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Thread: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

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    Mackles's Avatar Roma Invicta
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    Default Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    Disclaimer: This guide is still a WIP, and any help or extra tips others can provide to close up anything I've missed, intentionally or accidentally, will be very much appreciated by all!

    What you will need



    The Variant Editor! This is a very useful tool for putting units together in double quick time. Mastery of this tool will mean many more Spartan Unit packs can be made much quicker than before. Because if there is one thing missing from the Rome II mod scene it is Spartan Unit packs This guide should hopefully enable you to take advantage of this tool to make wonderful new combinations of unit parts and units. To merely alter the way an existing unit looks this is all (mostly) you need. However, to create a new unit that is fully functional in campaign and custom battle you will need to refer to blackheartz excellent guide using PFM, or to use the Assembly Kit's DAVE tool then follow the same steps but also use .Mitch's very helpful Assembly Kit Guide.


    To business then! So, basics first. Open up "TWeak", then click "Tools -> Variant Editor" and voila! You are in! Your screen should look like this:

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 




    A quick(ish) explanation of the various parts of the screen
    In the middle is where your unit/parts/bits-and-bobs/etc will appear as you mess around with them/do some serious modding.

    Just above this is a little section with three colours on the right and a drop-down list on the left. The drop-down list allows you, with no small amount of scrolling, to select the colour scheme for every faction, both in the main campaign and Caesar in Gaul. Remembering that colour is applied by faction now, you will then see these colours on any models or pieces in the main screen below that the colours can apply to (tunics, shields, etc). Clicking on each of these colours will allow you to change them to another colour of your choice, and this can then be saved for that single unit to override the main faction colour scheme. How to ensure the colours you want apply correctly will be addressed later on.

    To the right of the screen are two drop down menus and a list below this. The left drop-down menu, as a little bit of experimenting will show, has a wide variety of options including various animals and beasties, ships, chariots and people! The main one most people will be concerned with is "man", which is the default option, so keep it on this! The second drop-down list is one you will be making much more use of. Again, a cursory glance at the presented options will show, in what should be a fairly clear manner, the different independent parts that will make up a unit model. You'll see stuff like armour, cloak, helmet, skin, etc. You get the gist, no? No?! Well alright, for those of you unacquainted with the terminology for which bit of armour goes to wear or what the difference is between "east_scale_1" and "east_scale_2" is then we'll get to looking at this stuff very shortly.

    Finally we come to the all important, yet sadly blank, left side of the screen. This, essentially, is your construction area. It is where you can choose to set up your various pieces and models and put together you unit as you see fit. You will notice a "Properties" tab near the bottom on this side, and this area, depending on what you have selected, will allow you to alter things like the colours applied to a model and where to attach crests and weapons so they end up in the right place in game. I've brushed over this very quickly but that's actually a very important step and easy to forget!


    Exploring the Assets!
    Going back to those drop-down lists on the right, one of the things you'll want to be doing is simply looking at all the stuff you have to work with from the get go! This is done fairly easily. First things first is to go to "File -> New definition". A pop-up menu will appear asking you to select a template. For only browsing to see what each asset is, window shopping if you will, select any template here as it does not matter. For the purpose of this example, I'll choose armour. Click ok and in the left hand area of the screen, the construction area, you'll see the word "armour" appear in bold.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    The important thing here is to click on "armour" and then the viewing can commence. Working from the lists of assets on the right hand side of the screen, navigating through the various sections through the drop-down menu, just double-click any of these and you will see the asset in the main screen. Do this for any and every asset to see it come to life on it's own. Scroll in/out to zoom in/out, hold LMB to spin the camera, hold LMB+ctrl to spin the asset and finally hold RMB to move up/down.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    As well as the asset appearing on screen, you'll see the name of it appear underneath "armour" on the left hand side. Some of these will have their own small arrow next to them. This indicates that it is not merely a model on it's own but is a ready-made meshdefinition, with built-in variation. An easy to see example for this is "african_headwraps" under helmets. Opening up the definition will show all the different individual models referenced to this definition. This is how units can show lots of variation when loading into battle, through these definitions with multiple references. This can be used to vary colour, as well as different models.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 




    Existing Units and Basic Editing
    Some slightly more interesting things now. The VEd lets you look at every unit in the vanilla game through this method. You can see and edit entirely new and modded units, but that's through the "Load definition" functionality, which is something I'll go over later. For now, click on "File -> Load uniform", and you should see another pop-up box. This contains three drop-down menus, although for the moment it appears that selecting anything in the middle menu is pointless so avoid that one. The left menu allows you to select between "Land", "Officer", "Agent", "Mount" and "Ship". For most unit editing you'll only be interested in the first two, although by all means go check out the others for a poke about, or if you're feeling brave go make some crazy stuff!

