Can't use any skin..please help

[Solstar]

ok here's the deal:i'm new to the game modding and whatnot,i have read various tutorials,and none of those actually answers my question.i have the GOG version of ff vs 3d reich,and i downloaded a character mesh.(azrael from batman).tutorial says to put in C:\Users\*username*\AppData\Local\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich\Custom\Art\library\characters.i did it and it shows up and works ok.now instead i download a skin(captain mar-vell)but the readme says ZERO info about it,only the character's comic story.again iread online that i need the "model" to apply this skin on,but i just can't geti it to work.from whjat i read i need the male_basic mesh,which i can't find anywhere.i noly got some male_basic stuff from another character which has only  head.nif and male_basic_head.max. i put them in a similar fashion to azrael i.e  C:\Users\*username*\AppData\Local\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich\Custom\Art\library\characters\captain marvel. but i just won't show up.i downloaded at least 5 other skins,none of them has instructions.any help please...

[BentonGrey]

Howdy Solstar, and welcome to the community!  You'll find this to be one of the most awesome communities in the wasteland that is the Internet.

I know the game can be a bit daunting when you first start customizing things, but you'll get the hang of it in no time, so don't get discouraged! 

First, you can find the Master Mesh (model) list here:
http://freedomreborn.net/forums/index.php?topic=48991.0

This has links to many of the meshes, or 3D models, that the community has created over the years.  When a skins says it needs a particular mesh, this is a good first stop.  It's a bit out of date these days, so some of the links won't work.  If that happens, just post in the "Requests" section, and someone will almost certainly have what you're looking for and be willing to share.

The first link to the List on that page is gone now, but if you look down a ways, you'll find the new one.  Here it is, to save you some trial and error:
http://pastehtml.com/view/1coa95e.html

If you search that list, you'll find a ton of male_basic derived meshes.  Here is the vanilla one, which it sounds like you need:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Irrationalmeshes4/info

If you post in the requests sections, some folks would likely be able to point you towards all of the neat custom keyframes (animations) available for that mesh, as well.

Second, head.nifs are actually the animated talking heads that show up in the game.  They go inside the appropriate mesh folder, and they aren't really useful for anything on their own. 

Does that help answer your questions?

On a different note, and just as a heads-up, I found your post rather hard to understand because of the lack of spaces and capitalization.  I know a lot of folks type on smart phones or other things, and it can be tough to do that stuff, but you'll get better responses from the community if you use spaces and capitalization a bit more.  That way folks will be able to read your posts easily, and they'll be much more likely to take the time to help you out.   

[hoss20]

Since Benton pointed you in the right direction in finding the male_basic mesh, I can help you out regarding where to put skins.

The directory you referenced (C:\Users\*username*\AppData\Local\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich\Custom\Art\library\characters) is where the meshes go. Currently, you have placed your Captain Marvel skin in this directory and that is why you can't view it. First, you must place the male_basic mesh in this directory just you like you did for the Azrael mesh you mentioned. Skins are actually placed within the mesh folders themselves. For the Captain Marvel skin, you will place it in the male_basic->skins folder. You will already see a 'standard' folder in there. Every mesh you have should have a skins folder containing a standard folder. Any additional skins for a corresponding mesh will be placed in the 'skins' folder and not within the 'standard' folder, as that is the name of the default skin.

Also, not to throw too much at you at one time, but since you are using Freedom Force vs the Third Reich, you will inevitably come across some downloaded meshes that will crash the game or Character Tool when you try to view them. These meshes were made for the original Freedom Force game and will need to be converted. Some meshes work for both versions of the game, but for those that don't there is a nice tool (EZ Nif Converter 2.0) to be found here: http://www.alexff.com/goodies.php
There are also a ton of meshes and skins found on this site and it is a great place to start collecting.

So, back to your original problem, if you are not sure if you have downloaded a mesh or a skin; open up the folder. If it has a .nif file, it is a mesh and should also contain a skins folder. If the folder contains .tga or .dds files, then it is a skin and should be placed inside of the skins folder of the corresponding mesh. It is rare that a skin will not contain an Info or Read Me file detailing what mesh it was made for.

[BentonGrey]

Good information, Hoss!  Thanks for covering all the stuff I missed.

[hoss20]

That's what teammates are for. 

I just hope I didn't ramble too much and make things confusing.

[Solstar]

@Bentongrey:Thanks for your answer,and yes i was from my phone and a bit annoyed so that's why.

by the way your links to the basic mesh all point out to this https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Irrationalmeshes4/info. And i can't see any download link there. :\

@hoss20:thanks to you too, but without that getting file first,i can't do anything

edit:apparently i needed to create a yahoo caccount and join the group..done!

yeah about the znif converter i already used it,as this azrael i downloaded was meant for the original ff.i am now trying what you said.so for multiple skins i have just to put them into "skins" folder,and one that i deem "original" should go to the "standard" one,right?

[Cyber Burn]

I would say, leave the original "As is", and then add the new Skin.

[hoss20]

I would take Cyber's advice. At this point, to avoid any confusion, just copy or install your new skin into the skins folder alongside the 'standard' one.

