Variant Editor - Beginners Guide to the Assembly Kit

[Murderin]

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?

[Mackles]

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.

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.

[Murderin]

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.

[Mackles]

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

[Murderin]

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.

Can you clarify this part a little more?

[Mackles]

Can you clarify this part a little more?

If you follow Zaskar's recolouring tutorial then at the end you should have a couple of .dds files and a rigid_model_v2 file per asset that you changed. To use them in any case you'll need to create a VariantMeshDefinition file that references that rigid_model_v2 file. Once you create that definition then you can just put it in the appropriate folder in the Assembly Kit's "working_data" folder (e.g. for a piece of armour that would be "working_data/VariantMeshes/_VariantModels/man/armour") and then be able to access it in the VEd by the "Add mesh reference" functionality from right-clicking on a slot heading on the left hand side.

However, if you also put the rigid_model_v2 file in the same folder, and put the .dds files into a sub-folder within the armour folder (create a new folder in the "armour" folder and call that one "tex") then your new asset will appear in the appropriate list of assets on the right-hand side of the VEd, and will be made distinct from vanilla assets by it's name being italicized.


As for the faces, I have no idea! It might help if you could post your code for that unit to see if there are any errors or conflicts occurring.

[airborne guy]

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.

@ Mackles, in my working data foolder I dont have those threee files that you were referring to. How can I get these? Do I extract the varianmesh from the PFM to here...

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Total War Rome II\assembly_kit\working_data

[Kraut and Tea]

Can you help me with a reskin of a unit?

There are simply parts of this tutorial that I do not understand. I have already "created" a reskin of the egyptian Galatian Royal Guard as I would like to see it in the game, but have no Idea how I am now suposed to implement it into a packfile and if it will work in the first place.

Would you mind if I send you the file?

[Mackles]

Can you help me with a reskin of a unit?

There are simply parts of this tutorial that I do not understand. I have already "created" a reskin of the egyptian Galatian Royal Guard as I would like to see it in the game, but have no Idea how I am now suposed to implement it into a packfile and if it will work in the first place.

Would you mind if I send you the file?

1. Is it just a reskin of an existing unit?
2. When you say you have created the reskin, all your work in the VEd is done and you've saved it as a VariantMeshDefinition file, yes?
3. If so, is the file name exactly the same as the original unit VariantMeshDefinition file? (e.g. For Roman Legionaries the original VMD file is "rom_legionaries", so the new VMD file would also have to be called "rom_legionaries")
4. Do you have PFM and generally know how it works?

We'll go from there

There are simply parts of this tutorial that I do not understand

Which bit?

[Kraut and Tea]

Can I just send you my file???

Mainly it`s just so I have a list of things that I am doing wrong, basicaly I need someone who can tell me what I am doing wrong.

[Mackles]

Well yeah you can send the file, although generally these are P.I.C.N.I.C. issues. If you created new definitions and then used them as part of the final unit then those will all have to have been saved in the correct places. Atm the Assembly Kit doesn't have all those places when you install it which is why you need to do a bit of work creating some new folders within the "working_data" folder.

Installation using PFM is just copy and pasting those files into your "MyMods" folder and then adding those specific files and PFM will do the rest.

[Kraut and Tea]

Thank you alot!

[Mackles]

Okay, so I've had a look at the file and opened it up in the VEd to experiment around with it. Let's start with the armour. You can't combine clothing and armour together in a slot like that, because only one item can appear at a time per sprite. So I imagine in game you would have seen some guys with trousers and no cuirass, and others with a cuirass and no legs. So to combine the trousers and cuirass you have created, you need to create a new definition with those in the correct slots. I've done that for you here, using the "tunic" template in the VEd:

