Skins/Mesh White Box Problem! Help!

[emperorshotz]

This could be an incredibly easy problem to fix, but I'm just baffled.

I've just installed the original Freedom Force for my Macbook Pro and I stumbled across some of AfghanAnt's skins from http://heroforce.freedomforceforever.com/aamarvel.htm I really liked. It's been years since I've played (used to play on my old PC) and I'm trying to install some of these meshes/skins by dropping the files into the custom_characters data folder. The only problem is that every time I try to pull them up in the Custom Characters feature in the game, I'm either greeted with a white shadow of the character (as in the Astonishing X-Men I'm trying to use) or a white block (as in the Ms. Marvel multipack). I'm litterally just unzipping the files and dropping the appropriate character folders into the custom_characters folder.

Is there anything else I should know? What am I doing wrong? Could it be that these files are not compatible with a mac version of the game? Or are all of these meshes intended for FFvTTR and not compatible with the original game? I've installed ValsNightcrawler from http://newpowerinc.com and that hero file seems to work perfectly. What am I missing? 

[Tomato]

There are a few issues here actually, one in particular which relates to AA's stuff. Despite his NIFs/meshes/skopes (whatever) being usable by FF1, AA has converted his TGAs to a file format called "DDS," so that they're readable by FFv3R. Unlike Nifs though, DDS files can be converted back to TGA... though I wouldn't know specifically where to go, as I only use DDS for FFv3R FX, and I use a different converter then he does.

As for the white boxes... I'd have to look, but I'd wager the Ms. Marvel. multipack likely has been split into further zips or folders, which need to be extracted to/moved to the custom characters directory. The white box is an issue with a mesh file not being in the proper folder, so any characters you have downloaded should have the following basic file/folder setup

Custom_characters\Afghan_Ant_Origins\character.nif
Custom_characters\Afghan_Ant_Origins\keyframes.kf
Custom_characters\Afghan_Ant_Origins\skins\standard\filename.tga
Custom_characters\Afghan_Ant_Origins\skins\standard\filename_glow.tga
Custom_characters\Afghan_Ant_Origins\skins\standard\filename_refl.tga
Custom_characters\Afghan_Ant_Origins\skins\standard\filename_lightmap.tga
Custom_characters\Afghan_Ant_Origins\skins\standard\portrait.tga

where "Afghan_Ant_Origins" is the basic file folder for whatever character you have, and the "filename" stands for whatever name the mesh uses... typically it's male_basic, but some can be just male of female_bald or female_basic, etc.

[DoctorDark]

I downloaded AA's Teen Titans characters and they all show up as white blocks in-game. I tried to convert the .dds files to .tga, then I replaced the .dds files with the .tga versions. Gues what? The characters are still white blocks! I suspect the problem isn't just related to the textures, but something to do with how AA's characters are made. If they are set up partially for FFvTTR then maybe that's the whole problem after all. Has anybody gotten AA's characters to work in FF; if so, how?

Also, I should mention that everything was set up where it was supposed to be. Taking Beast Boy as an example...
Custom_Characters/Beast_Boy/character.nif
Custom_Characters/Beast_Boy/keyframes.kf
Custom_Characters/Beast_Boy/skins/stanard/ All .dds (or .tga) files

[GogglesPizanno]

I think most of AA's recent skoped meshes are FFvTR only.

[DoctorDark]

Ah! Thanks for explaining that.  I thought that FFvTTR had something to do with it, I just wasn't sure how. Now if I can manage to get FFX v2.6 Gold Edition to stop crashing the Danger Room I'll be all set.