Making armour w/t Blender 3D and other questions.

[Tattorack]

Firstly, I know the there are sticky threads, but I found most of the links leading up to a "page not found" screen.

 

Anyway, is it possable to model armour (and possably also weapons) in the new version of Blender 3D?

I looked on the net for the Blender plugin tool but its for Blender v2.49b (and thats oooooooold).

Also, does anybody know any good tutorials for making and exporting armour in Blender?

I don't need fancy stuff like added motion/animations and such, but since I'm using hgec (I think its abbravated that way ^^; ) it'll have to be usable with that.

 

What I would also like to know is if it is possable to make special strengths/weaknesess to armour.

For instance, an armour that is weak against mallee attacks but really resistant against magic.

Also, could it be made possable to make the arnour drain mana and/or fatigue so that it gives 0 protection should something run out?

 

Thanks in advance!

[Harvald]

are vou familiar with nifskope? Load the armor to nifskope, export it from there as *.obj and import it to Blender. To reimport it to the game go the same way back.

[neomonkeus]

are vou familiar with nifskope? Load the armor to nifskope, export it from there as *.obj and import it to Blender. To reimport it to the game go the same way back.

 

This, don't do this....

Why, because it won't work as you will lose vertex weight data, which is used to tell the bones how they should influence the mesh.

 

There is nothing stopping you using a newer version of Blender for your production work and just using the old version for import/export only.

[Tattorack]

 

are vou familiar with nifskope? Load the armor to nifskope, export it from there as *.obj and import it to Blender. To reimport it to the game go the same way back.

 

This, don't do this....

Why, because it won't work as you will lose vertex weight data, which is used to tell the bones how they should influence the mesh.

 

There is nothing stopping you using a newer version of Blender for your production work and just using the old version for import/export only.

 

Yeah I got that. Sounds far too easy and I do not have any intention of replacing any armour, only making new.

 

I can't exactly do that. The older Blender version used an older version of Python script, actually older as in twice removed by now.

Very little is backwards and forewards compatible...

 

But would I be able to use NifScope to import new Blender created armour?

[razorpony]

Nifskope will open the armor and if the armor is made of several pieces then you can delete them, or add pieces of other armors. If the armor is all one piece then there's not much you can do with it. If relying on older Blender is holding you back then perhaps you could use the free (student) version of 3DSMax.

[Tattorack]

I found out I can export armours with Nifskope to .dea (Collada) format wich can be opened by Blender 3D.

In turn, Blender 3D can export to .3DS (3D Studio Max) format wich can be imported to Nifskope and saved as a .nif file.

 

But I need help.

The armours, like Razorpony already stated, are mostly made from a whole bunch of bits and pieces, and the main confusing thing about it is what whould happen if I would remove a part of the armour that would bare skin under it? Because some armours are also made of body parts!

And how would I have to start with making my own armour from scratch?

 

In short, I do not know where to begin.

[glowplug]

You can install multiple versions of blender, just install to different locations.

I haven't updated since 2.68a but I assume the same for whatever <> 2.71 you have.

Get all you need from http://niftools.sourceforge.net/wiki/Blender#Recommended_Downloads_-_Blender_2.49

When ready to export, save and tick Legacy Mesh Format under Save As Blender File.

Open with 2.49 (ignore complaints).

Delete any bones.

Select all meshes.

File -> Import -> NetImmerse/Gamebryo - navigate/select the skeleton required then click Import.

Click Restore Default Settings then Import Skeleton Only + Parent Selected.

Right click the skeleton to make sure it is only object selected.

Press "a" twice - now have all selected with skeleton as "active"

File -> Export -> NetImmerse/Gamebryo

Navigate/name wherever and click Export NIF/KF (it will export as NIF).

Click Oblivion

Click Restore Default Settings For Selected Game.