<VARIANT_MESH>
	<SLOT name="tunics" >
		<VARIANT_MESH model="variantmeshes\_variantmodels\man\trousers/celtic_cheque_trousers_01.rigid_model_v2" >
			<SLOT name="armour" >
				<VARIANT_MESH model="variantmeshes\_variantmodels\man\armour/hellenic_bronze_cuirass_a.rigid_model_v2" />
				<VARIANT_MESH model="variantmeshes\_variantmodels\man\armour/hellenic_bronze_cuirass_b.rigid_model_v2" />
			</SLOT>
		</VARIANT_MESH>
		<VARIANT_MESH model="variantmeshes\_variantmodels\man\trousers/celtic_tartan_trousers.rigid_model_v2" >
			<SLOT name="armour" >
				<VARIANT_MESH model="variantmeshes\_variantmodels\man\armour/hellenic_bronze_cuirass_a.rigid_model_v2" />
				<VARIANT_MESH model="variantmeshes\_variantmodels\man\armour/hellenic_bronze_cuirass_b.rigid_model_v2" />
			</SLOT>
		</VARIANT_MESH>
	</SLOT>
</VARIANT_MESH>

If you create a new VariantMeshDefinition file, paste that in and save it to the "VariantMeshes/_VariantModels/man/armour" folder that PFM accesses then you just need to reference the new file. The easiest way to create that file structure is to open up the "models_rome2" .pack file, expand "variantmeshes", "_variantmodels", "man" and finally "armour", then right click on any of the files you see and select "Extract -> Extract selected". PFM will automatically create the file structure you need for the above definition file.

So anyway, save that code into the "armour" folder. I saved it as "galatian_royalguard_armour". Then in your main unit mesh file reference it as follows:

			<SLOT name="clothing" >
				<VARIANT_MESH_REFERENCE definition="VariantMeshes/_VariantModels/man/armour/galatian_royalguard_armour.VariantMeshDefinition" />
			</SLOT>

And then save your unit mesh file to the "VariantMeshes/VariantMeshDefinition" folder. Your unit will now have trousers and cuirass at the same time and will show variations between the combinations.




Second and more difficult to resolve is the arms problem. The trouble is that almost every barbarian skin model has problems with clipping through armour like the Hellenic cuirass. Essentially, you'll see a lot of nipples poking through xD

The particular issue you have is that all the different skin models you referenced only have heads and hands, but nothing else. The clue should have been in the file you referenced - "barb_headhands_bearded". This file contains references to five skin models which each have a lightly bearded head and a pair of hands. Basically, they are meant to be used with a model that has sleeves, like a lot of barbarian units, unlike a lot of Roman/Greek models with generally have very short sleeves.

I've only found one skin pack with arms that has no nipple-clipping issues, so for now I would recommend changing the "beards" slot in your unit mesh file to:

			<SLOT name="beards" >
				<VARIANT_MESH model="variantmeshes\_variantmodels\man\skin/barb_base_headarms.rigid_model_v2" />
			</SLOT>

Obviously that means for the moment all of your guys will have the same base face model, although the variety of beards you have included should hide that from all but the most detailed inspections! Just play about in the VEd and try to find a model that works is the best advice I can give, unless you want to try and edit some of the models themselves and then try!

Hope that helps!

[Kraut and Tea]

I should add that I am the greenest n00b you ever encounterd in modding.

But I am determined.

Should I annoy you with questions please tell me and I will find someone else to annoy.

[Mackles]

Whilest you were gone, I read through your tutorial again and tried to follow it, everything went broke and I had to reinstall the esembly kit again.

So the unit I made is lost now anyway.

Ha, well when first getting used to it that can happen quite a bit!

So when I add trousers to a new unit I cant add it under armor and have to add them under "clothes"?

And if the clothes category does not exist I have to "create" a new one?

Is there an easier way to do that than through code?

You can add trousers under the armour slot, but the trouble is then the armour won't show up at the same time. Within a slot only one item can show up at a time per sprite. So the trick to putting a file into a slot is to make sure that file has the necessary structure to contain both armour and tunic or trousers or whatever else!