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    Selecting "Land" allows you to choose to load the rank and file of a unit, while selecting "Officer" will show you the gentry that lead the rabble into action. For now we'll stick to land, and go for something very typical. In the right menu, scroll down to "Gre_Heroes_Sparta: Gre_Heroes_Sparta" and click Open. You should see this:

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 




    You'll notice a few things. First off, the colours are wrong. That's because up top you haven't got the right faction colour scheme selected. If you left it alone till now it'll still be showing the colours for the Aedui in CiG. Scroll down until you find "Rom_Sparta" and select this.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    Secondly, you should see in my screenshot that I've taken the liberty of opening out the various definitions to show some of the referenced mesh files. In contrast to the simple viewing through armour approach we took earlier, you'll see everything for this unit is under the correct heading. This is important to make sure that when the time comes to boot up Rome II that the unit appears correctly, and not like something out of a horror film.

    In terms of those pre-existing meshdefinitions referenced here, such as all the different helmets, you can view all the different combinations of parts through this set-up by simply expanding all the parts and then clicking on them. Only one assest/meshdefinition can be shown at a time per reference point, so it's just a case of lot's of clicking about. This is how the game then goes and reads it when loading up the unit. Only one item per reference point can be seen on an individual sprite, although with 158 sprites (discounting officers and standard bearers) on ultra unit sizes you should see most combinations within a unit.

    Sticking with the building convention you see with the vanilla unit, you can now embark on some basic editing. Simply click on the correct emboldened heading, and then select the matching asset for this category from the right hand side to add it on to this unit. For example, under "clothing" you will see "hellenic_cuirass_short". Click on "clothing" and then from the right hand side, under "man"/"armour" scroll down and double-click "roman_hamata_late". Boom - Spartan chainmail. Experiment around with this, and it's probably best now if you make some intentional mistakes like linking an armour asset under "skin" or making your Spartan ride a whale...

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



    This is basically how unit editing works in VEd. Double-click and experiment, and making sure stuff is linked to the right place. Not so bad, eh?


    Creating New Definitions
    When viewing a vanilla unit earlier, indeed in looking at almost any vanilla unit, we can see that in most cases each reference is to another variantmeshdefinition file rather than straight to an asset. For pretty much everything you could just use the asset as is. However, that does handicap you in terms of adding variation or extras to those assets, such as crests for helmets or tunics for armour. So the easiest and best thing to do is to create a new definition file.

    To start, you will again need to click "File -> New definition" and this time pick the right template for what you want to create. So this will depend on whether you want to make an armour load-out, including a tunic and additional pieces like arm armour, or a helmet with different crests. This function also lets you create collections quite quickly, so if you wanted a variety of helmets all using the same crests then it can save you a fair bit of time! For this first example select "helmets" and press ok. On the left hand side of the screen, right-click anywhere and choose "Expand all". So you should now be seeing this:

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    As you can see, you have a main reference point for the helmet, plus two sub-heading reference points for "top_crests" and "side_crests". As you can probably guess, these refer to the different crest types. There are more top crests than side crests so "top_crests" so that's the one you will use for the most part. So now, let's put a helmet in here. Click on the "helmets" reference, and then on the right hand side, choose "corinthian_helmet_bronze" from the "helmets" selection to see it pop up as it should. Next, we are going to attach two different crests to the helmet. Only once crest can appear at a time on a helmet using this method so when making your own feel free to attach as many as you like. Click on the "top_crests" sub-heading on the left and then insert (using the double-click method) "hoplite_tall_crest_1_red" and "hoplite_crest_tall_large" from the "crests" selection.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    You should immediately notice that the crests don't appear on the helmet, but somewhere closer to where a models feet might be. This is because you haven't yet set an attach point for the crests. To remedy this, first click on "top_crests" and then let your eye wander down to the Properties tab on the bottom left. You will notice two things. One is the "Probability" box. Essentially, this lets you set a probability that the item will appear at all, so you could set it that some helmets will appear without crests. The other is the "Attach points" list, which is what we need right now. Check the "crest_centre" box and you should see the crests have now jumped up to sit on top of the helmet where they should!

