Conversion and rigging

[Maurilo_Predator]

Well, I understand that this issue is quite old, however, recently I created some weapon mods. Specifically, I converted weapons from the game Quake 2 for GTA SA. The problem is that, testing the weapons, after doing that old Rigging process which is based on the attach vertex, in the game the weapons are invisible. I think the dff is ok, but the textures seem to be the problem. With one of the weapons, the rig process worked, but it was after MANY attempts. Dearly, could someone help me? Should textures be added to the dff model while it is in 3DS Max and after going through Rig? Unfortunately, I ended up forgetting what I did on the last attempt that worked, however, I remember that the action involved adding texture to the model after it was Rigged or something.

[LeatherJacketSoldier]

You might want to see my first post to find a North on what your problem might be: "https://gtaforums.com/topic/968056-gta-san-andreas-cutscene-weapon-model-not-moving/?tab=comments#comment-1071466786"

There I was replacing the Desert Eagle with a revolver, both in the game and in the cutscenes, for the in-game part just go through the tutorials I linked.

 

15 hours ago, CARL JOHNSON 2000 said:

Should textures be added to the dff model while it is in 3DS Max

Notice that on image 3 the gun's frame isn't of the right color, I solved that by avoiding KAM Scripts and adding textures the way this tutorial says: "gtamu.blogspot.com/2013/09/gta-san-andreas-rigging-tutorial.html". Well, since I tried both solutions at the same time, it could have been avoiding KAM Scripts, adding the textures, or both. Let me know if this doesn't work, maybe I'll think of something else (or anybody else who runs into this topic).

[Maurilo_Predator]

29 minutes ago, LeatherJacketSoldier said:

You might want to see my first post to find a North on what your problem might be: "https://gtaforums.com/topic/968056-gta-san-andreas-cutscene-weapon-model-not-moving/?tab=comments#comment-1071466786"

There I was replacing the Desert Eagle with a revolver, both in the game and in the cutscenes, for the in-game part just go through the tutorials I linked.

 

Notice that on image 3 the gun's frame isn't of the right color, I solved that by avoiding KAM Scripts and adding textures the way this tutorial says: "gtamu.blogspot.com/2013/09/gta-san-andreas-rigging-tutorial.html". Well, since I tried both solutions at the same time, it could have been avoiding KAM Scripts, adding the textures, or both. Let me know if this doesn't work, maybe I'll think of something else (or anybody else who runs into this topic).

friend, thank you very much for the reply. I will try and, as soon as possible, I will tell you whether it worked or not.

[Maurilo_Predator]

8 hours ago, LeatherJacketSoldier said:

You might want to see my first post to find a North on what your problem might be: "https://gtaforums.com/topic/968056-gta-san-andreas-cutscene-weapon-model-not-moving/?tab=comments#comment-1071466786"

There I was replacing the Desert Eagle with a revolver, both in the game and in the cutscenes, for the in-game part just go through the tutorials I linked.

 

Notice that on image 3 the gun's frame isn't of the right color, I solved that by avoiding KAM Scripts and adding textures the way this tutorial says: "gtamu.blogspot.com/2013/09/gta-san-andreas-rigging-tutorial.html". Well, since I tried both solutions at the same time, it could have been avoiding KAM Scripts, adding the textures, or both. Let me know if this doesn't work, maybe I'll think of something else (or anybody else who runs into this topic).

hello friend, I tested your method. However, the weapon is still invisible. I tested your method with the skin, eliminating all bugs, and it also didn't open. But, about the skin, I couldn't open it because of an error here in my CLEO, but I will check if the process worked with it. I don't think I understand the part where you say it is to "avoid Kam's max", could you explain it better (if possible)?

[LeatherJacketSoldier]

3 minutes ago, CARL JOHNSON 2000 said:

I don't think I understand the part where you say it is to "avoid Kam's max", could you explain it better (if possible)?

