customs paths for imported skins

Hey, this noob needs help with two things. The first is a genereal question, how do import and use in a map a skin that requires a model in the game, but i don't want to override it? For example, i have a really cool demon tree skin, but i don't want to override the tree of life skin, i want to use both.

The second thing has to do with a ver specific skin/model i want to use. There is a beta destroyer boat i want to use in the game, but i can't get it to show up anywhere, no matter what i change the path of the blp to. Add to that when i finally do figure out how to get it to show, i want it to be on its own unit, not overiding another boat.

All that make sense? If its any help the destroyer came from Cookie's TFT beta pack with some other models. The path of the other ones are much more obvious (old panda, old black sphinx, etc) but using the path of the current TFT destroyer DOES NOT work.

Any ideas? PLease keep it very simple, as i am noobie x3 in world editing :( .

I know the path cause I MDL edit... wait plz...

model\destroyer\(Name).blp
model\destroyer\(Name).mdx

Is that it? What goes in the (name) spot? The whole path name of the imported thing?

What about the other thing? How do i get it so i don't override other models that i want to use as they are?

Or is there something else self explanatory that i am not getting...?

Either way, thanks for your help.

OK. So i try a few things, and basically the conclusion i came up with is i don't get it.

So i name this custom unit "waverunner" and it is based on the human destroyer. Are you saying i enter that particular name in the place where you have parentheses along with the rest of that path for the imported blp and the mdx? Because that didn't work. The way i have it now (and is not working) is i have the mdx and blp named the way i assumed you indicated and i have the path set to the imported mdx in the object editor fot this custom unit.

The other issue is similar (except i actually know the path of this one). I have this blp that can basically described as a "demon tree." I want that to be a custom unit that is totally independent of the Night elf tree of life unit(s). How do i make that happen. I either get all tree of life buildings as demon trees or i get none. It seems this is a silly way to do things.

Ideas? What am i doing wrong? Am i a complete knucklehead emote_confused ?

Er... well, though I'm not sure what Dark MoonRider was getting at, I thank you for your patience in this matter. The answer to both your problems lies in a little thing called Yobgul's File Converter, which can be found with a great installer program by Starcraftfreak here. No, I'm not crazy, you do need this because unfortunately, you're going to have to muck around in the MDX files. No, hey, wait, don't run away! It's not going to be that bad!

OK... so, the first thing to do is to install the above program. It has a lot of uses, but the thing it does best is convert MDX files into MDL files and vice-versa. For reference, MDX is just a compressed, binary format of a text file that stores the model data, and that text-format file is known as an MDL. So take whatever model you want (the Tree of Life here) and extract it using a program like Warcraft III Viewer. (You can use Search to find some other threads about how to extract the MDX file.) If you're editing a unit, you need to make sure that you extract its portrait, too. Now convert the MDX files to MDLs using Yobgul's. Close Yobgul's. If you see a crazy crash message on close, don't worry about it. Yobgul's often produces an error on exit, but it exits just fine. (Another thing to remember is that on many computers, you must close and re-start the file converter program for each operation. So if you had 10 MDLs you wanted to turn into MDXes, you'd have to run the program 10 times.)

Anyway, now that you've got your stuff as MDL files, you need to open each file up in a text editor like Notepad or TextPad or the like. Search for a segment named "Textures." In this, you should see several things labled "Bitmap." One or more of them, probably the first one, will list the path to the skin of the tree. Change every occurrence of the old skin to some name that you're going to make your new demon skin. I recommend something easy to remember like "Custom\DemonTreeSkin.blp". Just make sure you remember what you set it to. Now save your changes and exit the text editor. Change the filename. (Again, try something simple, like "DemonTree.mdl". Also, if you have a portrait, then you must change the portrait's name too, and the part before "_portrait" in the filename must be the same as the filename of the main unit's new filename. So for this example, it becomes "DemonTree_portrait.mdl") Use Yobgul's to change the MDLs back into MDXes. Import these MDXes into your map. If you're into changing the paths of your imports, make sure you put the unit MDX and the portrait MDX in the same location. (i.e. "Custom\DemonTree.mdx" and "Custom\DemonTree_portrait.mdx") Now import your custom skin. Right-click on it and select "Modify File Properties". Check "Use custom path". Now, remember that path you put in the MDL? Put it in here. Don't forget to include the filename at the end. (I can't tell you how stupid I felt the first time I forgot to put "NightDancer.blp" on the end of a skin import.)

