Art Assets in Civilization 6: A Modding Guide

[RFormica]

Wow! New wonder?

What program did you use to make the model?

 

[Shirotora Kenshin]

Wow! New wonder?

What program did you use to make the model?

i just converted a model, but i did the modeling stuff in Blender 2.78

ITSUKUSHIMA now works too...but its too large i think...have to solve this

 

[Deliverator]

An easy way to rescale things is just to insert a rescaling adjustment bone with CivNexus6. Just remember to backup the .fgx file before you do it and regenerate the .geo file afterwards.

 

[Shirotora Kenshin]

thanks Deliverator. all works fine now except of the Icons...what i have to do to get those Icons to work ?

and btw, another question : what is the unit trait ? what the unit trait tells the game ?

 

[esosorcdc]

SOLVED ! at least the Himeji Castle now works ingame hahaha the reason was so stupid...unbelievable...

you have to check per right click on the Project file in modbuddy, if under Properties----> In-Game Actions and then that UpdateArt is set...and under files you Need to add ( Mod Art Dependeny File )View attachment 476831

That's awesome.

I finally got my model made and textured in blender, now I just have to put it in the game. There was ALOT of stuff I had to learn, I didn't realize just how much when I first posted in this thread. And I still have much to learn. But thanks to help from FurionHuang, Deliverator, and sukritact I was pointed in the right direction.

Spoiler Outline :

3D ART ASSET OUTLINE (V3)

1) Blender (Using Cyles Render)
- Create 3D Model (must be triangulated)
- Mark Seams (Ctrl + E => "Mark Seam")
- Add a Bone (Add => Armature => Single Bone)
- Assign Bone to your 3D Model (In object mode select 3D Model, hold shift and select bone, then press Ctrl + P and select "With Automatic Weights")
- Create a Material for each type of materials you will have on your 3D Model
- Assign each Material to the corresponding faces of your 3D Model
- Get or Create PBR textures (PBR stands for Physically-Based Rendering)
> Get PBR textures from the internet (Just google search free PBR textures. Examples: <www.textures.com> & <www.poliigon.com>)
> Create PBR textures
- Assign PBR textures to Materials using Nodes
- Fix any scaling/position issues with textures (Note that I use Generated Texture Coordinate and Mapping Nodes for this)
- Create UV Map (In edit mode press U = > Unwrap)
- Pack Islands (In UV Map Editor press Ctrl + P)
- Create a "New Blank Image" in UV Map Editor
- Create an unattached Texture Image Node in the Node Editor of each material with the "New Blank Image" as the texture file, and with this node as only selected node
- Bake your textures to your UV map
> Albedo = Diffuse (Color)
> Ambient Occlusion = Ambient Occlusion
> Glossiness = Gloss
> Normal Map = Emit (*Requires Special Node Setup through the Emission shader)
> Metalness = Emit (*Requires Special Node Setup through the Emission shader)
- Delete all Materials, Create one Material, Assign your Baked UV Map Textures to the Material using Nodes
- Export Blender project to .cn6 format
2) Gimp (or Paint.NET)
- Export all of your Baked UV Map Textures to .dds format
> Gimp: Format RGBA8, Uncompressed, With Mipmaps
> Paint.NET: Format B8G8R8A8, Uncompressed, With Fant Mipmaps

Spoiler Blender Screenshot :

Material View

Texture View

 

[Deliverator]

and btw, another question : what is the unit trait ? what the unit trait tells the game ?

TraitTypes are used (for example) to control which Civilization can build a unit:

<Row UnitType="UNIT_LONGBOWMAN" BaseMoves="2" Cost="180" AdvisorType="ADVISOR_CONQUEST" BaseSightRange="2" ZoneOfControl="false"
    Domain="DOMAIN_LAND" FormationClass="FORMATION_CLASS_LAND_COMBAT" Name="LOC_UNIT_LONGBOWMAN_NAME"
    Description="LOC_UNIT_LONGBOWMAN_DESCRIPTION" PurchaseYield="YIELD_GOLD" PromotionClass="PROMOTION_CLASS_RANGED"
    Maintenance="3" Combat="30" RangedCombat="40" Range="2" PrereqTech="TECH_MACHINERY"
    MandatoryObsoleteTech="TECH_SYNTHETIC_MATERIALS" TraitType="TRAIT_CIVILIZATION_UNIT_LONGBOWMAN"/>

    <CivilizationTraits>
...
        <Row CivilizationType="CIVILIZATION_ENGLAND" TraitType="TRAIT_CIVILIZATION_UNIT_LONGBOWMAN"/>

 

[Deliverator]

thanks Deliverator. all works fine now except of the Icons...what i have to do to get those Icons to work ?

This Modbuddy project demonstrates how to cook your .dds icons into .blp files:
https://github.com/iainmillar23/EvenMoarUnitsMacedonAndPersia/tree/master/MoarUnitsMacedonAndPersia

 

[esosorcdc]

So I went through the steps to put my model in game, but I get a giant red exclamation mark. Does this give any hints on what may be wrong?

 

[Deliverator]

So I went through the steps to put my model in game, but I get a giant red exclamation mark. Does this give any hints on what may be wrong?

View attachment 476865

Not really. Does you're asset display OK in the Asset Previewer? If so then try the Firetune Asset Preview tab to see if your .blp has been successfully cooked and is available to the game. Otherwise it could be something to do with your .blp files either not being cooked properly or not referenced properly due a problem or omission in your Modbuddy project.

 

[Shirotora Kenshin]

This Modbuddy project demonstrates how to cook your .dds icons into .blp files:
https://github.com/iainmillar23/EvenMoarUnitsMacedonAndPersia/tree/master/MoarUnitsMacedonAndPersia

thank you Deliverator...there is still something i do not understand by now...the index number how can i know which index number is correct ?

