Skinning n00b seeks advice, help

[McDuck]

Hi folks,

I've been gone long enough that I have a new email address and forgot my original password, but I'm Scrooge McDuck of days gone by. Originally I was stymied in my attempts to mod SMR because I owned the non-modfriendly Direct2Drive edition. I have since reloaded the game and I'm enjoying it so much that I bought a used copy of the CD version. So now I'm finally trying a little modding. I have two things I'd like to do:

1) Skin a CN F3A, and

2) Get my money bin in the game as a decoration!

I'm making good progress on the F3A; the only real problem is the "Canadian National" orange lettering on the side of the engine, which is of course reversed on the port side of the model. I noticed, however, that the maker of the Santa Fe F3A skin - Snoopy55, I think? - got around that problem by adding the "Santa Fe" lettering as a decal. I love to know how to do that.

The money bin is harder. I have a good model in .obj format but, even though I've tried to work blender, I just can't seem to get the bin into the game. I think that it is a texture problem because I get the "red blob of death" when I test it. I can skin just fine but I'm having a hard time with the unwrapping. I wonder if anyone with the requisite skill might be willing to take a skinned .obj or .3ds version of the money bin and turn it into a working .nif for me?

Wak!

Scrooge McDuck

[snoopy55]

No Sir, I'm not the 'maker' of the Santa Fe F3A. That was created for the Basin & Range map by choobacca and/or Big Papa. I simply created the BB for it.

You need a decal in order to get the lettering correctly applied to the engine. Your best bet would be to download the BB for that here: http://www.hookedgamers.com/forums/view ... 017#p28017 and edit the NIF file so it is using the skin you created, minus the lettering. Then edit the 'train_text_santafe.dds' (which is the nose lettering), 'train_text_santafe_spec.dds' (which is a black copy of the nose lettering) and the 'superchief_sidetext.dds' (which is the side lettering). If your side lettering is a color other than black it would be a good idea for you to save the last one as CN_F3A_sidetext_spec.dds and then change the color to black. You would then change lines 72 and 73 to that DDS file name.

Be sure to rename all the files you use. Since there is not a CN F3A at this time, I would suggest 'CN_F3A', plus whatever the rest of the file name requires. Be sure to edit the KFM also. Do not worry about the 'dummies' files, the original 'emd_f3_a_dummies.nif' will work fine since it is nothing more than truck and coupler spacing. The engine number might be a good thing to add in case you end up makeing other CN F3As.

Also, if you use the files from the above mentioned BB, leave out the side_text TGA file. That BB was one of the early ones and part of the learning experiance of what was needed and what was not.

Good luck.

[Rodea2007]

Hi folks,

I've been gone long enough that I have a new email address and forgot my original password, but I'm Scrooge McDuck of days gone by. Originally I was stymied in my attempts to mod SMR because I owned the non-modfriendly Direct2Drive edition. I have since reloaded the game and I'm enjoying it so much that I bought a used copy of the CD version. So now I'm finally trying a little modding. I have two things I'd like to do:

1) Skin a CN F3A, and

2) Get my money bin in the game as a decoration!

I'm making good progress on the F3A; the only real problem is the "Canadian National" orange lettering on the side of the engine, which is of course reversed on the port side of the model. I noticed, however, that the maker of the Santa Fe F3A skin - Snoopy55, I think? - got around that problem by adding the "Santa Fe" lettering as a decal. I love to know how to do that.

The money bin is harder. I have a good model in .obj format but, even though I've tried to work blender, I just can't seem to get the bin into the game. I think that it is a texture problem because I get the "red blob of death" when I test it. I can skin just fine but I'm having a hard time with the unwrapping. I wonder if anyone with the requisite skill might be willing to take a skinned .obj or .3ds version of the money bin and turn it into a working .nif for me?

Wak!

Scrooge McDuck

You can send to me your model in 3ds or max file, I will try what I can do for you.....
You can post them here or send to my email

[McDuck]

Thanks for the info, Snoopy, and for the kind offer of assistance with the money bin decoration, Rodea. Unfortunately, I'll be down for a few days while I replace a defective motherboard, but once I'm fixed I'll send the 3ds file and texture to Rodea.

I'm making good progress on the CN F-Series. I still have to correctly align the hood stripe and figure out how to use the decal for the "CANADIAN NATIONAL" lettering, but I'm pretty happy with the overall look I've got so far:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/vi ... CN_F3A.jpg


Thank you both again, and I'll post more soon.

Wak!

[snoopy55]

Beautiful engine!

[Burlington_Northern_3140]

Nice work!

[McDuck]

This Nif format is rocket science but I'm going to figure it out if it kills me.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/vi ... _proof.jpg

Wak!

[Burlington_Northern_3140]

Beautiful work, but you might want to work on the black lines outlining your color transitions, doors, and windows.