Another suggestion is, look at putting the Phong info inside of a channel (like in the Dota 2 texturing guidelines) and playing with that. Hopefully that helps. I'm not sure if TF2 actually uses channel passed maps other than for trasnpancy atm, but give that a shot if all else fails.
Yeah I saw that but I looks like it is referencing a separate texture for the phong mask. TF2 can get the phong mask from the alpha channel of a texture, I just can't get mine to work along side the bump.
I fear not paintability. But THAT paint... it scares me
Also the white part its too white, too bright. Try a dirtier white. Also we could try finding new and more original items to make, not ones that has already been done.
I realize that there will always be some crossover from common ideas, but I've dropped several WIP projects when I've seen that someone else already did a similar idea (no matter how badly they did it). I'm just wondering if that's an unnecessary courtesy on my part.
I realize that there will always be some crossover from common ideas, but I've dropped several WIP projects when I've seen that someone else already did a similar idea (no matter how badly they did it). I'm just wondering if that's an unnecessary courtesy on my part.
If it's a much less quality of what you're going to submit, I say fug em all, submit it. Cause Valve might like the idea, just not the submission itself.
Got a Material I'm making that has an engraving on it. Problem is I can't get the Bump and phong mask to work together. I seem to be only able to get one or the other. I'm sure it's a problem with my .VMT. so I was hoping one of you could take a look and let me know where I have gone wrong. The phongmask is on the base textures apha channel, no alpha on the bump texture.
I did make sure Normal mapping was checked in HLMV when previewing. Any help will be much appreciated.
For models with a normalmap, the phongmap goes in the alpha of the normal. That leaves the alpha of the texture file for the paint mask.
OK, I tried that as well and had the same issue. I'm still sure it's a problem with the strings in the .vmt I changed "$Basemapalphaphongmask" to "$bumpmapalphaphongmask" now that the phong is on the normal. Still same issue
EDIT: GOT IT! Put the aplha phong on the alpha of the normal and made the above change. noticed it removed the alpha when i generated the normal. I fixed that and resaved and bingo. Thanks mate!
I've been curious. Are there any guidelines on when LOD's are not required? Say you have a hat that weighs in at 230 tri count. Should you even Bother?
Can anyone tell me how I can actually see my model in-game?
I actually want to have a snapshot of it where you can't see through it.
I tried earlier, but after I got in the itemtest level, I didn't really know what to do.
Those freaking tiny little white lines that never, ever ever ever go away for all of my models. Like I rebaked the diffuses and even baked a alpha mask for them, but still nothing makes those stop showing up.
Still having minor skin errors, but almost have all those verts down.
Also, if I could get some rigging and skin recommendation for this hood and my puffy tossles, I'd really appreciate that. I can't think of what bones to rig the hood to or how to get the tossles to stay with the hood.
Is it too late to get in the Nice/Naughty crates btw?
Can anyone tell me how I can actually see my model in-game?
I actually want to have a snapshot of it where you can't see through it.
I tried earlier, but after I got in the itemtest level, I didn't really know what to do.
Those freaking tiny little white lines that never, ever ever ever go away for all of my models. Like I rebaked the diffuses and even baked a alpha mask for them, but still nothing makes those stop showing up.
Still having minor skin errors, but almost have all those verts down.
Also, if I could get some rigging and skin recommendation for this hood and my puffy tossles, I'd really appreciate that. I can't think of what bones to rig the hood to or how to get the tossles to stay with the hood.
snip
Is it too late to get in the Nice/Naughty crates btw?
Hey man, looking great! I'm pretty good with rigging and weight painting, enough to know I could probably fix your spikey issues. As for the tassles not following the hoody properly, are they floating geometry? If so, you probably don't have them weighted to bones properly.
PM me if you need some help and I'll see what I can do for you. Cheers!
Hey man, looking great! I'm pretty good with rigging and weight painting, enough to know I could probably fix your spikey issues. As for the tassles not following the hoody properly, are they floating geometry? If so, you probably don't have them weighted to bones properly.
