Re-scaling Characters?

[Schizo 3]

Is there any way to do this? I want to fix something in this game that's always bothered me--The trandoshans. In this game, they are only an inch or two taller than a normal human, which is much shorter than they should be, considering they are on average 2-3 inches shorter than a wookie would be. Not a huge issue, but one that has been bugging me for quite a while.

 

I've already tried to fix this twice, but both times were unsuccessful.

I used the kotor tool to get the files for trandoshans, and opened them up in 3ds max (I have the thing, whatever its name is, installed for opening .mdl files). Then, basically, I selected everything, re-scaled it, and exported it. Next I dumped that into the override, hoping it would work, but it didn't.

 

On the first try, they were invisible. Second try, my game crashed. Am I just missing a few simple steps here, or is doing this going to be way more complicated than I want it to be?

[Revanator 60]

Is there any way to do this? I want to fix something in this game that's always bothered me--The trandoshans. In this game, they are only an inch or two taller than a normal human, which is much shorter than they should be, considering they are on average 2-3 inches shorter than a wookie would be. Not a huge issue, but one that has been bugging me for quite a while.

 

I've already tried to fix this twice, but both times were unsuccessful.

I used the kotor tool to get the files for trandoshans, and opened them up in 3ds max (I have the thing, whatever its name is, installed for opening .mdl files). Then, basically, I selected everything, re-scaled it, and exported it. Next I dumped that into the override, hoping it would work, but it didn't.

 

On the first try, they were invisible. Second try, my game crashed. Am I just missing a few simple steps here, or is doing this going to be way more complicated than I want it to be?

You need to adjust the textures as well.

[Schizo 3]

You need to adjust the textures as well.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean--Would it not work on a larger scale figure (You are talking about the .tga, right)? Would I just need to do the same thing to it, select it and drag it out so it's larger? 

[Revanator 60]

I'm not entirely sure what you mean--Would it not work on a larger scale figure (You are talking about the .tga, right)? Would I just need to do the same thing to it, select it and drag it out so it's larger? 

The texture mapping for the model will be all messed up once you resize it like that. That's probably part of the invisible problem. Additionally, with the new model size, lots of other problem will arise with model-to-model contact and animations, I believe. I could be totally wrong on this, so you'll want to check with some of the more experienced modellers.

[DarthParametric 3,784]

Rescaling won't change the UVs. The textures will be fine.

 

Your problem is twofold. First, you don't want to scale it in that manner because of the way 3DS Max handles transforms. Second, you need to change the animation scale amount in the AuroraBase so that they match the resized rig. You'll want to scale by a set factor and use the Rescale World Units tool (Utilities -> More) to scale the entire scene.

 

Edit: I would go for a 115% scale up, which would put it around the same height as a Wookiee, 2.1m or so. The vanilla animation scale is set at 1.028, so that would need to be bumped up to 1.182 or thereabouts. You may also need to tweak the appearance.2da values for walkdist, rundist, driveanimwalk, driveanimrun_pc.

 

Edit 2: OK, here's a quick test at 115%. Seeing as the Trando model includes animations, the best route is to export a custom named version that references the vanilla model as the supermodel (which means you set the animation scale at exactly the rescale size, 1.15 in this example). Here's the result:

 

 

 

[Schizo 3]

Rescaling won't change the UVs. The textures will be fine.

 

Your problem is twofold. First, you don't want to scale it in that manner because of the way 3DS Max handles transforms. Second, you need to change the animation scale amount in the AuroraBase so that they match the resized rig. You'll want to scale by a set factor and use the Rescale World Units tool (Utilities -> More) to scale the entire scene.

 

Edit: I would go for a 115% scale up, which would put it around the same height as a Wookiee, 2.1m or so. The vanilla animation scale is set at 1.028, so that would need to be bumped up to 1.182 or thereabouts. You may also need to tweak the appearance.2da values for walkdist, rundist, driveanimwalk, driveanimrun_pc.

 

Edit 2: OK, here's a quick test at 115%. Seeing as the Trando model includes animations, the best route is to export a custom named version that references the vanilla model as the supermodel (which means you set the animation scale at exactly the rescale size, 1.15 in this example).

I tried to follow your instructions, but I messed up somewhere... They ended up being invisible again. Here's what I did:

Imported n_trandoshan-ascii.mdl into 3ds max via nwmax plus

Went to utilties -> more, then rescaled world units by 1.15

I scaled animations in aurorabase to 1.15, then exported the file

I put the exported file (N_Trandoshan.mdl) into the override

I launched the game, and they were invisible

 

I didn't make any edits to the appearance.2da, I had no clue what to change the values to.

 

Sorry if doing this is supposed to be a simple thing, the only experience I have insofar as 'making' mods is using tes construction sets... 

 

Tried starting over a few more times, as well as making the values in the .2da you mentioned the same as the wookies, still the same result.

[DarthParametric 3,784]

I put the exported file (N_Trandoshan.mdl) into the override

This will be the start of your problems. It looks like you are not renaming your model and, more importantly, not compiling it. These are the steps just prior to exporting from Max:

• Give your model (the AuroraBase) a custom name. Something like Sch_Trando or whatever (just don't make it too long).
• Change the supermodel reference in the AuroraBase from S_Female02 to N_Trandoshan
• Change the animation scale in the AuroraBase to match your world scale change (e.g. 1.15)
• Export your model choosing geometry only (Export Geom Only)
• Change the filename of the exported model to make it apparent that it is an ASCII file. For example, Sch_Trando_ASCII.mdl
• Place the ASCII model and a copy of the original binary model (N_Trandoshan.mdl/mdx) into a folder together
• Change the filenames of the original binary model files to whatever your custom model's name (AuroraBase) is. For example, Sch_Trando.mdl/mdx
• Run MDLOps and select the ASCII file. Hit the Read and Write button. It will compile your model.
• You will have something like Sch_Trando_ASCII-k2-bin.mdl/mdx (or K1 for the first game) which you can move to the game's Override folder.
• Rename these files to your custom model's name. For example, Sch_Trando.mdl/mdx
• Now edit appearance.2da. Change the values of the race column for the Trandoshan rows from N_Trandoshan to the name of your new model (e.g. Sch_Trando)
• Make any other changes to appearance.2da as necessary. Like I suggested above, you may want to change the walkdist, rundist, driveanimwalk, and driveanimrun_pc values. I would just use whatever the Wookiee male row uses.
• Place your modified appearance.2da in the Override folder
• You should now be able to test it in game.

