Desperate model editing noob

Hi all. i've been wondering for a long time. How do you guys make those great (and not so great) models? I am a complete noob at these things and i've always wanted to dabble in the fine art of game editing.

 

I've done editing before, but those were on notpad files like the ones for Homeworld and Star Trek Armada 2 (on armada i was able to do a lot just moving and renaming stuff, gave the galaxy and nebulas tractor beams, gave the defiant a phaser, equiped the akira with sovereign weapons like it should changed the starbase so that the fbaseHQ was the ingame starbase, etc)

 

now, i've downloaded a lot of programs that allow model editing. I have that small tutorial on the site on how to replace the models (know that part by heart). I've been using a program called Assimview to take a look at the hard points on the trek ships (if i mention trek ships, they are the ones from Armada 2) and it's worked out pretty good, just a couple things i need to resolve still.

 

Other programs i've downloaded have been resource hacker, Lithunwrap, conv3ds and milkshape (don't really like it, though, using mainly Lithunwrap).

 

Anyway, that is all i know how to do, edit notepad files and switch and rename files to do as i wish and i've gotten pretty good at it.

 

My ultimate dream is to do what everyone wants: to take either rebllion or X-wing Alliance models and put them into Star Trek Armada 2 creating the TC to end all TCs.

 

However, i have only gotten as far as turning the Gallofree tactical 301 into an SOD( the file type the trek ships are in).

 

What i want to know, short and simple is, how do you use any of the programs above (or any other programs you guys use) to make modifications to the ships? i know nothing about doing any of that.

 

if i may put forth a small task, could some one make a full length tutorial, from start to finish, making either a new model of any ship in either game (if you can make a gallo out of some Armada ship, that would be awsome and i would always be in awe of your abilities) using either the programs above or any other ones that are easy and free to download.

 

I'd liket to note that some of these programs don't accept either one or the other and that has been a major snag in my operations. if you guys could include how to get around those flaws it would be a great help.

Hi,

 

if you got the download capacity for about 50 megs, go to http://www.armadafleetcommand.com and download the StarWars MOD for Armada 2. It already has a great deal of the XWA models converted to STA-2 and you can start playing right away

 

I don't know anything about converting models into the .sod format and there's the matter of the hardpoints as well, as you already mentioned. In Rebellion the engine just fires the shots from the model center, so we don't have to worry about the origin of the shot in this game.

 

Btw, try Gmax ! Make a few primitive structures, like (segmented) boxes and such and turn them into editable meshes. Then you select the red dots (vertices) and move them around to fit them into the desired shape. That's a really basic approach to modelling. This works of course as well with any other structure. By combining these, you'll get your model in the end.

thanks for the help, they are great models. I'm just gonna use the gallofree model for the cargo ship. there is one thing though: textures, there seem to be none for the gallofree model. I looked under its original file name and all but i can't find anything. maybe i should make my own for it. anyone know any prgrams or how to make textures for the SODs in the game?

Umm, lemme see ... medtrans.tga should be the texture's name.

 

Since the textures are all just plain-normal tgas, why don't you use a normal graphics prog, that can convert your textures to that format ?

 

There are also other programs, like ACDSee or Irfan View, that can do that for you.

And the problems continue. I think the mod making god hates me.

 

I made the following: copied the federation cargo ship's odf and called it fgalo.odf. that goes good. create an odf that allows the galo to hold 1000 trade units as opposed to 500 on the standard ships. tested and works.

 

put in the transport's sod and called it fgalo. that tested and works.

 

the problem comes with the textures. i took the medium transport textures and called it fgalo and put it in the textures folder. Tested and....nope, didn't work. ok, time to tweak, i think to myself. I think it might have been that i had the model at .2 scale (in the odf.) since otherwise it would not fit in the trading stations' docking parts. So i make it 1.0 again. still nothing. I think maybe it's because i don't have a borg version for if it is assimilated. I make up a half done version of the textures adding green here and there. Still nothing. ok, maybe it needs a bitmap. so i try that: take the construction bitmap the star Wars mod folder ( i installed the mod into another folder so i can pick and choose what i wanted). bitmap is put in and is good. the only thing are the textures.

 

So i finally got fed up and came to ask you guys what to do. do i need to edit perhaps the texture.DAT file, is there another file i need to edit.

 

so exactly what i did i've got everything but the textures to work. for some reason nothing i do can get them to stick to the ship. i'll keep looking for a way but maybe one of you have figured it out so i thought i'd ask.

 

Thanks really guys for all your help. if it wasn't for you guys i would still have apsolutely nothing.

nevermind guys, it turned out all i had to do was keep the name as med trans. BTW if anyone reading this has ever wanted to put Star Wars into an rts then download the mod. it is the best, i'm going to look at converting a few more ships into the game. Maybe i'll get rid of species 8472, they were never all that appealing.

 

anyway, thanks for all the help guys.

Yeah, that seems to have been the problem.

You see, the name of the texture(s) used for the model is in the model file as well. So if you rename it, the engine can't find the texture anymore.

 

No prob dude, glad I could help