How to import/export fallout 3 item textures?

[tnade711]

I've started using 3ds max to export/import models to edit them for fallout. I've been trying to import the textures for the stimpak ni file. How do I do this as no matter what settings I choose (yes I have fallout select when i'm importing the nif) it doesn't import the textures so when I render it it is just a dark shade of black. How do I succesfully import/export the textures that come with it.

[prensa]

tnade711

 

I'm sorry, I use Blender so I can't be of too much help.

 

I do know that you have to have the textures unpacked from their .bsa's & in a folder structure for Blender to be able to display them on models. Perhaps 3ds Max is the same?

 

This page may be of help to you:

 

http://niftools.sourceforge.net/wiki/3ds_Max/Guides/Config/Fallout

 

Or here:

 

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/271837-3ds-max-modeling-tutorial/

 

Hope this helps!

 

Prensa

Edited June 12, 2014 by prensa

[Ranx31]

Basically, what's happening is that the Niftools importer doesn't set up any materials on the meshes being imported... It's up to you to create them! The importer does help some though as the paths to the textures are imported but only internally (ie. you can't see them). The paths are only set for the default texture paths as well so you have to mimic them in Fallout 3's Data folder if you want to see them. There's another way to go about it and it's how I do it:

 

What you need to do first before even importing the mesh is to also extract it's related textures. You can find out which textures a mesh needs by using the tool Nifskope to view the model and all it's related data. Once you get the hang of using Nifskope, you can locate and extract the textures from the proper BSA file. I won't go into details on using Nifskope as it'd take a MUCH LARGER message to explain and you can already get tutorials on using it from the Net. I will say though that you should learn how to use Nifskope anyway because if you're going to export meshes it'll be needed to tweak your .nif file to get it into working shape for the game - the Niftools exporter does NOT generate perfect working .nif files.

 

Getting back to the textures... Extract them to a path that suits your purpose. If you're going to replace a default object in the game then imitate the default path. If you're going custom, create your own path.

 

Now, within 3ds Max, once you have your mesh imported open the Materials window. The first material should already be highlighted but you can select another if you want. Then click on the Eyedropper tool and move it over the mesh and click again. The program will grab all the existing parameters it can from the mesh and apply them to the current material. If you then check on the diffuse map's parameters, you'll be able to see the actual path to the texture. You can now either leave it alone or change it to whatever you want. To actually see the texture on the mesh, click on the 'Show Active Map' button (I think?! A bit rusty... It's been awhile :) )

 

So there ya go... I hope I helped point you in the right direction and good luck with your project!

[tnade711]

Basically, what's happening is that the Niftools importer doesn't set up any materials on the meshes being imported... It's up to you to create them! The importer does help some though as the paths to the textures are imported but only internally (ie. you can't see them). The paths are only set for the default texture paths as well so you have to mimic them in Fallout 3's Data folder if you want to see them. There's another way to go about it and it's how I do it:

 

What you need to do first before even importing the mesh is to also extract it's related textures. You can find out which textures a mesh needs by using the tool Nifskope to view the model and all it's related data. Once you get the hang of using Nifskope, you can locate and extract the textures from the proper BSA file. I won't go into details on using Nifskope as it'd take a MUCH LARGER message to explain and you can already get tutorials on using it from the Net. I will say though that you should learn how to use Nifskope anyway because if you're going to export meshes it'll be needed to tweak your .nif file to get it into working shape for the game - the Niftools exporter does NOT generate perfect working .nif files.

 

Getting back to the textures... Extract them to a path that suits your purpose. If you're going to replace a default object in the game then imitate the default path. If you're going custom, create your own path.

 

Now, within 3ds Max, once you have your mesh imported open the Materials window. The first material should already be highlighted but you can select another if you want. Then click on the Eyedropper tool and move it over the mesh and click again. The program will grab all the existing parameters it can from the mesh and apply them to the current material. If you then check on the diffuse map's parameters, you'll be able to see the actual path to the texture. You can now either leave it alone or change it to whatever you want. To actually see the texture on the mesh, click on the 'Show Active Map' button (I think?! A bit rusty... It's been awhile :smile: )

 

So there ya go... I hope I helped point you in the right direction and good luck with your project!

