Completely Lost

**The Blade That Was Broken** · August 07, 2013, 11:58 AM

Just started to model/skin, made some edits, but there are so many files I don't know which is used and which is not, and which is which. If anyone can tell me, it would be great

**The Holy Pilgrim** · August 07, 2013, 12:13 PM

Here's how to find what you need:

1. Look in the "text" folder for a file called "export_units.txt" Look up the name of the unit that you wish to edit. For this example, we'll look for "Jingzhou Archers"

2. In the brace {} you'll see the unit definition.

Code:

{JZgongbing}Jingzhou Archers
{JZgongbing_descr}The bow originated as a hunting weapon to kill elusive game from a distance, the naturally made a transition to killing other men on the battlefield. As a weapon the bow offers its weilder to kill, wound, and maim from a great distance, all the while keeping him well out of reach from his target. Archers are typically used to soften up enemy formations prior to a general advance, but their greatest use in battle is, arguably, their ability to decimate powerful cavalry and weaken their inevitable charges.\n
{JZgongbing_descr_short}Archer corps of Jing province armies

Copy the unit definition (not the braces).

3. Now, go back to the data folder and open the "export_descr_unit.txt". Search for the unit definition that you just copied until you find what you're looking for (it will appear in the 'dictionary' line)

Code:

type             JZgongbing
dictionary       JZgongbing
category         infantry
class            missile
voice_type       Light
banner faction   main_missile
banner holy      crusade
soldier          JZgongbing, 48, 0, 0.7
attributes       sea_faring, hide_forest, can_withdraw, foot_archers, start_skirmishing, free_upkeep_unit
move_speed_mod     0.85
formation        1.4, 1.4, 1.8, 1.8, 3, square
stat_health      1, 1
stat_pri         5, 1, composite_arrow, 130, 35, missile, missile_mechanical, piercing, none, 0, 1
stat_pri_attr    area
stat_sec         5, 1, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, piercing, knife, 45, 1
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  5, 4, 0, leather
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        4
stat_ground      1, -1, 3, 0
stat_mental      12, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 6
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 500, 125, 100, 100, 555, 1, 100
armour_ug_levels 3, 5, 6
armour_ug_models JZgongbing, JZgongbing, JZgongbing
ownership        portugal, poland, slave
era 0            portugal, poland, slave
era 1            portugal, poland, slave
recruit_priority_offset    20

4. Now that you've found the unit entry, look at the soldier and armour_ug_models lines. There, you'll find model entries.

Code:

type             JZgongbing
dictionary       JZgongbing
category         infantry
class            missile
voice_type       Light
banner faction   main_missile
banner holy      crusade
soldier          JZgongbing, 48, 0, 0.7
attributes       sea_faring, hide_forest, can_withdraw, foot_archers, start_skirmishing, free_upkeep_unit
move_speed_mod     0.85
formation        1.4, 1.4, 1.8, 1.8, 3, square
stat_health      1, 1
stat_pri         5, 1, composite_arrow, 130, 35, missile, missile_mechanical, piercing, none, 0, 1
stat_pri_attr    area
stat_sec         5, 1, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, piercing, knife, 45, 1
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  5, 4, 0, leather
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        4
stat_ground      1, -1, 3, 0
stat_mental      12, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 6
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 500, 125, 100, 100, 555, 1, 100
armour_ug_levels 3, 5, 6
armour_ug_models JZgongbing, JZgongbing, JZgongbing
ownership        portugal, poland, slave
era 0            portugal, poland, slave
era 1            portugal, poland, slave
recruit_priority_offset    20

Keep this file open. You'll need it.

5. Now, go to the "unit_models" folder and open the "battle_models.modeldb" with Notepad or something similar (not Microsoft Word!). Search for each model entry that appears in the soldier and armour_ug_models lines.

Code:

10 JZgongbing 
1 3 
39 unit_models/sanguo/JZgongbing_lod0.mesh 200 
39 unit_models/sanguo/JZgongbing_lod0.mesh 1225 
39 unit_models/sanguo/JZgongbing_lod0.mesh 6400 
3 
8 portugal 
51 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabingLB.texture 
53 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabing_nor.texture 
43 unit_sprites/venice_JZqingbubing_sprite.spr 
6 poland 
51 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabingHX.texture 
53 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabing_nor.texture 
45 unit_sprites/portugal_JZqingbubing_sprite.spr 
5 slave 
51 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabingPJ.texture 
53 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabing_nor.texture 
42 unit_sprites/slave_JZqingbubing_sprite.spr 
3 
8 portugal 
51 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabingLB.texture 
53 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabing_nor.texture 0 
6 poland 
51 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabingHX.texture 
53 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabing_nor.texture 0 
5 slave 
51 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabingPJ.texture 
53 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabing_nor.texture 0 
1 
4 None 
16 MTW2_Fast_Bowman 18 MTW2_Fast_Knifeman 
1 
19 MTW2_Bowman_Primary 
1 
18 MTW2_Knife_Primary 
16 -0.090000004 0 0 -0.34999999 0.80000001 0.60000002

This file will tell you exactly where the textures used for the model is located.

I hope that this has helped you.