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 




    We're almost done now, but I'll showcase the other function I was talking about which allows you to quickly enter a new asset which have the references to the additional assets already included. In this case, we'll enter another helmet and you should see that it has the same crests as the original already set-up for it! Click back on to the "helmets" reference heading and then insert "celtic_negau". Expand all the reference slots and you should see the two crests we set-up for the corinthian bronze helmet are already attached and ready to go with this celtic helmet. While you might not be a fan of this particular set-up, you now have an idea about how easy it should be to quickly set up multiple different types of assets with plenty of variation between them! The best thing being that you can then individually tailor the different pieces to delete some stuff and add in others.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    The last thing you'll need to do is to save, and for that you should jump ahead to the next section to make sure you do it right. Don't just skip the saving section otherwise you are in for all sorts of trouble later on!

    NB: Taking the time to check out what you want and can edit is well worth it, as quite a lot of the assets already have defined variations and such that you will find you cannot edit by this simple method. For example, if as a helmet you chose "celtic_montefortino_iron" you would not be able to add any new crests for this and the reference points would be grayed out. The same principle extends to other types of definition files such as armour and skin. In order to edit these you would need to extract the variantmeshdefinition file through PFM and then load the definition into the VEd through "File -> Load definition". This is also how you can take previously modded units and open them up to edit.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    The same method I've outlined here for helmets can be used for all the other various body parts and assets you might want to combine. For creating a piece of armour with tunic, you can use the "tunics" template. If you are making something like a cataphract, the "clothing" template is more useful, as it has additional reference points that you can occupy with stuff like arm armour and cloaks.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    Basic tutorial for tunics, armour and colour editing coming soon!



    Saving your New MeshDefinitions Properly
    So there are two ways to go about this. One involves creating a few extra folders in places to keep things neat and tidy, only needing you to make sure you spell things correctly. The other doesn't. If you like your OCD strong like me then you'll want to open up the spoiler below and quickly skim through to get what you need. If not, then when you are done creating your new definition simply click "File -> Save definition as" and then save your definition in the VariantMeshDefinitions folder. Job done. For example, that corinthian helmet with the large crest we made earlier. If you were to save that so that it worked properly it would go into "working_data/VariantMeshes/VariantMeshDefinitions". Save it as something like "Corinthian_Big_Crest".

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    So you have chosen the way of the OCD. Very well. This spoiler may look to contain a lot of information but trust me it ain't that much. Mostly just me reminding you to spell correctly when you make the new folders. Anyhoo, to avoid complications later on with your variantmeshdefinition files, you're going to want to do a quick bit of work on getting the right file structure to save your parts into. Basically, you just need to get the same structure that vanilla uses, which can be seen when looking through the "models_rome2" .pack file in PFM. This is just for organizing model parts in the same way CA does, which, if you create a lot of new combinations, can come in handy.

    First off, open up the file location of the assembly kit (it should be in "Program Files (x86)/Steam/SteamApps/common/Total War Rome II/assembly_kit") and go into the "working_data" folder. This is where the VEd will need to work from when you are creating new units, and therefore where you will need to store your custom meshdefinition files.

    For the actual completed unit files your work is already done for you. You should see three folders, the last of which will be called "VariantMeshes". Within this there will another folder called "VariantMeshDefinitions". It is in this folder that you will save and store your completed unit files, until you get to where you want to install them.

    What you are missing though is the correct places to save your meshdefinition files for individual body parts. If you're unit is going to work properly in game it will need to follow the conventions outlined in Lusty Jack Lusted's VariantMeshDefinition files tutorial. You can either do this at the end yourself by fixing up the code, or you can try and avoid it by doing this now. It's probably for the best to read through that anyway, seeing as it will help you either avoid problems in the future or at least make figuring out how to fix stuff easier.

    Important: The folder names and structure have to be exactly as they appear here, or you'll be spending a lot of time at the end fixing various broken variantmeshdefinition files.


