Creating / editing strat map character models.

[leo.civil.uefs]

This is a tutorial to explain how you can edit strat map character models.

Follow the step by step:

WARNING: WHEN MOVING YOUR MODEL IN MILKSHAPE3D, DO NOT USE THE "SELECT ALL" (CTRL+A) COMMAND, CAUSE THIS WILL ALSO SELECT THE SKELETON AND WILL CERTAINLY MESS YOUR MODEL INGAME. INSTEAD, SELECT THE BITS YOU WANT ONE BY ON, VIA VERTEX, FACE OR EVEN BY SELECTING THE GROUPS.

1- You actually can't create a strat map captain or general model from scratch. You must take one working existing .cas model from the game (they are generally in data/models_strat). Convert any file you choose there to .ms3d with this tool.
2 - Now open the .ms3d file just created and edit the model. You can then merge a completly new model but you will need to assign the vertexes to the joints of the base model. The model you're going to insert/merge must have no skeleton, you will use the skeleton of the base model.
2 - When assigning vertexes to joints, select them BY VERTEXES, not by clicking a group name or selecting by FACES.
3 - After finishing your model in milkshape, select it with te mouse entirely BY FACE, then in Miklshape menus go in Vertex -> Unweld, then Tools -> Clean, then Vertex -> Align normals, then Face -> Smooth all .
If your milkshape does not have these commands, check here.
4 - When everything is ready, select your entire model with the mouse, BY FACE, and regroup it in a single group. Keep it selected and save the file. IT IS POSSIBLE TO KEEP THE GROUPS SEPARATED, THOUGH IN MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE I ONLY MADE .CAS FILES TO WORK HAVING A SINGLE GROUP INSIDE IT.
5 - Check if comments from the original model are kept. (in the main model, in each group and in the "figure" material)
6 - Now go back to the tool and convert it to .cas.

If you are willing to edit the text files that will determine which models will show up for each faction, the files you need to edit are:

desc_character.txt and descr_model_strat.txt.

They are both self explanatory if you dedicate a few moments to study them. You should notice that they have linkage both to strat map files names and models names in battle_models.modeldb.

[paleologos]

It's good to have this one as well, thank you leo, +rep.

[Callistonian]

I hadn't tried using 'smooth all' in Milkshape. Hopefully that can resolve the specular bug with unusual smoothing groups which I was otherwise fixing in 3ds Max and then having to re-rig in Milkshape. Thanks.

[AnthoniusII]

When you write "edit the model" do you mean, we use an exixting battle model of ours, errasing its random skeleton and merge it with the skeleton from the vanilla model we convarted with GOAT previusly?

[makanyane]

EDIT: ignore me, I'm lost...

[leo.civil.uefs]

When you write "edit the model" do you mean, we use an exixting battle model of ours, errasing its random skeleton and merge it with the skeleton from the vanilla model we convarted with GOAT previusly?

Sorry I'ts been long since I dealt with this matter. Now I cant even talk about what I've wrote in this tutorial myself.
I recognize my experience is limited and thus resulted in a limited tutorial.
New tools are being developed to deal with these models, better than the old ones quoted in this tutorial.
Hopefully, someone will come to answer your question.

EDIT: ignore me, I'm lost...

Aren't we all?