[TEC] Mod Tools, HowTo

[Heretic]

I found this documentation on using various tools to edit GR2 files. I know very little about 3d modeling, so I don't know how much of this is of any use. I thought I'd post it here so that more knowledgable folks can provide some input as to it's usefullness.

http://gr2decode.altervista.org/docs.html
also this one
http://aoe3.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/...f=14,36458,,10

[Seeadler]

Originally Posted by Heretic

I found this documentation on using various tools to edit GR2 files.
http://gr2decode.altervista.org/docs.html

With the tool from that site, it is possible to extract 3D data from GR2 and inport it into 3DSMax. The other way round from Max to GR2 should work with the Neverwinter Nights 2 Mod tools

Here I tried to get the La Pallice model into 3DSMax


BTW:
Good job devs , the La Pallice harbour layout now looks as near as in real life, although by today's time because in the 40's the harbor was a little different, but that could be possibly modded

[TheDarkWraith]

Originally Posted by Seeadler

With the tool from that site, it is possible to extract 3D data from GR2 and inport it into 3DSMax. The other way round from Max to GR2 should work with the Neverwinter Nights 2 Mod tools

Here I tried to get the La Pallice model into 3DSMax


BTW:
Good job devs , the La Pallice harbour layout now looks as near as in real life, although by today's time because in the 40's the harbor was a little different, but that could be possibly modded

what tool(s) did you use specifically? How did you do it? What version of 3DS max?

[Heretic]

If a dev or someone knowledgable should happen to drop by, I'd really like know what the different values for Character Posture represent. The crew AI scripts reference values of A,B,C,D,and E for Wp:IsCharacterPosture(). Any info on what they mean would be greatly appreciated.

The GR2 files are not compressed in SH5.
Open one with a Hex editor and you can see what plug-ins were used
on the 3DS Max 2010 system that exported them.

You can't read that info with Hex on a compressed file.
I can send you a compressed GR2 file if you wish to check.


However, the compressed files can be opened with Goblin.

[Anvart]

Originally Posted by privateer

...
on the 3DS Max 2010 system that exported them.
...

???
3ds Max 10 <---> 3ds Max 2008

[mangaroca]

Originally Posted by Seeadler

With the tool from that site, it is possible to extract 3D data from GR2 and inport it into 3DSMax. The other way round from Max to GR2 should work with the Neverwinter Nights 2 Mod tools

Here I tried to get the La Pallice model into 3DSMax


BTW:
Good job devs , the La Pallice harbour layout now looks as near as in real life, although by today's time because in the 40's the harbor was a little different, but that could be possibly modded

I substituted the granny2.dll from the EVE Online Granny Exporter with the one from SH5 dir and tried importing the IIA boat model. The operation was completed with no crash or "bad/sad" message. However, after importing an .obj file into 3DS Max 2010 I only got "part" of the model - the conning tower.

Also, the .obj file is much smaller than the corresponding .gr2 file but it could mean nothing. Nevertheless, I suspect some 3D data is missing from the converted model file. I could be importing it wrong into the 3DS Max (many options there) but I don't think it's the case.

Any idea how to get it right?

PS. I know the tendency at the moment is to learn how to EXPORT new model/model elements into a .gr2 file but importing is also... important.

Thanks!

[Arclight]

Not sure, but I think the boat and CT have separate models. So the game can use different CTs; change them on the fly as an upgrade during game.

[tonschk]

Thank you urfisch

[wittmann]

Hi all!

U-Jagd tools mod will not be translated to SH5?

[Obelix]

Hi people.
Guys, but how and what you do editing files *.RAW?
Need to edit the map files, but photoshop does not work properly to save the changes.

[gutted]

Taskbar menu items are all greyed out.

Im in windowed mode, have the main.cfg stuff enabled in MyDocuments/SH5 and i'm not trying while at a loading screen (tried at main menu, and while on patrol). I'm using XP32-bit. what did i miss?

I'm trying to get at the Script Manager.

[Heretic]

I've been using Granny Viewer to look at the crew models and animations. Very quick and useful. When loading the character objects, it'll display all of the meshes in one big blob, so you need to use the 'hide all meshes' command and then pick the ones you want.

[Thresher]

Originally Posted by Heretic

I've been using Granny Viewer to look at the crew models and animations. . . .

Heretic,

Are you actually using GV to see the animations in data/characters/animations?

I've been able to see tons of models/meshes, but haven't figured out how to apply an animation from that folder to a model.

BTW, thanks for all the instruction and great work!

[Heretic]

Originally Posted by Thresher

Heretic,

Are you actually using GV to see the animations in data/characters/animations?

I've been able to see tons of models/meshes, but haven't figured out how to apply an animation from that folder to a model.

BTW, thanks for all the instruction and great work!

Ok. Looks like you got the meshes in. That's the CharacterBodyParts.GR2 file. I right-click on the "Mesh List" tab and select "Hide All Meshes" so I don't have that huge mass. Then left click the Mesh List tab which shows a list of all the meshes so I can select the ones I want. I usually scroll all the way to the bottom and just select the first torso, pants, and head from there.

Then left click Animation List tab. Then click the grey bar that appears under it, it'll bring up a file window. Navigate to the character\animations folder, select whichever ones you want - you can select more than one. They'll then show up under Animation List just like the meshes did under Mesh list. Left-click the animation and it'll start playing in the window. If you don't have any meshes selected, you won't be able to see anything.


Hope that helps