[Solstar]

hmm i managed to do something more creative.inside male_basic\skins i created various folders,named as various skins character i downloaded..and it works!

they all do use the same pose\stance though.i suppose that different meshes equal to different pose\stances?

i have another question though..sorry :p i got a wolverine skin,and this is a strange one.if i can post links i'd like you guys to have a look.basically,other than the usual stuff,it has also an extra "hexed mesh" character.nif,for the blue shoulder pads of the model.

i tried it without it first,and it doesn't even have its claws,other than the shoulder pads.so i used the character.nif included with the character..and man,its strange

first of all,it doesn't have any reflections,only white shades.and second,more importantly..Colossus,the x-men,is behind him!like if they were fused together!again,no explanation at all in the readme files.

back in the x-men heyday,colossus used to throw wolverine at enemies (using a move called "fastball special")so i don't know if the authoer wanted to reproduce it (the "how" though defies me)but basically its a mess of a model .what can i do in these cases?

[hoss20]

Can you let us know who created the skin and/or hexed mesh? Some of us may have experience with that creator's particular work or this mesh in particular.

If you haven't done so already, you may want to convert the mesh and keyframes. Sometimes, even though an FF1 mesh is viewable in the Character Tool, it still needs to be converted to sync up with its keyframes. It sounds like the Colossus portion of the Wolverine mesh is supposed to appear and throw Wolvie for the Fastball Special and then disappear during one of the animations. You might also make sure that the keyframes are in the correct place as meshes without keyframes will generally show any pieces that appear/disappear during animations. Another thing regarding the claws is that they may appear during the melee animations, so you'll want to check those out.

For posting pictures, a lot of us have used Photobucket for many years.

[HarryTrotter]

I have a similar problem.I have GOG version instaled on D: and the custom folder is empty.Manually creating art/library/characters and placing files there doesnt help.

Found the problem,everything works now. 

[Solstar]

the skins is "wolverine:blue update by courtnall6" taken off the alexff.com website

i tried taking a screenshot of the game but it always results in a black screen

i did already the ez nif converting but samre results :\

[hoss20]

I downloaded the mesh to check things out. The hexed mesh does not contain keyframes. As I mentioned before, this is why the mesh looks the way it does. Download the original Wolverine_TJ mesh to get the keyframes here: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/TexasJackMeshes/files

Once this is done, copy the keyframes from the original mesh to the hexed mesh. Since you've already converted the hexed mesh, make sure to convert the keyframes as even though the original mesh works, the keyframes distort the mesh in FFVTTR.

To solve the white blotches on the skin problem, copy these files from the standard skin folder of the original mesh and paste them into the standard skin folder of the hexed mesh:
extras_glow.tga
male_basic_glow.tga
male_basic_lightmap.tga

C6's skin did not include all of the art files, resulting in the white blotch problem. In Character Tool, this will present itself as the skin being all pink. I would always recommend viewing any new meshes you download in Character Tool first before trying them out in-game. This way you can catch problems early, like if it is missing an art file, doesn't have keyframes, or needs to be converted (it's more simple to restart Character Tool than it is to start the game again). It's also much easier to do a screen shot of the Character Tool than trying to do so in-game.

[Solstar]

thanks for all the advice,helpful as always.i'll try that soon

[Solstar]

it works nicely.fro mthe same site you gave me,i also got a couple of characters,two of which i'd like to know more if possible

1)judge dredd.character loads fine in game,but i've seen some videos on youtube where he also has his flying motorbike.how can i add a vehicle to a character?

2)kingdom come flash(flash_KC)character seems to load fine,but he has as similar issue like wolverine:he has a shadow version of himself hovering behind him and flashing in a seizure-speed way,very annoying and problematic for the eyes.so i wonder if its a bug or anything.these chars already have the character and key files,so what should i do with him?KC flash is knonw for being "unstable" in comics,but i'm sure thati in-game its not supposed to be THAT unstable

[spydermann93]

To answer your first question, the "Judge_Dredd" mesh should already have the flying bike when flying.

Are you asking why your mesh doesn't have that, or are you asking how to add that bike to other characters?


To answer your second question, no, that isn't a bug. That's how the mesh was created. In the Kingdom Come story, that's what the Flash looked like.

To remove it, open up the character.nif file with NifSkope and expand the "Scene Root" (you do that by clicking the little arrow on the left).

Right-click on "male_basic_blur" and click "Flags".

You'll see a little dialog box pop up. Check "Hidden" and click "Apply".

That should "remove" the blur (it just makes it invisible, in case you ever want it back).

[Solstar]

nevermind i fixed it,i just had to re-convert both files.now the blur works fine.

though i wonder:if that wolverine had a colossus model embedded on it,this means that it was created wit hthat special move i mentioned before.if that's so,then how am i supposed to enable it ?is it possible,in general,to have custom special moves for characters?

[daglob]

I believe that one of the melee attacks will drop Colossus into the scene, and Wolvie jumps to his shoulder, after which Logan is thrown at the bad guy. In Charactertool you get a list of animations that you can try out and see how they look without the background.

[spydermann93]

"melee_6_fastball" should be the one that you're looking for

[daglob]

"melee_6_fastball" should be the one that you're looking for

What he said.

[hoss20]

though i wonder:if that wolverine had a colossus model embedded on it,this means that it was created wit hthat special move i mentioned before.if that's so,then how am i supposed to enable it ?is it possible,in general,to have custom special moves for characters?

This is why I advised viewing any new mesh you download in Character Tool. This way you can see what animations are contained in the keyframes and it helps you decide what to use when you create the powers for your characters.

[Solstar]

oh ok so basically its an alternate animation rather a brand new attack.i will use the character tool,promised