Hey guys,
I installed FF again yesterday hoping to do some serious hero creation and import them into my campaign. I found a cool site with some original looking heroes. This is the link if anyone is interested: http://www.alexff.com/stuffC6.php
I downloaded the skins and found where to get the meshes for the ones I wanted. I didn't really look into any tutorials on how to install the meshes (I couldn't find any), so I tried myself. I got the meshes installed into the game, as well as the skins, with only one serious problem. I don't have any power animations. :doh:
Can anyone tell me what I did wrong, and maybe post how to fix it?
Also, a tutorial on how to install meshes would be great.
Thanks!
EDIT: Also, if anyone knows of any site with some really cool original heroes, feel free to post them!
EDIT2: And I don't have FFvT3R
Do they have animation at all or is it just the "Power" animation? If it is just the Power Animation then it could be because the keyframe set that belongs to that mesh doesnt have that animation. If you dont have any animations at all then check the folder to see if you have a file called "character.kf" or "keyframes.kf"
the standard hero should have a folder with the name - i.e. "hero name" - in that folder should be a folder labeled "Skins" and also a file called "character.nif" and either "character.kf" or "keyframes.kf"
I've just got character.nif, and a .jpeg with wireframes in the 'hero name' folder.
Yeah I never got a keyframes file with the mesh. That means it didn't come with any animations, right?
Forgive me, I don't know much about.. any of it.
thats correct - you would need to find the proper keyframe file for the mesh you have used. Usually a readme document that came with the mesh or skin will give you a good idea on where to get the keyframes
I'm a bit confused as well. I tried some FF3R meshes and skins and they do not work properly. Most of the README files are incorrect, inconsistent or void of instructions at all. Many don't come with a keyfile and no instructions regarding a compatible key file. Every ZIP file contains a different structure it seems. :blink:
I've tried to install meshes here.
E:\Program Files\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich\Custom\Art\library\characters\<mesh name>
Also tried here:
E:\Program Files\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich\Data\Art\custom_characters\<mesh name>
Some README's tell me to put them somewhere else?!??!
What I'm trying to do is add new base characters. What is the location difference between the meshes and skins?
Is there a quick installer for this stuff? If not, if I can get the locations nailed down, I will code one. The current install instructions just seems to messy for a noob. :D
the FF wiki will be your friend + the list of tutorials thread (stickied in the freedom force discussions forum...which will also link you to the wiki) which answers most, if not all, of those questions. Who told you to install here:
E:\Program Files\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich\Custom\Art\library\characters\<mesh name> ?
While you can use that location, as the base meshes would go there, iirc, it's not customary for custom meshes to go there. Meshes go where you described, skins go inside of the required <mesh> folder. Keyframes are pretty easily obtainable depending on the base mesh (male basic...female basic...etc) and the readme should describe which ones to grab.
edit:
yay for useful links from the forums. ^_^ (http://frworld.wikispaces.com/Installing+skins+and+meshes)
Quote from: Previsionary on August 03, 2008, 08:11:59 PM
the FF wiki will be your friend + the list of tutorials thread (stickied in the freedom force discussions forum...which will also link you to the wiki) which answers most, if not all, of those questions. Who told you to install here:
E:\Program Files\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich\Custom\Art\library\characters\<mesh name> ?
While you can use that location, as the base meshes would go there, iirc, it's not customary for custom meshes to go there. Meshes go where you described, skins go inside of the required <mesh> folder. Keyframes are pretty easily obtainable depending on the base mesh (male basic...female basic...etc) and the readme should describe which ones to grab.
edit:
yay for useful links from the forums. ^_^ (http://frworld.wikispaces.com/Installing+skins+and+meshes)
Appreciate the help. I have a whole bunch of custom characters I downloaded off the web. Some I got from Alex's Freedom Fortress, Atomic Robot's Freedom Force Gallery, and a few other places. I can't remember which maker instructed me to use that folder but I know there were multiple locations within the various readme's. One of them also told me to put them into the /Application Data /Freedom Force vs 3rd Reich/custom_characters/ folder but it didn't exist. When I created one, it didn't work anyway. There just wasn't any consistency in the instructions within the various zip files.
Regardless, I'll take a look at the instructions you pointed me to and see if I can get things to work. I'd like to add some content as well and will share whatever I create.
Update: I've got all the characters from C6's site to work! All of them went into E:\Program Files\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs The 3rd Reich\Custom\Art\library\characters and worked flawlessly. C6 saves his zip files with simple path structure and includes keyfiles. Just extract and go. This makes things much easier. Some of the others (sites) I've tried have no path structure, no keyfiles, and no instructions.
C6, thanks for making it easier for a noob!!!
a lot of skinners don't inculde kf's for 2 reasons
1 the skin may not need them, as its not our place to redistribute the meshers work
2 if it is a hex of a mesh, including kf's doubles and sometime triples the size of the file