PM me if you need some help and I'll see what I can do for you. Cheers!
Oh thanks man! Feel free to add me too (my steam ID is my PC username).
Yes the coat is four separate pieces (hood, overcoat, tassles, and zipper). It was really the only way I could rig them properly- I had really hard time getting the hood's envelopes and the tassles' envelopes to be correct without separating it into the aforementioned pieces.
I think I'm going to try linking those pieces quick, then try just attaching the tossles to the hood if that fails. I'll post a new WIP soon.
EDIT:
Good news. After attaching the tassles to the hood meesh and re-rigging all the LODs, it finally stays with the hood!
Okay as you can see by the green circle, I'm getting bad warping when the scout turns his hand. And several points are very skewed when in motion.
Any advice on fixing these?
I think I am done sculpting and ready for the retopo /texture work.
I might need a second modeler to do the texture and retopo ,if they are interested in this let me know .Works a little nutty atm.My steam is hatesman so just add me .
Hi guys, would be really neat if someone could help me out with a TF2 related problem, been trying and trying and trying different shit for some hours now but with no result.
We're doing this hat for TF2, and we've got the Diffuse and Spec and everything set up just right, working fine in game and so on, assigned in the right places in the Source SDKs Itemtest and all that.
Now, this new item, we were gonna use a Normal Map and with that the problems started.
Whatever we do, whichever guide we follow (there aren't many apparently? O.o) it never shows up on the model (the hat) in the testmap in the actual TF2 game, the model just looks all plain with what seems like only the diffuse and the specular map assigned.
The Normal Map (and every other texture) is a.tga and is assigned accordingly in the SDK. 32-bit, alpha has the same info (the spec) as the difuse, read somewhere that that was the way to do it.
Just won't show up. I bet it's something easy I've missed...
Would be incredibly thankful if someone out there could help me in the right direction here! It's really important. :O
I can provide additional info and pics and whatnot if someone might know the answer to this but need more stuff from me to sort it out!
Really nice model man, I see that you have a Normal Map (right :P ) assigned there on that Pattern Design, maybe you can help me out here? :P
I know this will sorta be a dumb question .I imported the model into tf ,but the items shader/material looks nothing like the renderer that I was using .I know game engines and stuff are different but how can I set it up to be a little more like the render in the 3d app .
<--- knows nothing about the qc files and stuff .Like I would need reflectivity ,rubber something to sorta apply to it .
I know this will sorta be a dumb question .I imported the model into tf ,but the items shader/material looks nothing like the renderer that I was using .I know game engines and stuff are different but how can I set it up to be a little more like the render in the 3d app .
<--- knows nothing about the qc files and stuff .Like I would need reflectivity ,rubber something to sorta apply to it .
Texturing:
Make sure all texture images are targas.
Import the targa in VFT Edit and save as a VTF and VMT.
Not much to a VMT, but make sure you use the shader "VertexLitGeneric."
Before you begin coding, you are going to need to export the SMDs out; you'll need to export both a Reference and Idle Sequence SMDs for each LOD.
See here for a list of usable programs and links to their plug-ins. https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Exporting_a_model
To get you model in-game, this is going to require a small amount of coding. Valve has a long list of syntax and commands, so experimentation is going to be required to get specific results. https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/QC
In this tutorial we will only be touching on the basics of getting an item in.
Before starting, open Item Test in Source SDK and get your Item Test ID.
This will be visible after you complete the first step of compiling a model.
NOTE: When compiling in GUI Studio, Model Viewer (from Source SDK) must be open to compile properly. GUI Studio will also ask for a GameInfo path, if you do not have TF2 and or Half Life: Episode 1 installed on your hard drive you will get an error when opening the program. If you are not compiling for a certain game, do not worry if that path is missing.
