Just sayin what i know

Ive seen alot of stupid things happen when putting things into maps and when using things were you simply just have to move a folder to a different directory. Well, im just trying to set everyone straight, and im sorry if anyone was gonna post something like this or did, cuz i havent seen it.

Well, first you have to know what your doing. If you dont have a basic concept of the Winmpq, image extractor II, or the other basic tools, then i suggest you start to learn about them before you learn about this.

Well, ok. Now, if you know the basics of the mpq2k then you know that when your looking through, there are loads of different things and in there. You will also notice that most of them have really long names with different parts to it, like Units\Human\Knight\Knight.blp. Now, when you extract data sometimes it seems like what you wanted just disapeared from were you extracted it to, but it didnt. The different parts are actually extracted as folders. So it would be a Units folder, then inside that a Human folder, then inside that a Knight folder, then Knight.blp, but its not a folder. The Knight.blp is the file that you would want from this, being that its the editable part. Now this is were the image extractor comes in. Run the image extractor and open the knight.blp image. Then choose save image and save it as whatever type of image you prefer (make sure its not the original .blp, since i dont know of any type of paint shop or anything that can edit blizzard coded images.) Some things cant edit .tga format images either, so make sure the type you turn it into is compatible with your image editor. Edit it to whatever you want (im still not sure how to make sure that your skin will be the way you want it) and then save it. Now, using the image extractor you want to turn it back into a .blp image. Just do what you did before, but make sure that your image format is .blp. Make sure that its in the correct string of folders (It would go back into the place you removed it from, but you didnt need to remove it if you did). Ok, now to make sure that the skin works. If your using the blink editor, then just take the Human folder and stick it in the units folder thats already in the wc3 directory, run the world editor, and check out your skin. If it doesnt come out right, then there could be a number of problems, but since theres so many it could be, im not gonna go over them all. Ok, once you've done this and made sure it works right, then put it into the map. You have to remember that this will replace the original skin in the map, so you cant have 2 different looking knights of the same model, unless you do a certain something (ill go over it in the end).

Adding in a model works much the same way, but using modeling tools. I dont do any modeling myself, so your gonna have to go to an expert if you have a big problem with this. All i know is that it has to be a model format your modeler can edit, and that when you put it back to its original format (which is either .mdl or .mdx.) You can use the same thing that you used to make sure your skin worked, since the we reads all folders in the same directory as it.

Now, we are gonna get into some skill editing. You can do something as simple as editing the name, to something as complex as what the rok team did. Your gonna need to extract a few things, which i did with the Winmpq. But to make it easier, i just extracted them myself and ill add them to the bottom of this. Now theres a few other things out there on how to edit this, so i suggest you read them, because this post is already long enuff. Just edit them how you like them, and remember to keep them in their default folder. Havent looked into it, but when you edit them like this, i think you can put them into the wc3 directory and see if the new pictures and whatever else you did to them worked.

Ok, as for getting them in theres many different ways. Im not gonna suggest one because im sure that theres an easier one out there for you. Try a couple and see what works best for you. Make sure that when you put anything new in, like a new knight skin, that its replacing the old one. Read the skinning part at the top if you are bewildered at what im saying. You have to replace the skill files, because they wont work any other way.

Ok, heres something i learned just recently. If you want to put in a model you made all by yourself, or you want to have two of the same blizzard model in your game, then you just have to change the name and type to were it can be used by wc3. Say you want to have a new knight skin, but dont wanna loose the old one. Just extract the Knight model, and change its name to something like Knight2, and name the skin Knight2. Now, they gotta have the same path. Lets just make a folder called NewKnight and add both of those items into that. Now when you put it into your map, those to things should work together, and if they didnt then theres a problem with what you did. Ok, to use this model and skin you have to have a blink! editor upgrade, so you can put it in as a string. It would be NewKnight\Knight2. The period is to end i sentance, not any part of the path (you wouldnt believe how many ppl think that it would be.) Now whatever unit you changed that to should appear as the new knight with the new skin. Place one to make sure that it worked. Ok, make sure that you test to make sure it works with the whole directory thing ive been talking about for most of the post. If it doesnt work, you did something wrong. You can do this for things like new sounds, like say you want a more firey sound to your blizzard ability you changed to look like a bunch of fire is raining, and you have a sound you made or found, then you just import it into the map, and use the path you put it into there as for the sound label. You don't have to use folders when adding completely custom things, but you when your adding changed things. Use the other forums to find out more about sounds and other things, because im not an expert at editing things, i just know how to get them in.