And that's it! Now make a custom unit and chance the model file to your newly imported MDX, and you're done! Just use that unit instead of the original!

As for your other question, although I am not familiar with the set of models in question, I can tell you how to find your answers. Convert the MDXes to MDLs with Yobgul's. Scan the MDL for the skin texture's path. Now import the MDXes and the skin, but do the same steps above to change the skin's path to the correct one from the MDL. Simple enough.

I hope that helped. I know it was long and somewhat complex, but feel free to reply with further questions and I'll do my best to explain.

Lost Loch, I'm very impressed that you went to such length to answer this question. You get a gold star. :yup:

Another option, Displacer Monkey, might be to overwrite the skin for the Corrupted Tree of Life. I'm not sure, but I suspect, that it's a separate model and not just tinted Tree of Life.

That would save you reinserting the model in your map, which should be something you try to avoid whenever possible, since models and skins can take up quite a bit of space.

....Now why didn't I think of that? :bgrun: Well geez, trust me to make it more complicated than it needs to be. He is right, the full, MDX-importing method is heavy on the filesize. And if you don't need the corrupted tree, it works great. :D *wanders off muttering about always missing the obvious*

A little research shows that the Corrupted Tree of Life is, in fact, a separate model with its own skin. If you import your skin into the map, and change its path to this:

Buildings/Demon/CorruptedTreeofLife/CorruptedTree ofLife.blp

It should overwrite the old skin for your map, and then placing anything with the Corrupted Tree of Life model will have your skin. And, it won't affect the normal Tree of Life model at all.

I've attached the skin for the Corrupted Tree of Life for reference. If your image looks similar to this, you should be ready.

Yeah, i was pokin around, and i discovered the corrupted tree before i had checked this post again, so that problem was easily solved. However, i am determined to get this boat to show up, so i guess i am going to have to go through all that... crap... to do it ://// . I just hope to god almighty that any other cool skin i come across does not require the same process.

Thanks for taking the time to write all that out for me, i think i might actually be able to follow those directions

Oh yeah, i guarantee i will screw this up... So let's see...Yob...gul? How in de hell you say that name?

*noob wanders off in search of converter*

IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

:ggani: :ggani: :ggani:

Thanks a lot, man, i owe you a pizza :D .

In the past... I've "converted" an mdx to an mdl by just changing the file extension. It worked, although it was a very simple model... can't really account for it, does anyone know whether that might work for more complicated models? (mine had no animations, it was just a static doodad)

I've never heard of such a thing. I'm sure it wouldn't affect the contents of the file, allowing the kind of editing we list here, so if you were able to text-edit it, it must have already been an MDL that someone mislabled as an MDX. Alternatively, it may be the case that wherever you used it, the program can use MDLs and MDXes interchangeably and autodetected the "real" format of the file. (Or if it was an MDL labled as an MDX, maybe the original author intended this.) I am not sure if Warcraft can use MDLs or not. I do know that when you select a custom MDX for Art in WE, it actually lists the extension (in the Object properties, not the Import Manager) as MDL if you look closely, but it works just fine; it is really referencing the MDX.

However, MDXes, as I understand it, are smaller than their MDLs because they are compressed to an extent. (and use binary code instead of full-length English words written with several ASCII characters) The only way to truly convert an MDL into a real MDX or take a proper, binary MDX and make it editable as text as an MDL is with a program like Yobgul's.

Upon consideration, it looks like the bulk of your questions relate to models. I'll move you to the right forum so you'll get more/better answers.

Moved.

OK, problem with Yobgul's, maybe i'll make seperate post for this...

Many times it won't convert and says it has some sort of error. Then it terminates itself. OK, so i figure maybe something happened. I downloaded again, reinstalled, it works again. Oh but wait, it does the same thing after a few uses again. Why? This time i reinstall without downloading again, still it does not work. Yes, i am exiting and restarting it each time i try to use it (unless it shuts itself off of course, as i have just described).

Anyone know how i get this thing to work ALL the time, instead of just when it wants to?

That would mean that your MDL is somehow corrupt. Have you tried converting Blizzard's MDXs a bit as a controlled test?

To find your error, either look carefully through the part you modified checking for annoyingly small things missing like }'s or commas or upload it here for us to check through.