-QC Item Example:
//Basic Compile
$scale 1
$hboxset "default"
//Model Field
//Metals is the default surface property
$surfaceprop "metal"
//This is where the model file will be exported and the name of the model
$modelname "player\items\<class>\<itemtest ID>\<item folder name\<itemname>.mdl"
//This is the default Level of Detail
$model "Body" "LOD0_<itemname>_ref.smd"
//This field is where animations go
//Youll need to make a sequence for any animation you wish to incorporate
//Here is what would for here for an item with no animations or physics
$sequence idle "LOD0_<itemname>_ref.smd" fps .01
//Here is what would put for a basic idle. This also allows for jigglebones. Use one or the other.
$sequence idle "LOD0_<itemname>_idle.smd" fps 24
//This field looks for the VMTs
$cdmaterials "models\player\items\<class>\<itemtest ID>\<item folder name>\"
//This field allows for RED/BLU materials
$texturegroup "skins"
{
{ "<VMTname>" }
{ "<VMTname>_b" }
}
//If you are dealing with jigglebones will need to be an externally exported SMD Sequence with _phys.
$collisionmodel " LOD0_<itemname>_ref.smd "
{
//This is the basic field for collision with the world. This will also have guns fall to the ground on death
$automass
}
$lod <insert desired distance 7-100>
{
replacemodel "LOD0_<itemname>_ref.smd" "LOD1_<itemname>_ref.smd"
replacemodel "LOD0_<itemname>_idle.smd" "LOD1_<itemname>_idle.smd"
}
$lod <insert desired distance 7-100>
{
replacemodel "LOD0_<itemname>_ref.smd" "LOD2_<itemname>_ref.smd"
replacemodel "LOD0_<itemname>_idle.smd" "LOD2_<itemname>_idle.smd"
}
Okay so after having Base look at the skin and recompiling, we have this error now. I think it might have to do with my VMT or QC, but I can't thing of how to get the sleeves to not be transparent.
Any suggestions?
Also, Base is working on the skinning, so don't fret about it.
Ok so I have basicly travelled all over the interwebs in search for help and guidance on my problems. I am currently modelling a crossbow intended to use the same fire- and reload-animation that the Crusaders Crossbow does. Therefor, I imported the CC into Maya (using the SMD-plugin that Valve provides through SDK) creating an exact replica of the skeleton complete with the same name-convention. But - as I run my model through the exporter and through itemtest, eventually previewing it in HLMV there are no joints/bones to be found. Only the first one. The rest are lost.
After countless hours of pulling hair I decided to try a melee weapon (using only one joint), this time the joint was found (although with another name) but it was stuck in the player-model, not attached to the hand.
So to my question, does anybody have any good resources on how to rig weapons properly for TF2 using Maya?
Thanks allot for that info amtyk .I totally appreciate it man .I have compiled the model using the steam item test function .One other question.Hats are easy to compile .How do I compile weapons ,or can I use the same item test with the sdk to compile weapons as well .Cause I tried doing that with another model and it didnt work to well .Came out inside the body inside of tf.
Ok so I have basicly travelled all over the interwebs in search for help and guidance on my problems. I am currently modelling a crossbow intended to use the same fire- and reload-animation that the Crusaders Crossbow does. Therefor, I imported the CC into Maya (using the SMD-plugin that Valve provides through SDK) creating an exact replica of the skeleton complete with the same name-convention. But - as I run my model through the exporter and through itemtest, eventually previewing it in HLMV there are no joints/bones to be found. Only the first one. The rest are lost.
After countless hours of pulling hair I decided to try a melee weapon (using only one joint), this time the joint was found (although with another name) but it was stuck in the player-model, not attached to the hand.
So to my question, does anybody have any good resources on how to rig weapons properly for TF2 using Maya?
Thanks allot for that info amtyk .I totally appreciate it man .I have compiled the model using the steam item test function .One other question.Hats are easy to compile .How do I compile weapons ,or can I use the same item test with the sdk to compile weapons as well .Cause I tried doing that with another model and it didnt work to well .Came out inside the body inside of tf.
