Newbie model modding fails

[LadyTevish]

Hi all!  So in an effort to fix Bastila's collar (open mod request), I decided to dive into the world of model editing.  I downloaded all the tools, GMax, KotorMax, all is good.

I played around a bit and made a fair few goofups (who knew that 'Convert to Dummy' deleted the part you were working on, whoops!)

In any case, it seems that Bastila doesn't have a 'collar' like the armours do, it's all part of her outfit.  So I load up Bastila, convert to editable mesh, tweak the vertices, export. Convert, voila. This is what I get.  Floating head and arms, no animations on the body/feet.  I thought it was something I did so I imported Bastila and tweaked one teensy vertex.  Same issue.

If I just import and export Bastila with no changes, she has skii-boots.  The original model is perfectly fine (except for the neck clipping I'm trying to fix).  So is there a disconnect somewhere?  Some scaling issue?  Do I need to merge the objects together or something?  I'm at a loss.

 

LadyTevish

  

Original

[Sith Holocron]

Any chance you'll post pictures in an area that's more brightly lit?

[LadyTevish]

Sorry, I guess the Star Forge has terrible lighting eh?  Who designed that place?   I have the contrast turned way up on my monitor lol.

I feel like I'm making a rookie mistake, I'm just not sure what it is... ^-^  This is literally my first time modeling so any advice would be appreciated!

Here's headless Bastila (no animation in her torso piece at all and visibly disconnected)

 

And skii-boots Bastila

 

Basti as she's exported from the tool is perfectly fine.  It's only after importing/exporting using Kotormax that she gets funky.  Would KotorBlender be better to try?

 

Also a better picture of the neck clipping I'm trying to fix.

Edited February 2, 2022 by LadyTevish

[LadyTevish]

Ah!  I should have used Blender from the start, SO much easier to work with!   And the resulting mdl didn't have anything funky happen with it.  I guess this will be my method from now on.

Thanks @Sith Holocron!  ^-^

PS: I'll be posting a tutorial soon for newbies like me.

 

Question - Is there a way to mark a help topic/mod request as solved/complete?