    Anyway, within the "VariantMeshes" folder, create a new folder called "_VariantModels". Inside your new folder, create another folder called "man". See where this is going yet? Yo're basically making a copy of that second drop-down list on the right of the VEd, which will mean the mesh code will be correct when you finish. So now, within the "man" folder you just created, you will need to make the following folders:

    Code:
    accessories
    annimated_props
    arm_armour
    armour
    bloodpack
    cloak
    crests
    greaves
    hair_beards
    helmets
    leg
    patterns
    pelts
    props
    shield
    skin
    trousers
    tunics
    weapons
    For the sake of covering all bases, to complete this file structure so that it mirrors vanilla and sets you up for all eventualities, within the "patterns" folder you will also want to create this next level of folders. This is for shield textures and such, so I'll just spoiler it in case you aren't bothered! How could you?!

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    Code:
    african
    briton
    carthage
    celtic
    dacian
    eastern
    egyptian
    f2p
    germanic
    hellenic
    iberian
    macedonian_sun
    nubian
    roman
    samnite
    thracian
    woad


    So, now that you have your correct file structure (which you will need later for installation to work properly too) you are ready to start saving those new definition files for use later. Simply click "File -> Save definition as" and then select the correct folder for the item. For example, that corinthian helmet with the large crest we made earlier. If you were to save that so that it worked properly it would go into "working_data/VariantMeshes/_VariantModels/man/helmet". Save it as something like "Corinthian_Big_Crest". When you then use it later, the meshdefinition file for the unit it is part of will not (or at least should not) need any doctoring on your part.

    So, once you have that correct file structure, it's just a case of finding what you want to go into a particular collection of assets and then saving it into the correct sub-folder. And then to re-use it? Read on!




    Setting Up a Brand New Unit
    By this stage all the hard stuff should be behind you and you have realised just how easy it is going to be to make lots of lovely looking new units! Now for actually making that new unit from scratch. Of course, you having already set up the custom definitions that you will need, or at least identified the vanilla ones you want to use, you won't exactly be going from scratch now.

    Click "File -> New definition" and this time as your template select "man_final". (There is another template called "man" but I find that so long as you prepared your custom definition files properly then "man_final" is the best.) If you expand all the reference points you will see the necessary structure all ready for you to fill out with your definitions. If using vanilla assets then use the double-click method to insert it. If you are going to use your new custom definitions then right click on the appropriate heading and click "Add mesh reference". Select the right file and open it up. Repeat for all the different assets you want included and you should quickly see your unit come together! If you choose the wrong thing then simply click on it and press delete.

    As an example, I'll use a pre-set skin definition and our own custom helmet definition. Obviously this will leave our soldier a little naked (and missing some parts) but you can experiment with the rest! So, clicking on "skin" on the left hand side, from the "man"/"skin" menu on the right insert "roman_cine_skin". This is a nice collection of 15 or so Italian skins. As you can see from the rest of the "skin" menu, there are a whole lot more to experiment with, but just be careful as not all fit under different types of armour and clothing! Having done this, right-click on the "helmet" heading on the left-hand side and then click "Add mesh reference". This should give you the option to select a meshdefinition file and then just navigate to the "_VariantModel/man/helmet" folder and open the "Corinthian_Big_Crest" file we made earlier. You should see our helmet and crests appear and ready to go! And that's pretty much it. Providing of course that you didn't muck up the file structure for saving, all you have to do is follow the installation instructions below to get the unit to appear in the game. Obviously, give the poor chap some more clothes and remember all the other jazz and tables you have to fill out if you aren't just editing the uniform for an existing unit.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 






    Sub-Section: Weapons and Shields
    Now, when it comes to weapons and shields there are certain specific ways you have to set them up to make sure they appear correctly in-game. In the "man_final" template you will notice that the bottom five headings are "shield", "weapon_1", "weapon_2", "weapon_03" and "weapon_4". And while "shield" might seem pretty self-explanatory, you might be wondering about the four different weapon slots. Essentially, different weapon types belong in different weapon slots. However, as well as this you will also need to set a correct Attach Point in the Properties tab, much like with the crests for helmets.

    The slot to put a weapon in and it's attach point are the same. For example, swords go into "weapon_2" and you will need to set the attach point as "weapon_02" in the Properties tab.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    Here's a quick screengrab of part of the Roman Standard Bearers weapon load-out


    The following list was borrowed from Jack Lusted's original VariantMeshDefinition file tutorial, so just make sure everything is in the right place:

    Code:
    Spear              Weapon bone 1
    Pike                Weapon bone 1
    Falx                Weapon bone 1
    Standard         Weapon bone 1
    Rhomphaia       Weapon bone 1
    Sling               Weapon bone 1
    Javelin            Weapon bone 1
    
    Sword              Weapon bone 2
    Gladius             Weapon bone 2
    Club                Weapon bone 2
    Dagger             Weapon bone 2
    
    Bow                Weapon bone 4
    
    Javelin             Weapon bone 5
    Arrow              Weapon bone 5
    Stones             Weapon bone 5
    
    Shield              Weapon bone 3
    As you can see, generally pikes, spears and two-handers go with bone 1, swords with bone 2, shields with bone 3, etc. It's simply a case of putting a weapon in the correct slot and then setting the correct attach point. Simple!


