Need help creating a replacement "scope01" .nif and .dds

[atlanticmongrel]

Can someone help me make a scope hud to replace the default scope01 .nif and .dds? I've been on with it for ages, tried lots of exporting from Blender but I must be doing something wrong somewhere. Is there a particular setting for the DDS importer/exporter I should use? Any particular settings for the Blender NIF importer/exporter?

 

:wallbash:

[mechine]

Ums, there's a mod that's just scopes for one, it's a resource too I think.

 

Stalker an 20th century weapons has some good ones too

 

I bet fook has one.

 

 

For one thing they are all pretty much named scope01 so if you make one, pick a custom name so everybody else can use it.

 

 

 

Anyhowz, tired of .dds converter, I never even tried it, because I started out with paintnet (which you don't have to convert)

 

It's wierd nobody uses paintnet, but it loads lots faster than the other program, there's like 1000 plug ins for it

 

I even found a normal map plug in.

 

 

 

What was I going to say, oh yeah, Ums I think pretty much you just need mip maps enabled

 

But then I've had trouble if I save as rather than save, you know save as so I can change the name

 

for some reason I have to not save as, an just save, then afterwards change the name, when it's on the desktop.

 

 

 

Blender is really hard to use, I would just use it to create stuff, then tweek an edit that stuff with nifscope

 

which is much more easy, an you could even argue that it's got better tricks.

 

 

 

 

The best way is copy an paste branch in nifscope.

 

 

Pretty much that's how we change weapon animations, because they are all hard coded

 

but see if you cut an paste in the single part 3D shapes right after you delete them

 

 

 

How you would use it would be first thing get nifscope, then open the mesh you created with blender.

 

click the mesh in the renderwindow, which should highlight it in the block list (you may not be able to see it)

 

Anyhow, clicking it in the render window just makes sure that you are on just the 3D shape, and not all the

 

other crap that's in a sub branch, in the block list you click the + which opens the main branch (the top entry)

 

then you click on the +'s below that which are sub branches, follow one down far enough you even get to

 

BSshader texture set (which is the path for textures, how to reskin the easy way) Anywho

 

The point is find the main 3D shape of the scope then right click that, select block, then copy branch

 

Then without closing nifscope, I would unpack an open the vanilla Scope01.nif with nifscope

 

Find where it's main 3D shape is, and right click block, then remove branch

 

then follow the tree up to the sub branch for that part

 

which is where you now right click an block an paste branch

 

 

From there though nifscope messes up the name (from pasting it in)

 

So you go to the view tab, an check block details

 

click the messed up name so it's highlighted in the block list

 

Which will display it in block details

 

right click the top entry in block details, select edit text string,

 

which opens the interface for names

 

it's probably something like scope:0

 

if it had more than one part

 

you would name them scope:0, scope:1, scope:2 (get it yet?)

 

 

but you could probably name somethings as you liked

 

The game engine does look at certain animated names

 

so those need to be right.

 

 

 

 

From there I would right click what you pasted in

 

Then select mesh, triangulate, stripify, triangulate, stripify (just for good luck)

 

Also I'd find in that right click menu how to update all tangent spaces

 

And I'm pretty sure that's all you really do with all that

 

 

 

Changing textures inside the nif, is just going to the view tab an switching

 

from view block details in list an the other one, I think it's view block details in list

 

but you move the spreadsheet so that you can see the whole name for things

 

in the block list, from here you adjust it to where it's just almost about to start covering up '

 

the entry called BSshader texture set (which makes all the texture entrys stick out a few letters)

 

then you click on them from top to bottom (some have like 9 or more textures)

 

then in the block details at the bottom it will say +textures

 

you click the + an open it, where the data path for textures are displayed

 

double click them an you can change it

 

I always do this as a last step, I pretty much use a false data file on the desktop (and delete it from time to time)

 

Nifscope won't look at files if they are not named data for some reason (hence the false data file)

 

I think you go to view, an there's render settings or some crap, you have to select to render textures, shaders, an the other on

 