>Compiling anything not a hat through ItemTest
>Recreating rig
Don't try to recreate a rig. Ever.
Just use the existing rig and animations provided if you're going to piggyback. If not, just make your own stuff.
I'd recommend, since it's using the crossbow stuff, replacing its model and VMTs. So go look at its texture names and mdl names and use those in your QC.
Look at my post on compiling again for a full QC and all the necessary links. ItemTest is pretty shit at compiling anything, and you'll get better results manually compiling.
Make sure when you're exporting SMDs that you have all the geometry and bones link properly, and when you export you have all the geometry selected for a LOD and all the bones. Also make sure to link the necessary bones to the character's weapon bone (see page one of this thread of class files).
I actually havent had the chance to test making sequences other than idle, but be sure to have a "reload" sequence in your. Like this:
At the moment I've always exported out all the geometry and bones with each sequence, but try out just exporting all the bones on one sequence for custom animations once.
>Compiling anything not a hat through ItemTest
>Recreating rig
Don't try to recreate a rig. Ever.
Just use the existing rig and animations provided if you're going to piggyback. If not, just make your own stuff.
I'd recommend, since it's using the crossbow stuff, replacing its model and VMTs. So go look at its texture names and mdl names and use those in your QC.
Look at my post on compiling again for a full QC and all the necessary links. ItemTest is pretty shit at compiling anything, and you'll get better results manually compiling.
Make sure when you're exporting SMDs that you have all the geometry and bones link properly, and when you export you have all the geometry selected for a LOD and all the bones. Also make sure to link the necessary bones to the character's weapon bone (see page one of this thread of class files).
I actually havent had the chance to test making sequences other than idle, but be sure to have a "reload" sequence in your. Like this:
At the moment I've always exported out all the geometry and bones with each sequence, but try out just exporting all the bones on one sequence for custom animations once.
Thank you very much for your help, gonna make another attempt today. Also, is there any reason the .smd files from Maya doesn't contain any mesh when I'm importing them into itemtest? Always happned and I've always wondered :P Just itemtest being buggy or is it me?
Edit: So I'm currently trying using GUIStudio but I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to work the animation in the .qc. Am I supposed to create the reload-animation in Maya and export it as a separate .smd? Cause when I export and decompile the Crusader Crossbows information and .smd:s I don't receive a separate .smd for a reload-animation. I always assued that was done within the game-engine via code-magics :P Once again a thousand thanks for your help Amtyk!
Hey posted this yesterday,just wondering if anyone would want to work with me on it .I am not a tf2 texture guy .Thier color style just is not something I like doing .Would love it if we could get this in game .
Thank you very much for your help, gonna make another attempt today. Also, is there any reason the .smd files from Maya doesn't contain any mesh when I'm importing them into itemtest? Always happned and I've always wondered :P Just itemtest being buggy or is it me?
Edit: So I'm currently trying using GUIStudio but I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to work the animation in the .qc. Am I supposed to create the reload-animation in Maya and export it as a separate .smd? Cause when I export and decompile the Crusader Crossbows information and .smd:s I don't receive a separate .smd for a reload-animation. I always assued that was done within the game-engine via code-magics :P Once again a thousand thanks for your help Amtyk!
Yeah, you create the reload animation in maya, then export as an smd. It should be noted you ONLY export the bones with the animation smd. I think you can get away with having geometry but it just makes it messier and a bigger file too. But you definitely don't need it (I've tested reload animtions for weapons back before itemtest was a thing). That said, I'm not entirely sure how testing is done nowadays. HLMV may be the only way to test stuff? Does anyone know how to test item animations in game like that?
Replies
Yeah I saw that but I looks like it is referencing a separate texture for the phong mask. TF2 can get the phong mask from the alpha channel of a texture, I just can't get mine to work along side the bump.
