Some questions about custom weapon mods

[dephiant]

Hello, I am pretty new to making custom mods and i've recently started working on a custom weapon in blender and i have some things i am confused about, sorry in advance im still a noob at this. So would I have to model all the weapon parts seperate if i wanted to switch them out in-game? like change scopes, or the stock, etc. and lets say I am done with the model in blender, how would one go about putting it into the game? Aswell as the sound effects for it, I have nifskope, the fo4 creation kit and bodyslide so i think i have all the right tools but sometimes it just feels overwhelming lol. Also, i wanted to make a custom reload animation for the rifle but im not even close to that step yet. Would really appreciate any help or tips because I would really like to get better at making custom weapons

 

Thank you.

 

 

[JonathanOstrus]

I can't speak to all of it as I don't primarily deal with weapons. However the simple answer is yes. You would need to model any of the interchangeable parts separate. Essentially all the weapon parts are done piecemeal, and the game engine puts them together like a puzzle based on the object mod selections made.

 

If you were to go look at things like the 10mm or a pipe gun you'd see it's lots of small parts that then get thrown together.

 

Now as for getting it into the game. That's a fairly deep subject in the case of modular weapons like you suggest. You would need to first model it. Then get it into a nif file. I'm pretty sure you can use Outfit Studio to do this now. You just need to remove the SubIndex and Skin options from the geometry tab of the shape properties. Then modify the nif file to have the proper parent and child connect points as necessary for the part of the weapon it is. This one is beyond my knowledge here. I did notice in the vanilla files that all the weapon parts are at the 0,0,0 x,y,z origin and are placed in proper location/orientation via the connect points.

 

After you have the weapon piece nifs all setup it's a matter of making all the object modification parts in Creation Kit to piece it together. I would suggest taking a look at an existing weapon (10mm and pipe guns generally are my go to for examples) and then reverse engineer how those are put together. I'll give you a hint. The base weapon record points to an empty dummy nif that everything is built onto.

 

From there you would then need to deal with animations. This is where I have to stop as I have no clue beyond knowing that you need 3DS Max to do it. I've seen animation kits available but have no idea how to use them or which version of 3DS Max is necessary to do it.

[ehtyeci]

BigAndFlabby is on the money.

You will need minimum 3ds max 2013 (maximum 2015) for custom animation. It's the only software, and only editions of software, aside from Havok Animation Studio, where there exists a toolset for importing and exporting to the correct hkx format which Fallout 4 uses. If you are new to animation, add at least a couple weeks to learn the principles of it. If you're new to 3ds max, add another week. Add yet another for the absurdity involved in getting animations to and from the game.

When you do get to the animation part, look for the F4AK, Fallout 4 Animation Kit by ShadeAnimator on the nexus. It's a written guide bundled with a set of tools needed to decode hkx files and max scene templates for importing and exporting animations. Also look for "fallout 4 animation setup" by The Shiny Haxorus on Youtube for a rundown on preparing the rig and your weapon for animating.

When you have your animation ready, you will need to look at Skibadaa's "additive subgraph races" tutorial on Youtube to understand how you tie your animation to your weapon in the CK.

In case you were wondering, there is no framework for animating for FO4 in Blender. It is possible to import FBX converted from hkx files, but Blender interprets the rigs completely wrong. And you'd still have to import it back to max just to be able to export the animation back to hkx.

[dephiant]

I can't speak to all of it as I don't primarily deal with weapons. However the simple answer is yes. You would need to model any of the interchangeable parts separate. Essentially all the weapon parts are done piecemeal, and the game engine puts them together like a puzzle based on the object mod selections made.

 

If you were to go look at things like the 10mm or a pipe gun you'd see it's lots of small parts that then get thrown together.

 

Now as for getting it into the game. That's a fairly deep subject in the case of modular weapons like you suggest. You would need to first model it. Then get it into a nif file. I'm pretty sure you can use Outfit Studio to do this now. You just need to remove the SubIndex and Skin options from the geometry tab of the shape properties. Then modify the nif file to have the proper parent and child connect points as necessary for the part of the weapon it is. This one is beyond my knowledge here. I did notice in the vanilla files that all the weapon parts are at the 0,0,0 x,y,z origin and are placed in proper location/orientation via the connect points.

