trolls

[The Devourer]

I have downloaded lotr:tw and i have been trying to add trolls to my own mod, so far with no luck. Now before you all just refer me to the "adding new units" faq i have read it, and according to the error message it is something to do with animations, something not covered in the faq. any help on this matter would be much appriciated and may help me with any future mods i make for myself, though so far, aside from this the only modding i've done has been changing the desc units, buildings and strat files. Thanks.

[LestaT]

LOTR most probably uses different sets of animation from regular RTW/BI Roman era mods. You might also need to copy the animation file, or better just the animation for the said units into your mod.

[The Devourer]

Yeah, i know that, ive tried copying the animations from the folder, but aside from the fact i cant read all of them, i dont know what bits i need to copy. If someone else has done this , or something similar to their own mod, please run me thru what to do.

[Burns]

Your other option is to use a current animation and scaling it.

To to this you need to unpack the skeletons. I believe Lotr's trolls use one handed weapons.

Once you unpack the animations you'll see a bunch of new files in the animations folder (all have fs_something written). Use extract_skeletons for this [its a bat file that comes with xidx].

Take, say, fs_swordsman and make a copy. Call that copy fs_troll.
There should be a list.txt. Enter fs_troll in that list and save.

Now, you need xidx for this (sorry, its been a while since i fiddled with this). Best thing to do is run the xidx.bat (place it in the animations folder) type HELP to get a list of commands. You will need to then type scale fs_troll.

then it will say something like scale fs_troll 1.0

type scale fs_troll and then enter a new skeleton size. 1.3-1.5 should do it.

it will then say something like new scale is.... whatever you made it.

Now all you need to do is pack your skeletons and this part is done.

Now in descr_model_battle go to your troll. In the skeleton section type fs_troll.
Example:
type mordor_olog
skeleton fs_troll
indiv_range 40

The game now knows which skeleton to look for. Run the game to see if it works. Should your model look a bit awkward then add

scale [followed by # of the size of the new skeleton]
Add that under skeleton

Example
type bree_hobbit_peasant
skeleton fs_hobbit_spearman
scale 0.7
indiv_range 40

[Rstoner]

@Burns - I followed your advice to the word, with partial success:



When I started the custom battle half the trolls were the right size, the others seemed to be shrunken in on themselves and hovering above the ground. A few seconds later they all changed to the shrunken type and stayed that way.

Does anyone know what's going on here?

[Burns]

Post your d_m_b entry for your trolls.

[Rstoner]

Here you go:

type troll2
skeleton fs_troll
scale 1.90
indiv_range 40
texture dacia, data/stw/models_unit/textures/zunit_troll2.tga
model_flexi data/stw/models_unit/zunit_troll2.cas, 25
model_flexi data/stw/models_unit/zunit_troll2.cas, 40
model_flexi data/stw/models_unit/zunit_troll2.cas, 70
model_flexi data/stw/models_unit/zunit_troll2.cas, max
model_tri 400, 0.5f, 0.5f, 0.5f

The scale is set to the same as the skeleton.

I tried scaling up 3 different sword animations (Sig1, EB and vanilla) with the same result. I also tried it without the DMB scale line and the trolls appeared vaugely in proportion but human size (and still hovering off the ground).

[Burns]

Remove the scale line and see what happens. Also check wles' entry for his trolls.

[Rstoner]

Yeah I did all that. I think the problem might lay with the animations, I don't know if they are automaticly scaled up aswell. Some seem to be and that would account for the trolls changing size. Maybe if all the troll/swordsman animations where located in their own troll anim folder it would solve the problem. I don't know exactly what anims are used by the swordsman skeleton I scaled up though.

[wlesmana]

You only scaled the skeleton (fs_troll) and not replace any animation, correct?

Scaling the skeleton SHOULD scale all the animations in it. The animations are not scaled individually, they're controlled by the skeleton.

RTW/BI does have a bug in some animations. Like if you killed a slow_swordsman (or slow_anything) while running, the death animation will result in them 'collapsing' aka the bones are shrinking.

[Rstoner]

Ah, could be a bug then because I've been trying to add trolls to my game for a long time, always with the same result.
It's a shame because I've merged the Sig1, EB, Res Gestae and Zhanguo anim packs, with yours aswell it would be perfect. Maybe when v2.0 of your mod is released I'll have a bit more luck.

Btw, LOTR:TW rules.

[The Devourer]

thanks for all the advice, i will get back to you when i've actually had a chance to try it

[Burns]

Perhaps the problem lies in all of these animations you are using. Try Rome's standard animation sets.

[Rstoner]

Yeah I've tried it with the vanilla anims and the rest.. still no luck.

[wlesmana]

This is very odd, because I did put the 1.1c trolls into 2.0 but redid the skeleton editing. 1.2 skeletons cannot be used with 1.3 and up because it lacks some events like swimming.

Have you tried other skeleton type? Like fs_2handed, fs_dagger, etc.

[Rstoner]

I just tried them and some others, still the same result.

I'm sure I'm not doing anything wrong because I've went through this process a lot of times now, and tried every variation on it I can think of.

Thanks for the help anyway.

[The Devourer]

Okay, i've got trolls (the first kind, with hammers) into my game, but i cant change their scale. When i change it in d_m_b they stay the same height, they do get wider and thinner but their height never gets larger, i have this problem with every unit i try to enlarge. Im sure there is some simple problem why this is happening but i've tried everything,

[Dol Guldur]

Have you used the scale command in the system window to check/change the skeletal scale? Though I would assume they had been done if it is taken from another.

[The Devourer]

no, i've only changed it in the decription_model_battle folder, and i tried enlarging the skeleton i was using in the desc_skeletons folder

[wlesmana]

Did you scale the fs_whatever with xidx?
descr_skeletons.txt file doesn't do anything, btw.

[The Devourer]

no, i havent really tried using xidx yet, but if i have to i will look for a faq here on it. i have downloaded it, but i couldent b bothered to work it out....

[wlesmana]

That's your problem. You need to scale the skeleton, as in fs_whatever. The scale must match the scale in the DMB.

[Balbor]

The whole thing is don't with the scale of the animation.

first thing to do is to extract your animations.

then you need to make a copy of the animation you want to use, for example fs_swordsman (which you can call fs_troll or fs_giant)

I us repacker to do this

then you need to change the scall of the new animation to 1.5 etc, i use AnimEditor to do this.

then in the 'descr_model_battle' file you need to make sure you have the scale of the new animation under the the skeleton (like elephants and horses have etc)

make sure you make a back up of the animation folder first though