[ame="
rate UP please http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=112960868
I fear not paintability. But THAT paint... it scares me
Also the white part its too white, too bright. Try a dirtier white. Also we could try finding new and more original items to make, not ones that has already been done.
That is EXACTLY what I was going to suggest
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=108862455
I realize that there will always be some crossover from common ideas, but I've dropped several WIP projects when I've seen that someone else already did a similar idea (no matter how badly they did it). I'm just wondering if that's an unnecessary courtesy on my part.
I did make sure Normal mapping was checked in HLMV when previewing. Any help will be much appreciated.
"$baseTexture" "models\weapons\c_items\DoubleDown/DoubleDown"
"$Bumpmap" "models\weapons\c_items\DoubleDown/DoubleDown_N"
"$phong" "1"
"$phongexponent" "15"
"$phongboost" "5"
"$lightwarptexture" "models\lightwarps\weapon_lightwarp"
"$phongfresnelranges" "[.5 .5 3]"
"$halflambert" "1"
"$tempvar" "0"
"$basephongexponent" "15"
"$basephongboost" "5"
"$commadd_phongexponent" "30"
"$commadd_phongboost" "22.5"
"$commweapon" "0"
"$basemapalphaphongmask" "1"
// Rim lighting parameters
"$rimlight" "1"
"$rimlightexponent" "20"
"$rimlightboost" ".25"
"360?$color2" "[ 0.5 0.5 0.5 ]"
"$glowcolor" "1"
OK, I tried that as well and had the same issue. I'm still sure it's a problem with the strings in the .vmt I changed "$Basemapalphaphongmask" to "$bumpmapalphaphongmask" now that the phong is on the normal. Still same issue
EDIT: GOT IT! Put the aplha phong on the alpha of the normal and made the above change. noticed it removed the alpha when i generated the normal. I fixed that and resaved and bingo. Thanks mate!
fix textures and material (now use pyro_lightwarp instead)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsubZH-TSYU&feature=youtu.be
just put this up .
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=112908430&searchtext=
Not 100% sure if I will finish this for a bit but currently working on a few ideas .
I actually want to have a snapshot of it where you can't see through it.
I tried earlier, but after I got in the itemtest level, I didn't really know what to do.
Those freaking tiny little white lines that never, ever ever ever go away for all of my models. Like I rebaked the diffuses and even baked a alpha mask for them, but still nothing makes those stop showing up.
Still having minor skin errors, but almost have all those verts down.
Also, if I could get some rigging and skin recommendation for this hood and my puffy tossles, I'd really appreciate that. I can't think of what bones to rig the hood to or how to get the tossles to stay with the hood.
Is it too late to get in the Nice/Naughty crates btw?
type itemtest
load your model using the menus provided
Also. The Double Down. Part of a gambling themed set.
cant get YouTube to embed. :P First person anims are done. Looking into adjust third person.
http://youtu.be/0ttoeGRLlA0
Hey man, looking great! I'm pretty good with rigging and weight painting, enough to know I could probably fix your spikey issues. As for the tassles not following the hoody properly, are they floating geometry? If so, you probably don't have them weighted to bones properly.
PM me if you need some help and I'll see what I can do for you. Cheers!
Oh thanks man! Feel free to add me too (my steam ID is my PC username).
Yes the coat is four separate pieces (hood, overcoat, tassles, and zipper). It was really the only way I could rig them properly- I had really hard time getting the hood's envelopes and the tassles' envelopes to be correct without separating it into the aforementioned pieces.
I think I'm going to try linking those pieces quick, then try just attaching the tossles to the hood if that fails. I'll post a new WIP soon.
EDIT:
Good news. After attaching the tassles to the hood meesh and re-rigging all the LODs, it finally stays with the hood!
Okay as you can see by the green circle, I'm getting bad warping when the scout turns his hand. And several points are very skewed when in motion.
Any advice on fixing these?
I think I am done sculpting and ready for the retopo /texture work.