If you plan to release it publicly, you'll need to set up TSLPatcher to handle the appearance.2da edits to ensure compatibility. But that's a whole other kettle of fish.

[Schizo 3]

This will be the start of your problems. It looks like you are not renaming your model and, more importantly, not compiling it. These are the steps just prior to exporting from Max:

• Give your model (the AuroraBase) a custom name. Something like Sch_Trando or whatever (just don't make it too long).
• Change the supermodel reference in the AuroraBase from S_Female02 to N_Trandoshan
• Change the animation scale in the AuroraBase to match your world scale change (e.g. 1.15)
• Export your model choosing geometry only (Export Geom Only)
• Change the filename of the exported model to make it apparent that it is an ASCII file. For example, Sch_Trando_ASCII.mdl
• Place the ASCII model and a copy of the original binary model (N_Trandoshan.mdl/mdx) into a folder together
• Change the filenames of the original binary model files to whatever your custom model's name (AuroraBase) is. For example, Sch_Trando.mdl/mdx
• Run MDLOps and select the ASCII file. Hit the Read and Write button. It will compile your model.
• You will have something like Sch_Trando_ASCII-k2-bin.mdl/mdx (or K1 for the first game) which you can move to the game's Override folder.
• Rename these files to your custom model's name. For example, Sch_Trando.mdl/mdx
• Now edit appearance.2da. Change the values of the race column for the Trandoshan rows from N_Trandoshan to the name of your new model (e.g. Sch_Trando)
• Make any other changes to appearance.2da as necessary. Like I suggested above, you may want to change the walkdist, rundist, driveanimwalk, and driveanimrun_pc values. I would just use whatever the Wookiee male row uses.
• Place your modified appearance.2da in the Override folder
• You should now be able to test it in game.

If you plan to release it publicly, you'll need to set up TSLPatcher to handle the appearance.2da edits to ensure compatibility. But that's a whole other kettle of fish.

 

 

It's finally working! Thanks, I really appreciate the help, it always drove me crazy having human-sized trandoshans in game.

[Guest]

Going to do this with a few characters and release it?

[superSzym 155]

Going to do this with a few characters and release it?

It would be quite interesting.

[high5 18]

I asked but he hasn't learned how to set up the TSL patcher, I felt the same, it's a really nice idea. If somebody could help him with that maybe.

[DarthParametric 3,784]

I can set something up for the Trandos in both games. I'm not sure any other species need scaling, do they?

[Kexikus 995]

Also, there's a really good instructions pdf coming with The TSL Patcher download. I suggest to use This and when any problems arise, ask in The forums.

[Schizo 3]

I read the readme for TSL patcher and got it working. The file is waiting for admin approval.

[Fair Strides 509]

Okay, we've got a file from Schizo for K2 re-scaled Trandoshans and we have separate K1 and K2 versions from Darth Parametric waiting for approval.

 

Who gets the K2 version, or should both be approved? (I don't actually know if both use the same scale factor, so I don't know if there's any differences)

[Schizo 3]

Okay, we've got a file from Schizo for K2 re-scaled Trandoshans and we have separate K1 and K2 versions from Darth Parametric waiting for approval.

 

Who gets the K2 version, or should both be approved? (I don't actually know if both use the same scale factor, so I don't know if there's any differences)

They're both probably the same, considering that I just followed his instructions for it. You should probably just approve his, since his is for both 1 and 2.

[Revanator 60]

They're both probably the same, considering that I just followed his instructions for it. You should probably just approve his, since his is for both 1 and 2.

Darth Parametric's are separate for K1 and K2.

[Sith Holocron 2,478]

You should probably just approve his, since his is for both 1 and 2.

Done.

[DarthParametric 3,784]

Whoops, I didn't know Schizo was submitting anything, since high5 said he was having problems with TSLPatcher. Sorry about that. You can delete my TSL one and allow his if you want.

[Revanator 60]

Is it possible to rescale Mission in a similar way? I always thought she should be a bit shorter...

[DarthParametric 3,784]

The problem with player characters is that you have rescale copies of every single armour model. So yes it is entirely possible, but it's a pain in the ass to do.

[Schizo 3]

The problem with player characters is that you have rescale copies of every single armour model. So yes it is entirely possible, but it's a pain in the ass to do.

Also don't the head and body use separate meshes? From what I can see, anyways, if one were to scale her body down, wouldn't her head be floating?

[superSzym 155]

Actually, for Mission these would be only nine body models. But I don't know nothing about floating, I always thought the head is just placed on the top of the body. DarthParametric will know it and probably he'd also know how to fix potential floating.

[DarthParametric 3,784]

No, the head won't float. Head models are positioned such that the bottom of the neck is at world zero. Body models use a dummy object - the head hook - at the point where neck should connect to the torso. The game attaches the head's AuroraBase at this point.

 

Hooks are the way the game attaches all sorts of models together, like masks, weapons, etc.

[Revanator 60]

9 body models to scale? Huh. Might be project I look into then.