    Sub-Section: Unique Unit Colouring
    To set a unique colour scheme for your new unit you will need to create an entry for the unit in the "unit_variants_colours" table. This can be done in either DAVE or PFM, depending on which tool you prefer to work with. Simply key in the RGB codes for the primary, secondary and tertiary colours you wish to use. If you aren't sure how to find these you can look up colour codes in MS Paint or just Google something like "RGB colour codes" and find the best matches for the colours you want. Include this table in your mod and you're all set.


    Sub-Section: Hints and Tips
    - When deciding on the skins for a unit to use, never use anything with "cine" in the name. Using any of the cinematic skins for a unit will make the faces go all derpy in-game. Want to find out what I mean by derpy? By all means, go ahead!
    - If you are creating a slinger unit you do not need to include a sling in the units variantmeshdefinition file, and obviously you also don't need to attach this non-existent entity to a weapon bone as in the Weapons and Shields sub-section. In-game the sling will appear thanks to slinger units particular animations. No shortcuts for archers or javelinmen though!




    Getting your stuff to Appear In-Game!
    Using the Assembly Kit's BoB is by far the easiest method of getting your stuff into a pack file. The only downside is that it will only ever create one pack file called "my_mod.pack", so once you are done you may want to extract those files to another pack using PFM.

    Having kitted out your unit, click "File -> Save definition as". If you have DAVE open at the same time and have already created a reference for your unit in the "unit_variants_colours" table then using "Save definition & colours" should save the unit with the colours you selected. If this doesn't work then no matter, you'll just have to manually key in the RGB code for the colours you want. Anyway, save your unit under either a) a totally new name if you are making a new unit or b) the same file name as the unit you want to replace. Having done this, you can find your new unit's variantmeshdefinition file in the same place as your other definitions: "assembly_kit -> working_data -> VariantMeshes -> VariantMeshDefinitions".

    Now, as in Step 5 in .Mitch's Assembly Kit Guide, simply boot up BoB, look at the right-hand column and check the mod.pack file in the data folder. Click start and you are done. Your mod, with completed units, will automatically be saved into the "Total War Rome II\assembly_kit\retail\data" folder. As I mentioned, you can then go on to extract your variantmeshdefinition files into another pack file using PFM to tinker with other tables as part of a larger mod.

    A warning here: If you are creating a new unit then you'll have to go through all the additional jazz blackheartz's guide walks you through, including making entries for the custom variantmeshdefinitions you have created in the variants table. If you are editing the look of an existing unit then make sure you don't screw up at the end and save it as the wrong bloody name! Additionally, if it isn't working in game then it's largely a case of finding out where you went wrong, which can include a lengthy spell of reading through your variantmeshdefinition code to check that it is perfect. GIGO and all that.


    There you are then. Hopefully you have found this guide helpful. I might put in an FAQ section later, when I'm less tired and there are actually questions being asked frequently!
    Last edited by Mackles; March 12, 2014 at 08:07 PM.

  2. #2

    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    Mine freezes and crashes when I open the variant editor

  3. #3
    Mackles's Avatar Roma Invicta
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    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    Quote Originally Posted by General George S. Patton View Post
    Mine freezes and crashes when I open the variant editor
    Have the other tools in the Assembly Kit been working for you? If this is your first time it might be worth re-installing and checking everything is in the right place. Beyond that, the VEd is a very demanding tool. My own computer, while no beast, is fairly powerful but it has crashed a few times when I've had too much on in the background at the same time as the VEd. One of the reasons I stopped where I did last night. Speaking of which...
    Last edited by Mackles; January 31, 2014 at 08:04 PM.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    It seems as if only one of the parts in each branch can be active on one unit (e.g. one man of a unit can either use a cataphract armor or a tunic but not both at the same time, if it's not available as a combination of the two e.g. as eastern_cataphract armor).

