kzelsama

this line : <Texture Name="mml_tTintMask" Respn_har_blda_0t_white.dds"></Texture> should be <Texture Name="mml_tTintMask" ResName="pn_har_blda_0t_white.dds"></Texture> and this is a material used for the face, is it the one you're using for your hair too ? Because you should be using pn_har_all.mao or an edit of it. If you want me to take a look at the hair, you can upload it anywhere (except Mediafire apparently) and send me the link via PM.

Here a way from Pauravi from the Bioware Forums. You'll need to open your savegames .das files in the toolset, and you'd better back up your saves first.

I've occasionally had this problem, what I do then is separate the mesh into two objects (after selecting the vertices to separate, hit P), sort with different cursor positions for both, and then merge them (select both and CTRL-J). In your example you could separate the whole back of the hair, sort it with a lowered cursor and then merge it back with the front. Strange that tints don't work if you use the same material as the vanilla hair. Make sure you use Default_White.dds as the Tint Mask in the .mao, other than that I can't really tell without looking at the files.

1&2 : I don't use tazpn's tools to export, they seem to be made for 3dMax's .fbx and don't like Blender's much. NewByPower's scripts allow you to export new models if you do a little editing here and there, here's what I do : http://thenexusforums.com/index.php?showto...0&start=10# 3 : First, you don't want to use DXT1 compression unless you don't use the alpha channel. Most of all, do not use it for normal maps as the alpha channel is used for the X information. Prefer DXT3 or DXT5, or uncompressed RGBA4. To create mipmaps, make sure the texture's height and width are in powers of 2 (1024, 2048), not necessarily the same for both. To make the game use your renamed texture you need to edit the texture path in the model's material object (.mao file). 4 : all armor models need to be weighted along the proper skeleton, I'm guessing yours is not. The fastest way is to use BoneWeightCopy from another set of gloves.

I'm afraid I wouldn't know how to add it to vendors/chests. If you tell me the stats you'd like on the item I can do it easily. An obvious restriction would be human females only, but I don't think there's a female option for restrictions...

I know nothing about 3dMax, I tried it once but I was completely lost, as I learned to model using Blender. Nevertheless, this is a very common issue with models using extensive alpha blending, so I doubt there's nothing in there to sort it out. Anyway, in Blender I sort by Cursor Distance, just after placing said Cursor (the little ring that you can move by left-clicking) at the center of the head using front and side views (Numpad 1 and 3).

@Deceptive Warrior: if you don't rename the files (step 3), they will replace the model you took as base. If you do it carefully (not choosing a name already taken), it will be a completely new model ready to be added to whatever_varation.gda. I added the armor here as a new variation of heavy armor, without replacing any other armor, so I know for a fact it is possible.

Your problem is face sorting. What you need to do is make sure the layers of hair closest to the face are drawn first, and only then draw the outer layers. To do this, you need to organize the face data so that the first faces correspond to the first layers of hair. In Blender, you can do this by using the face sorting tools (Ctrl-F in Object Mode). I imagine there's something similar in 3DsMax. I sort faces by their relative distance to the center of the head, and it worked quite well.

I'll send you the .blend so that you can take a look at the weighting yourself. That you can't import the .msh in Blender is sort of normal, because I changed the reference in the toolset and the script doesn't like the .msh files saved by the toolset. I took the closest armor I could find (heavy armor) for the bone weight copy. I could link metal plate to only one bone so that it doesn't deform and just moves, but I fear it will clip much. Still, worth a try, I'll get to it once I finish up the next version of my mod. @Deceptive Warrior : I used Blender, the Gimp and the DA:O Toolset. Here I detailed the procedure I followed : http://thenexusforums.com/index.php?s=&amp...t&p=1516767

