Let's all try and help each other with these Art 'Assets'

Happy to report that I've successfully extracted my first .fgx into Blender via .nb2. Crossbowman_ArmorB.fgx:

crossbowman_blender.jpg
 
Deliverator said:
Happy to report that I've successfully extracted my first .fgx into Blender via .nb2. Crossbowman_ArmorB.fgx:
Click to expand...

TheRealHellBlazer said:
So I played a round for a few days with the Hills_Element height map and managed to change the way hills look in the game. Bear in mind desert hills are not part of the standard hills artdef so were unaffected. https://goo.gl/uPLEhf
Click to expand...

Awesome. That's some great work.:)


EDIT: Has anyone succeeded in cooking art assets yet?

It does not seem to matter what you type in the command line it does not work.

EDIT: OK I have figured it out. When you build the mod you need a units.xlp file then it will cook it automatically.

Bad news though when I tried to load the mod I got CTD before I could load the main menu.:blush:
 
Last edited:
Wolfdog said:
Awesome. That's some great work.:)


EDIT: Has anyone succeeded in cooking art assets yet?

It does not seem to matter what you type in the command line it does not work.

EDIT: OK I have figured it out. When you build the mod you need a units.xlp file then it will cook it automatically.

Bad news though when I tried to load the mod I got CTD before I could load the main menu.:blush:
Click to expand...

The way I have been making the .blp files (cooking assets) is creating a mod in ModBuddy with an artdef, dds, tex, xlp whatever is needed all set up using the asset editor. Hint, if you add files that make the asset editor crash you can back the files up remove them from the project and fire up asset editor to work on the 'other' files that it doesn't crash for.

You have to remember to add your artdef file to the relevant part of the Mod.Art.xml file and also in your xlp file you set a part called m_PackageName this will be the name of your .blp library. In the Mod.Art.xml file under the place you add your relevant artdef file there are library dependencies, you need to set this lower in the file for the .dep file that is generated to tell the game to load your new .blp library. For example in my mod that adjusts the look of hills, I am modding the Terrain Elements and have it sett like this,

<Element>
<consumerName text="Terrain"/>
<relativeArtDefPaths>
<Element text="TerrainStyle.artdef"/>
</relativeArtDefPaths>
<libraryDependencies>
<Element text="TerrainAsset"/>
<Element text="TerrainElement"/>
<Element text="TerrainMaterial"/>
</libraryDependencies>
<loadsLibraries>true</loadsLibraries>
</Element>
..........
<Element>
<libraryName text="TerrainElement"/>
<relativePackagePaths>
<Element text="terrain/TerrainElementSet_Base.blp"/>
</relativePackagePaths>
</Element>

So as you can see the first part has libraryDependencies and much lower in the file you set them libraryDependencies to your new .blp library. When you load a game with your mod you will see in the artdef.log that is now loads your library and you can then access your new textures in game.
 
If it helps anyone here are the 3 mods I have made to test ModBuddy, the ArtTestAgain changes the texture of visible trees in strategic view. NewRes is the one that changes the texture of the copper. HBHills is the one, well yeah, it changes the look of plains, grassland, snow and tundra hills.

Just extract the files to your Firaxis ModBuddy/Civ 6 folder and open the projects in ModBuddy and build them.
 

Attachments

  • ArtTestAgain.zip
    127.8 KB · Views: 192
  • HBHills.zip
    2.3 MB · Views: 299
  • NewResMB.zip
    1.3 MB · Views: 187
TheRealHellBlazer said:
The way I have been making the .blp files (cooking assets) is creating a mod in ModBuddy with an artdef, dds, tex, xlp whatever is needed all set up using the asset editor. Hint, if you add files that make the asset editor crash you can back the files up remove them from the project and fire up asset editor to work on the 'other' files that it doesn't crash for.

You have to remember to add your artdef file to the relevant part of the Mod.Art.xml file and also in your xlp file you set a part called m_PackageName this will be the name of your .blp library. In the Mod.Art.xml file under the place you add your relevant artdef file there are library dependencies, you need to set this lower in the file for the .dep file that is generated to tell the game to load your new .blp library. For example in my mod that adjusts the look of hills, I am modding the Terrain Elements and have it sett like this,

<Element>
<consumerName text="Terrain"/>
<relativeArtDefPaths>
<Element text="TerrainStyle.artdef"/>
</relativeArtDefPaths>
<libraryDependencies>
<Element text="TerrainAsset"/>
<Element text="TerrainElement"/>
<Element text="TerrainMaterial"/>
</libraryDependencies>
<loadsLibraries>true</loadsLibraries>
</Element>
..........
<Element>
<libraryName text="TerrainElement"/>
<relativePackagePaths>
<Element text="terrain/TerrainElementSet_Base.blp"/>
</relativePackagePaths>
</Element>

So as you can see the first part has libraryDependencies and much lower in the file you set them libraryDependencies to your new .blp library. When you load a game with your mod you will see in the artdef.log that is now loads your library and you can then access your new textures in game.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that. I ended up having to re-import the art file and remove the DSG entry. This is all I got, its a start I guess.
Stealth.png
I am still having an issue with the UnitBins.artdef dropping the main entry and I have to add it manually later. But I cannot see any reason why it should given it is set up the the examples.
 
Wolfdog said:
Thanks for that. I ended up having to re-import the art file and remove the DSG entry. This is all I got, its a start I guess.
View attachment 466153
I am still having an issue with the UnitBins.artdef dropping the main entry and I have to add it manually later. But I cannot see any reason why it should given it is set up the the examples.
Click to expand...

LOL, I like it, multi colored pirate ships.
 