I might need a second modeler to do the texture and retopo ,if they are interested in this let me know .Works a little nutty atm.My steam is hatesman so just add me .
some progress on my minigun, non holiday version of it
Still working on a image with all the paintable options, but here's a taste. ;D
Boredom brings rifles.
Hi guys, would be really neat if someone could help me out with a TF2 related problem, been trying and trying and trying different shit for some hours now but with no result.
We're doing this hat for TF2, and we've got the Diffuse and Spec and everything set up just right, working fine in game and so on, assigned in the right places in the Source SDKs Itemtest and all that.
Now, this new item, we were gonna use a Normal Map and with that the problems started.
Whatever we do, whichever guide we follow (there aren't many apparently? O.o) it never shows up on the model (the hat) in the testmap in the actual TF2 game, the model just looks all plain with what seems like only the diffuse and the specular map assigned.
The Normal Map (and every other texture) is a.tga and is assigned accordingly in the SDK. 32-bit, alpha has the same info (the spec) as the difuse, read somewhere that that was the way to do it.
Just won't show up. I bet it's something easy I've missed...
Would be incredibly thankful if someone out there could help me in the right direction here! It's really important. :O
I can provide additional info and pics and whatnot if someone might know the answer to this but need more stuff from me to sort it out!
Really nice model man, I see that you have a Normal Map (right :P ) assigned there on that Pattern Design, maybe you can help me out here? :P
EDIT: Problem solved! Use this tutorial anyone who finds this with google later. http://gamebanana.com/tuts/7180
<--- knows nothing about the qc files and stuff .Like I would need reflectivity ,rubber something to sorta apply to it .
I'd check your textures and model using Xoliul shader url]http://www.laurenscorijn.com/viewportshader[/url. It's a plugin for Max and Maya that has a TF2 render in it.
Here's my notes/future tutorial on qcs. It's still a WIP, and I hope to also put it on the TF2 wiki soon.
Programs Needed:
- VTF Edit url]http://nemesis.thewavelength.net/index.php?p=41[/url
- GUI Studio url]http://www.wunderboy.org/apps/guistudiomdl2.php[/url
- Notepad++ url]http://notepad-plus-plus.org/[/url
Texturing:
Make sure all texture images are targas.
Import the targa in VFT Edit and save as a VTF and VMT.
Not much to a VMT, but make sure you use the shader "VertexLitGeneric."
"VertexLitGeneric" { "$basetexture" "models/player/items/<class>/<itemtest ID>/<item folder name/<VTFname>" "$surfaceprop" "Metal" }Compiling:
Before you begin coding, you are going to need to export the SMDs out; you'll need to export both a Reference and Idle Sequence SMDs for each LOD.
See here for a list of usable programs and links to their plug-ins.
https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Exporting_a_model
To get you model in-game, this is going to require a small amount of coding. Valve has a long list of syntax and commands, so experimentation is going to be required to get specific results.
https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/QC
In this tutorial we will only be touching on the basics of getting an item in.
Before starting, open Item Test in Source SDK and get your Item Test ID.
This will be visible after you complete the first step of compiling a model.
NOTE: When compiling in GUI Studio, Model Viewer (from Source SDK) must be open to compile properly. GUI Studio will also ask for a GameInfo path, if you do not have TF2 and or Half Life: Episode 1 installed on your hard drive you will get an error when opening the program. If you are not compiling for a certain game, do not worry if that path is missing.