Blender scripts won't export new models right away but they can replace mesh parts. Swords only have one mesh part, so you can : - Find a sword model in the game. Copy its files (.msh, .mmh, .phy, .mao, *d.dds, *s.dds, *t.dds, *n.dds) in a working directory. You can find a model's material object (.mao) by looking at its .mmh. You can find a model's textures by looking at its .mao. - Replace the mesh part in the .msh with your new mesh using the Blender IO scripts - Rename all files with a different suffix (the first letters should be kept the same for naming consistency). For swords, you want something like w_lsw_ls**. - Replace all the textures with your new model's textures. Make sure normal maps and such have the correct format. - Open the .mmh in the toolset, and edit the MMH_NAME, MMH_MODEL_HIERARCHY_MODEL_NAME and mesh part MMH_MATERIAL_OBJECT so that they link to your new files. The material object needs to be linked without its .mao extension. Here's a screen : http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/1147/mmhedits.th.jpg - Open the .msh in the toolset and change the NAME string so that it matches the file name - Open the .phy in the toolset and change the MMH_NAME string so that it matches your .mmh - Open the .mao in notepad and edit the texture paths. For a sword, it will look like this : <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?> <MaterialObject Name="W_LSW_LS01a_0"> <- edit this to match the .mao file name <Material Name="Weapon.mat"></Material> <Texture Name="mml_tLightmap" ResName="LM.dds" RequiresID="true"></Texture> <Texture Name="mml_tDiffuse" ResName="w_lsw_ls01a_0d.dds"></Texture> <- link here to your diffuse texture <Texture Name="mml_tNormalMap" ResName="w_lsw_ls01a_0n.dds"></Texture> <- link here to your normal texture <Texture Name="mml_tSpecularMask" ResName="w_lsw_ls01a_0s.dds"></Texture> <- link here to your specular texture <Texture Name="mml_tTintMask" ResName="w_lsw_ls01a_0t.dds"></Texture> <- link here to your tint texture <Vector4f Name="mml_vFalloffParams" value="0.00 1.00 1.50 1.50"></Vector4f> <Float Name="mml_fSpecularReflectionMult" value="1.00"></Float> </MaterialObject> - Move all files to your override directory. - (Optional) repeat all steps for LOD2 and LOD3 versions of the files, if they exist. Weapons don't use LOD, so you're in luck :) Then all you have to do is add the new model to sword_variations and it'll be selectable in the toolset, but you probably already did this if you can see your model in-game.

Last I checked, tazpn's export tools (incl. fbxcmd) were still bugged concerning bones weights, not exporting them correctly. About your other image in spoiler tags (sorry, didn't see the edit), it looks like the material is still wrong. Check in the .mmh that the mesh parts are using the right material object. Or you could skip the hair shader altogether and just use the default material with diffuse/normal/specular/tint textures. Seems to work alright for J1nx's hair mod.

Here's what it looks like in-game : http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/4869/screenshot2010011402525.th.jpg

That's some texturing work ! I'll send you a PM with my mail address, export the model and send the DA:O files back to you if you want to test/release a mod.

No, nothing like that, although you probably had better save the file before exporting... wierd that the scaling you do in Edit Mode doesn't do anything though. Do you have a link to the "nightmarish procedure" you followed when exporting your new model ? I'll give it a try., maybe I'll see what's wrong. Other than that, you can try the Blender scripts. It requires a bit of work for new models but it works fine.

I don't know what gave your the impression that exporting from Blender was doomed to failure. I don't know the "nightmarish procedure", but if your object's too big there's a scale factor wrong somewhere. All I'm saying is that all transformations must be made in Edit Mode, it's the only 100% sure way they will actually impact the mesh data. If Scale parameters in Object mode are at 1.0 and the model is still too big, try (once again, in Edit Mode) to scale it down, and see if it helps.

double post, sorry

Before or after editing, it doesn't really matter, although you'll need to edit some more if you do it after. The object scalings need to be the same for both your new sword model and the vanilla one you're using to match the default orientation/position. Check the Transform Properties for both so that they match (except DimX/Y/Z). Scaling in Blender is quite easy. If you've already edited the model to fit the vanilla longsword and notice the object scaling parameters are not right, just note them down, set them to 1, and apply the scaling in Edit Mode along each axis by the number you've recorded. For instance if my object's ScaleX is 0.125, I note it down, replace 0.125 with 1.000, hit TAB to go in Edit Mode, and hit s->x->0.125. If the export tool you're using is anything like the Blender scripts, it doesn't export object data like scaling, position, rotation. Whatever transformation you did in Object Mode will not apply. I don't think model scaling is changed during .3ds export.

In Blender, Object Mode, with your object selected, hit n (or select Object->Transform Properties). Check that ScaleX, ScaleY, ScaleZ are at 1.000.