Of course. In 3D Studio Max, you'll have to use extra plugins or scripts in order to edit .dff files (the game models), because 3D Studio Max (from now on, 3DS Max) can't work on .dff files by default (neither load them). When I was a rookie in 3DS Max, I was using the 32-bit 2009 version. I tried to use the corresponding version plugin from this topic: "https://gtaforums.com/topic/838479-dff-importer-and-exporter-for-3ds-max/" (which is, the 32-bit 2009 version), but I ran into the trouble shown in the first image of my first topic. Then, as said there, I used KAM's Scripts to start "working" (if you don't sweat, then you ain't working XD). KAM's Scripts have one problem (if not two, but I'm not entirely sure): it can't export .dff files with more than 1 hierarchy. That messed up with the cutscene model of my gun (problem 1), not allowing it to move and the textures weren't loading correctly; and maybe it had something to do with the incorrect color of the gun's frame on image 3, the in-game model (this could be problem 2).

Well, as it's also said I borrowed a 64-bit computer and installed 3DS Max there, 64-bit version, then I used the 64-bit version of the plugin I mentioned from this topic: "https://gtaforums.com/topic/838479-dff-importer-and-exporter-for-3ds-max/", and it worked. It allowed me to solve the problems created by the hierarchy restriction of KAM's Scripts (the cutscene model not moving with its textures corrupted and possibly the textures of the in-game model), and because of this I encourage you to "avoid using KAM's Scripts, and use the .dff Importer/Exporter plugin instead".

In other words, follow the GTAForums tutorial I linked on my first topic, but when it says "KAM's Scripts", ignore it and use the plugin instead (instructions for using this plugin in this link, also shown in my first topic: "https://forum.mixmods.com.br/f300-tutorial/t5499-how-to-convert-models-to-cutscene-weapons-cars-cha").

If there's something you don't understand of this reply, just quote it and ask, questions are always welcome, and thanks are even more welcome XD (nah, just ask anything you may haven't understand, and I'll answer as soon as I can).

 

[Maurilo_Predator]

1 hour ago, LeatherJacketSoldier said:

Of course. In 3D Studio Max, you'll have to use extra plugins or scripts in order to edit .dff files (the game models), because 3D Studio Max (from now on, 3DS Max) can't work on .dff files by default (neither load them). When I was a rookie in 3DS Max, I was using the 32-bit 2009 version. I tried to use the corresponding version plugin from this topic: "https://gtaforums.com/topic/838479-dff-importer-and-exporter-for-3ds-max/" (which is, the 32-bit 2009 version), but I ran into the trouble shown in the first image of my first topic. Then, as said there, I used KAM's Scripts to start "working" (if you don't sweat, then you ain't working XD). KAM's Scripts have one problem (if not two, but I'm not entirely sure): it can't export .dff files with more than 1 hierarchy. That messed up with the cutscene model of my gun (problem 1), not allowing it to move and the textures weren't loading correctly; and maybe it had something to do with the incorrect color of the gun's frame on image 3, the in-game model (this could be problem 2).

Well, as it's also said I borrowed a 64-bit computer and installed 3DS Max there, 64-bit version, then I used the 64-bit version of the plugin I mentioned from this topic: "https://gtaforums.com/topic/838479-dff-importer-and-exporter-for-3ds-max/", and it worked. It allowed me to solve the problems created by the hierarchy restriction of KAM's Scripts (the cutscene model not moving with its textures corrupted and possibly the textures of the in-game model), and because of this I encourage you to "avoid using KAM's Scripts, and use the .dff Importer/Exporter plugin instead".

In other words, follow the GTAForums tutorial I linked on my first topic, but when it says "KAM's Scripts", ignore it and use the plugin instead (instructions for using this plugin in this link, also shown in my first topic: "https://forum.mixmods.com.br/f300-tutorial/t5499-how-to-convert-models-to-cutscene-weapons-cars-cha").

If there's something you don't understand of this reply, just quote it and ask, questions are always welcome, and thanks are even more welcome XD (nah, just ask anything you may haven't understand, and I'll answer as soon as I can).