You don't have to worry about creating a clothes category though, and yes the VEd is much easier to use for this sort of thing once you understand it. For example, that "galatian_royalguard_armour" file I included in my previous post took me a total of 10 seconds to make. No exaggeration! If you follow the tutorial in the OP, it would come under the "Create New Definition" section. So in the VEd, click "File -> New definition" and then select the "tunics" template. Right-click on the left hand side to expand all and then click on the "tunics" heading in bold. From the right hand side open up the trousers list and insert one of the trousers types you want (e.g. "celtic_cheque_trousers_01") with double-clicking. Then click on the "armour" sub-heading on the left hand side and insert both armour models from the armour list on the right. Then the last bit would be to click on the "trousers" heading again and insert the other trousers model, which will then already have the both armour models included for it thanks to a neat little VEd functionality!

Then you would save this new file as variantmeshdefinition file, remembering that for it to load correctly in-game you'll have had to set up the file structure for this exactly as outlined in the OP. Then to include that in your final unit model, you would just right-click on the heading you are going to include it under and click "Load definition" and then choose the file you created.

I should add that I am the greenest n00b you ever encounterd in modding.

But I am determined.

Should I annoy you with questions please tell me and I will find someone else to annoy.

I don't mind any questions you have, although the best advice I can give you is just to play about with the VEd and get comfortable with how it works

[Kraut and Tea]

Ok. Here are a few more questions if you dont mind:

While you were gone I "created" this reskin of the Galatian Naked Swordsmen:




As you can see it has 4 different types of hair, cloaks and 2 different types of shield. And I will be adding 2 different types of swords - if I add more than one thing to one category will this automaticaly be part of the unit variety? - meaning that: one unit will have that sword and the other unit the other sword?

And, if I were to add armor, I had to klick on "File" in the left corner - click on new definition - and then click armor - and the armor category would turn up?

[Mackles]

As you can see it has 4 different types of hair, cloaks and 2 different types of shield. And I will be adding 2 different types of swords - if I add more than one thing to one category will this automaticaly be part of the unit variety? - meaning that: one unit will have that sword and the other unit the other sword?

Yeah, that's pretty much how it works! So there should be a 50/50 chance of one of the swords showing up for an individual soldier. If you wanted one item to have more chance of showing up than another then you would simply add in a second reference to the same item again. So if you have sword a and sword b, you could have references for a/a/b which would give sword a roughly 66% chance of being selected.

And, if I were to add armor, I had to klick on "File" in the left corner - click on new definition - and then click armor - and the armor category would turn up?

Ah, not quite here. You need to create those new definition beforehand and save them to the correct sub-folder within the "working_data" folder of the Assembly Kit's files. Then you would right-click on the slot heading you want to use (for armour I usually put it under the "clothing" slot heading) and "Add mesh reference". Then you simply find the file you made that you want to use and open it up.

The trick to using the VEd is to make sure you have that file structure set up first, and then making sure everything is saved to the correct place. After that the VEd handles all the code so you never have to get your hands dirty! Figuratively speaking

[Kraut and Tea]

The trick to using the VEd is to make sure you have that file structure set up first, and then making sure everything is saved to the correct place. After that the VEd handles all the code so you never have to get your hands dirty! Figuratively speaking

Ok. So I guess before I can actualy do anything I`ll have to do this from the OP:

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:

?









mhmmm I cant make a folder called "_VariantModels" since such a thread already exists. I presume you mean that we call it something else like "_VariantModels1" or something like that?

[Mackles]

Yep. Just follow the OP. In the Total War Rome II folder, go into the Assembly Kit folder and then find the "working_data" folder. If you open up that then you should see a folder called "VariantMeshes". Inside that, providing you haven't already done any messing about there should only be one folder called "VariantMeshDefinitions". That is the folder that you will save your finished units to, so you don't need to worry about that one. What you need to do is create a folder alongside that one called "_VariantModels". Create a folder inside this called "man" and inside that folder create all the various sub-folder I detailed in the OP.

[Kraut and Tea]

Whilest you were gone, I read through your tutorial again and tried to follow it, everything went broke and I had to reinstall the esembly kit again.

So the unit I made is lost now anyway.

ok.

So when I add trousers to a new unit I cant add it under armor and have to add them under "clothes"?

And if the clothes category does not exist I have to "create" a new one?

Is there an easier way to do that than through code?