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So, you have made, or imported, a shiny new weapon, mostly a sword since those weapons are the ones that show this off the most, but you don't see the old elemental effects on them nor a weapon swing effect like older weapons do. Sure, you have the fancy new enchantment and elemental special effects, but the weapon swing was so nice and if you have both elemental systems with a way to switch between them, then you'd still need to do this! The information on this is...scarce at best, but I remembered how I did this and would like to share this information for everyone and hope it won't disappear.
Requirements:
o3dconverter is linked since it's now a lot harder to find than it used to be. Everything else is on you to find. As for Cola, there should still be links to working copies of it here on the forums. There is an important reason why we're using Cola and o3dconverter instead of ATools Model Viewer. Unfortunately, Model Viewer does not have the ability to see, let alone apply, the element lines like Cola does. I guess Aishiro never found this to be a feature worth adding. Because of this, we'll be going the "long way around" which involves more steps, but is still easy enough to do.
Now, for the weapon model, there are plenty out there for you to import or if you want, you can make one yourself in your favorite 3D modeling program (I prefer Blender). If you're using 3DS Max, there is one less step for you to do. Since 3DS Max natively has support for exporting ASE without an add-on, you might be better off using it, but if you want, there is an exporter for Cinema 4D available to export to ASE, which is required for this, but I'm not sure if it works with the latest version of it. For Blender, there is one as well, but only for 2.81. It won't work with the latest version of 2.91 as of this post.
Open your model in your 3D model program and export it to ASE (assuming you are using the exporter of choice, otherwise export to OBJ, reopen in 3DS Max and then export to ASE). When exporting, remember that at least ONE option must be selected and that's Mapping Coordinates, or else the model won't be accepted or come out weird!
Next, import your ASE file into Cola. You should now see an untextured weapon. This is normal! Simply add the elemental lines you want to add. A quick guide on this is as follows:
Look for these icons in Cola
Next, using the mouse cursor, select your start point (or end point) as pictured
After that, simply click on either the red or blue icons and select the first icon to start the element line, select your end point and click the second icon of the same color. You can do this for both of the element lines in case you don't want any kind of odd effects being at the center point of the model. If you want two sets of element lines, say for a Bow, then you can set one to red and the other to blue. Simple!
Now, click on File and click Auto save. This will export an o3d of your weapon model without a texture linked to it. This is where o3dconverter comes into play. Simply open the program, check your element lines and then go to Misc.->Load DDS. If the model looks proper, you've done it! Simply resave the o3d, put it into your client and server (making sure to put the texture into the Texture folder on the client) and you're done! Now, when you go in-game and test the weapon out, you should see the weapon swing effect along with elemental effects on the weapon the way you want, if using the old system. This does not work with the new effects. By the way, this also works with newer weapons that don't have the element lines baked into them. You can simply import them into Model Viewer, export to OBJ, open the OBJ into your modeler of choice (that can export ASE) and follow the rest of the instructions.
That's really all there is to it. I wish Model Viewer had this feature to trim down the work, but for now, this is the only way to do it. Now, the reason we need ASE is because simply opening the o3d in Cola will not allow you to save the o3d again. It has to read ASE in order to do that. As for how to add your new/edited weapon into the game? PLENTY of tutorials on how to do that, so that's on you. It's easy enough.
Happy Modeling!
Requirements:
- Any 3D modeling software (if making your own weapons)
- Weapon models (any)
- 3DS Max
- Cola
-
You must be registered to see links(yes, the old one)
o3dconverter is linked since it's now a lot harder to find than it used to be. Everything else is on you to find. As for Cola, there should still be links to working copies of it here on the forums. There is an important reason why we're using Cola and o3dconverter instead of ATools Model Viewer. Unfortunately, Model Viewer does not have the ability to see, let alone apply, the element lines like Cola does. I guess Aishiro never found this to be a feature worth adding. Because of this, we'll be going the "long way around" which involves more steps, but is still easy enough to do.
Now, for the weapon model, there are plenty out there for you to import or if you want, you can make one yourself in your favorite 3D modeling program (I prefer Blender). If you're using 3DS Max, there is one less step for you to do. Since 3DS Max natively has support for exporting ASE without an add-on, you might be better off using it, but if you want, there is an exporter for Cinema 4D available to export to ASE, which is required for this, but I'm not sure if it works with the latest version of it. For Blender, there is one as well, but only for 2.81. It won't work with the latest version of 2.91 as of this post.
Open your model in your 3D model program and export it to ASE (assuming you are using the exporter of choice, otherwise export to OBJ, reopen in 3DS Max and then export to ASE). When exporting, remember that at least ONE option must be selected and that's Mapping Coordinates, or else the model won't be accepted or come out weird!
Next, import your ASE file into Cola. You should now see an untextured weapon. This is normal! Simply add the elemental lines you want to add. A quick guide on this is as follows:
Look for these icons in Cola
Next, using the mouse cursor, select your start point (or end point) as pictured
After that, simply click on either the red or blue icons and select the first icon to start the element line, select your end point and click the second icon of the same color. You can do this for both of the element lines in case you don't want any kind of odd effects being at the center point of the model. If you want two sets of element lines, say for a Bow, then you can set one to red and the other to blue. Simple!
Now, click on File and click Auto save. This will export an o3d of your weapon model without a texture linked to it. This is where o3dconverter comes into play. Simply open the program, check your element lines and then go to Misc.->Load DDS. If the model looks proper, you've done it! Simply resave the o3d, put it into your client and server (making sure to put the texture into the Texture folder on the client) and you're done! Now, when you go in-game and test the weapon out, you should see the weapon swing effect along with elemental effects on the weapon the way you want, if using the old system. This does not work with the new effects. By the way, this also works with newer weapons that don't have the element lines baked into them. You can simply import them into Model Viewer, export to OBJ, open the OBJ into your modeler of choice (that can export ASE) and follow the rest of the instructions.
That's really all there is to it. I wish Model Viewer had this feature to trim down the work, but for now, this is the only way to do it. Now, the reason we need ASE is because simply opening the o3d in Cola will not allow you to save the o3d again. It has to read ASE in order to do that. As for how to add your new/edited weapon into the game? PLENTY of tutorials on how to do that, so that's on you. It's easy enough.
Happy Modeling!