 

 

If I've missed any Export settings http://wiki.tesnexus.com/index.php/Blender_import_and_export_armor_for_Oblivion will tell you what to ignore. Other than that search "oblivion blender export" but you may end up having to borrow ideas from Bethesda game tutorials.

 

As far as the Enchantments you asked for you will have to try and achieve those under Enchantments in the TESIV Construction Set (CS) or same Extender (CSE).

[Tattorack]

That.... didn't help me much.

I already have all the stuff I need to export anything into a .nif file.

The things I don't know are:

1. What is required/how should I model something for Oblivion (I know how to model, thats not what I'm asking here). Should I say, import an upper body from HGCE and model armour over that? Should I start completely from scratch? If I would import an armour from the game that consists of multiple parts, does removing a part from the armour with nothing under it leave me with a giant empty gap in-game?

2. How do I get it in the game without having to replace anything thats already there.

[glowplug]

Yeah, soz, I missed that you are using .dea and .3ds for conversion.

What you're looking for used to be simple tutorials but most seem to have disappeared.

I'll try my best but at least you might get some key words for searching.

Either way let me know how you get on.

 

As I said, you need to use the CS or CSE to get it in game.

You need to open CS/E and on the Object Window familiarize yourself with Items -> Armors.

1. What is required/how should I model something for Oblivion (I know how to model, thats not what I'm asking here). Should I say, import an upper body from HGCE and model armour over that? Should I start completely from scratch? If I would import an armour from the game that consists of multiple parts, does removing a part from the armour with nothing under it leave me with a giant empty gap in-game?

You will need to look at body part mapping for existing armor/clothing to see what is what.

Remember that HGEC already has upper and lower body mapped to neck, wrist and ankle vertices relative to CS requirements - the waist is different but it doesn't matter as long as your armor part(s) comply to HGEC waist - if your making Upper & Lower as one piece then waist does not matter.

For each CS body section you have to provide ALL vertices with UV maps, weight painting of course.

Fix up skin materials in NifSkope but texture has to be "textures\characters\imperial\female\footfemale.dds" - you probably know that.

2.How do I get it in the game without having to replace anything thats already there.

Open CS/E and Save as a new ESP - use Tattorack/whatever as part of the name to make it unique.

Save frequently.
On the Object Window go through the Items -> Armor list until you find something that uses similar body parts (right-click Edit).

* Change the ID to whatever

* Change the Name to whatever

* Make sure Scripts == None

* Select/Deselect body parts as applicable

* Take a look at the Enchanting drop down (more below).

* Use the Male/Female Biped Model buttons to navigate to your mesh(es).

Click OK and Yes for Create New form.

 

Going further down the Object Window's left panel look for World Objects -> Containers.

Again, right-click Edit for whichever.

* Change ID to whatever

* Name to whatever

* Script == None

* Respawns - your call.

* Right-click Delete whatever under Object ID.

* Find your armor on object window and drag'n'drop to the container.

* Click OK and Yes to Create New form.

 

Find somewhere in Cyrodiil/SI to drag'n'drop your container.

Save your ESP, use whatever to put it on the Data Files list

You can now go test it.

 

The enchantments that armor and weapons use can be found on the Object Window under Magic -> Enchantments.

These only provide what can be found from the CS menubar Gameplay -> Magic Effects.

Do not change any Magic Effects or you will simply create a dirty mod that nobody wants.

[Tattorack]

Yes, thank you! That shed some light on things ^^

But I just red back on what neomonkeus said about exporting with NifSkope... yeah kinda forgot about the weight problem ^^;

So I'll have to figure out another way of doing weight.

There's this tutorial with 3D Studio Max that has me import Oblivion's skeleton into the editor.

What works for 3DS Max should work for Blender 3D.

Since the alpha for the .nif exporter usable in the new Blender 3D is... not so usable at the moment (tried, got errors thrown in my face) would I still lose weighting data if I use the methode described in the 3DS tutorial (with importing the skeleton and assigning weights) and then export it via NifSkope?