Modding "Tutorials"

[MoreDread]

allright i downloaded the helmets mod 1.0 and the fix for it.. extracted the files and some of the azp packages and well...

they have actually removed the helmets from all the head azps
and created new packages with only the helmets in them.

the equipment.ini was set up exactly like i thought it should be done.

other than that i wasn't able to locate any other files related to what i'm looking for... so these are either part of the main mod (waiting to dl right now) or they aren't included as complete files and the installer adds the entries to the already existing files. in that case i think i'm screwed because i don't own 7.62 reloaded and if i got that right, its required for HLA to work.

additionally they managed to do what i had wanted to do when i turned benicia into a fully working rpc and created a head azp for her with her original head.

but now that i got used to it, i kinda prefer my own version based on lambert's head...

anyway to get back to the point... i might figure out something based on this... but i'm afraid that i also might not get very far without talking to the dev's of HLA.

If getting this to work requires coding, then i would like to request a version of the helmet addon that works for the BSM + an additional slot for a ski mask model, since my coding skills don't exceed that of a script kiddie.

[R@S]

I just had another idea that might help you. By now you've noticed that there are 2 kinds of AZP archives for characters, one where there's a pack for body and head and another where the body and head are in the same archive. Since you use the ghillie suit for your uniform it changes the whole model, so if you make a model that has both head and body in the AZP archive it should change the entire model. I think the 263_bgmen.azp is a good place to start, just relace the body ACT files with the carabineer one, the head already wears a ski mask. I think you might need to add a female model to it as well, but that's not very hard to do.

[MoreDread]

i've been thinking about that, too...

and it works, well almost.
the head model gets displayed when placed in the AZP as well...
but the original head is still displayed as well.

i have to find a way to disable the original head somehow...

don't know how its done with the sniper suit.. possibly its hard coded, or hidden in some ini file i haven't discovered yet.. or the model is just bigger than all the other heads and they don't clip through

EDIT: hmm i just placed the sniper camo suit models in my nightops package to see what happens, and the head now clips through the camo head model, so its not big enough to envelop the original head.. it has to be configured elsewhere.
also theres no entry for the sniper camo suit in the INI/SOLDIERS file ... so how can i tell the darn thing whether to use a male or female model?

it looks like i will just have to make two items.. one for males and one for females... as it is right now the women use the male model with horribly deformed fingers in some anims

[R@S]

Hey, I just had another idea, but it involves some coding.

There's an event trown in the game called "Player took on" that has to do with the uniforms. And another that changes the model used by a character(call ChangeModel(Player.ININame, "New_male model")) that could be used along with a check to see what sex the main merc is. I think with a bit of playing around with this could lead to what you wanna accomplish. If you want I can look into it for you, but it'll take a few days, I don't have much spare time until this weekend.

[MoreDread]

that would be awfully nice of you.

theres no need to hurry tho because i won't have access to the web for a while... the laptop i'm using right now will be on on vacation in morocco along with its owner for about a week. (starting tomorrow)

in the meantime i will spend most of my free time familliarizing myself with blender. started doing some tutorials today and modeled a head.
i'm quite surprised that i can still do it

here let me show off a little:

[0a.Archangel.a0]

very good looking. nice job. i am working with blender for a couple of years, purely graphical and simple logics. I am not that good on mesh work while creating faces, I sooner create mutants, thats why i usually use outside resources for human mesh body. Curently I am trying to dig deep in python, do you have any skill with it too?

BTW - while modeling head what you do to improve the smoothens of loading it into game logic? You know minimalising of verticies, colour schemes used, texture and material? While i have problem in programing this . I allways make it in high ress (reports: sucks to play on low class machines) and do not know what to take out to not lose much of the graphic quality . This is just a question if you have any usefull glyph or advice that you are willing to share?

Nice to hear that someone uses blender here btw.: If you plan to implement your creations into 7.62 you will need a converter. I have used tranformer, but it was useable only for simple items f.... up human faces so i threw it away recently. If you find something that works 100% even on high detailed multi-mesh objects than let me know, thx. Dont know why blender doesnt have it own support for this format , sucks. Yet i am to lazy to write about it on Blenders forums as I am figuring python, C++ looks like children garden when compared to it. Or maybe I am just dumb at this point...jeesh.

One more thing: Good luck with further mods

[MoreDread]

to get some good hints on polycount reduction you should head over to the
Polycount forums/

its a great community for 3d game design, many big industry professionals are frequently visiting that place.

i haven't done any modelling in a few years so i'll have to spend some time catching up with the new techniques..

i haven't found a way to im/export the character meshes either... which is a little sad.. i really wanted to make some of the chars look a little more like their portrait and fix some issues with the body meshes...
animations would be great, too...
i'm quite good with those, so there'd be some martial arts moves n stuff if i managed to get new anims ingame...

well if i find a way, i'll let you know...

EDIT:

also you might wanna check out this tutorial:
using retopo tool