Also you have to auto detect game files/paths, then in the file tab I think there's a resources that you open an check auto-detect

 

You can also add in files manually like the false data file I use from time to time, just name it data, an inside it looks like the fallout data

 

only it's just textures an meshes, anyhow, point nifscope to look at that data file to draw textures from it

 

Some of the real data file textures overlap though an will draw instead of the others, so you may have to remove the

 

games data folder or all the resources to. Anyhow I pretty much do my edits an when it's ready

 

I move it to the real data folder, which is where I open notepad an then write out the data paths

 

 

textures/weapons/scope01.dds (it doesn' have to have caps, but it has to have the end part .dds)

 

 

 

most meshes have like 3-9 textures, an also glow maps

 

 

so my notepad file will look something like

 

 

textures/weapons/10mmpistol.dds

 

textures/weapons/10mmpistol_n.dds

 

textures/weapons/slide.dds

 

textures/weapons/slide_n.dds

 

textures/weapons/clip.dds

 

textures/weapons/clip_n.dds

 

 

Something like that, they get pretty long an complex

 

anyhow once I get the paths wrote out

 

one by one I copy an paste them inside nifscope

 

Get them all then save the .nif and delete the notepad file.

 

 

 

 

At the very least the nifscope an paintnet would help you make faster edits

 

Nifscope is a pretty good 3D preview, but to tell the truth in the last 6 months

 

I haven't had to use blender one time (you know despite not ever learning how to use it)

 

Nifscope will do so much an there is so much stuff out there, that you can get by just tweeking things.

 

Blender is so jacked up sometimes nifscope won't even open it.

 

And nifscope was made for fallout 3 while blender uses a plug in.

 

that's just shady if you ask me, I'll figure it out one day though.

 

 

The other way to reskin is using alternate textures in GECK, it's more work

 

but if you have one mesh an then 25 textures for it, then it comes in handy

 

Single mesh texture combos would probably be more easy, an faster with nifscope.

 

 

 

There's also a sort of glow shine tool part of nifscope which is like clicking a 3D shap an viewing

 

the entrys in the block details, there's two about 3/4 the way down which are colors

 

the easy way to do it is just click it an pick a color in the block details

 

You could use this an draw shine on a texture rather than use glow maps

 

which are kind of large files, idk

 

 

 

The best part about nifscope is the export texture template, or UV template

which is just a fancy way of saying the black an white 3D shape on a 2D texture

which you can pick the size then use the texturing programs to remove the white

or fill in the shapes, which would make a texture clean an clearly defined rather

than messy an you not knowing which parts are used.

 

 

I think I use the magic brush to select the white texture outside of the shape

then delete that, use the recolor tool to change white into black, an now you

have a full shape, then I color that to white or whatever, fill in the area outside

the template with black, delete the template parts (also ones that use multi templates

you kind of have to add those in too) once it's all there an the parts of the texture that

are being used are see thru, I paste it on top of the actual texture, which leaves only the

parts of the texture being used colored while the rest is black, tricky though.

[atlanticmongrel]

Hiya mate, thanks for getting back to me :)

 

I must confess, I've taken a very brief look at Nifskope only, since I'm fairly well practiced in Blender. When I go to open a NIF in Nifskope all I get in the right-hand pane is a black screen and a window pops up with the following in it:

 

""device position incorrect after block number 0 (BSFadeNode) at 601 ended at 601 expected 693""

""device position incorrect after block number 1 (NiNode) at 693 ended at 701 expected 797""

""device position incorrect after block number 2 (NiTriStrips) at 797 ended at 809 expected 902""

""device position incorrect after block number 3 (BSShaderNoLightingProperty) at 902 ended at 902 expected 956""

""device position incorrect after block number 4 (NiMaterialProperty) at 956 ended at 956 expected 1004""

""device position incorrect after block number 5 (NiAlphaProperty) at 1004 ended at 1004 expected 1019""

""device position incorrect after block number 6 (NiTriStripsData) at 1019 ended at 1019 expected 10545""

