Weapon only using first person .nif ingame

[TheRizzler1]

I had an old Claymore sword model lying around so I've attempted to try and get it ingame using Grognak's axe as a base for practice before future projects. Like most melee weapons I'm going to need a separate first person mesh since the animations are different (and the hands slip a massive amount when jumping/attacking)

However ingame I'm noticing my weapon is only using the first person mesh even though I've specified it to use the normal mesh for third person. I've used the same naming conventions as weapons in the game (Claymoresword.nif, Claymoresword_1.nif)

 

 

 

Am I missing something? I had a look at Leadpipe.nif and Leadpipe_1.nif and really couldn't tell the difference apart from the higher polycount for the 1st person mesh

 

edit: the only difference the 1st person .nif has for now is that the mesh is translated a bit upwards so that it fits the hands better. That's all

Edited July 10, 2016 by TheRizzler1

[TheRizzler1]

Sorry to bump, but I figure I might as well post another problem instead of creating another thread.

 

Here's the progress so far;

 

 

(Is it possible to thumb images on this forum?)

The textures are WIP (finished, but I haven't put the right textures in the right channels yet for the specular.DDS)

So I'm trying to use a 2:1 ratio UV map (4096 x 2048) which I've seen other mods do, but have no idea how to tell the game to. Currently my textures look like this (lmao)

 

 

If I didn't make them 4096 x 4096 uniformly, the texture would wrap wrong. Changing the UV scale and stuff in nifskope doesn't seem to work, and I can't find anything in the BGSM that might help. So yeah, problem number 2. Any help?

Edited July 10, 2016 by TheRizzler1

[Hallgarth]

You have to map the UV to the 4096-2048 texture, which will most likely be displayed in the 3d software as a square, thus squashed horizontally. So you will have to double the height of your UV so it fits it. The UV will stretch to the texture, or rather the UV is the same scale ratio regardless of the shape of the texture. If that makes sense.

[TheRizzler1]

Ah, of course. I was trying to figure out how to do that before but didn't get anywhere, probably forgot and then thought it was a problem with the .nif or the BGSM. I'm using 3ds Max 2015 and Textools, do you know a way to map to a 2:1 UV? When I try to change the size it just stretches instead

The game using the first person .nif instead of the normal .nif is still a problem

 

edit: Man, I've searched for a solid hour about 2:1 uvs and haven't gotten anywhere. This should be really simple

Edited July 10, 2016 by TheRizzler1

[Hallgarth]

You're seriously overthinking this. It's the same way you'd map a 1:1 image The UV is always displayed on a square, or it is from my experience. You already have the textures, so my guess is the problem you're having is that when viewed in the 3d software, the 2:1 image appears squashed or stretched so that it fits into a square. Simply change your UV so that it fits this stretched image and output the mesh/meshes. As you already have the textures, there's no real need to redo them if you align the UV you already have correctly. The UV will retain its shape relative to the texture. For instance, if your UV is a very simple square, then you apply it to a rectangle or 2:1 image, then the UV will display over the whole rectangle, and will be a rectangle. not a square. I suppose you could also think of it as a balloon that has a picture on it. The picture (UV) will stretch to the balloon (Image)

 

I don't think I'm explaining this very well. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding your problem. If this doesn't help, then I hope someone else can help you with it.

[Aquery]

I don't get why you would want to map your UV's to only half of your texture. The only thing that does is reduce the overall quality of your texture, you're basically using a 4k texture to achieve 2k results. If you want higher quality you want to average your island size and fill as much of the square as you can.

 

I'm still not sure exactly what you are trying to achieve here.

[TheRizzler1]

You're seriously overthinking this. It's the same way you'd map a 1:1 image The UV is always displayed on a square, or it is from my experience. You already have the textures, so my guess is the problem you're having is that when viewed in the 3d software, the 2:1 image appears squashed or stretched so that it fits into a square. Simply change your UV so that it fits this stretched image and output the mesh/meshes. As you already have the textures, there's no real need to redo them if you align the UV you already have correctly. The UV will retain its shape relative to the texture. For instance, if your UV is a very simple square, then you apply it to a rectangle or 2:1 image, then the UV will display over the whole rectangle, and will be a rectangle. not a square. I suppose you could also think of it as a balloon that has a picture on it. The picture (UV) will stretch to the balloon (Image)

 

I don't think I'm explaining this very well. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding your problem. If this doesn't help, then I hope someone else can help you with it.

 

You're right, haha. Problem of mine... It's working perfectly now, thanks.

There's no straightforward checkbox or option to do it, you really do have to just manually crop the exported textures down by half. I'm not a fan of adjusting the stretched UVs so that they align with the texture though, feels too sloppy. It'll have to do I suppose. The first person .nif problem persists, thanks for the advice but you wouldn't know how to fix that particular problem would you? Appreciate it.

 

 

I don't get why you would want to map your UV's to only half of your texture. The only thing that does is reduce the overall quality of your texture, you're basically using a 4k texture to achieve 2k results. If you want higher quality you want to average your island size and fill as much of the square as you can.

 

I'm still not sure exactly what you are trying to achieve here.

 

The size of the blade prohibits me from getting a respectable texel density compared to the other elements of the mesh. It simply wouldn't fit, unless I split the UV island in half. I'm using a 2:1 UV ratio so that I can have the entire blade lengthways, then pack everything else in underneath it with a similar relative island size. It's just good practice, otherwise the texture would look blurry on the blade

Edited July 11, 2016 by TheRizzler1

[Aquery]

 

I don't get why you would want to map your UV's to only half of your texture. The only thing that does is reduce the overall quality of your texture, you're basically using a 4k texture to achieve 2k results. If you want higher quality you want to average your island size and fill as much of the square as you can.

 

I'm still not sure exactly what you are trying to achieve here.

 

The size of the blade prohibits me from getting a respectable texel density compared to the other elements of the mesh. It simply wouldn't fit, unless I split the UV island in half. I'm using a 2:1 UV ratio so that I can have the entire blade lengthways, then pack everything else in underneath it with a similar relative island size. It's just good practice, otherwise the texture would look blurry on the blade

 

That makes sense. Idk if this would help but have you tried aligning the blade length along the diagonal (half on each side of the cross section) and averaging the islands to get a higher texel?

[TheRizzler1]

 

That makes sense. Idk if this would help but have you tried aligning the blade length along the diagonal (half on each side of the cross section) and averaging the islands to get a higher texel?

 

That's another option. Still, the blade would have a considerably lower texel density compared to the guard, hilt etc. due to it's sheer size and thickness. A 2:1 ratio is absolutely needed due to the relative size of the elements on the sword. And anyway, I'd like to close this out quickly as I'm saving my effort for my main project;

 

 

Still running into the 1st person .nif problem. It's like the game is completely ignoring the ClaymoreSword.nif and just going for ClaymoreSword_1.nif for both

Edited July 11, 2016 by TheRizzler1

[Aquery]

Ah and nice revolver rifle we have got to share ideas, I'm working on a revolver too.

http://www.nexusmods.com/Images/1151/35467435-1468051323.png

But ya I suggested the diag so you could get a higher texel on the blade and use a texel texture guide to keep all the texels an even size across the whole model. Idk that's just what I'd do.

 

As to the nif problem, I noticed on the defualt .44 nif that it was better quality (more polys) than the _1file. I actually assumed it was for preview item ingame not the third person model. But I honestly have no clue why it's switching the nif out on you.

 

Maybe you can give the two models color code textures and check them in game to make sure its a problem with mesh switching and not an animation problem.

Edited July 11, 2016 by Aquery