help with changing unit (graphic + animation)

[DREWid]

first off hi all... i've been leeching all the cool mods and stuff from this board since civ3... and for all your hard work i say thanks! ... but now i need more... i need to leech your knowledge...

right basically how do i change the graphics + animation of a unit?
i mean if i have downloaded one of the fine units from on this site and want to change it lock stock for a unit in the game?

so for example i download the fine griffon model from this thread --> http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=164348

and decide i want it to be the new model for i dont know say the swordsman model (i know strange but i just want the models to be as different as possible for example perposes) now theres alot of talk about changing the .dds file which im guessing works well if your changing a reskin from the same basic model (ie reskined samurai over old) but what in the the griffon/swordman case were everything is different (grapphic. sound, animation (but you want to keep the same stats)) how do i go about this?

thanks in advance

Drew

p.s. im not actually changing all my swordsmen to griffons... but some of the swaps i do want to do are based off different models

 

[Rabbit, White]

Did you check out the instructions I gave in a spoiler in that thread (right before "Cheers "? Only thing to add to them is that if you want to replace the swordsman with this model you need to change, in CIV4ArtDefines_Unit.xml file, the tag that references swordsman's art definition to the griffon's art definition, i.e. ART_DEF_UNIT_GRIFFON. If you want to add the unit, then you just need to make a copy of an existing one, modify its stats as you like and once again change its art define tag to the griffon's one.

 

[DREWid]

ah the spolier button thanks for the point out!!! ... so let me see if ihave this right

if i chaged the swordsmans xml to -->

- <UnitArtInfo>
<Type>ART_DEF_UNIT_SWORDSMAN</Type>
<fScale>0.6</fScale>
<fInterfaceScale>1.2</fInterfaceScale>
<NIF>Art/Units/Griffon/griffon.nif</NIF>
<KFM>Art/Units/Panther/Panther.kfm</KFM>
<SHADERNIF>Art/Units/Griffon/griffon.nif</SHADERNIF>
<ShadowDef>
<ShadowNIF>Art/Units/01_UnitShadows/PantherShadow.nif</ShadowNIF>
<ShadowAttachNode>LionBip Spine</ShadowAttachNode>
<fShadowScale>1.0</fShadowScale>
</ShadowDef>
<fBattleDistance>0.35</fBattleDistance>
<fRangedDeathTime>0.31</fRangedDeathTime>
<bActAsRanged>0</bActAsRanged>
<TrainSound>AS2D_UNIT_BUILD_UNIT</TrainSound>
- <AudioRunSounds>
<AudioRunTypeLoop />
<AudioRunTypeEnd />
</AudioRunSounds>
</UnitArtInfo>
- <UnitArtInfo>


it would end up looking and sounding like a griffon?

would that alos change the civlopedia grappic (the one that comes up in the window?)

 

[Rabbit, White]

Yes, no, yes and kinda no.

Yes, it will end up looking like a griffon.
No, it won't sound like one because I didn't do any new animations or sounds. It's basically just a panther with an eagle's head and wings stuck on it, so it'll move and sound like a panther. Given that nobody knows how a real Griffon sounds, if it sounds like a panther that's good enough for me.
Yes for the pedia entry if you mean the 3d view of the unit.
No, if you mean the button. The button is changed in the unit's definition, which is really an oversight by Firaxis, because it should've been put into art definition not unit definition, just like everything else graphics related.

I would advise you to create a new art definition instead of modifying the swordsman'd one. And if you just want to make the swordsman look different then point its art tag to the new definition. That way your change is actually kept to one line instead of several because the new art definition doesn't change but rather add, which is much safer, easier to deal with and an overall good coding practice.

*cue the shooting rainbow star*
"The more you know."


P.S. I wonder how many will get the reference.