**The Blade That Was Broken** · August 07, 2013, 03:54 PM

Got another question, how do you know which part of a texture is going to be on what part of the body? Is there a way to preview how the mesh+texture look together without having to launch game? Say if I was editing this file xiangyongMT.texture (Militia model), how would you add a hat to it? Can't find a tutorial that covers how that works, unless I missed it. Thanks

**The Holy Pilgrim** · August 07, 2013, 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by The Blade That Was Broken

Got another question, how do you know which part of a texture is going to be on what part of the body? Is there a way to preview how the mesh+texture look together without having to launch game? Say if I was editing this file xiangyongMT.texture (Militia model), how would you add a hat to it? Can't find a tutorial that covers how that works, unless I missed it. Thanks

The first section handles all of the body textures (red), and the second section deals with extras (blue).

Code:

10 JZgongbing 
1 3 
39 unit_models/sanguo/JZgongbing_lod0.mesh 200 
39 unit_models/sanguo/JZgongbing_lod0.mesh 1225 
39 unit_models/sanguo/JZgongbing_lod0.mesh 6400 
3 
8 portugal 
51 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabingLB.texture 
53 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabing_nor.texture 
43 unit_sprites/venice_JZqingbubing_sprite.spr 
6 poland 
51 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabingHX.texture 
53 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabing_nor.texture 
45 unit_sprites/portugal_JZqingbubing_sprite.spr 
5 slave 
51 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabingPJ.texture 
53 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabing_nor.texture 
42 unit_sprites/slave_JZqingbubing_sprite.spr 
3 
8 portugal 
51 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabingLB.texture 
53 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabing_nor.texture 0 
6 poland 
51 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabingHX.texture 
53 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabing_nor.texture 0 
5 slave 
51 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabingPJ.texture 
53 unit_models/sanguo/textures/JZqingjiabing_nor.texture 0 
1 
4 None 
16 MTW2_Fast_Bowman 18 MTW2_Fast_Knifeman 
1 
19 MTW2_Bowman_Primary 
1 
18 MTW2_Knife_Primary 
16 -0.090000004 0 0 -0.34999999 0.80000001 0.60000002

To modify the .texture files, use Alpaca's Texture > DDS tool: http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showth...20#post1359620

**The Blade That Was Broken** · August 07, 2013, 03:41 PM

Yep, it helped alot, thanks

**Gongsunzan** · August 07, 2013, 07:47 PM

I think to add a hat youd have to make a new model

**The Blade That Was Broken** · August 07, 2013, 08:08 PM

Or I could just edit the model, might try that, but how would you skin that model?

**The Blade That Was Broken** · August 07, 2013, 09:51 PM

Modeling attempt turned into a complete failure (Not really, but only managed to make a paper hat lol), probably going to try that again later, going to stick to texturing for now

**The Blade That Was Broken** · August 07, 2013, 10:38 PM

Finally managed to get edited texture in game, changed the militia clothes to grey for testing, actually not bad, like it a bit better than the old one.

Click image for larger version.

Name: Grey Militia In-Game.jpg
Views: 20
Size: 630.0 KB
ID: 289395

Texture file

Click image for larger version.

Name: Grey Militia.jpg
Views: 12
Size: 139.7 KB
ID: 289396

**Gigantus** · August 07, 2013, 11:36 PM

You can preview textures on a model with milkshape - but that involves converting the model from mesh as well as converting the texture to DDS.

The most common tool for converting mesh is GOAT (download), don't forget to apply the bug fix for it.

The viewable result will be something like this if done correctly:

**The Blade That Was Broken** · August 08, 2013, 10:17 AM

Also would Blender be a easier to model (heard that ms3d is too complicated compared to it) with or is it not compatible with M2TW mesh files?

**The Blade That Was Broken** · August 08, 2013, 10:09 AM

Thanks Gig

. Also got a few more questions. 1) Say if I had (not real examples) a human_sword model (human with sword) and a human_pike model (human with pike), and I merged the human_sword (deleted the sword), with the human_pike (deleted everything but pike), and I also have textures for both, is there a way to keep the texture of pike with the human_pike.texture, and the body using the human_sword.texture? Or do I have to re-skin the pike. If so can I keep the body texture and what program would I use to do that? 2) I have a human_shield (human with shield and sword), and I extended the shield a bit (too short my liking), is there a way to just stretch the texture to cover the new extended shield? If yes, is it possible to do it in Photoshop or do I have to use another program? If so/no, which program would I use? Pointing me to a tutorial that covers this would be helpful as well.

**The Blade That Was Broken** · August 08, 2013, 10:53 AM

So far its going not too bad, but still having a bit difficulty getting vertexs on the same level as the others, any help on that will be appreciated

Click image for larger version.

Name: WIP Feathered Forest Longspear.png
Views: 6
Size: 93.7 KB
ID: 289505

**Gigantus** · August 08, 2013, 11:21 AM

I suck at 3D modelling, but my limited experience of it tells me that weapons, shields and other attachments are on different textures then the body stuff. The M2TW engine (see modeldb file as well) uses this principle. In fact that's what makes it so easy to swap weapons as you describe.

The program of choice is milkshape and to a smaller extent autodesk. Both have custom tools to convert from the 'regular' formats to the custom formats that M2TW & RTW use (no idea about ETW and up, but I am sure they have tools as well)