New to modeling/modding, need some help.

[TheM4dHatter]

Hi,

 

I already went through the forum and the stickies a bit but I'm having trouble deciding what I want to start using for modeling/modding based on the kind of games I will be working with.

 

Right now I will mostly be focused on are various Final fantasy games (XIV (only modeling for contest etc.) and XIII, XIII-2, XIII;LR using Crystal Tools/Luminous engine, X/X-2 (no idea what engine but seems to be based on DDS textures) and some Unreal engine games, maybe some Skyrim, who knows but FF is currently my priority.

 

I've got access to pretty much any program with my edu license so I have Unity, Blender, 3ds Max, Maya, GIMP with DDS plugin and so on.

 

The problem is that I seriously don't know which one to pick for my modeling work and which for my modding work or maybe the same for both.

I seriously need to start from scratch, I tried opening a few dds files in GIMP but its basically just some cut out parts here and there so I couldn't really do anything with it (really confusing actually), it would be much easier if I could take said dds file and import it on a 3D character (since thats whats done by the engine as well) and then model it.

 

I would also need some 3D models (e.g. theres currently an XIV clothing contest running but no character models are supplied so thats making it relatively hard because they want to see it on the race models) and mostly a lot of help, links, tutorials etc. to get me started.

 

Kind of asking a lot but I hope someone can help me on my way.

[JesterDoobie]

I'm a tyro myself, I mod Fallout 4 meshes and textures a bit, but if you're looking to mod any game, you'll sooner or later want to mod a 3d model, so focus on one game, I say. Lacking any other preference, I'd pick the one running the most modern engine (#1for longevity) or the one easiest to mod. And a good mod community matters a lot, too. I'm super-lucky Bethesda supports modding, some games don't allow you inject content through an open-ish plugin system and a Creation Kit. And if you're looking at modifying .dds files, it's likely easiest to just edit them like a "Paint" file. It'd take a whole lot of work and likely rigging/hacking to edit them directly while on a 3d model. Although I might be wrong and it's just a Blender plugin or something. Probably best to just look at some examples, IE if you want to mod an armor texture, start by modifying an existing .dds file for an existing 3d mesh and see what it looks like in-game, then learn how to create your own. Same goes with models, mod first, then create. For models/shaders, each game is gonna have it's own Blender settings as far as this object is this transparency/Emittance, ect ect, most likely you'll need a plugin to modify and create something initially, and you'll likely also need several "bridge" programs between. (Blender for a beer bottle>3DSMax bridge>NifSkope+Paint.Net (dds files)+Material Editor ( .Bgsm texture file creator)+Game Asset extraction tools for a game-ready nif file> FO4Exit (xEdit) for a draft mod .esp file>Creation Kit+Papyrus Scripting(Notepad++)>back and forth a couple times to/from Nifskope/CK to adjust physics/bounding boxes/textures (+ maybe some ba2's with resources) > FO4edit to finalise stuff>finally> Fallout 4 enjoying a cold one for me. Long train, but worth it in the end.) Likely special packaging AND encoding for the .dds files, too, Bethesda uses DXT5 .dds files packaged into bgsm files. None of that really touches Physics at all, I know nothing there, as Beth and Havok keep it mostly locked up tight. I copy/paste references to game assets from vanilla files for stuff like animations and how cloth moves for the most part. Dds files kinda-sorta make sense in Fallout 4, you can see the arms and legs, ect. I'm a scripter/typer/CLI-kinda guy myself, NOT visual at all, and I made a tiny grey blob in one outfit's texture file into a very snazzy pair of shoes, so it's intimidating at first, but probably not too hard. Give it a go, play around, see what happens. Just remember to backup EVERYTHING all the time, do NOT use any game folder for mod resource references or working, make copies of your game files and extract the assets somewhere else and reference those, and make sure the game is using the right gd .nif.