 

[Deliverator]

thank you Deliverator...there is still something i do not understand by now...the index number how can i know which index number is correct ?

Do you mean the index order in an icon atlas?

They just count from left-to-right, then from top-to-bottom starting from zero so for a 10x10 atlas the icon indexes will be:

First row: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Second row: 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
etc.

 

[esosorcdc]

Not really. Does you're asset display OK in the Asset Previewer? If so then try the Firetune Asset Preview tab to see if your .blp has been successfully cooked and is available to the game. Otherwise it could be something to do with your .blp files either not being cooked properly or not referenced properly due a problem or omission in your Modbuddy project.

No, it is not displaying in Asset Previewer. I used "DIS_CTY_AW_Monument.ast" as the Asset file that I copied and edited. I did a Find and Replace for all the text fields for the values you described in this thread (see spoiler), so that it will display the same whether worked, unworked, etc. This building will be somewhere in the City Center Tile, so I would need to use either monument, granary, or watermill right. And should I delete the Foliage, Brick, and Decal stuff, or leave it?

Spoiler Asset Previewer Screen Shot :

Spoiler Feilds Changed in .ast :

I did a Find and Replace for the text field in all the following:
m_Name = "What I named the .ast file"
m_GeoName = "What I named my .geo file"
m_ObjectName ="What I named my .mtl file"
m_GroupName = "What I named my material in Blender (same in CivNexus6)"
m_MeshName = "What I named my mesh in Blender (same in CivNexus6)"
Asset File Copied to Text.txt

 

[Shirotora Kenshin]

Without a Look into your Asset txt file...as Long as it doesnt show up in the asset previewer, it is too early to test it in game. Do you get error messages ( red colored text ) in the asset previewer ?

 

[Deliverator]

Without a Look into your Asset txt file...as Long as it doesnt show up in the asset previewer, it is too early to test it in game. Do you get error messages ( red colored text ) in the asset previewer ?

Getting it working in Asset Preview is the first step. Fortunately the Output tab is pretty helpful in identifying errors e.g. missing or misnamed references.

 

[esosorcdc]

Without a Look into your Asset txt file...as Long as it doesnt show up in the asset previewer, it is too early to test it in game. Do you get error messages ( red colored text ) in the asset previewer ?

Don't see any red text in asset previewer.

Spoiler Asset Previewer Screen Shot :

Getting it working in Asset Preview is the first step. Fortunately the Output tab is pretty helpful in identifying errors e.g. missing or misnamed references.

No errors showing in output tab.

Spoiler Output Tab Screen Shot :

Spoiler What about these vales under cooker? Should they be left alone? :

Spoiler Dependency Info :

 

[esosorcdc]

Looks like deleting those values in cooker and the bushes and brick base stuff worked. It was super tiny though so I have to set scale to 100. Question though, If I change the scale in that Transform box in Asset Previewer will it be reflected in game?

Spoiler Screen Shot :

Also, do I need to choose a DSG? If So, which one?

Spoiler Screen Shot DSG :

 

[Deliverator]

Looks like deleting those values in cooker and the bushes and brick base stuff worked. It was super tiny though so I have to set scale to 100. Question though, If I change the scale in that Transform box in Asset Previewer will it be reflected in game?

No. Those values only affect the Previewer. You can use CivNexus6 to rescale things by inserting a rescaling adjustment bone under Additional Actions. Just remember to backup the .fgx file before you do it and regenerate the .geo file afterwards.

Also, do I need to choose a DSG? If So, which one?

I think you only need to specify a .dsg for animated assets.

 

[esosorcdc]

No. Those values only affect the Previewer. You can use CivNexus6 to rescale things by inserting a rescaling adjustment bone under Additional Actions. Just remember to backup the .fgx file before you do it and regenerate the .geo file afterwards.



I think you only need to specify a .dsg for animated assets.

The adjustment bone is not being reflected in Asset Previewer for me. The settings in the transform panel in Asset Previewer on how I want it to be is (Scale: X: 100, Y: 100, z: 100)(Rotate: Z: -35)(Coordinates/Position: X: -5, Y: -35, Z: 0). Explain exactly how I am suppose to do this please. I tried a lot of different combinations, but nothing shows up. First I tried just insert adjustment bone with rescale factor 100. Then I tried to insert adjustment bone with rescale factor 100, then add scaled bone with parent set to adjustment bone. But neither did anything.

Spoiler CivNexus6 Adjustment Bone Controls :

 

[Shirotora Kenshin]

got every unit Icon finsihed and working now, except of the Icons shown at the Screen, when you choose a civ and a leader. cant get those Icons to work ingame by now...DEliverator you have those Icons working in your MOAR UNits Mod...maybe you can help me here once again ?
i mean the Icons in my painted red circles on this Image :

And another Thing, deliverator i ask you for permission to use the Unit Icon of your sohei from Moar Units Mod...Hope you Allow Me to use this Icon.

 

[Wolfdog]

got every unit Icon finsihed and working now, except of the Icons shown at the Screen, when you choose a civ and a leader. cant get those Icons to work ingame by now...DEliverator you have those Icons working in your MOAR UNits Mod...maybe you can help me here once again ?
i mean the Icons in my painted red circles on this Image :

View attachment 476968

And another Thing, deliverator i ask you for permission to use the Unit Icon of your sohei from Moar Units Mod...Hope you Allow Me to use this Icon.

I am trying to remember this from off the top off my head but i believe that there is a separate icon file that is used for the startup and another for the in game. In mod buddy they are inserted at different point into the database but I cant remember where.