Topic: Where to place meshes?

[house89]

Hallo.

I jus installed FFVTR. I am having trouble placing the meshes. I went the alex's freedom force fortress n downloaded the mesh n skin for aquaman. But when i go into the game, i cannot see the character display on  the right hand side. What do i do? N where do i place the mesh? Thanks alot for your help

[house89]

Hi all

Do you know where the folder to place the aquaman mesh n skin? I can't seem to find the folder to place the stuff in. Please advise.

[Gremlin]

Are you running or ?

The easiest option for basic stuff like this is to check the Freedom Force Wiki.

[stumpy]

house89, I moved your topic from the tutorials thread and merged it here.

Basically, you want the new mesh folder to be unzippped in the Custom\Art\library\characters folder, which is under your base game folder. See this post for an example of what the directories look like for an installed mesh.

As Gremlin says, the wiki has notes on this. If you need additional help, it would be useful to post what version of Windows you are running and what version of FFvT3R (the U.S./Canada CD, the Steam version, etc.) you have installed.

[house89]

Ok i m running windows XP sp2. Hmmmm in the link you showed me, the "Custom folder" is showed (stumpy's post). Since it is the FFVTR, i have to go to local settings/application data... path right?

Ok  this is the path i have followed.

C:\Documents and Settings\Joel\Local Settings\Application Data\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich\Custom\Art\Library\characters

At this point i wanna ask: Do i make a folder called AQUAMAN? cos i don't see anything else in that folder. Is this where i place the mesh?

N in the link by stumpy, it's plasticman_tj? What does TJ stand for?

Sorry guys for the trouble taken 4 replying a noob like myself.

[detourne_me]

No, you would put a folder called aquaman in the location
C:\Program Files\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich\Custom\Art\Library\characters
in that folder (Aquaman) , you should have at least three things:
1 character.nif file
1 keyframes.kf (or character.kf file)
1 folder called skins (with at least 1 folder inside called standard)

The Documents and Settings path you listed will include the hero files (aquaman.hero) that you will make in the game when you make a new custom character.

for plasticman_tj the  tj means Texas Jack, he was the creator of that mesh.  In our community many creators put their initials at the end of the filenames in order to signify who made it.

[house89]

Yeah unfortunately the problem is i only have up to here: C:\Program Files\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich\Custom\. After custom i don't have anymore stuff.

Shld i c8 the folder manually?

[stumpy]

Yes.

BTW, which particular Aquaman mesh are you installing (which artist/mesher, which version, etc.)? As I recall, there were several at AlexFF. Something to keep in mind is that not all of them come with keyframes, which will be either a keyframes.kf or character.kf file. So if that file isn't in the same folder as character.nif (e.g. in C:\Program Files\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich\Custom\Art\library\characters\Aquaman), then you might have to check the readme.txt for notes on the right keyframes and unzip them there as well.

Also, this is a more rare problem, but some of the zip files with skins and meshes weren't structured properly. By that, I mean, all the files would be there, but they wouldn't be in subfolders, so you would put the NIF and KF files in the Aquaman folder and then set up the skins\standard folder with the TGA or DDS image files as others have described (and as were in the example).

[house89]

Stumpy, for clarifications' sake, do u mean i have c8 the folder?
The AQUAMAN mesh i m installing is from Alex's Fortress. It's just Aquaman, not harpoon or SA.

Anyway this is what the readme in the MESH file says (important points):

Aquaman
Created by Mort Weisinger and Paul Norris
Owned by and Copyright DC Comics.  Used without permission.  No rights are assumed or inferred.  I'm just a fan.
Hexed Aquaman_beltless mesh by Ken "Kenn" Hallaron based on Feeo's DS_Aquaman
Skin by Ken "Kenn" Hallaron.  Made use of both the Gryphon's base skin and his Aquaman skin as "bases" (wanting it to look like the same guy and all.)  The skin will also work on male_basic_effects with the extra bonus that the watery hand is translucent!
The mesh takes male_basic or Manowar_for_male_basic or Male_Triton (by Grenadier) keyframes (not included).

So after unzipping the mesh file, this is what i see inside: skins(folder), a readme, a character FFVTR NIF file and a keyframes file.
In this skins folder, there is a standard folder. In the standard folder, there are
1)   male_basic
2)   male_basic_glow
3)   male_basic_lightmap
4)   male_basic_refl
5)   portrait

In the skins (one available on AlexFF and not the one in the mesh folder)  file that I downloaded,

The following files are in there:

1)   male_basic
2)   male_basic lightmap
3)   male_basic_refl
4)   Portrait

And a readme.