    In my case I want to use the eastern_scale which is just armor without trousers and a tunic or arm armor. How can I define a new set that includes that scale, arm armor and clothes?

  5. #5
    Mackles's Avatar Roma Invicta
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    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    Set up a new definition and use the clothing template. That should allow you to set a tunic up, with subsets for armour, trousers and cloaks. IIRC you should be able to use the cloak section for the arm armour, and you can ignore the trousers if you want. Then save that definition into your "working_data/VariantMeshes/_variantmodels/man/clothing" folder. Then, when you set up a new unit model by starting a new definition and using the "man_final" template you can right-click on clothing and select "Add mesh reference". Choose your new file and load it in!

    This will eventually be covered in the Creating New Definitions section when I pull my finger out

    Edit: A quick study of existing cataphract units shows that when using the clothing template you could set the armour, so eastern_scale in this case, under the tunics heading, and then arm armour under the armour heading and a tunic under the trousers heading. The building conventions don't seem to be as strict in the case of main body stuff. In terms of mixing and matching tunics and armour, so far I've found that hellenic/italian tunics work best.
    Last edited by Mackles; January 31, 2014 at 11:00 AM.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    Quote Originally Posted by Mackles View Post
    Set up a new definition and use the clothing template. That should allow you to set a tunic up, with subsets for armour, trousers and cloaks. IIRC you should be able to use the cloak section for the arm armour, and you can ignore the trousers if you want. Then save that definition into your "working_data/VariantMeshes/_variantmodels/man/clothing" folder. Then, when you set up a new unit model by starting a new definition and using the "man_final" template you can right-click on clothing and select "Add mesh reference". Choose your new file and load it in!

    This will eventually be covered in the Creating New Definitions section when I pull my finger out

    Edit: A quick study of existing cataphract units shows that when using the clothing template you could set the armour, so eastern_scale in this case, under the tunics heading, and then arm armour under the armour heading and a tunic under the trousers heading. The building conventions don't seem to be as strict in the case of main body stuff. In terms of mixing and matching tunics and armour, so far I've found that hellenic/italian tunics work best.
    Oups... Just saw that I totally overread that section, might be because I tried some things of the prevoius section in the variant editor and then came back... Anyways, thanks a lot for your effort, especially for the tutorial itself

  7. #7
    Mackles's Avatar Roma Invicta
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    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    Quote Originally Posted by Carthago View Post
    Oups... Just saw that I totally overread that section, might be because I tried some things of the prevoius section in the variant editor and then came back... Anyways, thanks a lot for your effort, especially for the tutorial itself
    Hehe that section has been heavily edited since your last post! Still got various bits and pieces I mean to add in to help clear things up, but pretty much most of what you need to put stuff together is included now

  8. #8

    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    problem solved, i had the editor installed on a different hard drive than rome 2

  9. #9

    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    I created a unit look by loading a uniform and editing and then saving it with new name etc. as your tutorial says. I then linked my unit to it and started the game and my unit was invisible except for the officers. I know it wasn't something I did creating the new unit cause it wasn't invisible when I tried it before with the same look as another unit. HELP ME

  10. #10
    Mackles's Avatar Roma Invicta
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    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    Quote Originally Posted by person needing help View Post
    I created a unit look by loading a uniform and editing and then saving it with new name etc. as your tutorial says. I then linked my unit to it and started the game and my unit was invisible except for the officers. I know it wasn't something I did creating the new unit cause it wasn't invisible when I tried it before with the same look as another unit. HELP ME
    1. Did you create any new definitions to use for the unit or just used vanilla ones?
    2. Are you changing the look of an existing unit or making a new unit?
    3. Did you follow the saving and installation guide exactly? 'cause even if you got one letter wrong then that can mess up the final VariantMeshDefinition file and you will have to check the code for it for fixes, in which case it would help if you could post that here.

  11. #11

    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    Quote Originally Posted by Mackles View Post
    1. Did you create any new definitions to use for the unit or just used vanilla ones?
    2. Are you changing the look of an existing unit or making a new unit?
    3. Did you follow the saving and installation guide exactly? 'cause even if you got one letter wrong then that can mess up the final VariantMeshDefinition file and you will have to check the code for it for fixes, in which case it would help if you could post that here.
    Ya, turns out I had to go in and copy the VariantMeshes file and paste it were it was suppose to be. I guess it didn't put it in the right spot...

