Need help with what should have been a simple as sin mod, adding a box of ammo to the game.

[CrimsonRaven18]

So here's my issue, I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing wrong. I made a model in blender - just a 54 mm x 78.3 mm x 54 mm box with some pixel art I made slapped on as a texture - and am trying to make it a box of 7.62 x 51 mm NATO to add to the game.

I downloaded the plugins necessary to export it as a .nif from Blender, and in the G.E.C.K. it showed up as a missing resource diamond. So I exported it out as a .nif again with new settings and same result. Tried that for a while and decided to export out of Blender and into Nifskope. I've gotten it to a point where Nifskope will display it perfectly (Hooray!) but not G.E.C.K. (boo!). I so far have to export it as a .obj and import it to Nifskope to convert it to a .nif but still I can't pull up anything meaningful in the G.E.C.K. My normal map and base texture are both 512x512 pixels, exported as a .dds file, with mipmaps, and as the DXT5 whatever. Surprisingly every google search and YouTube search has yielded almost nothing, or at least nothing that has solved the problem and so far I feel as though I have missed a step. My preferred solution in these situations is to ask for a reputable tutorial however I saw in another forum that coming to you fine folk usually results in someone answering the question followed by someone else answering it better.

I have plans for making some niche mods but if this roadblocks me this early, then I can never get to that stage. Will you help a poor, ignorant newbie? I will gladly provide screenshots and even files if the need arises, but again my usual first step is asking for a reputable tutorial to watch/read through to get to the end of this project. Thank you all, and have a wonderful day.

[madmongo]

What version of Blender are you using? You need the older version 2.49b or you will constantly run into issues like this.

 

You can get the correct version of Blender and all of the tools that you need here:

https://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/12248

Make sure to follow the instructions for how to install.

 

If you have the correct version of Blender, then you probably have your export settings wrong.

 

Start by selecting Fallout 3 on the lower left-ish side of the screen, then below that click on Restore Default Settings For Selected Game.

 

Next click on Clutter under Collision Options (center top), and then Wood under that, assuming it's a cardboard ammo box, or select Metal if it's a metal box.

 

Under Shader options, make sure Use BS FadeNode Root is selected.

 

Make sure you selected all before exporting, because Blender will only export what you have selected.

 

DXT5 is fine for the texture. Make sure the texture is UV mapped. Blender's default is Orco if I recall correctly. Click on the circle to select the Shading panel, then over on the right next to Textures select the Map Input tab and make sure UV is selected.

 

Make sure you made a collision mesh for the box. Since it's a simple box, you can just copy the object, then change your copied object to a collision mesh by clicking on the pacman button (I have no idea what Blender actually calls this), then click on Bounds. I always select a triangle mesh for collision even if it's a simple box, but I guess you could do a box if you want to. Click on Add Property, change the property to a string, and for the string name put in either HAV_MAT_WOOD or HAV_MAT_METAL depending on whether your ammo box is cardboard or metal. Then click on the button with 3 arrows and under Drawtype select Bounds, and under Draw Extra select Wire.

 

If you don't add a collision mesh then your object will still show up in the GECK, but you won't be able to move it around and the player and NPCs won't be able to interact with it in the game world.

 

Personally if I were making an ammo box I would just retexture one of the existing ones, but if you plan on adding a lot of custom things to your mod you need to know how to make clutter objects. Statics are basically the same except you click on Static instead of Clutter. Armor/clothing/skins are a bit different but you can cross that bridge when you get to it.

Edited April 24, 2023 by madmongo