Requesting a "Dummies Guide to Adding Capes in Max"

[Rhyfelwyr]

I've finally mastered changing swapping unit weapons and shields in 3ds Max 7, and getting them to work in-game. However, I am still unable to edit parts of the mesh.

I tried to add a cape to a Merc Warband. I used a Roman Centurion, and selected all the polys of the cape, and pressed 'Save Selected', naming the new cape as "Cape" in the 3dsMax/scenes folder. I then loaded up the Merc Warband. I went to File, then Merge, and opened the Cape I had just saved. In the following box of options that came up, I just clicked OK, I didn't really understand it. Another box then popped up, and I clicked on "Use Scene Material". The cape fitted perfectly onto the soldiers shoulders. So, I exported the new cas, and saved it, and tried it in-game. The result was a crash when loading the battle.

I've had a look at all the guides here, but they're just beyond my understanding. I would really appreciate if someone would write me a little idiots guide to adding this cape to a unit, tell me where all the buttons to click are, what everything means etc.

I know this is a lot to ask, but it would allow me to get on with my mod, I'm currently half way through Britannia, but the rest of the units need capes. Any help would be really appreciated.

[Phoenix K Guild]

take a look in the unit unit_barb_druid in models_unit folder ^^

[Rhyfelwyr]

Had a look, didn't really see anything though. I am a complete beginner at this, so I need a bit of guidance, sorry for being such a n00b. If you could just tell me what options to select once I merge the cape, what exact buttons to click...

Again sorry for being so slow at this, I'll get there eventually, I learned to swap the weapons/shields once I had been given a clear demo.

[Phoenix K Guild]

well, import the druid, or antoher unit with cape, select the cape, go to "File/Export Selected" and save in anyplace, then load the unit that you want put the cape, go to "File/Import" and take the cape-file, then adjust where you want, the go to Utilities Menu, and export the soldier ^^

[Rhyfelwyr]

Well, I've sort of done that. I added the cape to the soldier in Max, looked great, so I imported it. But it doesn't work in-game.

[Phoenix K Guild]

Make sure you have the cas file in descr_model_battle.txt
with the high/med/low/lowest quality

[Rhyfelwyr]

Yeah I've set everything there. I think my problem is something to do with weighting the cape to the bones or something. I've no idea what that means though.

Basically, i just loaded up the cape, I didn't mess around with the bones or the polys afterwards.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I've got a few screenshots to show exactly what I did.

1. Imported the Merc Warband .cas file:



2. Went to File then Merge to get the cape I got off the Centurion .cas:



3. Selected the options as shown below when merging in the cape:



4. Selected "Use Scene Material":



5. Another box came up, clicked "No to All" (remember reading to do that in a tutorial somewhere):



6. And the guy looked great in max, so I imported him. Everythings sorted out in descr_model_battle etc, so the problem is with the model somehow:

[Phoenix K Guild]

in the ~. Another box came up, clicked "No to All" (remember reading to do that in a tutorial somewhere):
~

click in Yes to all
it work for me =]

[Rhyfelwyr]

Doing exactly as I did in the screenshots above, except clicking "Yes to All" where you said, I got the model to work in-game, but it looks a little strange:



Any ideas whats wrong here?

[Phoenix K Guild]

lol, try to see the UVW map =]

[Rhyfelwyr]

UVW looks fine, I'll post pics in a minute...

[Rhyfelwyr]

OK, I unwrapped the UVW for each part of the model. I can see the cape and shield overlap, but that shouldn't mess up the model that badly should it?

Body:



Cape:



Shield:



Weapon:

[Phoenix K Guild]

You must creat/edit your texture .DDS =]

[Rhyfelwyr]

I've done that too. I think my problem is to do with weighting the model, though I don't really know what that means.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I've worked out how to remove the skin modifier for the Warband before I add the cape, but what do I do after that, and if I need to add a new skin modifier, how would I do that?

[Phoenix K Guild]

I'm having this same problem in my other unit =]

[Rhyfelwyr]

Well, in schematic view I connected "Body" to "bone_abs". So the unit works in-game now, but its as stiff as a board. I had a look at Prof420's modelling video #6, and I thought I had worked out how to weight vertices. However, I have come across a new problem. I can't find the weight tool he uses to weight the vertices.

This is my 3ds Max:



And this is his:



I can't find this tool anywhere, but I'm copying his video tutorial step-by-step to get this done, and I'm kind of stuck because of this. I'm so near to getting the whole problem solved as-well.