Guns, Guns, Guns

[daglob]

I do not know if this really belongs here, but I got no response in the Mods forum.

I have a bunch of files, in various formats, that represent weapons. I'd like to use them with the Weapons Master attribute, but I have no idea how to change one format to another. Some of them are gmax, others seem to be 3D Max, and others I just don't know about.

So, if someone will tell me where I can learn how to change them (provided I can do it with my present or some other free software), I will be gald to do it myself.

If, on the other hand, you feel game and want to try your hand at converting them, I'll send them your way, and you can send them back when you are done (figuring, of course, that you will keep copies for yourself). I ask that they work in FF1, since my video card won't handle FFv3R.

I think it's a shame that there are no more weapons available than there are for Weapons Master. I do understand though; why make these little inanimate meshes that only fire a single attack, when you can make a mesh for a super-hero, and you can make him or her breathe...

[ow_tiobe_sb]

Both gmax and 3ds max are proprietary formats, so it is not possible to convert them to other 3D object formats without using those programs.  3ds max will cost you a pretty penny, but gmax, the free, feature-limited version of 3ds max (based on 3ds max 4, IIRC), now has NIF exporters.  Download and install gmax.  You will need to acquire an activation code via Turbosquid.com, so you will need to register (free) a profile with that website, login, and then visit this page to get your activation code.  Follow the directions included about inputting your activation code into the gmax application.  Then see my tutorial about installing the gmax exporters.  You might want to read my other gmax tutorial to get a feel for exporting gmax files to the NIF format.

I know that gmax can import .3DS and .OBJ file formats, two popular 3D object formats.  The latter will require another add-on, an OBJ import script.  Follow the directions included to install this add-on.  Then you can import .3DS and .OBJ files, UV map and texture them, and export them to NIF.  If you want glow and reflection effects on these objects, you will also need NIFSkope, whose function in this endeavour is covered in my tutorial above.

I would also advise you to convert these files for personal use only.  If you intend to convert and redistribute them, you would need permission from the original 3D artists (since it is clear that you did not create them yourself).

ow_tiobe_sb
Phantom Bunburyist and The Prat in the Hat

[mystic_swordsman_74]

if i were to use gmax, which i am downloading now, and make an attempt to create my own weapons (swords, axes, whatever), could i then import them into nif format so that i could then attach them to a mesh for use in game as a weapon?

[GogglesPizanno]

if i were to use gmax, which i am downloading now, and make an attempt to create my own weapons (swords, axes, whatever), could i then import them into nif format so that i could then attach them to a mesh for use in game as a weapon?

Yep.
Pretty much any model you can make in gmax can be exported as a static object nif.

[Valandar]

One quick question, what are the polycounts on the weapons? With todays computers the strictures aren't as low as they used to be, but a 10,000 triangle gun will still set your system to chuggin' if there's more than a couple onscreen at the same time, and you might as well forget about a 20k+ triangle gun. As a comparison, the handguns used by the thugs, etc, in Freedom Force are only 62 triangles, and the tommyguns are 148 triangles (of which the magazine is 28 triangles).

[daglob]

One quick question, what are the polycounts on the weapons? With todays computers the strictures aren't as low as they used to be, but a 10,000 triangle gun will still set your system to chuggin' if there's more than a couple onscreen at the same time, and you might as well forget about a 20k+ triangle gun. As a comparison, the handguns used by the thugs, etc, in Freedom Force are only 62 triangles, and the tommyguns are 148 triangles (of which the magazine is 28 triangles).

I actually don't know. I've taken them off my hard drive and burned them to a disk. Bearded In Lair offered to look at them and see how many could be converted, but ran into some problem in the so-called "Real World". I'll dig 'me out and see what I can find out.