q2pro - playing with models

[CBM]

new user here.. hi...

so I went back to a lost love... quake 2... after many years

and I discovered sourceports and chose q2pro

now I want to use a ton of md3 models I have downloaded and/or modified and/or made, to change the enemies in vanilla quake 2

how do I proceed?

what what I read, I need to make a pak file with pakscape and all md3 models must be called tris.md2 and placed in the correct folder.. atleast for player skins

but what about monster stats, chosing animations etc?¨

did a quick test with an anubis model, originally for quake 1 but converted to md3...

in

C:\games\quake2\testmon\models\monsters\soldier

I placed these files

tris.md2
pain.pcx
skin.pcx
skin_lt.pcx
skin_ltp.pcx
skin_ss.pcx
skin_ssp.pcx

then started q2pro.exe
wrote set game testmon and started a new game

the soldier was replaced, but with a non textured and non animated floating anubis model

[|iR|Focalor]

I'm not sure if Q2pro supports md3 models, but I've heard that a couple of clients do, so maybe it does. I can't remember specifically which ones do though. But... assuming Q2pro is one of the ones that does...

How did you go from having an MD3 model to an MD2?

I placed these files

tris.md2
pain.pcx
skin.pcx
skin_lt.pcx
skin_ltp.pcx
skin_ss.pcx
skin_ssp.pcx

then started q2pro.exe
wrote set game testmon and started a new game

the soldier was replaced, but with a non textured and non animated floating anubis model

A couple things...

From the little bit of work I've ever done with models, I know that you can't simply relocate a model file (tris.md2) to another folder and have it work. There's a portion of data in the md2 model file that lists the directory in which the model should be found in order to tell the game where to look for the texture associated with that model. So if you've simply used some kind of program to turn the file from a MD3 to an MD2, that could be one of a few issues with the model.

Also, MD3 files are often more complex than MD2 files. (I suck at the correct terminology here) Within the file itself, it can have multiple "threads" in which different parts of a model and it's vertices are isolated. To properly convert an MD3 to MD2, ALL vertices will need to be combined into one single thread and saved.

The fact that you've got multiple PCX files with the model sort of indicates that it's likely the type of MD3 with many "threads" and each one of those usually has it's own texture image. An MD2 will always have only ONE texture image. To properly convert an MD3 to MD2, you'll ALSO need to combine the texture mappings within one model file, and also combine the textures to one single image. It's a tricky process.

And perhaps none of those tidbits even address the real problem you're having. You'll need to provide a little more info. Like... is your original source model a Quake1 "MDL" that you converted to MD3 somehow? Is the original source an MD3 that you converted to MD2? What program are you using to convert models? Perhaps even give a detailed step-by-step list of instructions about HOW you're doing it.

[CBM]

well

the model is an md1 model converted to md3 and according to some info I found on q2pro then I need to rename an md3 file to tris.md2 for it to work

it does show up but without texture

I guess I could try checking the models metadata to ensure that paths are correct

I would not know how to get a real md3 in to q2pro since I would need to specify head, upper and lower plus textures for that

[|iR|Focalor]

If you know about the "head" "upper" and "lower" parts of an MD3, then you're aware of the "threads" I mentioned. Quake3's modeling had different "sections" to a model. In Quake2's MD2 format, all of the points/vertices of that model are located in one single portion.

You will not be able to simply rename an MD3 to an MD2 and have it work properly, even if you change the data that indicates the texture location. It will need to be properly converted from MD3 to MD2. And like I said, given than MD3's have different sections to them ("threads" as I said, or "head/upper/lower" as you said), those sections will have to be combined, along with the texture mappings, along with a new texture image with each of the different textures located on one single image.

The biggest problem you'll have here is animation. I have no experience converting animated models from MD3 to MD2. The only models I've ever worked with have been static (weapon, ammo, item) models.

And it's been a good while since I've done any modeling. Luckily, the old QuArK boards are still around. I started a thread there years ago about converting MD3's to MD2. Perhaps it'll help a little more.

http://quark.sourceforge.net/forums/index.php?topic=1008.0