This is a tutorial on how to swap individual LH animations. This tutorial does not teach you how to re-rig or how to make new animations. This just lets you swap certain animations that happen to work together.
1. Download the LH Animation Index and NifSkope. I use 1.2.0 Alpha 2, which I have attached below. You can probably use the newest version, but I encountered an annoying bug with it once and reverting back to the old version fixed it. We will be using my Kane LH.
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2. Identify the Leader you want to swap animations for. Load up the LH and look in the block list (F2 if not enabled) for the NiNode with "parent" or "master" in its name. If it is a custom leader, you can usually look for _LEADERNAME_parent or d_LEADERNAME_MASTER from another leader. If the leader is using completely custom animations, sometimes swapping might not work. This is for leaders based on Firaxis animations.
With my Kane LH, we see he is based on Ramasses animations.
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3. Use the Leaderhead name you found to find the matching row in the LH Animation Index. We found Ramasses, so we find that row in the LH list. There's various options for each other LH on that row.
Y = Yes, animations swap perfectly.
NIF = Glitches in NIFSkope, but they work in game (I have not tested all of these so if they don't, don't blame me.
)
RR = You'll need to re-rig the LH to get this animation to work. Usually not worth the trouble
and not covered in the scope of this tutorial.
N = Does not work. Re-rigging probably wouldn't save it.
There's also custom notes at the bottom that explain specific problems. This tutorial focuses primarily on Leaders that share a "Y" result, because that's the easiest to swap.
Ramasses matches one leader perfectly on the list: Hannibal. So we will swap one of his animations with Ramasses' for Kane.
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4. Find the Leader's animations from Firaxis. Hannibal is located in the Warlords folder. Look for .kf files. These are Keyframe files, individual files that determine a leader's animations for a given action. Copy Hannibal's "no" animation when he tells you no to a deal: "Hannibal_action_01_negative.kf" and paste it in the folder with Kane.
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5. After pasting it in Kane's folder, open the KF file you copied with NifSkope. You'll see a long list under block list, but just click "0 NiControllerSequence". Go to block details at the bottom (F3 if not enabled) and scroll down to "Target Name". This tells the animation to target a certain LH "skeleton". We want to switch the name to the one we found in step 2. So we change it from d_hannibal_MASTER to d_ramassesii_MASTER.
Then click "Save As" and save it as "ramassesii_action_01_negative" in order to get the animation to work with the KFM file. Changing the name at the beginning lets the KFM file know to use this new file.
Do not replace the main animations in the game files. ALWAYS MAKE COPIES!!!
That's it! Now Kane will do the same animation as Hannibal instead of Ramasses when telling you NO.
Credits:
Refar, et al. for the LH Animation Index.
1. Download the LH Animation Index and NifSkope. I use 1.2.0 Alpha 2, which I have attached below. You can probably use the newest version, but I encountered an annoying bug with it once and reverting back to the old version fixed it. We will be using my Kane LH.
------
2. Identify the Leader you want to swap animations for. Load up the LH and look in the block list (F2 if not enabled) for the NiNode with "parent" or "master" in its name. If it is a custom leader, you can usually look for _LEADERNAME_parent or d_LEADERNAME_MASTER from another leader. If the leader is using completely custom animations, sometimes swapping might not work. This is for leaders based on Firaxis animations.
With my Kane LH, we see he is based on Ramasses animations.
------
3. Use the Leaderhead name you found to find the matching row in the LH Animation Index. We found Ramasses, so we find that row in the LH list. There's various options for each other LH on that row.
Y = Yes, animations swap perfectly.
NIF = Glitches in NIFSkope, but they work in game (I have not tested all of these so if they don't, don't blame me.
)RR = You'll need to re-rig the LH to get this animation to work. Usually not worth the trouble
and not covered in the scope of this tutorial.N = Does not work. Re-rigging probably wouldn't save it.
There's also custom notes at the bottom that explain specific problems. This tutorial focuses primarily on Leaders that share a "Y" result, because that's the easiest to swap.
Ramasses matches one leader perfectly on the list: Hannibal. So we will swap one of his animations with Ramasses' for Kane.
------
4. Find the Leader's animations from Firaxis. Hannibal is located in the Warlords folder. Look for .kf files. These are Keyframe files, individual files that determine a leader's animations for a given action. Copy Hannibal's "no" animation when he tells you no to a deal: "Hannibal_action_01_negative.kf" and paste it in the folder with Kane.
------
5. After pasting it in Kane's folder, open the KF file you copied with NifSkope. You'll see a long list under block list, but just click "0 NiControllerSequence". Go to block details at the bottom (F3 if not enabled) and scroll down to "Target Name". This tells the animation to target a certain LH "skeleton". We want to switch the name to the one we found in step 2. So we change it from d_hannibal_MASTER to d_ramassesii_MASTER.
Then click "Save As" and save it as "ramassesii_action_01_negative" in order to get the animation to work with the KFM file. Changing the name at the beginning lets the KFM file know to use this new file.
Do not replace the main animations in the game files. ALWAYS MAKE COPIES!!!
That's it! Now Kane will do the same animation as Hannibal instead of Ramasses when telling you NO.
Credits:
Refar, et al. for the LH Animation Index.
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