Custom charaters made by other people

[Lord Vipes]

Well I am gona do this reptialin like character, Kelist, and well, he has a lot of head armor, shoulder pads/front armor, back armor, arms, feet, and legs, and the option of no armor at all. How would i do this, if i even can? make different models, or will ut3 have all the armor/no armor stuff?

[Brutal]

From what i heard, u can build ur character but by putting diff armor, if u want to create entirely new character u need the program the brings the game to make it

[Lord Vipes]

what program is that? How would you make the armor stuff for it? make diff models, or make them sepetly? Cuz im starting on Kelist today.

[KriLL3.8™]

Parts=(Part=PART_Head,ObjectName="CH_IronGuard_Mal e.Mesh.SK_CH_IronG_Male_Head01",PartID="A",FamilyI D="IRNM")

(CharName="Reaper",Description="<Strings:UTGameUI. CharLocData.Reaper_Description>",CharID="A",Factio n="TwinSouls",PreviewImageMarkup="<Images:UI_Portr ait.Character.UI_Portrait_Character_TwinSouls_Male _Head03>",CharData=(FamilyID="TWIM",HeadID="C",Tor soID="C",ShoPadID="C",bHasLeftShoPad=true,bHasRigh tShoPad=true,ArmsID="C",ThighsID="C",BootsID="C"), AIData=(Accuracy=0.5,StrafingAbility=1.0,CombatSty le=0.5,FavoriteWeapon="UTGame.UTWeap_RocketLaunche r"))

That's taken from UTCustomChar.ini, there are a ton of parts, all armor locations are accounted for and there are a lot of characters also, making a custom char would most likely involve adding all parts you want to make yourself, then add a character to the INI with all the parts described as in the quote.

Unreal Ed is what you use to customize the game.

[Lord Vipes]

That's taken from UTCustomChar.ini, there are a ton of parts, all armor locations are accounted for and there are a lot of characters also, making a custom char would most likely involve adding all parts you want to make yourself, then add a character to the INI with all the parts described as in the quote.

Unreal Ed is what you use to customize the game.

I thought he was talking bout some new modeling program. But do you model the parts sepetly and put them ingame, or painstankely model each possible combination? cuz for me, that WILL take 3 months with all the customization you could do to Kelist (pronounced Kell ist), Nerfaut (pronounced Ner fault), Shiyet (pronounced She yet), Vannoc (pronounced Van nock), and Uneti (pronounced Un eti). Yes they are the same race, but diffrent tribes.

Edit: BTW the race is Ihskar (pronounced Ish kar)

[eckz]

you could do to Kelist (pronounced Kell ist), Nerfaut (pronounced Ner fault), Shiyet (pronounced She yet), Vannoc (pronounced Van nock), and Uneti (pronounced Un eti). Yes they are the same race, but diffrent tribes.

Edit: BTW the race is Ihskar (pronounced Ish kar)

thanks for the info!

[VACkillers]

think the most popular program from previous UT's was MAYA. but have absolutely no idea on how to work it, use it, or how to encorporate it with UnrealED. There will be a lot of tutorials on how to do this aswell, aswell as the tutorial videos that will be released with the collectors edition of UT3. Also keep an eye out on youtubes for various tutorial videos users will post.

[Lord Vipes]

thanks for the info!

???

Were you being sarcastic?

Well anyway, they are kinda based on the second Bionicle series enemies. The Rakshi. Basically im making them into reptalions, using that armor. So they will look different. BTW the Rakshi is my fav race, kick ass armor.

[zoiks]

customising the char is done in game. You can unlock more armour parts playing through campaign.

[Lord Vipes]

I know that. I mean how are modelers gona model the armor? on the charater? sepetly? what?!

[Denny]

All I "dare" to say is that you can model the whole character or in pieces and UT3 does the magic. Start making it however you feel and by the time you're nearing completion there will be plenty of tutorials available.

[Lord Vipes]

your thoe only one out of the lot that actually answered, or came close to ansering my queston.

[JaFO]

All I "dare" to say is that you can model the whole character or in pieces and UT3 does the magic. Start making it however you feel and by the time you're nearing completion there will be plenty of tutorials available.