 

After you have the weapon piece nifs all setup it's a matter of making all the object modification parts in Creation Kit to piece it together. I would suggest taking a look at an existing weapon (10mm and pipe guns generally are my go to for examples) and then reverse engineer how those are put together. I'll give you a hint. The base weapon record points to an empty dummy nif that everything is built onto.

 

From there you would then need to deal with animations. This is where I have to stop as I have no clue beyond knowing that you need 3DS Max to do it. I've seen animation kits available but have no idea how to use them or which version of 3DS Max is necessary to do it.

thank you very much for the quick reply and all the info, im gonna mess around with the existing weapons when i get home today and see if i can figure anything out, thanks again!

[dephiant]

 

BigAndFlabby is on the money.

You will need minimum 3ds max 2013 (maximum 2015) for custom animation. It's the only software, and only editions of software, aside from Havok Animation Studio, where there exists a toolset for importing and exporting to the correct hkx format which Fallout 4 uses. If you are new to animation, add at least a couple weeks to learn the principles of it. If you're new to 3ds max, add another week. Add yet another for the absurdity involved in getting animations to and from the game.

When you do get to the animation part, look for the F4AK, Fallout 4 Animation Kit by ShadeAnimator on the nexus. It's a written guide bundled with a set of tools needed to decode hkx files and max scene templates for importing and exporting animations. Also look for "fallout 4 animation setup" by The Shiny Haxorus on Youtube for a rundown on preparing the rig and your weapon for animating.

When you have your animation ready, you will need to look at Skibadaa's "additive subgraph races" tutorial on Youtube to understand how you tie your animation to your weapon in the CK.

 

In case you were wondering, there is no framework for animating for FO4 in Blender. It is possible to import FBX converted from hkx files, but Blender interprets the rigs completely wrong. And you'd still have to import it back to max just to be able to export the animation back to hkx.

 

wow you're the man! you saved me a good amount of time so thanks, really appreciate pointing me in the right direction. I guess im gonna try and get 3ds max now and see where that takes me.

[dephiant]

 

BigAndFlabby is on the money.

You will need minimum 3ds max 2013 (maximum 2015) for custom animation. It's the only software, and only editions of software, aside from Havok Animation Studio, where there exists a toolset for importing and exporting to the correct hkx format which Fallout 4 uses. If you are new to animation, add at least a couple weeks to learn the principles of it. If you're new to 3ds max, add another week. Add yet another for the absurdity involved in getting animations to and from the game.

When you do get to the animation part, look for the F4AK, Fallout 4 Animation Kit by ShadeAnimator on the nexus. It's a written guide bundled with a set of tools needed to decode hkx files and max scene templates for importing and exporting animations. Also look for "fallout 4 animation setup" by The Shiny Haxorus on Youtube for a rundown on preparing the rig and your weapon for animating.

When you have your animation ready, you will need to look at Skibadaa's "additive subgraph races" tutorial on Youtube to understand how you tie your animation to your weapon in the CK.

 

In case you were wondering, there is no framework for animating for FO4 in Blender. It is possible to import FBX converted from hkx files, but Blender interprets the rigs completely wrong. And you'd still have to import it back to max just to be able to export the animation back to hkx.

 

One more thing, would you recommend I make my models in 3ds max or blender?

[ehtyeci]

You should use what is most comfortable and familiar to you. For the purpose of modeling, max, blender, maya or any of the more known softwares are all valid options. I personally use Blender for modeling, UVs and baking, but that's just because I've already got a good workflow with it.

[dephiant]

You should use what is most comfortable and familiar to you. For the purpose of modeling, max, blender, maya or any of the more known softwares are all valid options. I personally use Blender for modeling, UVs and baking, but that's just because I've already got a good workflow with it.

Cool will do, really appreciate it