 

Friend, I really appreciate your help, thank you very much. I will download and use the other exporter instead of Kam's Max. Sorry for the many messages here, but it is frustrating to not be able to carry out an apparently so simple process. If it is not inconvenient, I would like you to correct me regarding my conversion process:

 

1. Import of md2 model (Quake 2 model format)

 

2. Texture the model with png texture linked to Gta material type

 

3. Export the model as dff

 

4. Import the gta model and the quake 2 model (marked with "import image png")

 

5. Place the texture on the quake 2 model

 

6. Position the model in the gta model

 

7. Attach gta model to quake 2

 

8. Delete old gta model

 

9. Export model

 

10. Rename texture to the model's name in txd (like chromegun or M4)

 

Is correct?

In the texturing part I have a little fear because when I put the texture, the weapon changes its name after being attached, for example, if I import the "lasermachinegun" weapon and texture it with the "lasermachinegun" texture, after that it is attached, it changes its name to "M4". So I don't know, I should keep the texture name as "lasermachinegun" or change it to M4. But for now, thank you so much for your help. Anything, I speak here or send you a message (if it's not inconvenient).

[LeatherJacketSoldier]

Let's start from the beginning: following your steps, the new model in the game should work. But, I think there are unnecessary steps. To avoid any misunderstanding, I'll list here my set of steps, instead of "optimizing" yours:

 

1) Import the model you want to put in the game (new model from now on), whatever its extension is (if it's a .dff, use the plugin).

 

2) If it's/they're correctly made, place the texture/s on the model parts (or on the whole model, in case the .png, .tga or whichever image you are using has the textures for the whole model). There are two ways to do so: the first one, in case you got only one texture (a complete gun in an image, for example), is to just drag and drop the image to the model (you may help this procedure by reducing the window size of the folder the image is in), not MOVE nor COPY; the second one, follow the steps related to using the Material Editor in "gtamu.blogspot.com/2013/09/gta-san-andreas-rigging-tutorial.html", in case you got more than one texture (I'm speaking of more than one image file in the .txd; excluding some clothes, every .dff has its own .txd).

 

3) Import the original model from the game, and align the new model to match the original. Tip when working with guns: ALWAYS make sure both triggers are in the same exact place (so CJ won't need to use the Force Pull to pull the trigger), and adjust the size of the new model so both triggers have the same size. If you follow this tip, guns will always look good in CJ's hands (that, of course, if they have bullets left in the magazine...). Also, adjust ONLY the new model's pivot position and/or rotation to match those of the original model, if you were lucky the original model has its pivot in (0,0,0) and without any rotation.

 

4) Select all of the original model's vertices, faces, elements, or whatever you want to select of the original model (just make sure you have all selected, you don't have to worry about other models in your workspace as long as you left-clicked on the original model first), and move them away. Don't de-select yet, instead click on attach. Since the original model was fully selected, all you have to do is select an area containing the new model, click OK in the pop-up window, and press Del to blast the original model into oblivion. Exit both the attach and the selection.

4 hours ago, CARL JOHNSON 2000 said:

the weapon changes its name after being attached

It's completely normal. Even, you must begin to worry if it doesn't do so. The game, when loading, will look for files with specific names and will make sure the components of such files have the right names. So, it's absolutely necessary that you don't change the names of the model components nor change the original hierarchy (unless your mod requires to do so, in which case I can't help you because I'm not well informed about hierarchies), or it will either crash your game when loading or will mess up your model while trying to show it in the game screen. Again, the new model's name changing into the original model's name is normal since you attached an extra model (doesn't matter which one) to an existing model (the original one, in this case), doing that reunite both models as one under the existing model's name.

 

*FOLLOW THIS STEP IF YOU'RE WORKING ON AN IN-GAME MODEL, IN CASE YOU ARE WORKING ON A CUTSCENE MODEL SKIP TO STEP 6*

5) Adjust the muzzle flash position until it sticks its base to the muzzle (daah), then adjust its pivot position ONLY and put it on the center of the muzzle flash base (base means the end that should come out from the tip of the barrel, not the other end). This is to avoid, as you may have already guessed, the muzzle flash to spark many inches away from the muzzle (on one axis), and rotate in thin air without its barrel near (on the other two axes).

