Key Shape or Bone Animation

[AIgnatiousS]

I should note I am doing all of this in Blender 2.49b. I made a couple meshes in the latest version of blender, then ported it to 2.49b, then to a .nif, and I realized I would rather just make them in 2.49b.

 

I am currently using 73 custom meshes that I have created for this huge mod I've been making over the past 6 months.

I'm at the point now that I have some simple creatures I want to add to the game, one of them I would literally be happy with having NO animations, and simply being added to the game without it giving me constant errors.

 

What I need to know, is can I animate these creatures using shape keys or must I use bone animations?

 

I have already read through this source;

 

http://www.mwmythicmods.com/Archives/CS/Comprehensive%20Animation%20for%20Morrowind%20-%20The%20How-To%20Thread.htm

 

Ultimately I'm at the end project point of my mod and I'm at the quest making stage. The world is made, the custom buildings, rock formations, caves, interior meshes, weapons, and such all are added. But I can't even really finish making all my quests until I have all my new, mostly creatures, animated to work in game. I've made 4 quests so far, and the next two quests I started making I don't want to progress until I do this first.

 

My progression was; World Meshes- Town Meshes - Head Meshes (For new races) - Weapons - Headgears - New Misc Meshes (New types of lockpicks, healing potions, repair kits, activators, doors, signs, etc...) - Misc Dialogue - And where I am now, all of that before is completed - Quests - new creatures (meshes are completed) - new armors (most meshes are completed but again haven't started animating yet). I've gone so far on this mod that when I realized I wasn't going to be able to make a new landscape I made a new one as a giant 3d model and have been using it instead. Everything looks good and with already 6 months gone by I expect it to be fully playable (not finished) in another 2 months. I've also been off work for over a month's time during this mod's creation due to medical issues so I've thrown down a LOT of time on this mod. If anybody could point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it, every step I've taken with animation so far has felt like a waste of time.

Edited March 25, 2018 by AIgnatiousS

[AIgnatiousS]

For instance one of the models is a dwemer turret that basically is a cannon shape that pivots around a cylinder. I don't need;

 

idle, walk, knocked out, attack (maybe a muzzleflash), and all that but I think I DO need them for morrowind's engine.