How Can I Take A Model and Its Actions and Place It Anywhere?

[CarthOnasty 214]

This is in regards to Biths in Taris cantina. Yah know, these dudes:

 

Say I wanted this same model, playing music just like he is, but located on like the Star Forge or something.

 

So far I've located the texture, mdl, and utc, but I'm not even sure where to go from there honestly. Any advice you could throw my way would be very appreciated!

[DarthParametric 3,782]

The model is not specifically relevant for what you want to do. You don't need to extract the model or textures, unless you plan on making a custom version.

 

To start with, you'll need a UTC which points to the existing entry in appearance.2da (Alien_Bith_01). You can use the Taris one you extracted as a starting point, but you'll need to change a few things. The Tag and ResRef for instance. You'll also need to change the references to two module-specific scripts it uses, OnSpawn k_ptar_dancer_sp and OnUserDefine k_ptar_bith_ud. You should just be able to extract those two scripts from the Taris module and rename them, then point the UTC to them. Someone else may want to check, but a cursory glance suggests they shouldn't need changing.

 

Then you'll need to add the new NPC (or NPCs) to the destination module's GIT, under the CreatureList. This defines the position and orientation of the NPC in the module. Depending on how you prefer to work, you may find it easier to determine the location directly in-game via an armband, or load up the module's models in Max/GMax.

 

You'll need to create a MOD file to inject your changes/additions into. To start with you can just brute force edit everything, but if you plan on a public release you will want to use TSLPatcher for compatibility.

 

That should be the bare minimum to get you going. Keep in mind that GIT edits won't work with existing saves, so for testing you'll need a save before entering the target module for the first time.

[Kexikus 995]

That should be the bare minimum to get you going. Keep in mind that GIT edits won't work with existing saves, so for testing you'll need a save before entering the target module for the first time.

 

That's not quite correct. For testing you can drop the .git in the Override instead of creating a .mod and then it will work with an existing save. It will also reset that module every time you enter/load it so this is really ONLY for testing. In the final release it has to be inside a .mod file.

[DarthParametric 3,782]

I find putting a GIT in the Override causes issues. I prefer to just do it properly from the get-go.

[Kexikus 995]

You might have a point there, but sometimes it is useful for testing.

[DarthParametric 3,782]

Sure, but my preference would be to teach and encourage best practice for people new to the concepts. Once you know what you are doing, you can do as you please, but if you learnt how to do it properly then you are less likely to half-ass stuff you release.