Help request with getting the right modding tools

[Devarthus]

Hello Modders,

I'm new to modding and I want to change the 2h Starfang model by swapping it with another weapon variant, changing the material colours and adding the runic glow similar to the original appearance but I'm having trouble making that happen. I am using Improved Atmosphere, I don't know if this will affect what I'm trying to do.

But my problems start when I follow the modding wiki guides. All the 3rd party tool links on the wiki lead to a dead end Bioware Social page and when I search for the tools I need I'm not sure if they're the right ones. Any advice or ideas on how to go about editing files or getting the right tools would be greatly appreciated.

 

[BlickJustice]

Hello

Don't you like the Starfang's model? It's the most unique one in the game for a 2h sword, but well, suit yourself  Improved Atmosphere by default affects most of things, unless you select which components of it you want to keep, there are modules that change tints and materials, so keep it in mind. 

The most important tool you need is the official Dragon Age Origins toolset, you can find it here Dragon Age Toolset Wiki (datoolset.net), there are also guides on that page you might find interesting. 

[theskymoves]

Changing the 3D weapon model is simple, as long as it is already a model available in the game: edit the UTI for the sword, and assign the desired model variation.  See this tutorial for instructions on that; all three of the tools mentioned in the tutorial can be found on the Nexus:

• pyGFF
• GDApp
• TlkEdit2

If you want the material color to be fixed, then either assign a fixed material tier to the sword, or use an all black tint map; the latter will prevent an item from changing tint appearance when the material changes.

To add glow, you'll need to create an emission texture and (add that information to the MAO file) for the sword... I don't have any working bookmarks to point you to on that subject, unfortunately.   When I find myself in a modding situation like that (no handy tutorials or explainers), I look at the parts of the game and existing mods that do the thing I want to do, pull them apart, and try to reverse engineer how the thing is done. The unfortunately, the vanilla files for Starfang are locked behind an encrypted DLC archive, but there's no impediment to accessing the files for the glowing armor and weapons in Awakening (Vigilance, Sentinel chest, etc.)  And I'd also take a look at mods that add glowing elements to equippable items, like Glowy Staves, Star Blades, Branch of the Cursed Tree Barnstokkr, and Elvhenan Weapons. (There are quite a few other older weapon mods that incorporate glowing elements, as well.)