Any updates on whether in-game models are replaceable?

[Wraithdrof]

As I've been told by a few other modders, and as far as I can tell from the posts in here and out, nobody has found a way to change any of the models in the game. I wanted to put a call out to make sure that was still the case?

 

Pretty new to modding, but I was hoping to add some new hairstyles for the soldiers. I've got to get back to work for the day, but I was gonna check out how Mass Effect handles modding, since I hear it has some similarities to XCOM.

[Krazyguy75]

I think we might be able to, but it's a nightmare if we can. It'd currently require someone making something that can turn an existing 3D model format into the hex needed for storing it internally inside a UPK, and then you'd have to deal with the fact that it'd require tons of other data other than the 3D model in game. Basically, we're sure it is possible, it is just mostly unresearched due to the difficulty of the task.

[Wraithdrof]

Yeah, that'd be pretty crazy. If you can figure out the format that XCOM uses, and the differences it has to the format whatever mesh extension you're using has, then I'd imagine it could be worse, I suppose. But I'm not sure how to go about starting either of those other tasks. It sounds interesting, though.

[Krazyguy75]

I think the easiest thing we could do to learn is to use the technique for duplicating and reskinning new items, then look at the data copies to see the 3D model format for it. Then try and make something that converts to that format.

[LiQuiD911]

Gildor's UModel tool does read the models from upk ( without any animations) .. he might have the knowledge of the model internals

[Krazyguy75]

Gildor's UModel tool does read the models from upk ( without any animations) .. he might have the knowledge of the model internals

 

I've tried to contact him in the past, but no success. If you want, you could try. Anyways, it's not much use for me to do it. I don't know enough about file conversion to know what to do with it even if he told me how.

[Wraithdrof]

He's definitely still active: https://forums.unrealengine.com/member.php?1870-Gildor

 

It's possible we could just ask his opinion and go from there. It's possible he knows quite a simple way to do it, or perhaps he knows someone who is more interested in getting involved than I.

 

He would at least be able to clarify if repackaging upk's is out of our league or not.

[wghost81]

He has personal forum and he's actively answering questions there: http://www.gildor.org/smf/

[Amineri]

X Marks The Spot has successfully extracted 3D models from XCOM package files and imported them into a 3D modelling program. As I understand it, that's how he created the 2D Inventory images we use in Long War for the MEC secondary weapons... he extracted the models, imported them to 3DS MAX (I think...), then lit and posed them and took screenshots.

 

The primary issue isn't getting the mesh/texture data OUT, it's getting new such data in. XCom Weapon packages have a bunch of extra stuff included, such as audio and animation data, as well as links to XComProjectile classes used to spawn projectiles from firing.

 

An example of this in action is when Long War re-purposed some of the soldier weapons to use as MEC weapons (for the laser line). It turned out that some of the soldier animations were being drawn from the weapon, which resulted in seriously distorted MECs when using those weapons, so we ended up having to create variations based on the 3 vanilla MEC weapons instead.

[Krazyguy75]

X Marks The Spot has successfully extracted 3D models from XCOM package files and imported them into a 3D modelling program. As I understand it, that's how he created the 2D Inventory images we use in Long War for the MEC secondary weapons... he extracted the models, imported them to 3DS MAX (I think...), then lit and posed them and took screenshots.

 

The primary issue isn't getting the mesh/texture data OUT, it's getting new such data in. XCom Weapon packages have a bunch of extra stuff included, such as audio and animation data, as well as links to XComProjectile classes used to spawn projectiles from firing.

 

An example of this in action is when Long War re-purposed some of the soldier weapons to use as MEC weapons (for the laser line). It turned out that some of the soldier animations were being drawn from the weapon, which resulted in seriously distorted MECs when using those weapons, so we ended up having to create variations based on the 3 vanilla MEC weapons instead.

 

Hm. Then could we use your research on reskinning to create a file for all the extras, then import the skeletal mesh and animation data on our own? If we cook it from the udk, would it work? Though I suppose the issue with that it file size.

 

BTW, what exactly is preventing us from loading the UPKs in the UDK? I've never quite understood it.