Looks really good, although I would see the chest section a little wider, more 'massive' looking :)

Looks like the model is being displayed with the wrong method. Did you have a look at your .mao ? It must look like this : <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?> <MaterialObject Name="PN_HAR_REN2"> <!-- change the Name to match your .mao file name --> <Material Name="HairAlpha.mat"></Material> <DefaultSemantic Name="Default"></DefaultSemantic> <Texture Name="mml_tPackedTexture" ResName="pn_har_ren2.dds"></Texture> <!-- change the ResName to point to your texture --> <Texture Name="mml_tTintMask" ResName="Default_White.dds"></Texture> <Texture Name="mml_tTintNoise" ResName="uh_har_0t.dds"></Texture> <Vector4f Name="mml_vHairParameters" value="0.01 60 62 7.32"></Vector4f> </MaterialObject> The back of the head is needed too if your hair doesn't cover it completely. You can find it in all vanilla hair models (it's one of the two mesh parts). Hair models usually contain it in a separate mesh part, so depending on your export tool's ability to export multiple mesh parts in a single .msh or not, you may or may not have to merge the texture maps. I don't know the capabilities of tazpn's tools, I use the Blender IO scripts. And the model does need rigging. If your hair moves only with the head, you can just attach every vertex to bone 13 with a weight of 1.0. Again, I don't know how tazpn's tool exports bone weights, so you may have to do things differently, but they're needed.

I used a image editor to merge the textures (The GIMP). Create a new image the size of your textures and decompose the colors into separate layers. Now you just have to move the right texture (in grayscale) in each component. Red contains the bump map. You can use your normal map to generate one. Green contains the diffuse map. Turn your diffuse texture to grayscale, remove the alpha, and put it in this channel. Blue contains the transparency map. Copy the alpha channel of your original diffuse texture. Alpha contains the specular map. Turn your specular texture to grayscale, remove the alpha, and put it in this channel. If you don't have a specular texture, you can use the diffuse map with a bit of noise and reduced brightness. Recompose the colors, and save it in .dds. You'll also need to edit your material object, because I don't think tazpn's tool exports them correctly for hair models. I took the one for vanilla models (pn_har_all.mao), renamed it and changed the texture path for the packed texture. To make it selectable in the Character Creator you need to edit the file "chargenmorphcfg.xml" (packed in "misc.erf" or in your override directory if you have any mods), and add a line in the appropriate section.

Several parts can share the same material (thus the same texture set), so you can just model the armor and map UV as one single mesh. I'm not 100% sure of it , but unless you separate the object into gloves/chest/boots there may be some bug when someone equips the armor and a set of boots/gloves from a different armor.

When your model is complete, I can help you export it if you want. It's really not that complicated. I could write a short tutorial. Although you should be aware while modeling armor that each part (chest, gloves, boots, helm) will have to be a separate object, and be correctly aligned to fit the body's defaut pose.

You can bring new models in DA:O, using the Blender Import-Export scripts. You just have to find a vanilla model somewhat close (like an armor model for an armor, because bounding boxes are not updated, and you'll need the original for a nice Bone Weight Copy), extract it somewhere and use the scripts to replace the usually only mesh part with your new model. DA:O models use a .msh file for the geometry, a .mao file for the material (and texture paths), 4 textures (diffuse, normal, specular, tint) in .dds format and a .mmh to link everything. Also two low detail versions of the above and a .phy file, but these can wait. To avoid replacing the original model, you'll need to toolset to change a few fields in : - the .mmh (model hierarchy) : .mmh/.msh reference and .mao (material) reference of your edited mesh part - the .msh : self reference, but wait until your model is final because the Blender script doesn't like the .msh saved by the toolset (crash). and a text editor to edit your own .mao file. Adding it in-game still requires a few more steps (creating a .uti, editing some M2DA to add the model variation, etc...), but once you've done a model I'm sure other modders would be happy to do it :) On a different matter, I've been having tons of request for this hairstyle : http://dragonagenexus.com/imageshare/image...-1262858492.jpg , but can't seem to get it right. If you can make a .blend for it, I can take care of the exporting thing. Here's a blend with my pitiful attempt if you want to take a look : http://hotfile.com/dl/23378087/faa421c/wardenhm.rar.html