HELP cant get blender to EXPORT

[bernie14]

ok, i need guidance form the blender experts....for some reason, i cant get any version of blender above 2.43 to export correctly....

currently, i am running blender 2.48a, with python 2.52, nifscripts 2.3.13 and the latest PyFFI.....this is what io get...

i import, let's say, the ATinfantry, the import seems ok, i go to edit mode and chop his hand off (just for fun, actually just merge vertices to edit something)....

ok...i select all and deselect the camera and circle thingy, and go to file - export - nif.....here is my screen, showing the blender version, script version and default settings for CIV 4, form here, i just press "OK".....

and this is the ABOMINATION that comes out as a nif .....this same thing happened to me with blender 2.45

it seems ok in nifskope, but i just know this puppy aint going to work in game...

am i missing some setting?, r the scripts wrong?..... i am attaching a file with both the blend file and resulting nif...i can always go back to 2.43, but i like the UV editing features of the higher versions.....of course i can always bother Ekmek to convert my blends to nifs

 

[The_Coyote]

you selected export skin partiton, therefore you have a shader model without applied shader, try to set has shader to yes in nifscope (it´s in the properties of the NiTriShape, i would recommend nifsckope because sometimes you can´t open the mesh in nifviewer without doing it before), as shader use something senseful (eg: TCiv4Skinning) and set the unknown value to below to -1. Afterwards you must (or not depends on the shader) adjust the texture assigment (Refar made a tutorial where which texture should be).

Now you can add gloss without the small trick

 

[bernie14]

AWESOME!! thanks!....i got the skin partition/shader explination and was able to set the shader to "YES"..... not 100% sure i understand the "as shader use something senseful (eg: TCiv4Skinning) and set the unknown value to below to -1. Afterwards you must (or not depends on the shader) adjust the texture assigment"...but i will check out Refars Tut ASAP...THANKS again....i will post progress.....

 

[The_Coyote]

"as shader use something senseful (eg: TCiv4Skinning)" only meant that there is more than one shader possible (eg for non mechanical unit: teamcolour without gloss (TCiv4Skinning), teamcolour with gloss (TCiv4SkinningGloss), without teamcolour (transparency enabled), ... , also there are more than one option for mechanical units), but the different shaders are also covered in refars tutorial

"set the unknown value to below to -1" under the field for the shader name is a unknown value which must be set to "-1"

(hint: sometime your will not be able to open a exported nif in nifviewer (will chrash) and therefore are forced to set the shader in nifscope)

 

[bernie14]

no luck!!....ive posted thumbs of my results.....in the nifskope, i set has shader to yes, named it and set unknown to -1.....in nifviewer, made base and decal 0 maps as pre Refar's TUT.....

still dont know what is going on....

also attaching the latest nif...

PS HAPPY THANNKSGIVING...(unless u r a turkey)

 

[Refar]

Have you tried it in the game ?
Because it looks clean in NifScope and the animations do work too...
I seem (completely unrelated to this model) unable to get my game to diplay any AT other than the WW2 dude (where's the art define for this ?!) so apprently i can't try myself.

Edit: Found the art define... For some reason the string search in my editor refuses to see AntiTank... Developed by Pacifists i guess...
Anyway...

The blue color is because the texture is sitting in the wrong slot for the shader - you use Teamcolor in Base, Texture in Decall - this is for Teamcolored Nonshader units.
Civ4Skinning shader does not need the Teamcolor.bmp thingie and should have the texture in the base slot.

 

[The_Coyote]

didn´t checkek in game, but your file looks ok in nifviewer, strange enough, because you didn´t changed the texture [teamcolour was the base] the unit with applied shader should look red (teamcolour) in nifviewer (it did by my test), assigning the main texture as base and the unit was displayed with the correct texture.

attached picture of unchanged "ATmanco3.nif" in nifviewer

crosspost with refars edit

 

[bernie14]

thanks to both .....glad to see it works in game....unfortunately, i still dont have my game computer accessible and am using my crummy laptop to do some art....

i still get the weird looking figure in nifviewer ...maybe i need to upgrade my nifviewer?

 

[The_Coyote]

like said version3 is working, what else you could do, change from NiTriStrips to NiTriShape (rmb on the object -> mesh -> triangulate).

But perhaps it´s the other way i thought, perhaps because your graphic doesn´t support shader nifviewer tries to display the unit as non shader unit. I had such looking meshes only the direction having a shader mesh without shader, perhaps the other way it´s the same. You should easily check it with a vanilla fx unit.

But tbh i have no real idea atm

 

[bernie14]

thanks again....think i solved it though...it was in Refar's TUT....i was double clicking on the nif and it would give me that messed up figure, but if i opened nifviewer and THEN opened the nif it was OK!! still cant try in game but Refar got it in, so i guess it is good....THANKS for the help!!

 

[GeneralMatt]

I had this problem myself, and thanks to The Coyote, it seems to be that Skin thing, I think I finally just turned it off and it worked fine....