There are tons of free 3d models available online, mostly as generic .obj files. I have successfully downloaded and imported in-game from 123dapp website for free, and a google search revealed a bunch of websites. NB that some .obj's there seem to be flawed somehow, so if you're having a hard time, don't get too frustrated before picking a new model. Other than that WOT I can't help much, I'm into Fallout 4 modding. If you have a PC copy of that game, and optionally the DLC's, I could use an alpha mod tester occasionally, though. Hard to see what I'm doing wrong sometimes. <edit> Using a program like Nifskope (the game-ready 3d .nif object, fallout references it for everything visual and physics) you can see the textures on the mesh of a person or on the desk you are editing if it's setup correctly to do so. That's for Fallout/Skyrim, though, idk how the ".nif" is made/modified on other games.

Good luck on your journey, man. Go nuts and do some crazy s**t, invent a new race or make a DLC-sized mod or something.

 

<tophat>

Edited June 23, 2016 by JesterDoobie

[TheM4dHatter]

Thanks, I'm more of a coder myself but since I noticed the new steam release of FF X/X-2 Remastered being open for art modding (its still really new so haven't seen any texture models YET, just dds I think, its here on nexus so you can check it out) and the fact that FF XIV has a "make an armor" competition right now I figured I'd just learn for the fun of it.

 

The problem with moving into FO4 for me would mainly be that I don't own the game and honestly don't really like it :tongue:, not much for the post apocalyptic kind of game hehe, as for Skyrim, I do own that but got sick of it for a bit so removed it until I feel like playing it again.

It is cool though that Bethesda leaves room for modding/delivers us unfinished games (glass half full/half empty lol) even though limited in amount of modding area available which I found out the hard way with 1000's of CTD's and mod conflicts over the years I played Bethesda games lol.

 

So right now I'll have to focus on modeling and maybe DDS editing but do you happen to know a good video tutorial and/or a general tutorial for DDS modding that would actually help make sense of things?

 

And as for modeling, which program should I focus on learning, 3ds max or Blender? Since I have both I might as well start with the "best" one.

 

As for models, I didn't mean normal models where hard to find I meant that specific models from races in games are extremely hard to find. I know they exist but as an example, try finding an Hyur model from FF XIV, my search turned up absolutely nothing, but I see people blowing up breasts left and right, and other random stuff so I KNOW they're available somewhere because that isn't a DDS thing haha.

So its really more Final Fantasy game models I'm looking for right now, mainly FF X/X2, XIII series and XIV.

Like I said before there is limited content of FF X/X2 available on nexus (game is old but the port is new so modding it is still new) but as far as I could see it really was only DDS modding so far or I'm just not looking in the right places.

 

Thanks again for the insight so far, if anyone else can help me out with info/links/tutorials and what not that would be awesome.

 

An example for what I could really use a tutorial for is DDS editing, let me give some examples:

This is the character:

 

This is the character modded more "modest"

 

This are the original DDS files (be it in 4k):

http://www.nexusmods.com/finalfantasyxx2hdremaster/mods/9/?tab=2&navtag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusmods.com%2Ffinalfantasyxx2hdremaster%2Fajax%2Fmodfiles%2F%3Fid%3D9&pUp=1

 

And these are the "modest" mods:

http://www.nexusmods.com/finalfantasyxx2hdremaster/mods/28/?tab=2&navtag=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nexusmods.com%2Ffinalfantasyxx2hdremaster%2Fajax%2Fmodfiles%2F%3Fid%3D28&pUp=1

 

So if I open them I get a blob of random bits and pieces, first I need to find something that explains me what is what, and how to properly "read" the picture.

Then I need to find something that tells me how to mod it, like what mirrors what and how do you get it looking like ^^^^^^ picture.

If you take the modest mod for example they added a top there and removed the necklace, but If I check the DDS file I can only see 1 mini part of something that MIGHT be a new top and can't find any other differences, yet it loads exactly as advertised.

So thats where my journey starts I think, I really need some help with that.

Edited June 23, 2016 by TheM4dHatter