So I would like to ask: Why the repition? N again, is the any simple way of arranging these files?

Thanks a lot guys.

[stumpy]

Yes, create the folder. Then unzip the whole downloaded zip archive into it. You should then have a folder in it called C:\Program Files\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich\Custom\Art\library\characters\Aquaman (or maybe the last layer is aquaman_classic or whatever).

That aquaman folder will contain a folder called skins, maybe a readme file, and a character.nif and a character.kf (or keyframes.kf) file. If it doesn't have the keyframes file, you may have to download Felideo's ds_aquaman and put just the keyframes file there.

The skins folder should have (at least) a subfolder called standard with various skin files you mentioned (whichever image files were in the archive you got from AlexFF). There may also be an Aquaman_classic folder inside skins

[house89]

Stumpy sorry jus a few more queries..

1) do i  just unzip both the mesh n skin files into the folder? Any rearranging to be done?
2) do i retain the readme

Thanks so much.

[stumpy]

1) You generally will unzip everything in the ZIP archive. Most ZIP archives are set up so that, once you unzip it to the right place, you are done installing. Whether or not any rearranging is required depends on how the archive is set up.

I still can't tell which exact aquaman mesh you have. It looks like you have the aquaman_classic.zip archive from Kenn X's page at Alex's Freedom Fortress, but your readme isn't exactly like mine, so it's tough to be sure.
If that's what you have, then what needs to be done, from the start:

• Create the Custom\Art\library\characters folder, if you don't already have it, under your base game folder.
  
  
• Unzip the ZIP archive into that folder. That will give you an aquaman_classic subfolder which has inside it three things: a skins subfolder, character.NIF file, and a Aquaman classic Read Me.txt file. (If you aren't seeing the file extensions, see the Game FAQ for notes on making them visible.) The skins folder will have two subfolders, Aquaman classic and standard, each with several TGA (in this case) or DDS files and maybe some readme files.
  
  
• Since the zip archive doesn't come with keyframes, you want to get some. The readme notes that the mesh can work with (among others) the keyframes for the male_basic mesh. If you don't have that already, you want to look at a master mesh list to see where it can be found. The mesh list is in several locations, I have been looking at the one on the FR World wiki. Once you have male_basic.zip, open it and drag keyframes.kf to the same aquaman_classic folder where characer.NIF is located.
  

 
That's it. 

2) IMO, it's worth keeping all the readmes. There is no reason not to (a readme barely takes up any space) and it's useful to have the credits handy. Aside from knowing whose mesh and skin you are using (and maybe find other stuff they have done), once in a while you will want to check to see if there are other notes that you need when you are playing around. For instance, it can be useful to know that a mesh is based off of male_basic (as an example) in case you want to try out a different set of keyframes that work with male_basic meshes.

[house89]

Hi stumpy.

Thanks alot for the tips. I ran the game but aquaman is a pink block tho. However, i could use some of his powers.

-Anyway, i think the hero file for aquaman classic is missing. Any idea where i can find it? Cos AlexFF only has Hero files for aquaman n aquaman SA.
-Jus wondering, is the "Custom\Art\library\characters" case-sensitive? Shld i change it to Library\Characters

[stumpy]

The capitalization shouldn't matter here.

BTW, you may have to restart the game after you have installed a new mesh or made changes to how a mesh is installed.

So, to double check, the aquaman_classic mesh was available as a mesh, but all that appeared in the in-game hero editor was a pink block there, right? That generally means that the game didn't find the file C:\Program Files\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich\Custom\Art\library\characters\aquaman_classic\character.nif. Check for that file. If it's not there, we still aren't connecting on the install instructions.

Do the following to get us some baseline info on what's installed where for your meshes:
1) Open a command prompt. (Go to the Start Menu and click on Run. In the box that opens, type cmd.exe and click OK.)
2) At the command prompt, enter the following

Code: [Select]

c:
cd "\Program Files\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich"
cd Custom\Art\library\characters
dir > test.log
tree /f /a >> test.log
dir aquaman_classic >> test.log(If you don't have the game installed at c:\Program Files\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich then change the first and second lines to reflect the drive and folder where your game is installed.)

3) Now open the file test.log that should be in the c:\Program Files\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich\Custom\Art\library\characters folder and paste it's contents here using the code tags. If you got any errors, post them, too.

(To use the code tags, open the file in, for example, Notepad. Select everything and copy its contents to the clipboard using Ctrl-C. Then, in your reply here, click the button and Ctrl-V paste the clipboard in between the [code] and [/code] tags that appear.)