Ok, i know that some things in here would make this easier, like the mpqview, but i dont use them. I only use the Winmpq and the wc3 image extractor II, and sometimes other tools, but those 2 inparticular.

Some of this stuff may have been said before, and not all of this i discovered on my own. I dont wanna hear from mods or admins about how "I said something like that" or someone saying im stupid. As i said in nearly every section, if it doesnt work then you did something wrong. From all the imformation ive gathered, everything said here should work. If you have anything you want to add, or questions, just post them. Ill read them, and always give a reply as long as its not something like "why are you so stupid?". Gotta cover all bases, because as maharaja knows, im from war3files.com, spam capital of the web.

No more legal jargan, just a warning. I left the .slk part out of this because there have been more than enuff posts about it, and im sure youve read a couple of them. And that kind of section would double the questions for this. I like to answer questions, but if they get too many, then it gets hard to answer them.

Well, hope this answers some questions, and makes you think. Im sure it raises some too.

I know that this may seem like the wrong forum to post this in, but its the closest one i could find to a forum for this.

Edit: I removed the attachment because it's very outdated.

I read it! Good job, it should help alot of noobs, now if only it were Stickied :ggani:

I also read it (not too bad). BTW, why don't you use WinMPQ? It's much better and easier to use that MPQ2k!

Yea, i use WinMPQ... works great....
Mpq2k worked for me too, but it was too annoying and the GUI part never worked...

I said something like that. You're stupid. :D

Nice job, although it's a bit hard for me to read.

I dont use winmpq partly because i never cared to dl it, and im scared of change (not really.) And what do you mean by hard to read? Is the font to small, is it too jumbled, or is the background too light? i dont think theres much i can do about the background, but i could atleast increase the font or something. I also noticed that it seems that the moderators and admins are the only ones that are looking at this. I think thats kinda funny since im sure they are the ones that dont need to.

EDIT: Oops, i never payed attention to the name of the mpq device i was using. It is winmpq. My mistake...

Very good. I don't work with skinning/modeling, but if I ever do I will be sure to come to this post. Good Job!

Ahh, I'm one f te noobs that shuldn't have read this post. So where is the post that I'm supposed to read that will tell me how to use WinMPQ and what I can do with it so I can understand this post?

Ok, to use winmpq just copy the wc3 storm.dll file (dont remove it from the wc3 folder altogether, or you cant play your game) and then run winmpq. Then you can do one of two things, either go to your wc3 folder and double click on war3.mpq, and choose browse and find the winmpq program. Or you can run the winmpq and find the war3.mpq file in the wc3 folder. And once its running it gives you a huge list after a few minutes or so. Don't alter the maps that are near the top, since they are in there so you wont have a problem playing on bnet random games. Some of the files you find you wont know how to open, so leave them alone. Just take what you need out of the mpq and close it once your done (cuz that thing can cause your comp to slow down if you keep it running with other programs that take up alot of RAM too.) And dont worry, as long as you dont directly alter the files in the war3.mpq file you will be fine. Now go read my oversized post on .slk files and other types of files. Just make sure to read the whole thing, since i like to avoid typing things over and over. Don't worry if you dont need a part, just read it anyway.

when i try to do that it just comes up with a green box and not my skin!!! how do i change it to a .mdl couse it says it cant find Units/knight.mdl (my command line)

If your trying to make a new skin, then name it something other than knight. Maybe knight2 or something. And if your trying to replace a model thats already there, then you have to put it back in the correct command line, not units\knight.mdl. I think its Units\Human\Knight\Knight.mdx. And you have to have the model in the same format it was in. Maybe ill just take all this and right a checking and implementing faq. It seems we could use one.

Thanks man, youve been helpful.

*praises archersRcheap*

I uploaded a new unit strings and func file. This should be up to date till the next patch. Also added in a misc.txt file, which determines a few thing like blight dispel and such. Download this, because the other set gives you problems.

Storm.dll? The current version of WinMPQ uses SFmpq.dll (made by me), which does NOT use storm.dll at all; it is a completely independent dll.

I was going on the old one, which im sure many ppl still have. But your right, the new one doesnt need the storm.dll file.