done.

I often start with existing models, then modify them (removing/adding parts, resizing, rotating, moving individual vertices, adding new textures, etc.).  For instance, if you look at my water elemental, you'll see that it has a supermodel set as something like a stone golem or earth elemental (I don't remember which, but the default NWN models are basically the same).  I actually started with an existing model (partially for the shape, partially for the existing animations), but with removing parts (legs, pelvis) and adding parts (the outer skin, which started as 3 cylinders), and some retexturing, I came up with something different and in line with my mental image of a water elemental (to replace the default NWN jet-powered genie thing).

NWMax is an add-on for gmax.  Once installed, I actually start NWMax, and it launches gmax with the proper plugins running.  NWMax has several very handy functions for making different models for NWN. I often load a model (geometry only, not geometry and animations) if I just want a part of that model for use in another.  As an example, I recently made a new armored unicorn model for high level paladins in my PW.  I loaded in an existing unicorn model, removed everything except the horn, then loaded in a white horse model that has armor I desired (without resetting, so the horn remained behind).  I then linked the horn to the head part (not the head node), renamed the model base, and exported a brand new creature.  It was already set to use the regular horse animations, so there was nothing else that needed to be done (except add it to my appearance.2da, tailmodel.2da, and put them all in a hak).

Indeed! It's all very clever and wonderful stuff. A great learning tool
for modelling in NwN 1, and perhaps NwN 2 too, though I wouldn't know as
I obviously have no experience of that yet.

I would like to ask..... where do you get all your wonderful ideas from?
Do they just come to you, or do you get ideas from other places first?

Oh, and another question too, if you don't mind me asking.
So you made an armoured unicorn model for use in your PW.
You started by loading en existing unicorn model into GMax. But I'm quite puzzled here.
Isn't a unicorn part of the CEP? How do you find the file for the unicron in GMax?
I presume you located it in NwN Explorer first, then export it into GMax after, right?
But where do you find the file for the unicorn in NwN Explorer?

As far as I know, NwN Explorer isn't updated for anything in the CEP, only for HoTU and 1.69 I think.
So just wondering how you were able to find it.

I ask because it seems like a similar procedure as when I asked for your help in removing the center from 1 of the portals.... which are also in the CEP.  I don't see how to find any files in NwN Explorer for anything related to the CEP.  

This is probaably also the reason I couldn't locate the particular were wolf model I was looking for.*sigh"

Best of luck to you.  It is a challenge to get started, but once you start to find even a little success, I find that it just encourages more experimentation.

Thank you indeed Amethyst.'>
I agree, it is quite a challenge. I'm having fun learning and will take me quite some time too.
I'm finding it quite encouraging too, that once I've learnt 1 thing, that I can't stop and really like to learn more and more as I go along.'>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par MissJaded, 24 octobre 2011 - 03:46 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_MissJaded]

               

Rolo Kipp wrote...

<adjusting his lenses...>

Amethyst is a fascinating gem. The Amethyst Dragon and the Eye of Amethyst (this old wizard) are two very different creatures, but we both share a fondness for the gem of dreams, drunkenness and madness (it is such a *lovely* shade of purple!).

LOL! '>
Well even though Amethyst is purple, (in a light shade) it's not my favourite colour.
But surprisingly perhaps, I do own a small amethyst necklace which I actually haven't worn in a while.
But I bought a new chain for it, and thinking of wearing it in the next day or 2.
I do like the lighter shade though.'>

Edit:
Throughout history amethyst has been used to guard against drunkenness and is thought to be helpful in overcoming addiction. It has been used for hearing disorders, insomnia, headaches and other pain. Some sources suggest it is used to stabilize mental disorders.Worn to make the wearer gentle and amiable. Amethyst powers include: dreams, healing, peace, love, spiritual upliftment, courage,  psychism, protection against thieves, and happiness.

Wow! You have a good knowledge of the history of amethyst there.'>
I'm surprised at how many ailments it can help with.

As a matter of fact, I think I have a form of Insomnia myself.
I don't walk around in the dark with my eyes closed. It's not like that.
But I do find that I cannot sleep and end up staying up so late after 12am when I feel that I just cannot sleep.

Also my brother used to suffer from Migranes at one time. He hardly gets them now though.