What you have should be fairly short since you haven't installed many meshes yet. It will look something like the following.

Code: [Select]

Volume in drive C is OS
 Volume Serial Number is D2C1-E475

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich\Custom\Art\library\characters

07/06/2009  08:44 PM    <DIR>          .
07/06/2009  08:44 PM    <DIR>          ..
06/14/2009  05:50 AM    <DIR>          AccessoryGirl
06/14/2009  11:18 PM    <DIR>          ActionGirl
07/06/2009  06:12 AM    <DIR>          aquaman_classic
07/06/2009  09:03 PM                 0 test.log
               1 File(s)              0 bytes
               5 Dir(s)  460,377,899,008 bytes free
Folder PATH listing for volume OS
Volume serial number is D2C1-E475
C:.
|   test.log
|  
+---AccessoryGirl
|   |   AccessoryGirl.max
|   |   character.kf
|   |   character.kfm
|   |   character.nif
|   |  
|   \---skins
|       \---standard
|               AccessoryGirl.tga
|               armour01_cuff.tga
|               armour01_cuffref.tga
|               armour01_greave.tga
|               armour01_greaveref.tga
|               armour01_helmet.tga
|               armour01_helmetref.tga
|               armour01_refmap.tga
|               armour01_shield1.tga
|               armour01_shieldref.tga
|               armour01_shpad.tga
|               armour01_shpadref.tga
|               armour01_skirt.tga
|               armour01_skirtref.tga
|               hair_band.tga
|               hair_bob01.tga
|               hair_ponytail01.tga
|               hero01_armfin.tga
|               hero01_cape.tga
|               hero01_collar1.tga
|               hero01_legfin.tga
|               hero01_shincuff1.tga
|               hero01_shouldercuff.tga
|               hero01_thighcuff1.tga
|               hero01_tiara1.tga
|               hero01_wristcuff1.tga
|               horns.tga
|               lightmap.tga
|               modern01_belt.tga
|               modern01_boot.tga
|               modern01_cap.tga
|               modern01_glasses.tga
|               modern01_glassesref.tga
|               portrait.tga
|               weapon_axe.tga
|               weapon_gun.tga
|               weapon_nightstick01.tga
|               weapon_pistol.tga
|               weapon_sword01.tga
|               weapon_sword01_ref.tga
|               weapon_wakizashi.tga
|              
+---ActionGirl
|   |   ActionGirl.max
|   |   character.kf
|   |   character.kfm
|   |   character.nif
|   |   character.nif.bak2
|   |  
|   \---skins
|       \---standard
|               ActionGirl-light.tga
|               ActionGirl-spec.tga
|               ActionGirl.tga
|               portrait.tga
|              
|
+---aquaman_classic
|   |   Aquaman classic Read Me.txt
|   |   character.NIF
|   |   keyframes.kf
|   |  
|   \---skins
|       +---Aquaman classic
|       |       AquamanII.txt
|       |       Deathstroke_extras.tga
|       |       Deathstroke_extras_glow.tga
|       |       Deathstroke_extras_refl.tga
|       |       male_basic.tga
|       |       male_basic_glow.tga
|       |       male_basic_lightmap.tga
|       |       male_basic_refl.tga
|       |       portrait.tga
|       |      
|       \---standard
|               Deathstroke_extras.tga
|               Deathstroke_extras_glow.tga
|               Deathstroke_extras_refl.tga
|               male_basic.tga
|               male_basic_glow.tga
|               male_basic_lightmap.tga
|               male_basic_refl.tga
|               portrait.tga

 Volume in drive C is OS
 Volume Serial Number is D2C1-E475

 Directory of C:\Program Files\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich\Custom
\Art\library\characters\aquaman_classic

07/06/2009  06:12 AM    <DIR>          .
07/06/2009  06:12 AM    <DIR>          ..
07/10/2004  11:09 AM             1,997 Aquaman classic Read Me.txt
05/10/2003  05:44 PM           183,941 character.NIF
01/23/2002  08:10 PM           751,451 keyframes.kf
07/06/2009  06:10 AM    <DIR>          skins
               3 File(s)        937,389 bytes
               3 Dir(s)  460,377,686,016 bytes free
That should at least give us a clear picture of where your files are getting installed and we can go from there.

Regarding HERO files, I don't know where Alex has them now, but at one point he had a giant zip file of all his HERO files on his site. You would have to install the HERO file elsewhere. This thread has some tips on that. Let's get the mesh installed properly first, though.