-QC Item Example:
//Basic Compile $scale 1 $hboxset "default" //Model Field //Metals is the default surface property $surfaceprop "metal" //This is where the model file will be exported and the name of the model $modelname "player\items\<class>\<itemtest ID>\<item folder name\<itemname>.mdl" //This is the default Level of Detail $model "Body" "LOD0_<itemname>_ref.smd" //This field is where animations go //Youll need to make a sequence for any animation you wish to incorporate //Here is what would for here for an item with no animations or physics $sequence idle "LOD0_<itemname>_ref.smd" fps .01 //Here is what would put for a basic idle. This also allows for jigglebones. Use one or the other. $sequence idle "LOD0_<itemname>_idle.smd" fps 24 //This field looks for the VMTs $cdmaterials "models\player\items\<class>\<itemtest ID>\<item folder name>\" //This field allows for RED/BLU materials $texturegroup "skins" { { "<VMTname>" } { "<VMTname>_b" } } //If you are dealing with jigglebones will need to be an externally exported SMD Sequence with _phys. $collisionmodel " LOD0_<itemname>_ref.smd " { //This is the basic field for collision with the world. This will also have guns fall to the ground on death $automass } $lod <insert desired distance 7-100> { replacemodel "LOD0_<itemname>_ref.smd" "LOD1_<itemname>_ref.smd" replacemodel "LOD0_<itemname>_idle.smd" "LOD1_<itemname>_idle.smd" } $lod <insert desired distance 7-100> { replacemodel "LOD0_<itemname>_ref.smd" "LOD2_<itemname>_ref.smd" replacemodel "LOD0_<itemname>_idle.smd" "LOD2_<itemname>_idle.smd" }Okay so after having Base look at the skin and recompiling, we have this error now. I think it might have to do with my VMT or QC, but I can't thing of how to get the sleeves to not be transparent.
Any suggestions?
Also, Base is working on the skinning, so don't fret about it.
EDIT: Found out it's a HLMV thing
After countless hours of pulling hair I decided to try a melee weapon (using only one joint), this time the joint was found (although with another name) but it was stuck in the player-model, not attached to the hand.
So to my question, does anybody have any good resources on how to rig weapons properly for TF2 using Maya?
/Cheers and major sadface
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=114169073
>Compiling anything not a hat through ItemTest
>Recreating rig
Don't try to recreate a rig. Ever.
Just use the existing rig and animations provided if you're going to piggyback. If not, just make your own stuff.
I'd recommend, since it's using the crossbow stuff, replacing its model and VMTs. So go look at its texture names and mdl names and use those in your QC.
Look at my post on compiling again for a full QC and all the necessary links. ItemTest is pretty shit at compiling anything, and you'll get better results manually compiling.
Make sure when you're exporting SMDs that you have all the geometry and bones link properly, and when you export you have all the geometry selected for a LOD and all the bones. Also make sure to link the necessary bones to the character's weapon bone (see page one of this thread of class files).
I actually havent had the chance to test making sequences other than idle, but be sure to have a "reload" sequence in your. Like this:
$sequence idle "LOD0_<itemname>_idle.smd" fps 24
$sequence reload "<itemname>_reload.smd" fps 24
At the moment I've always exported out all the geometry and bones with each sequence, but try out just exporting all the bones on one sequence for custom animations once.
Blam.
Wood colour is subject to change at the moment.
WIP of course
Thank you very much for your help, gonna make another attempt today. Also, is there any reason the .smd files from Maya doesn't contain any mesh when I'm importing them into itemtest? Always happned and I've always wondered :P Just itemtest being buggy or is it me?
Edit: So I'm currently trying using GUIStudio but I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to work the animation in the .qc. Am I supposed to create the reload-animation in Maya and export it as a separate .smd? Cause when I export and decompile the Crusader Crossbows information and .smd:s I don't receive a separate .smd for a reload-animation. I always assued that was done within the game-engine via code-magics :P Once again a thousand thanks for your help Amtyk!
Just Pm me or add me on steam - hatesman
Adjustments.
Yeah, you create the reload animation in maya, then export as an smd. It should be noted you ONLY export the bones with the animation smd. I think you can get away with having geometry but it just makes it messier and a bigger file too. But you definitely don't need it (I've tested reload animtions for weapons back before itemtest was a thing). That said, I'm not entirely sure how testing is done nowadays. HLMV may be the only way to test stuff? Does anyone know how to test item animations in game like that?
In other news, my latest item.
Welldone!!!
Item look`s perfict!!!
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=112908430