I've done all this but when I export the file back to a .nif the texture is just that of a rock :( I applied the texture/mesh then exported it but now it just looks like a rock texture in the geck

[Ranx31]

There could be several reasons why your texture isn't appearing... But you can figure out what's going on (or NOT going on) by loading your .nif file into Nifskope and examining it.

 

Once you have your .nif loaded into Nifskope do the following: To find out what texture's being applied look for a block called NiTriStrips or NiTriShape - this is your mesh. Click the little arrow left of the name and there should be a block within called BSShaderPPLightingProperty. Click it's arrow also. Now click on the block labelled BSShaderTextureSet. You should notice the info at the bottom left corner of the Nifskope window, under Block Details, change. It is now showing the list of 6 possible textures applied to the mesh block you initially clicked on.

 

The first texture is the one showing the actual path to your texture's diffuse map. The second one is the normal map texture. Depending on your settings and applied maps within 3ds Max, the other textures listed here may have info in them.

 

So anyway, seeing the listed paths, you can then begin to figure out how to fix it. If you're sure you have your textures set up properly in Fallout 3's data folders, all you might have to do is to edit the path using Nifskope and resave it. I'm thinking this might be the most likely scenario... In the case of the Stimpack, you should see something like 'textures\clutter\health\stimpack.dds'. If it doesn't, then make it so.

 

If you're not already aware, you can ensure the path gets placed properly into the .nif at export time by filling in the 'texture path prefix' in the Niftools exporter window. In your case, you would use 'textures\clutter\health' as the prefix. And make sure to use the backslash and not the forward slash.

 

I'll wait for your reply before I go into detail on any other scenario or how things went.

 

PS: You might want to load the default stimpack or other meshes into Nifskope to see how things are supposed to look in .nif files to help you.

[tnade711]

There could be several reasons why your texture isn't appearing... But you can figure out what's going on (or NOT going on) by loading your .nif file into Nifskope and examining it.

 

Once you have your .nif loaded into Nifskope do the following: To find out what texture's being applied look for a block called NiTriStrips or NiTriShape - this is your mesh. Click the little arrow left of the name and there should be a block within called BSShaderPPLightingProperty. Click it's arrow also. Now click on the block labelled BSShaderTextureSet. You should notice the info at the bottom left corner of the Nifskope window, under Block Details, change. It is now showing the list of 6 possible textures applied to the mesh block you initially clicked on.

 

The first texture is the one showing the actual path to your texture's diffuse map. The second one is the normal map texture. Depending on your settings and applied maps within 3ds Max, the other textures listed here may have info in them.

 

So anyway, seeing the listed paths, you can then begin to figure out how to fix it. If you're sure you have your textures set up properly in Fallout 3's data folders, all you might have to do is to edit the path using Nifskope and resave it. I'm thinking this might be the most likely scenario... In the case of the Stimpack, you should see something like 'textures\clutter\health\stimpack.dds'. If it doesn't, then make it so.

 

If you're not already aware, you can ensure the path gets placed properly into the .nif at export time by filling in the 'texture path prefix' in the Niftools exporter window. In your case, you would use 'textures\clutter\health' as the prefix. And make sure to use the backslash and not the forward slash.

 

I'll wait for your reply before I go into detail on any other scenario or how things went.

 

PS: You might want to load the default stimpack or other meshes into Nifskope to see how things are supposed to look in .nif files to help you.

But I applied new green textures to the tubes on the stimpak models in 3ds max? How am I supposed to save that green texture I put on the stimpak tubes to the other texture?

[Ranx31]

Simple... Stick your new texture into the textures folder and it'll override the default. In your case, place it into a 'Data\textures\clutter\health\' folder and use the name of whatever texture it is that you're replacing (stimpack.dds or whatever).