 

6) Select the new model and the muzzle flash (or the new model and its dummies, if you are editing a cutscene model), and export them like said in step 5 of "https://forum.mixmods.com.br/f300-tutorial/t5499-how-to-convert-models-to-cutscene-weapons-cars-cha". If you are experiencing issues you may also follow the troubleshooting guide immediately next to that step in the same tutorial, or ask me if the problem isn't listed (I don't suggest messing with the hierarchy, follow that troubleshooting step if you want to assume risks).

 

And that's it, your .dff is ready to be imported into gta3.img. Make sure that the image/s you used to texture the model are in a proper .txd, in order to import the textures too into gta3.img (if this is not the case, I'm afraid I can't help you, I've never created textures, just edited existent ones). Well, you said also:

4 hours ago, CARL JOHNSON 2000 said:

I should keep the texture name as "lasermachinegun" or change it to M4

If you can't replace one of the files or both in gta3.img, you'll have to delete the original one/s, and add the new one/s, but MAKING SURE IT/THEY HAS/HAVE THE SAME NAME/S AS THE ORIGINAL FILE/S. Otherwise, you'll run into loading crashes, not even allowing you to watch the progress bar totally filled. It may be a bit obvius, but every time you end working with an .img don't forget to rebuild the archive. It solved a loading crash for me once, but I don't remember what file I tried to replace and which way I did it.

 

If you want me to give you more details on any of my steps, just let me know. I'm tired now, I won't be touching a keyboard for several hours.

Edited February 12, 2021 by LeatherJacketSoldier

[Maurilo_Predator]

12 hours ago, LeatherJacketSoldier said:

Let's start from the beginning: following your steps, the new model in the game should work. But, I think there are unnecessary steps. To avoid any misunderstanding, I'll list here my set of steps, instead of "optimizing" yours:

 

1) Import the model you want to put in the game (new model from now on), whatever its extension is (if it's a .dff, use the plugin).

 

2) If it's/they're correctly made, place the texture/s on the model parts (or on the whole model, in case the .png, .tga or whichever image you are using has the textures for the whole model). There are two ways to do so: the first one, in case you got only one texture (a complete gun in an image, for example), is to just drag and drop the image to the model (you may help this procedure by reducing the window size of the folder the image is in), not MOVE nor COPY; the second one, follow the steps related to using the Material Editor in "gtamu.blogspot.com/2013/09/gta-san-andreas-rigging-tutorial.html", in case you got more than one texture (I'm speaking of more than one image file in the .txd; excluding some clothes, every .dff has its own .txd).

 

3) Import the original model from the game, and align the new model to match the original. Tip when working with guns: ALWAYS make sure both triggers are in the same exact place (so CJ won't need to use the Force Pull to pull the trigger), and adjust the size of the new model so both triggers have the same size. If you follow this tip, guns will always look good in CJ's hands (that, of course, if they have bullets left in the magazine...). Also, adjust ONLY the new model's pivot position and/or rotation to match those of the original model, if you were lucky the original model has its pivot in (0,0,0) and without any rotation.

 

4) Select all of the original model's vertices, faces, elements, or whatever you want to select of the original model (just make sure you have all selected, you don't have to worry about other models in your workspace as long as you left-clicked on the original model first), and move them away. Don't de-select yet, instead click on attach. Since the original model was fully selected, all you have to do is select an area containing the new model, click OK in the pop-up window, and press Del to blast the original model into oblivion. Exit both the attach and the selection.

It's completely normal. Even, you must begin to worry if it doesn't do so. The game, when loading, will look for files with specific names and will make sure the components of such files have the right names. So, it's absolutely necessary that you don't change the names of the model components nor change the original hierarchy (unless your mod requires to do so, in which case I can't help you because I'm not well informed about hierarchies), or it will either crash your game when loading or will mess up your model while trying to show it in the game screen. Again, the new model's name changing into the original model's name is normal since you attached an extra model (doesn't matter which one) to an existing model (the original one, in this case), doing that reunite both models as one under the existing model's name.