New unit: B-2 Stealth Bomber
Special ability: can hide in Citrus plantation using state-of-the-art chameleons painting.
 
Animations export too!

 
You guys are so much cooler than me it's not even funny. I'm just watching this thread develop totally fascinated.
 
snafusmith said:
Awesome! Does the typical process for merging a model with a Civ6 skeleton work the same as it did for Civ5? Do you plan to make a new tutorial for making Civ6 units?
Click to expand...

There are a couple of possible routes to explore for getting new models into the game:

1) With the first release of the CivNexus6 tool we can already extract .fgx -> .nb2 -> Blender then edit or rig a new mesh to the Civ 6 template. For getting back out of Blender you could try .fbx and then use the Dev Tools to cook that into a .blp. I haven't even started experimenting with the Dev Tools yet. The furthest anyone has got so far is @Wolfdog getting a custom mesh into the game above. This is probably the best route to explore initially.

2) I'm not far off getting the .br2 import/overwrite functionality working in CivNexus6. I've already performed my first overwrite successfully - just need to iron out a few more things. This will mean that it will be possible to make new .fgx files without using the Dev Tools (.fgx -> .nb2 -> Blender -> .br2 -> .fgx). It could then be possible just to cook your new .fgx with vanilla animations with the Dev Tools but I have figured any of that out yet.

Once the .br2 stuff is done, I can try and figure out how Materials and Textures are working with this new .fgx format - how to make them editable, whether it is even worth making them editable in the .fgx if the Asset Cooker allows textures to be over-ridden anyway etc.

I've also noticed an issue with importing some Civ 6 .nb2 extracts into Blender: sometimes vertices are not properly connected into triangles - in other words, the vertices are imported but not connected into a solid mesh. I've seen this with the shoulder guards on the Knight unit and with all the 3D Leaders I've looked at so far. This is a probably an issue with the .nb2 import script that didn't show up with Civ 5 models. My hunch is that it is to do with double-sided parts of the mesh where two triangles have exactly the same coordinates. This issue shouldn't affect the usefulness of the templates though if someone wants to have a go at rigging a new model to a Civ 6 skeleton.

Another minor thing is that .fgx can have 8 Bone Weights per vertex whereas .gr2 only have a maximum of 4. This means some detail could be lost in the rigging with going from .fgx into Blender via .nb2. In practice this probably won't matter for Units at least as can be seen with the Hoplite Armor video I posted earlier.
 
Last edited:
Deliverator said:
There are a couple of possible routes to explore for getting new models into the game:

1) With the first release of the CivNexus6 tool we can already extract .fgx -> .nb2 -> Blender then edit or rig a new mesh to the Civ 6 template. For getting back out of Blender you could try .fbx and then use the Dev Tools to cook that into a .blp. I haven't even started experimenting with the Dev Tools yet. The furthest anyone has got so far is @Wolfdog getting a custom mesh into the game above. This is probably the best route to explore initially.

2) I'm not far off getting the .br2 import/overwrite functionality working in CivNexus6. I've already performed my first overwrite successfully - just need to iron out a few more things. This will mean that it will be possible to make new .fgx files without using the Dev Tools (.fgx -> .nb2 -> Blender -> .br2 -> .fgx). It could then be possible just to cook your new .fgx with vanilla animations with the Dev Tools but I have figured any of that out yet.

Once the .br2 stuff is done, I can try and figure out how Materials and Textures are working with this new .fgx format - how to make them editable, whether it is even worth making them editable in the .fgx if the Asset Cooker allows textures to be over-ridden anyway etc.

I've also noticed an issue with importing some Civ 6 .nb2 extracts into Blender: sometimes vertices are not properly connected into triangles - in other words, the vertices are imported but not connected into a solid mesh. I've seen this with the shoulder guards on the Knight unit and with all the 3D Leaders I've looked at so far. This is a probably an issue with the .nb2 import script that didn't show up with Civ 5 models. My hunch is that it is to do with double-sided parts of the mesh where two triangles have exactly the same coordinates. This issue shouldn't affect the usefulness of the templates though if someone wants to have a go at rigging a new model to a Civ 6 skeleton.

Another minor thing is that .fgx can have 8 Bone Weights per vertex whereas .gr2 only have a maximum of 4. This some detail could be lost in the rigging with going from .fgx into Blender via .nb2. In practice this probably won't matter for Units at least as can be seen with the Hoplite Armor video I posted earlier.
Click to expand...
The minimum files you would need to get the mesh into the game is:
1. Asset file that points to your geometry & material
2. Geo file to go with the fgx file
3. Material file that point to your textures
4. Tex files with you .dds files
5. UnitBins.artdef file that points to your asset (this does not work properly yet and you need to add it back manually after the cooking/build process)
6. Units.xlp file that has you new asset
7. Mod.Art.xml file to tell it what to cook

Import from .fbx seems to reduce quality so if we can bypass this process that would be really good.
Importing textures is bad too so if we can bypass this step as well that would be good.

I am hoping to get some time on the weekend to work on this some more and get something working properly.
 
Wolfdog said:
Import from .fbx seems to reduce quality so if we can bypass this process that would be really good.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I see what you mean with this. When you use in built .fbx import the vertices in the resulting .fgx are different format - they don't have Binormals and Tangents meaning that the models looks blocky rather than smooth. The next version of CivNexus6 will allow you to make .fgx files in the same vertex format as vanilla. I should be able to upload by tomorrow.

Thanks for the info. I was struggling to work out the purpose of all the different files. It *looks* like only the model (skeleton/mesh/bone binding) data is taken from the .fgx and Materials and Textures are configured via the Material/Texture assets but will have to try it out.
 
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