(DS) Placeables

[Legacy_SomeYahoo]

               Hi, I'm trying to use SiegeNWN (http://pages.cs.wisc...z/siegenwn.html) to convert Dungeon Siege placeables to NWN. Kind of like what was done in (ROM) Placeables but everything not just the flowers.

I have run into a bit of an obstacle.

The placeables for Dungeon Siege's expansion, Legends of Aranna, do not load properly in SiegeNWN.

The game uses files called .dsres, the program is built to only use two of these (Objects.dsres and Terrain.dsres) unfortunately LoA adds another file called Expansion.dsres which doesn't seem to be fully supported.

I was able to get it to load somewhat by renaming it to Objects.dsres but almost all of the placeables get a "cannot load/find texture" error. Half the time it won't preview anymore after the first you click on. Sometimes it will load the texture after a few clicks but the texture is usually without it's UV mapping.

Other than this I have practically all of the original game placeables converted (600+), there was several which where rotated/elevated incorrectly and had to be omitted, not sure what to do about those. And there's also many which have multiple textures but the program only loads 1 (Example: Cat/Bast statues which come in Stone/Silver/Shiny Onyx/Gold but the program only shows the Stone texture), don't know how to make versions that use each seperate texture.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par SomeYahoo, 07 janvier 2013 - 10:30 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_OldTimeRadio]

               Programs that magically automate the conversion of models from (something) into NWN are probably going to produce output which still requires quite a bit of cleaning and preparation in order to run efficiently in the game.

Having said that...

SomeYahoo wrote...
I have run into a bit of an obstacle.

The placeables for Dungeon Siege's expansion, Legends of Aranna, do not load properly in SiegeNWN.

The game uses files called .dsres, the program is built to only use two of these (Objects.dsres and Terrain.dsres) unfortunately LoA adds another file called Expansion.dsres which doesn't seem to be fully supported.

I was able to get it to load somewhat by renaming it to Objects.dsres but almost all of the placeables get a "cannot load/find texture" error. Half the time it won't preview anymore after the first you click on. Sometimes it will load the texture after a few clicks but the texture is usually without it's UV mapping.

I'd say if you want to continue with the expansion placeables, you should see if Gas Powered Games released a GMax plugin so you can import the game objects into GMax.  From there, you could manually clean the objects and export them to NWN.  If you don't know GMax, the learning curve on this could be prohibitive to just do this one thing.

Other than this I have practically all of the original game placeables converted (600+), there was several which where rotated/elevated incorrectly and had to be omitted, not sure what to do about those.

Again, using GMax you can make any kind of corrections you need to.  This is a pretty common issue with converting models from other games.

And there's also many which have multiple textures but the program only loads 1 (Example: Cat/Bast statues which come in Stone/Silver/Shiny Onyx/Gold but the program only shows the Stone texture), don't know how to make versions that use each seperate texture.

With files such as these, using GMax/NWMax (and probably VelsTools, I forget which one has the utility), you can break the meshes apart based on texture so you wind up with a number of individual meshes which each only have one texture.  Again, not trivial if you don't already use GMax because there are some other things you do after that "breaking" process to clean things back up again.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_SomeYahoo]

               

OldTimeRadio wrote...
I'd say if you want to continue with the expansion placeables, you
should see if Gas Powered Games released a GMax plugin so you can import
the game objects into GMax.  From there, you could manually clean the
objects and export them to NWN.

SiegeMax. Which is part of the DS Toolkit, which includes Siege Editor. Not sure if you actually had to go into the editor or if it was seperate, all I remember was trying to load the Toolkit and having issues later down the line with Siege Editor because it does not like Windows 7. I'll have to research.

OldTimeRadio wrote...If you don't know GMax, the learning curve on this could be prohibitive to just do this one thing.

Which is unfortuntately exactly the case. In over a decade of modding I have never been able to figure out any 3D modeling program not GMax not 3DsMax not Blender not anything =(
It's one of my greatest shames.


I was hoping whoever made SiegeNWN might be able to create a patch that solves the issue but I don't know if they're still around anymore. I hope the tutorials for Gmax go beyond step 1 do this step 2+3+4+5 step 6 profit! like most 3D editing tutorials.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par SomeYahoo, 08 janvier 2013 - 03:22 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_OldTimeRadio]

               My instinct says you will probably be much happier in the long run "just" processing the 600+ you already have.  Naming schemes for placeables as well as textures (and making sure all references match up), 2DA lines, potentially PWKs to be createated and so on...there's quite a handfull there.  Not to mention compiling the models and converting the textures at the very end.

If you wish, I'll be happy to look at a few models/textures to see if I can find any errors the conversion process introduced.  Just drop me a PM.  I've done a bit of this sort of thing before.

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[Legacy_SomeYahoo]

               

OldTimeRadio wrote...

My instinct says you will probably
be much happier in the long run "just" processing the 600+ you already
have.  Naming schemes for placeables as well as textures (and making
sure all references match up), 2DA lines, potentially PWKs to be
createated and so on...there's quite a handfull there.  Not to mention
compiling the models and converting the textures at the very end.

You're right on sticking with what I've got, most of what had to be omitted could easily be filled in with existing placeables (The crystal cave crystals with GAminerals, replace the textures with the DS ones and it's indistinguishable)

My real concern is the LoA expansion placeables, it had many nice jungle themed ones plus all kinds of other stuff including a disco ball. I WAS able to get one ready for export I just didn't do it due to the other issues, It's possible the textures load sometimes so it might be possible they'll work once exported. I'll have to experiment with it.

OldTimeRadio wrote...

If
you wish, I'll be happy to look at a few models/textures to see if I
can find any errors the conversion process introduced.  Just drop me a
PM.  I've done a bit of this sort of thing before.

[smilie]http://social.bioware.com/images/forum/emoticons/smile.png[/smilie]

Thanks I'll keep that in mind. First I need to make a list of exactly what is messed up and extract missing textures for the ones with multiple variations. (BTW those are some sweet placeables in that screenshot, are they up for D/L anywhere?)
               
               

               

                     Modifié par SomeYahoo, 08 janvier 2013 - 09:44 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_SomeYahoo]

               OK I got it to extract some of the expansion placeables, only the jungle stuff though, everything else is completely wacked.

They work fine in-game but have to be extracted 1 at a time (or the converter crashes), renamed and added to the .2da manually. Luckily there's only 20-30 or so instead of 600.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par SomeYahoo, 09 janvier 2013 - 11:30 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Fester Pot]

               Hey SomeYahoo!

Do you have any screenies to show us of all these placeables  you've been putting together? Looking forward to them!

FP!
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_NWN_baba yaga]

               ah the DS stuff... very good things in it. Their environment objects were amazing back then and they aged pretty good imo. I especialy loved all their bushes, grasses and so on they realy knew what they were doing. I got a good unsorted collection too somewhere and I used SiegeNWN to convert them all.

ps. the expansion stuff didnt work for me either!
               
               

               

                     Modifié par NWN_baba yaga, 11 janvier 2013 - 08:36 .