DarthParametric

You mean other parts of the model, like the arms, etc.? What version of MDLOps are you using?

Both.

You'll want some padding around those islands. I'd go for at least 5 pixels, 10 is probably safer (and you'll need more at higher map resolutions like 2k/4K). Edit: Something like this: Although obviously the exact layout will need to change depending on what other islands are present.

There are bits and pieces all over, although MDLEdit at least does have in-built help functionality. More extensive guides and tutorials will be available in the coming months after the recently announced site upgrades are completed.

You'll have to decompile the binary model (MDL/MDX) into an ASCII version using either MDLEdit or MDLOps. This can be then be imported by KOTORMax for Max/GMax, or KOTORBlender for Blender. There's no native solution for Maya. You'd have to import it into either one of those first and then export it in some other format to get into Maya, but be aware that this is basically unworkable for skinned meshes while preserving their weights, due to the way KOTOR models work. You can modify heads, bodies, etc., or make completely new ones. This was somewhat limited in the past due to the tools available, but has changed significantly in the last 12 months.

Oooh, new sub-forums and a wiki. Nice. Is this just an update to the latest IPB, or are you migrating to a different script like XenForo, VB, etc.? What's the wiki? Was it that one you liked the look of?

There's nothing particularly unique about KOTOR models when it comes to UVs, so you should be able to use any Blender UV tutorial to get yourself started. I don't use Blender myself, so can't offer any specific tips, beyond the general advice that UV mapping is a black art, difficult to master (and not helped by most UV tools being terrible). The general rule of thumb is to put your UV seams where you want hard edges, or otherwise hide them as best as possible. Make sure you allow for some padding around your islands to avoid issues with bleed at lower mip levels. Seeing as you won't be using lightmaps, remember that you can use the space outside 0:1, which can be preferable rather than stacking (sometimes that can cause artefacts).

Weapon textures are specified by the model. It's likely sharing a texture, as you suggest (common practice if you are making a double hilt that is basically just two single hilts joined together). You'll have to decompile the binary model (MDL/MDX) into an ASCII version before you can load it in Blender. Use MDLEdit or MDLOps, available in the Downloads/Tools section.

Haha, your bumpmaps aren't awful. I tried splitting the mesh (and disabling bumpmappable) but it still crashes when using mesh alpha. It works fine with alpha set back to 1.0, so there's something screwy there somewhere.

You might want to check out these links about Blender's version of texture baking that I found via a quick Google: https://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/15510/possible-to-bake-texture-to-new-uv-map https://blenderartists.org/t/bake-texture-to-new-uv-map/629794

If you are going to change the UV layout, then you'll likely want to remap the vanilla texture to the new UVs as a basis to work from. If you are using Max, you can do this with Render To Texture. Starting with the original mesh, add an Edit UVW modifier to the stack and drag it underneath the Skin and Odyssey Trimesh modifiers, but above the Editable Mesh (if you select the Editable Mesh in the stack first, it will automatically add the Edit UVW modifier directly above it). Change the map channel to 2, and then edit the UVs as you see fit. Now go to Rendering -> Render to Texture and (making sure your mesh is selected) under Mapping Coordinates select Use Existing Channel and change the channel to 2. Under Output click Add and choose DiffuseMap and change the save location, file type, and size as you see fit. Under the Baked Material section tick the Render to Files Only button. Hit the Render button and you should get a copy of the original texture mapped to your new UVs. Once that is done, you can go back to the mesh, select the Edit UVW modifier and change the channel back to 1, then right click on the modifier and choose Collapse To to bake the UV changes into the mesh without destroying the skin weights. If you have already modified your UVs, you can simply add an Edit UVW modifier and choose the Save option to save out a copy of your new UV co-ords to a file. Then you can load them back in to channel 2 on the original version of the mesh (assuming you didn't modify the mesh/change the vert number).

Ah, quaternion compression. I started disabling that as a matter of course early on after various levels of screwiness. I'm curious as to why the feature seems so randomly implemented on vanilla models though. You'd think they'd all use it (I assume there must be a memory advantage on an Xbox), or why bother having the feature in the first place?

Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. I changed that to character, no difference.

That's one way of doing it, although the results are often somewhat lacking. At least in modern engines anyway. Odyssey is kind of useless when it comes to normal maps, so it doesn't matter too much. That aside, my preferred method is to generate normal maps from actual geometry, which shouldn't be a problem when you are making your own custom models.

Yes. But I don't see much merit in bothering with greyscale bumpmaps when you could be using tangent space normal maps. But either way, that doesn't seem to be the problem. Even if I disable the tangentspace flag in the model and set the diffuse textures to just use a envmap, I still get a crash during the start of the cutscene. Although the alpha does now work, so I gather it is indeed incompatible with bump maps/normal maps. I think the next step is to try chopping up the mesh into smaller chunks, see what that does.

I notice you are specifying tangentspace 1, yet not actually using normal maps. I tried creating some but it still crashed. Although interestingly it seems to crash during the cutscene, not if you just stand there and watch him. Is mesh-based alpha not compatible with tangentspace ndix UR/bead-v? It's also not actually using the alpha, but I haven't checked it yet without tangentspace enabled. As an aside, I also noticed you were using mid-grey diffuse/ambient values for most of your mats, which I gather was unintended.

That has me stumped. Assuming it's not something specific at your end, like a vid card issue, all I can suggest is send the model to ndix UR and bead-v to have a look at, see if they can spot the source of the problem.

You could try adding isdiffusebumpmap 1 isspecularbumpmap 0 To the normal map's TXI. You may also need to switch the diffuse's TXI from bumpyshinytexture to envmaptexture, but I'm not entirely sure on that.

You've got an envmap but you don't want shiny?

Are the meshes themselves set to cast shadows? Poly count is an issue there - any mesh over somewhere around 1,500 polys will cause a crash if it has shadows enabled. Maybe it's the same with alpha? Couldn't really say with your shiny texture issue. I haven't tried normal maps with alpha. What's your TXI semantics?