 

*FOLLOW THIS STEP IF YOU'RE WORKING ON AN IN-GAME MODEL, IN CASE YOU ARE WORKING ON A CUTSCENE MODEL SKIP TO STEP 6*

5) Adjust the muzzle flash position until it sticks its base to the muzzle (daah), then adjust its pivot position ONLY and put it on the center of the muzzle flash base (base means the end that should come out from the tip of the barrel, not the other end). This is to avoid, as you may have already guessed, the muzzle flash to spark many inches away from the muzzle (on one axis), and rotate in thin air without its barrel near (on the other two axes).

 

6) Select the new model and the muzzle flash (or the new model and its dummies, if you are editing a cutscene model), and export them like said in step 5 of "https://forum.mixmods.com.br/f300-tutorial/t5499-how-to-convert-models-to-cutscene-weapons-cars-cha". If you are experiencing issues you may also follow the troubleshooting guide immediately next to that step in the same tutorial, or ask me if the problem isn't listed (I don't suggest messing with the hierarchy, follow that troubleshooting step if you want to assume risks).

 

And that's it, your .dff is ready to be imported into gta3.img. Make sure that the image/s you used to texture the model are in a proper .txd, in order to import the textures too into gta3.img (if this is not the case, I'm afraid I can't help you, I've never created textures, just edited existent ones). Well, you said also:

If you can't replace one of the files or both in gta3.img, you'll have to delete the original one/s, and add the new one/s, but MAKING SURE IT/THEY HAS/HAVE THE SAME NAME/S AS THE ORIGINAL FILE/S. Otherwise, you'll run into loading crashes, not even allowing you to watch the progress bar totally filled. It may be a bit obvius, but every time you end working with an .img don't forget to rebuild the archive. It solved a loading crash for me once, but I don't remember what file I tried to replace and which way I did it.

 

If you want me to give you more details on any of my steps, just let me know. I'm tired now, I won't be touching a keyboard for several hours.

Thanks a lot for the help. I already downloaded the importer / exporter you recommended. I tested the mod, but it still remains invisible. What intrigues me most is that the model that worked has a texture renamed "chromegun", and when I change its name to any other name, the model turns white. Unlike other weapons, which are invisible. From the procedure you pointed out, the problem of invisibility is apparently the model ID or the part of DFF, but I guarantee that I perform all 3D rigging steps. I will not give up, I will keep trying, because if I managed to do Rigging with a gun before (with Kam's max XD), then I will be able to do others. But, I really appreciate your help, after all you were the only one who answered the post and explained everything in detail.

[LeatherJacketSoldier]

7 hours ago, CARL JOHNSON 2000 said:

the model that worked has a texture renamed "chromegun", and when I change its name to any other name, the model turns white. Unlike other weapons, which are invisible.

Hmm... I've perfectioned some weapon models I put into the game a couple of hours ago (they lacked the muzzle flash, most of them were models downloaded from internet, one of the others was the M-60 I cut out of Vice City and one of the downloaded ones had the muzzle flash but it had associated a whole transparent texture), and the procedure I gave you on my last reply worked just fine. So, if you have trouble with the textures, because you are PRETTY sure the model is in its right place (otherwise you've gotta check that the model pivot's position is in the place the original model's pivot was, unless you had to do some corrections like I did to my in-game M1917), then it's better start looking if the .txd was correctly done. When you're sure the .txd doesn't mess with your model, move onto checking how did you put the textures on the model in 3DS Max.

As I said earlier, I was perfectioning VC's M-60, which I adapted into SA months ago in replacement of the minigun, but it carried two problems: it didn't have the muzzle flash and the bullet belt was incorrectly fed to the machine gun by its left side (detail carried on by VC, but these problems are merely informative). When I exported the images in its .txd (in .tga format, I saw before this was the best recommended format, though I don't know why), I started dragging and dropping the image corresponding to the whole frame (everything except the bullet belt) to the whole model, But I saw the bullet belt was textured with that image too! Then I had to select the bullet belt as "element" and drag and drop the right image into it to fix the texture error. I'm telling you this because a slight error like that might corrupt all the textures in your model (though I'm not too sure about this, I noticed there was something wrong with the texture when I opened the game and saw the belt).