  12. #12
    Mackles's Avatar Roma Invicta
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    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    Quote Originally Posted by person needing help View Post
    Ya, turns out I had to go in and copy the VariantMeshes file and paste it were it was suppose to be. I guess it didn't put it in the right spot...
    Working okay now?

  13. #13

    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    Thx for the tutorial Mackles.

  14. #14

    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    Any idea why it always tells me to select a file from working data whenever I go to add an armor variant mesh to a skin with "Add Mesh Reference"

    Am I just doing the impossible by trying to build my own unit from nothing?
    Last edited by Murderin; February 03, 2014 at 09:11 PM.

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    Mackles's Avatar Roma Invicta
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    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    If you are creating new variantmeshdefinition files for stuff like armour sets, helmets, weapons, etc, to use on a new unit then all that needs to be saved and accessed from the working_data folder. Make sure you've got the correct file structure set up in the working_data folder that I detailed in the OP and you shouldn't have any problems with the variantmeshdefinition code.

  16. #16

    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    Quote Originally Posted by Mackles View Post
    If you are creating new variantmeshdefinition files for stuff like armour sets, helmets, weapons, etc, to use on a new unit then all that needs to be saved and accessed from the working_data folder. Make sure you've got the correct file structure set up in the working_data folder that I detailed in the OP and you shouldn't have any problems with the variantmeshdefinition code.
    Well thats one problem solved. Thanks.

    Next up: Is there any way to change the color of the items, IE make the default black corinthian helmet a darker black? Or is that something you would have to do with a model editing program?

    And how can I add things like accessories when there is no accessories slot to put them in?
    Last edited by Murderin; February 04, 2014 at 01:55 AM.

  17. #17
    Mackles's Avatar Roma Invicta
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    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    Quote Originally Posted by Murderin View Post
    Next up: Is there any way to change the color of the items, IE make the default black corinthian helmet a darker black? Or is that something you would have to do with a model editing program?
    If you just want to recolour an existing asset then I recommend looking at Zaskar's tutorial for that. You'll need Photoshop/GIMP and a Hex Editor (or similar programs) but it's straightforward enough to do, so long as you know what you want and have got the time to experiment to get the right result!

    If you do that then you should have a rigid_model_v2 and a VariantMeshDefinition file for your recoloured item. If you place those into the correct folders within "working_data" then you'll be able to use them in the VEd.

    Quote Originally Posted by Murderin View Post
    And how can I add things like accessories when there is no accessories slot to put them in?
    An easy way to do this is to add the accessories into an unused slot on one of your custom meshdefinitions. For example, if you use the "clothing" template to create your armour then there are 2 additional slots even once you've added in your armour and tunic. Don't worry about putting other stuff into those, so long as there won't be a clash later.
    Last edited by Mackles; February 04, 2014 at 09:10 AM.

  18. #18

    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    Quote Originally Posted by Mackles View Post
    If you just want to recolour an existing asset then I recommend looking at Zaskar's tutorial for that. You'll need Photoshop/GIMP and a Hex Editor (or similar programs) but it's straightforward enough to do, so long as you know what you want and have got the time to experiment to get the right result!

    If you do that then you should have a rigid_model_v2 and a VariantMeshDefinition file for your recoloured item. If you place those into the correct folders within "working_data" then you'll be able to use them in the VEd.



    An easy way to do this is to add the accessories into an unused slot on one of your custom meshdefinitions. For example, if you use the "clothing!" to create your armour then there are 2 additional slots even once you've added in your armour and tunic. Don't worry about putting other stuff into those, so long as there won't be a clash later.
    Awesome, thanks man. Its a shame this forum has slowed down so much recently.

  19. #19
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    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    Quote Originally Posted by Murderin View Post
    Awesome, thanks man. Its a shame this forum has slowed down so much recently.
    No problem In my experience, there's still plenty of very knowledgeable guys around willing to help. It's just about asking the right questions

  20. #20

    Default Re: Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

    Quote Originally Posted by Mackles View Post
    No problem In my experience, there's still plenty of very knowledgeable guys around willing to help. It's just about asking the right questions
    If they flesh out this Assembly Kit a little more I think they could attract a lot more people to modding.

    I picked it up in a few hours and I had never modded a game or done anything like this in my life. Although to be fair I was following a PFM tutorial for the basics.

    A bit more documentation and a way to import and edit a pack and it will be an amazing tool.

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