[QUESTION] Porting Hozen and Female Pandaren

[Epicurus]

Hello Modcraft,

I'm trying port over the Mists of Pandaria Hozen and Female Pandaren models. Now, I know how to port models, wmos, adts, etc - this question is about those M2s that port over with bad appearances in game (please refer to the screenshots).

Multiple searches on the topic led to a conclusion that the 335a/434 clients have bad displays on M2s that have more geosets than the they can handle. It was suggested to try and remove some geosets. Well, I did that - but that creates a new problem. Deleting geosets does indeed clean up the in game display for some displayIDs, but for others it leaves them with missing body parts. For example, I was able to clean up the Female Pandaren Prisoner model, but when I try to spawn other female pandaren NPCs certain parts of their bodies are missing, some are missing the tail, others the arms, and others are missing the torso.

This leads me to the conclusion that there is more to converting those models than deleting geosets, or perhaps deleting geosets is not the way to go about it.

Is there anyone out there who has successfully ported those models and is willing to share how they did it? Or maybe you have a link to a tutorial somewhere? Elaboration is appreciated.

Thank you,
Epicurus

[flagg78]

I have done it:


I guess i would have to know more about how you deleted the geosets to help.

[Epicurus]

Hi flagg78,

Thanks for the response. This is what I've been doing to 'clean up' those 'streched meshes' (not sure what the proper terminology is).

I load up the skin file (skin01.skin) in 010 editor and apply the SkinTemplate found in tools/resources section of this website. I scroll over to the "Submeshes" section and I nullify "Submeshes" on a trial and error bases. I've found that I don't need to completely restart the wow client to see the changes. If I use a folder with the name of patch-x.MPQ, I am able to relog and see the changes I made. I repeat that process until the model is clear of any stretchy meshes. Of course, I'm preventing information from being processed, and this comes back to bite me when I try to look at another model from the same M2.

Are you following the same steps or have you discovered a different way to clear up those models?

Thanks,
Epicurus

-- EDIT --

I'm 'nullifying' those submeshes (not deleting them) by setting the nTriangles and nVertices to 0. In order:

1) Nullify Submesh
2) Log in to see what changes were made
3) If no change, undo nullified submesh, go to next submesh. If change, keep submesh nullified go to next submesh.
4) Repeat

[flagg78]

ok that seems like it would work good but the easier way to do it would be to use the m2mod program. open the m2i file in blender and delete the submeshes you dont want. WAY easier and so far pretty flawless. plus the submeshes you are zeroing out are not necessarily bad. they should work fine if you eliminate some of the unwanted meshes. That is if they end up being one you would want. I found that some of the newer models just have more geosets than the WOTLK client was made to handle.

[Epicurus]

Hi flagg78,

Thanks for the reply. I was aware of the blender solution, though I was hoping for a more intuitive hex editing way. I guess there really is no other way. I'll take a look at Blender today, and try to learn how to remove submeshes that way.

Cheers!
Epicurus

[Epicurus]

How did you get those m2s to open in M2Mod? The program crashes with "Assertion Failed", refer to the screenshot.

[flagg78]

I dont think i had that error. are you trying to open a wotlk m2 with m2mod4? I DO know that will give you an error. and fyi I would always use m2mod4 instead of m2mod3 which was for wotlk. that one is bugged or not quite finished. some functions dont quite work on m2mod3.

oh and in blender right click to select a geoset. x to delete it.

[Epicurus]

Hi flagg78,

Thanks for the Blender tip. I'm trying to open the Hozen M2 from Mists of Pandaria in M2Mod4. I receive that notice when I attempt it. Any chance of uploading your M2Mod4 to this thread? It's possible you're using an updated version of the program.

Not sure if this makes a difference, but I'm attempting to use M2Mod4 on a windows 7 environment.

Thanks again!
Epicurus

[flagg78]

im using windows xp. dont know if that makes a difference. also the error mentioned C++. i know i have allot of the C++ extra stuff installed for compiling. dont know if that would make a difference.

here is my copy. there may be extra stuff in it. but it works for me.
m2mod4

[Epicurus]

Hi flagg78,

Thanks for all the help! Unfortunately, I am still unable to open those M2s with M2Mod.

By the way, there is a new version of M2Mod4 out which you might find useful:

viewtopic.php?f=59&t=7450

I'll to try troubleshoot the problem with the creator of that program.

Take care!
Epicurus

[Epicurus]

Hi flagg78,

I would be interested in seeing your Hozen M2I that was created by M2Mod4. Think you can post that here?

Thanks,
Epicurus

[PhilipTNG]

I have done it:


I guess i would have to know more about how you deleted the geosets to help.

That hozen in your pic reminds me of the HozuMonkey_Low01.
From Wowhead, DisplayID: 51477 (Looks the same in 3.3.5a)


I thought the Hozen had armor doesn't it?

MoP Image....

[flagg78]

yep it is. I took parts from the regular hozen and the low and the monkeyking to make them. you could easily do something similar to get the monkey you want. just import the armor or body model parts through blender.