When exporting, try to select all models in the screen and then "export selected" (I didn't try using "export", but this way works for me), and make sure you check the two boxes in "animation" and select San Andreas in the menu below (I forgot to select the muzzle flash the first time and the M-60 didn't load it in the game). One more thing with the M-60 (it sure gave me kind of a hard time, Don't you think?), I saw the minigun had in its hierarchy the models minigun2 (the rotating barrels) and muzzle flash in the same sub-level, so I tried deleting both minigun and minigun2, then after position and rotation adjustments, connected the muzzle flash with the M-60 in the hierarchy (don't do it backwards, it'll make the flash show always and the gun show for an instant every time you shoot; what I did is put the flash on a sub-level of the gun's hierarchy, in which the gun is at the top level).

This last thing I did when working with hierarchies instead of attaching (note that the M-60 wasn't called minigun after my procedure ,which it should be after attaching, instead it remained with "M60" name) isn't totally guaranteed, as I did it only one time (but somehow worked). After all that, read the first two paragraphs again to find a possible clue on your texture problem.

7 hours ago, CARL JOHNSON 2000 said:

you were the only one who answered the post and explained everything in detail.

Don't worry, people tend to be very busy. I'm in exam season, but I manage to find myself some time to relax a bit on GTAForums or try to perfectionate skins I found and look for new ones. Even, I'm thinking of learning how to edit .ifp files (animation files), in order to solve my mod request and tell other people how to do it (in a detailed way). But, I'm just thinking, I'm not sure if I'll have enough time for that before the exams end.

[Maurilo_Predator]

2 hours ago, LeatherJacketSoldier said:

Hmm... I've perfectioned some weapon models I put into the game a couple of hours ago (they lacked the muzzle flash, most of them were models downloaded from internet, one of the others was the M-60 I cut out of Vice City and one of the downloaded ones had the muzzle flash but it had associated a whole transparent texture), and the procedure I gave you on my last reply worked just fine. So, if you have trouble with the textures, because you are PRETTY sure the model is in its right place (otherwise you've gotta check that the model pivot's position is in the place the original model's pivot was, unless you had to do some corrections like I did to my in-game M1917), then it's better start looking if the .txd was correctly done. When you're sure the .txd doesn't mess with your model, move onto checking how did you put the textures on the model in 3DS Max.

As I said earlier, I was perfectioning VC's M-60, which I adapted into SA months ago in replacement of the minigun, but it carried two problems: it didn't have the muzzle flash and the bullet belt was incorrectly fed to the machine gun by its left side (detail carried on by VC, but these problems are merely informative). When I exported the images in its .txd (in .tga format, I saw before this was the best recommended format, though I don't know why), I started dragging and dropping the image corresponding to the whole frame (everything except the bullet belt) to the whole model, But I saw the bullet belt was textured with that image too! Then I had to select the bullet belt as "element" and drag and drop the right image into it to fix the texture error. I'm telling you this because a slight error like that might corrupt all the textures in your model (though I'm not too sure about this, I noticed there was something wrong with the texture when I opened the game and saw the belt).

When exporting, try to select all models in the screen and then "export selected" (I didn't try using "export", but this way works for me), and make sure you check the two boxes in "animation" and select San Andreas in the menu below (I forgot to select the muzzle flash the first time and the M-60 didn't load it in the game). One more thing with the M-60 (it sure gave me kind of a hard time, Don't you think?), I saw the minigun had in its hierarchy the models minigun2 (the rotating barrels) and muzzle flash in the same sub-level, so I tried deleting both minigun and minigun2, then after position and rotation adjustments, connected the muzzle flash with the M-60 in the hierarchy (don't do it backwards, it'll make the flash show always and the gun show for an instant every time you shoot; what I did is put the flash on a sub-level of the gun's hierarchy, in which the gun is at the top level).

This last thing I did when working with hierarchies instead of attaching (note that the M-60 wasn't called minigun after my procedure ,which it should be after attaching, instead it remained with "M60" name) isn't totally guaranteed, as I did it only one time (but somehow worked). After all that, read the first two paragraphs again to find a possible clue on your texture problem.

