Nif File Import/Export Scripts for Blender

[Shon]

I'm one of the team members from NifTools, a group that is trying to unravel the mysteries of the Nif file and make it possible to edit them with free tools. We've had visitors from this forum express interest in our work and inquire about when we would be able to support CivIV. So now that our latest release has been out for a while and we haven't heard about any problems with it, I thought I'd take a moment to report that the first steps toward support for Nif version 20.0.0.4 (the version most used in CivIV) are complete =)

The latest version of the scripts (1.4) will allow you to import and export Civ4 version 20.0.0.4 NIF files, including skins, but animation is still unsupported. Luckily Civ4 files don't seem to store their animation inside the file, so it may be possible to use animation from another file, though this hasn't been tested. I know NeOmega has already succeeded in creating a new building for Civ4 using our tools, and now you can import existing buildings and modify them too =)

CivIV support has not been widely tested yet, so we're eager to hear about any bugs you uncover. Please report any bugs or ask for assistance at our forum to make sure we notice right away. I will try to check back here periodically as well.

We already know enough about the file format to implement animation, and we're working on it. We're also looking into trying to work with the Blender team to help them implement DDS texture support. So stay tuned =)

You can download the plugin and get to our forum from here: http://niftools.sourceforge.net

Happy modding!

--Shon

 

[Half Fast]

Will this also work for units? Im making a tank with 3ds max7 and im wondering if this will allow me to import it into the game.

 

[matthewv]

Thanks for all your hard work(and the rest of the nifTools team) and for letting us know how you are progressing. keep up the good work

 

[Shon]

We've been discussing it and it won't work for the units yet because of the way Blender handles armatures internally. =/ This is different from the way the Nif files handle them, so to get them to look right in blender they have to be adjusted... which means that they're not the same as all the KF animation files that allow the units to move anymore. Therefore even if you import a unit and export it right back out, the moment Civ4 tries to animate it it will twist the poor guy up beyond recognition x_x

But I'll let you know when someone successfully edit a unit for sure. Thanks for your support!

--Shon

 

[woodelf]

Definitely thanks for the updates. Since I'm just learning Blender it's good to know eventually something I make may make it into CivIV.

 

[Sevo]

Just wanted to ditto the thanks. I know many of us are following progress closely!

 

[Tyranausaurus]

Shon, or anyone, so we can't edit or alter units yet??

EDIT: With Blender?

 

[Shon]

Shon, or anyone, so we can't edit or alter units yet??

EDIT: With Blender?

No, but we're still working on it of course. We've been a bit busy with the release of Oblivion, but the format that game uses is almost the same, so efforts to export models from either game with animation will benefit both =)

That said, we've already started writing the code to do it and are about half way there, I think.

--Shon

 

[croxis]

Will static units work?

 

[senwiz]

Very cool.

Time to get Blender out again, it seems.

 

[dalek master]

good work guys!

 

[Tholish]

I'm just trying to change terrain features (specifically jungle) with it. I import from nif, select my object, go to edit, pick vertices selection, grab and move some vertices, go back to object mode, deselect everything, delete the cube, select everything else, and export to Nif. After exporting to Nif I get a Nif file of around the right size, but in game it looks like a red blotch, the same as a totally empty nif file in which I delete all objects and then export. I don't know if the fact that it opens up complaining it can't find the 1024 has anything to do with it.

What is the probable cause of the problem?

 

[Sureshot]

i have the same problem with the red spheres.

even a direct import then export using blender does it (my feature started off as 19kb, and then after import export it was 18kb). when i re-imported the one i had exported (that didnt work and showed up as a red sphere ingame) it looks the exact same as the original in blender, but doesnt work for civ4. im guessing something necessary is being lost in the process.