Custom Weapons

[32ones]

My brother-in-law was quite skilled with this $4 thousand program to create 3d animation and whatnot and I have some questions.

We got together one day because I was using the Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind TS construction kit and asked him if he could make some weapons I could put in the game. I sent him the file of a wep that was already on there and he looked at it and made a sword with the proper hand placement. I was wondering if any knows where I can find the weapon files in EQ directory and if it is even possible to make custom weapons.

If it does work out you can expect some custom weapons to come up =). Swords, maces, bows, etc.

Also, from what I have seen in EQ weapons can have animations and he knows how to do that in the program. That means a custom flame sword, staff with a spinning head, and whatever else he can think of... Huzzuh!

[Belfedia]

Don't forget to use SEARCH facility before post :p
you can find this subject here : http://www.eqemulator.net/forums/sho...=custom+weapon

[Windcatcher]

I've been wanting to get OpenZone to the point where it can export custom weapons for a long time. It already has the ability to export to the right files, but I need a couple of examples so I can debug it and get it fully working. For anyone who wants to help, you should follow these steps:

Weapons should range in length between 2.5 and 4.5 units (off the top of my head, swords are usually around 3.5 units long).

You should go download DZoneConverter, available here: http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/e...1.zip?download

Use DZoneConverter to open gequip.s3d, which contains most basic weapons. It doesn't show the textures, but it shows the sizes and orientations of the objects in the file and will give you a good idea of proper size and orientation. For weapons (and other handheld objects), the XYZ origin of the object (0,0,0) should be where it is held.

Weapons should be exported as .3DS files (i.e. 3D Studio MAX files), since OpenZone can import them. There should be one file per weapon. I know that .3DS files don't have much in terms of capabilities, but neither OpenZone nor the EQ engine have much, either.

If you want to make an animated weapon that's fine but I won't be able to use it since OpenZone can't handle animated objects at all. I might be able to use one later on when I try to implement animated weapon capability, but at this point what I really need are a couple of static ones. OpenZone's 3D engine can handle animated weapons just fine, but the program and it's file format don't yet support them.

Any textures should be powers of 2 on a side (e.g. 128x128, 128x256, 256x256), etc., since OpenZone uses OpenGL and it's an OpenGL requirement. Please don't go over 256x256 for now to make testing easier. If you download S3DSpy and look in gequip.s3d, you'll find that many textures are much smaller than that, like 16x16. For simple things like gradients on the steel blade, that's really all you need.

I only need a couple of weapons, maybe a sword and a mace, but if you wish to make more they're certainly welcome. The only thing standing in the way of getting this working has been lack of content to test and debug it.

[Woodlife Treestrider]

That sounds awesome 32... Cannot wait to see some cool custom weapons with partical effect. From what I remember, didn't S2k have a custom sword? I cannot remember if that was a sword from EQLive or custom but was pretty cool. Also does anyone know if DH is going to have custom weapons?

[GeorgeS]

I've made these numerous weapons and their associated textures.
Axis are on the handle, but the sizes are not in any standard units - I use a reference size, but these can be re-sized. They're available for download.

http://www.wizardportal.com/optimaiv...y_weapons.html
http://www.wizardportal.com/optimaiv.../weapons2.html
http://www.wizardportal.com/optimaiv...2/weapons.html
...and a larger size view
http://www.wizardportal.com/optimaiv...ll_objects.png

I'm working on my server these days and having fun with the database...

GeorgeS

[32ones]

Particle effects! Thats the name, how could I be so stupid. Anyway the images at http://www.eqemulator.net/forums/sho...=custom+weapon are down and I would like to see the hand placement. Any one have some new links or perhaps different SCs of it?

[Windcatcher]

GeorgeS, would it be possible to re-texture the weapons with a texture size that's a power of 2? These weapons look great, but I can't use a 1200x1200 texture. Would it be possible to re-release them at 1024x1024? I could resize the texture, but I don't know what that would do to the texture coordinates at the edges of the weapons.

[GeorgeS]

My god - there are 1200x1200 textures? Ok I better fix that then
Should be done later tonight...

--edit
I changed the sizes of all textures to be n^2 --- 9/24/05


GeorgeS

[Windcatcher]

Nevermind about the 1200x1200 textures. I was trying to make it work with your "bloody" weapon set. I switched to your other set (weapons.zip) and all but two textures are power-of-two textures (barrel.png and wood1.png aren't the right size).

I made some changes to OpenZone and I have custom weapons working, but to use your weapon models I had to go through a series of steps:

1. Edit axe_01.x so the texture names are in 8.3 filename.ext format (that is, no long filenames). The reason is that the .3DS format doesn't support long filenames, and Milkshape chops the names if they're too long when converting to .3DS.

2. Open the .PNG textures used and convert them to .BMP. Change axe_01.x so the extensions are .bmp instead of .png.

3. Open axe_01.x in the Milkshape3D demo and scale it down to 10% of its size (it makes the axe a little more than 4 units long, which still makes for a really big axe).

4. Export axe_01.x from Milkshape to axe_01.3ds.

5. Copy the .bmp textures to OpenZone's /library/textures folder.

6. Start OpenZone 6.3 (which will be released shortly, and has the necessary changes to support the models).

7. Click "File...Import...3D Studio Max (.3DS) into the mesh library". It's important to perform this direct import because it will preserve the model origin (0,0,0) at the point where it is held. When prompted for a name, put in "ITxxxxx" where xxxxx is an unused item type number (e.g. IT15001). You can make it "ITxxxxx_DMSPRITEDEF" if you wish, but in the next step OpenZone will append the "_DMSPRITEDEF" part if it has to. I tested it as ITxxxxx.

8. Click "File...Properties" and select the object in the list on the left side of the window, and click Add. Then click Ok. This tells OpenZone that the model will be added to your scene, even if you haven't placed it anywhere.

9. Click "File...Export...Export zone objects to .S3D". You will be prompted for a name, e.g. "gequip8". The export will take place and you'll have a new .S3D file in your /zones subfolder (e.g. gequip8.s3d).

10. Copy the new .S3D file to your EQ folder. REMEMBER TO BACK UP THE ORIGINAL ONE FIRST!!!

11. Add an item to the items table in your database, and use the same "ITxxxxx" designation in the "idfile" field (e.g. IT15001). I believe you have to do this while the server is down. Make sure that the races, classes, and slots are set properly so you can equip it.

12. Log in and summon and equip the item. It should appear when you change your camera view.

Once I get the help file updated for OpenZone 6.3 I'll put it up.

EDIT: The changes were all internal, and looking at the help file shows that it's up-to-date. Expect OpenZone 6.3 shortly...