Doom3world

Just running some tests because I want to get custom players into Q4 MP.

The first one looks good, but the second needs more cowbell.

Brain,

just wanted to thank you. your tutorials were wonderful and you make me laugh all the time

MBolus: Thanks for the comments, I'll use more cowbell in the future.

cusTom3: I find it easier to learn when I'm smiling. Remember, if you get a job because you learned something from my tutorials, you are obligated (sorry man, I didn't make the rulez) to "donate" 15% of your first paycheck to trepaning@hotmail.com via PayPal. Thanks!

With that bit of legalese behind us, let's move on.

I have tried, and have been rather successful, getting a custom player model into Quake 4's MP player selection lineup. I call this creation, "The Shape".
http://members.shaw.ca/trepaning1/102405a.gif

Because I had to replace vanilla game content to make this initial trial work, The Shape has kind of "re-organized" the Corpse player model available.
http://members.shaw.ca/trepaning1/102405c.gif

Aside from that bit of art, here is another gif to kill your bandwidth:
http://members.shaw.ca/trepaning1/102405b.gif

[EDIT]if you're posting several giffs like that, url link to the rather than posting the actual anims on the forums. File size is just as important as image size. kat

Hmm ... but what if he loses a job because of your tutorials?

Then he is careless, and you owe him 15% of your next paycheck.

So this is replacing MP assets, instead of adding new ones? Is there a mod way to do this?

Hope I'm not going off topic by asking a serious question ...

it sounded to me like he did that for this particular test. perhaps he will post an update when he finds a way to mod it out.

with my little understanding of the whole thing i would think it would just be a .def file addition.

and yes, going off topic as you did should cost you 15% of Trepaning's paycheck

Presently, this is just replacing vanilla content. I will figure out how to add custom players in new slots, as was possible in Quake 3, but do not know how to do that yet. Anyone is welcome to figure out how and post the answer, thanks! Also, having player selection as a contact-sheet as in Q3A would be awesome, instead of having to sift through the model choices one at a time.

Hmm, I think I need to work on the animations a bit

Ok, this isn't that useful for multiplayer as it edits the player.def file. Maybe for a total conversion though?

in player.def create an entitydef of your model, mine looks like this..



Then find entityDef player_marine_mp and it should have a list of def_models ( numbered 0 - 15 ) ( theres's actually 2 lists, the top ones commented out so ignore it )

add your model at the end,


then find entityDef player_marine_mp_ui and do the same thing.

Just for your info the one in player_marine_mp is for when you're already in a game, the mp_ui one is for before you've joined.

Awesome work so far! I wondered what the UI was for, and hadn't touched upon it yet. I'll get to this stuff tonight...

What is the animation list required for MP?

I have made #16 player using the Marine Body and a custom head skinned to the STRASSA bone set up. (Only the HEAD CHANNEL bone actually influences the mesh.)

I can see the player body/head in the UI just fine, but when I go into the game, it has no head. BUT if I start up the game and do NOT look at the player in the UI selection list first and jump straight into the level, it appears in the game with teh body and head just fine. However, when I again look at the player model in the UI before entering the level, the game model will not have its head once again.

May just be a simple thing, I am just posting observations thus far.

Odd, can't imagine what would cause that.

One problem with custom models though, the player select screen always uses the marine idle anim, so any model that doesn't use these anims is going to look messed up. You can always select your model from the console ( ui_model ) but then you have to know the exact name.

I can't find the head models and the def file for the heads if there is any.. can someone help me please?

models\lipsync\marine_head

Not sure about def files.

Has any progress been made in the custom MP player models area? I am really interested in doing this, becasue i think it would be fun to recreate myself and some of my friends as in-game players. Would be great fun in LAN parties ect. So Brian, I think you should make a nifty video about doing this. I havnt seen any new videos from you lately and it makes me sad I think I will try and and mess with the process and try and get it to work in a pk4/mod, i dont really like messing with original game content becasue i will end up breaking somthing and having to reinstall . But if you guys are still interested in furthering this I am more than willing to help.

To do it without modifying original content, you would have to set your model via the console( ui_model ).

It really shouldn't be too hard, if I had a model with the proper anims and joints I think I could do it. Hmm, maybe Brian wants to donate Duck Nukem.

I would need a list of the anims required for MP, and a bone structure hierarchy, unless someone wants to make a new DEF file for the custom player. I have the MP rig for Maya, but do not know how to skin or animate in Maya yet. I have a friend going to show me tonight or tomorrow, then it should be fairly simple to skin a new mesh to the default rig and use the game's prefab anims. A modified (rescaled, repostioned, whatever) rig would require a whole new export of the anims needed for MP, and a custom rig (new bones and bone names) would require a new DEF file as well as new anims. Duck Nukem, made in 3ds Max, has a custom rig.

Well its good, but some cases will require whole new rig, animations, DEF file etc.
Here take a look:
http://www.dimwalker.nm.ru/mdl_wip.htm

And I hope Maya is not the final option for exporting custom model...