""device position incorrect after block number 7 (NiTriStrips) at 10545 ended at 10545 expected 10654""

""device position incorrect after block number 8 (NiTexturingProperty) at 10654 ended at 10654 expected 10692""

""device position incorrect after block number 9 (NiSourceTexture) at 10692 ended at 10692 expected 10728""

""device position incorrect after block number 10 (BSShaderNoLightingProperty) at 10728 ended at 10728 expected 10816""

""device position incorrect after block number 11 (NiAlphaProperty) at 10816 ended at 10816 expected 10831""

""device position incorrect after block number 12 (NiTriStripsData) at 10831 ended at 10831 expected 11223""

""device position incorrect after block number 13 (NiTriStrips) at 11223 ended at 11223 expected 11324""

""device position incorrect after block number 14 (BSShaderNoLightingProperty) at 11324 ended at 11324 expected 11378""

""device position incorrect after block number 15 (NiTriStripsData) at 11378 ended at 11378 expected 22216""

""device position incorrect after block number 16 (NiTriStrips) at 22216 ended at 22216 expected 22325""

""device position incorrect after block number 17 (BSShaderNoLightingProperty) at 22325 ended at 22325 expected 22413""

""device position incorrect after block number 18 (NiAlphaProperty) at 22413 ended at 22413 expected 22428""

""device position incorrect after block number 19 (NiTriStripsData) at 22428 ended at 22428 expected 22820""

""device position incorrect after block number 20 (NiTriStrips) at 22820 ended at 22820 expected 22925""

""device position incorrect after block number 21 (BSShaderNoLightingProperty) at 22925 ended at 22925 expected 22979""

""device position incorrect after block number 22 (NiTriStripsData) at 22979 ended at 22979 expected 33587""

""device position incorrect after block number 23 (NiTriStrips) at 33587 ended at 33587 expected 33688""

""device position incorrect after block number 24 (BSShaderNoLightingProperty) at 33688 ended at 33688 expected 33742""

""device position incorrect after block number 25 (NiTriStripsData) at 33742 ended at 33742 expected 49282""

 

Have you ever had this problem?

[mechine]

yeah poop tons

 

 

like all the meshes in FOOK 1.6 do that, the MK23test does that, just about all the really good meshes do that.

 

 

 

Idk is it messy meshes, maybe a nifscope problem, who knows

 

 

 

 

The scope was made with blender though, then it did that with nifscope

 

 

So it tells me that it's probably a blender thing

 

 

 

 

Reverce engine one, take the vanilla scope01 mesh, and open it with blender, make changes, then open it with nifscope

 

Idk, I've never even got blender to work, the .nif plug in would always not work for some reason

 

you might could ask around an find out about this, idk I run into it all the time, but don't really see anyone else

[atlanticmongrel]

Well, I managed to get it working in Blender through much trial and error. I made an 8-bit alpha channel .DDS in Photoshop from scratch, and applied it to the part of the mesh that had the original sight on. It looks ok, but unfortunately it seems there's no way around the letterboxing on the left and right side of the screen when you zoom in, so the binocular scope is the same width as the sniper scope :/

 

That sucks cos I wanted a wider field of view for them. But they work, and I'm gonna upload them today or tomorrow, depending when I'm happy with the finishing touches.

 

:thumbsup:

[mechine]

Awe man

 

 

Check into the zooming scopes,

 

 

I watched the video an it was wild.

 

they went from a huge field of view down to extreme distance, further than default even.

 

 

pfft

 

 

I don't really mess with that crap though.

 

pretty much it's 70-100 meters or whatever it takes so that they don't see me.

 

 

Look into the range finder, it's hella cool

 

you press * on the num pad then exit scope an it tells you the distance in meters, lolz.

 

 

 

Sorry man, the scopes are a bit different from making everything else, probably harder.

 

I don't mess with them, since there's like 12 different player made scopes already.

 

 

Wait isn't there a setting for field of view inside the weapon settings, 75 being max FOV

 

then like 25-26 being zoomed all the way, then another number that does something...