Don't worry, people tend to be very busy. I'm in exam season, but I manage to find myself some time to relax a bit on GTAForums or try to perfectionate skins I found and look for new ones. Even, I'm thinking of learning how to edit .ifp files (animation files), in order to solve my mod request and tell other people how to do it (in a detailed way). But, I'm just thinking, I'm not sure if I'll have enough time for that before the exams end.

Again, thank you so much for your help. I will read your texts carefully and check here what the problem is. But just to be sure, all Quake 2 models use a unique texture (which fills the entire mesh), so should I just throw it at the gun as you recommended or select the elements? And about the hierarchies, for now I'm not messing with them, I'm only working with the models within the gameplay. However, maybe in the future I will deal with the animations. I am also busy, but I also enjoy helping others with modding. I would like to take a look at your mods and maybe I could learn something more in the process, did you post them?

[LeatherJacketSoldier]

1 hour ago, CARL JOHNSON 2000 said:

should I just throw it at the gun

That's what I'd do, given that the whole gun is textured on only one image.

 

1 hour ago, CARL JOHNSON 2000 said:

did you post them?

No, I didn't post my mods (I don't know how to do it yet, and I don't save the original authors' names, so I can't give them proper credit for the original "mods" and the "mods" I edited). You can check here a summary of what I've done so far: "https://gtaforums.com/topic/968357-gta-sa-starter-mods/"

I didn't model any guns/peds/vehicles, just worked a bit on skins I downloaded, on skins I took from VC and III (M-60 and Catalina, but she's too incomplete), and edited textures for some clothes and selected the clothes model I wished those textures to match.

 

1 hour ago, CARL JOHNSON 2000 said:

I would like to take a look at your mods and maybe I could learn something more in the process

I'm a bit sleepy now, but I'll give you a full list of the skins I use (and other files I modified) when I wake up, as soon as I enter the Forums again.

 

[Maurilo_Predator]

9 hours ago, LeatherJacketSoldier said:

That's what I'd do, given that the whole gun is textured on only one image.

 

No, I didn't post my mods (I don't know how to do it yet, and I don't save the original authors' names, so I can't give them proper credit for the original "mods" and the "mods" I edited). You can check here a summary of what I've done so far: "https://gtaforums.com/topic/968357-gta-sa-starter-mods/"

I didn't model any guns/peds/vehicles, just worked a bit on skins I downloaded, on skins I took from VC and III (M-60 and Catalina, but she's too incomplete), and edited textures for some clothes and selected the clothes model I wished those textures to match.

 

I'm a bit sleepy now, but I'll give you a full list of the skins I use (and other files I modified) when I wake up, as soon as I enter the Forums again.

 

Well, the weapon I managed to successfully convert I posted on GTAinside. There is a simple and good authoring system, with star rating etc. But it depends on your intentions, mine at least always revolved around fostering the modding community and putting the things I always liked into the game. If you don't want to make your mods available to download, that's fine, as it's a matter of personal decision. The community there is very active.

[LeatherJacketSoldier]

59 minutes ago, CARL JOHNSON 2000 said:

If you don't want to make your mods available to download

I don't think you understand. I would like to post my modified mods (or even a pack of both original mods from other authors and modded mods from another authors), but if the original authors see my mods uploaded without giving them any credit (neither for using their mods as base or for just re-uploading their mods as they were created), they may get me banned from the modding site and possibly from GTAForums too (and the latter ISN'T an option for me, my experience with GTAForums is very good so far and I don't want to ruin it with a dumb mistake). So, if you really want me to give you details about them, send me a private message, as it won't be a matter for this topic anymore (people who enter this topic try to find a solution on conversion and rigging problems, they won't be looking for just a list of game modifications).