Do you think Amethst would still be helpful in curing my insomnia in some way?'>

I have immense respect for the creativity and sheer productivity of TAD.  He's awesome :-)

Agreed. I'm kinda jelous as I have no idea where he gets all his wonderful ideas from.
I bow down in praise to his awsomeness.'>

Unlike his Aenea, The Gemworld of Amethyst is not planned as a PW, as the community currently uses the phrase. You can not go log in and play upon Amethyst.  You can with Aenea.

And, like TAD, I've been using my handle for a long time (three decades), and was the original co-moderator of the NwN forums (2000-2001) with Cord Grimwinder (I do *miss* him).  It would be confusing if I changed now :-) So I won't :-P

Sure. No need to change your forum name either. If you prefer like that then keep it.'>
Sounds like you've kept it that way for a long time anyway. So why change it now?
People can recognize you in the same way they do with Amethst Dragon.

Besides, I like The Amethyst Dragon :-) It's an honor to be compared to him, even by mistake. Someone who read my Dark Mistress hook on the Vault once accused me of being a pen name for George RR Martin (who, at the time (2000), I'd never heard of). After vehemently denying the charge, I actually read his books (all of them) and decided I was flattered :-) So am I now.

Thank you.

<...and then peering over the top, anyway>

Personally I've never heard of George RR Martin. But it's a relief to know that you took my personality mixup by mistake very well.

I thank you for the advice you have given me on GMax and the Custom Content Guide Mr Kipp.'>
I think I may have all the info I need for now. But there is still a chance I might get a bit stuck somewhere along the way, in which case I'll pop back to ask for help again.

Thanks again.'>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_The Amethyst Dragon]

               

MissJaded wrote...
I would like to ask..... where do you get all your wonderful ideas from?
Do they just come to you, or do you get ideas from other places first?

I get ideas from a variety of sources.  Many just spring from my imagination (I want to add something specific to my game, it's not already out there, so I make it myself), many ideas come from my PW's players' suggestions.  Many of the ideas aren't actually model-related, but quite a few are (Aenea is definitely not a hak-less PW).  Those elementals just came from years of dislike of the default NWN elementals (and not being exceptionally pleased with the ones I found in CEP that I'd already replaced the default ones with), combined with a little confidence that I had finally gained just enough skill with gmax to remake them how I wanted...they were also my very first experimentation with adding a skinmesh to a creature model.

Oh, and another question too, if you don't mind me asking.
So you made an armoured unicorn model for use in your PW.
You started by loading en existing unicorn model into GMax. But I'm quite puzzled here.
Isn't a unicorn part of the CEP? How do you find the file for the unicron in GMax?
I presume you located it in NwN Explorer first, then export it into GMax after, right?
But where do you find the file for the unicorn in NwN Explorer?

I use NWN Explorer Reborn, which does grant access to the 1.69 content.  CEP content (and other hak file content) is available for searching/exporting.  If you look in the left hand panel using the newer explorer, the 1.69 content is under the "NWN: 1.69 Patch Data" section, while the CEP content is under the "NWN Hak Files" section.

I keep copies of 2da files in an Excel file for quick editing and searching (both of which I do a lot of).  If I see a model in the toolset that I want (for example, that white werewolf model), I take note of the appearance name, go into the appearance.2da file and search for that name to get the model file name, then use Ctrl+S in NWN Explorer Reborn (the box to enter the search text ends up in the lower left corner) to search for that model file.

When I find the model I need, I click on it to get it to load in the preview window (a few models load, but don't become visible for some reason).  Then along the bottom I switch to the ASCII Model tab, which brings up the text data for the model.  I right-click in the text area, pick Export Text, select my destination folder, remove the ".txt" from the end of the file name, and save it.  This gives me an uncompiled model that I can then open with gmax+nwmax.  I also use this text to locate any needed texture files and export them as .tga files so that I can see what I'm doing in gmax (texture files need to be in the same folder as the model files if you want gmax to be able to automatically apply them when loading in a .mdl file, even though you can retexture a model with a texture located in any folder once it's been opened).

MissJaded wrote...
Well even though Amethyst is purple, (in a light shade) it's not my favourite colour.

I've seen amethyst in many shades, from almost pale purple to pink to magenta to a purple so dark it's almost black.  My favorite is actually the deep, rich purple version (rather than the pale purple or any pink or magenta versions).

               
               

               

                     Modifié par The Amethyst Dragon, 24 octobre 2011 - 06:28 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Rolo Kipp]

               <slips a few...>



<...more gems into his pouch>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Rolo Kipp, 24 octobre 2011 - 09:19 .