[Maurilo_Predator]

2 hours ago, LeatherJacketSoldier said:

I don't think you understand. I would like to post my modified mods (or even a pack of both original mods from other authors and modded mods from another authors), but if the original authors see my mods uploaded without giving them any credit (neither for using their mods as base or for just re-uploading their mods as they were created), they may get me banned from the modding site and possibly from GTAForums too (and the latter ISN'T an option for me, my experience with GTAForums is very good so far and I don't want to ruin it with a dumb mistake). So, if you really want me to give you details about them, send me a private message, as it won't be a matter for this topic anymore (people who enter this topic try to find a solution on conversion and rigging problems, they won't be looking for just a list of game modifications).

Yes, but you could post them and give credit in the description of the mod or try to add credits in txt files like readme, for example. You could also try to contact the original creators of the mods you came to manipulate. These are just suggestions that came to mind. I also thought about training rigging using internet mods, but I haven't yet started it due to the fact that I'm still starting in the modding area.

 

Edit:

 

FINALLY friend, I managed to solve the invisibility problem. I noticed that gta was not accepting the original sizes of the textures, so I decided to decrease it (without affecting the mapping), and it worked. I realized this when I checked my model that it worked and remembered that I had resized its texture. WHAT A JOY. I lost count of how many times I thanked you, but thanks again for the help with the process, because now I'm doing the rigging faster.

Edited February 13, 2021 by CARL JOHNSON 2000

[LeatherJacketSoldier]

Excellent!! Just curious, What were the textures dimensions? Because I remember one of the textures of the mods I'm using was 2048x2048.

 

8 hours ago, CARL JOHNSON 2000 said:

Yes, but you could post them and give credit in the description of the mod or try to add credits in txt files like readme, for example.

Of course I have to do that. But,

 

8 hours ago, CARL JOHNSON 2000 said:

You could also try to contact the original creators of the mods you came to manipulate.

I already told you I don't save the authors' names:

 

22 hours ago, LeatherJacketSoldier said:

and I don't save the original authors' names

How am I going to give credit to someone I can't remember who he/she was? Perhaps, when I'm a bit free of college obligations, I'll hunt down the mods I downloaded and write down the authors' names. And over time I'll upload my personal mod packs.

 

8 hours ago, CARL JOHNSON 2000 said:

but thanks again for the help with the process, because now I'm doing the rigging faster.

No, thanks to you, my friend. Because you found what the error was, people who run into this topic will probably find the solution to their problem.

[Maurilo_Predator]

12 hours ago, LeatherJacketSoldier said:

Excellent!! Just curious, What were the textures dimensions? Because I remember one of the textures of the mods I'm using was 2048x2048.

 

20 hours ago, CARL JOHNSON 2000 said:

Well, the original textures of Quake 2 have dimensions ranging between 184 x X and 312 x X; where X> 100. For example, the texture I got from Machine Gun is 312 x 106, but putting it at this size in the game the gun was invisible. So I decided to render the texture and redefine the dimensions to 240 x 240, and then all the riggings are working, even the skins riggings. The interesting thing is that this resizing is not affecting the texture mapping, that is, the texture is still applied correctly and without loss of quality. I can't explain why, however, I think about the idea that it is something directly related to the textures of Quake 2 and its models, because, as you pointed out, you put textures with dimensions of 2048 x 2048 and everything worked out.

 

12 hours ago, LeatherJacketSoldier said:

How am I going to give credit to someone I can't remember who he/she was? Perhaps, when I'm a bit free of college obligations, I'll hunt down the mods I downloaded and write down the authors' names. And over time I'll upload my personal mod packs.

When you release your mods, please let me know, as I would like to try them out.

 

12 hours ago, LeatherJacketSoldier said:

No, thanks to you, my friend. Because you found what the error was, people who run into this topic will probably find the solution to their problem.

Yes, this topic will certainly help someone. He was very productive, don't you think?

[Colbertson]

24 minutes ago, CARL JOHNSON 2000 said:

the texture I got from Machine Gun is 312 x 106, but putting it at this size in the game the gun was invisible

GTA is expecting 2^n texture size, so 32, 64 128, 256.

[Maurilo_Predator]

2 hours ago, Colbertson said:

GTA is expecting 2^n texture size, so 32, 64 128, 256.

Thanks for the valuable information, I didn't really know that. So, if I modify the dimensions, is it possible to lose or gain texture quality within the game?