It does that 'magic' because there's files that tell
(a) what 'tribe'/team the parts belong to (so you can't use a Necris-shoulderpad on a Liandri-bot)

(b) what pieces are actually available (it appears that those things are optional)

(c) what pieces are required for the character(s) themselves (ie : shoulderpad 1 + head B + body A = character 'x') which is the info that Krill3.8 described).

I think the easiest way to create a new character is to build one in Maya (or whatever 3D modelling program is available) as a single-piece item. At later stages you can probably cut the shoulderpads and such items and turn them into those add-ons.

The real question is how much help the new UnrealEd is going to give when it comes to importing such a character into the game.

[Ozz_of_war]

im 100% sure you can make your own character in maya or any 3d modeling program.

BUT.. you will have to probably switch dat files and for sure you will be the only one to see it in the end because is in your pc and not in the other players pc..

But i wonder why would u do this if the ut3 char models are awesome.

[Lord Vipes]

well cuz im making my own race, and also, im making a TC.

[Denny]

There is a reason why I'm not telling all the details, it's called an NDA. I know exactly how it works, but I don't want to ruin my life just to tell you all how it technically works before the game is properly released outside Germany.

Cheerios

[porcup!ne]

don't forget that not only will the character need to be modelled, but it will also need to be animated. From the sounds of it, a reptilian model would probably move differently that a human (to be realistic at least). you may want to look at making custom animations as well.

good luck, making custom characters is a skill and an art form.

[Elis]

Its not that hard, just use a skeleton already from the game, itll link itself to the already done animations, but yes custom animations are alot of fun..


still waiting for this dev community website to open so some answer can be put out,

and by looking at the files, theres the main model, then armor/part addons, u dont need them, u can just simply make a model that has no addons, or just put the addons with the main model making it just 1 model without parts,..

hopefully animations can be customized.. if not now, then in time.. would love to do some awesome taunts..

in the end though,. the real question is, client side, server side, or both?

[3Deeing]

3DS Max is the program mainly used for games.

[Arson]

Look on the unreal site for the actorx plugin for max/maya.
If your making a character from scratch your going to have to use a 3d application to make the meshes. Unreal Ed does not do that part.

note: The current actorx plugin does not work with Maya 2008. You will need to use Maya 8.5 . I have used the actorx plugin for Max9 in Max2008 and it works fine.

[Lord Vipes]

... just use a skeleton already from the game...

I cant really do that, they huch over, just like the elites in halo

[Elis]

hehe thats true,.. damn hunching.. well its not too serious, when u make/position your model just keep in mind the hunchingness so set it up right and it shouldnt be too bad,. really remaking all those animations is time consuming.., perhaps if u plan on porting more then 1 model, make your "own" skeleton with animations that u could use for more then 1 model.. then it pays off..

btw, for the person who used max2008, whats it like? right now im using max8, was thinking of upgrading but not too sure if its worth it in terms of differences,

could someone point me to this actorx plugin.. im still not able to get into the udn.. arg..

[JaFO]

Its not that hard, just use a skeleton already from the game, itll link itself to the already done animations, ...

Sure, but unless you have a character that is human it'll look rather stupid.
Besides ... custom-taunts are what separated the 'good' from the 'perfect'.

...
in the end though,. the real question is, client side, server side, or both?

I'm guessing that'll be the same as last time : server-side only, no uploading to server.

[Caravaggio]

Which is another thing, have they released the skeletons, even talked about it or will they be on one of the disks?

[Denny]

I haven't understood how the compatibility of plugins disappears when an updated version of the program is released. Especially when the functionality of the plugin uses the exact same data in the new version and nothing else.

I mean, how different can skeletal rotations/translation/scale keys, mesh polygons and skinning be? Not that much as far as I've noticed.

[Arson]

Max2008 is a good upgrade.
Its not anything revolutionary , but if you can get it at the upgrade price its worth it.
They have really made the viewports a lot faster.
The lag from doing high poly scenes is a lot less.

Compatibility of plugins changes because the library calls can change from one version to the next. If your plugin used a specific function that was improved in a new version, chances are some of the variables changed. Some plugins I have work fine in max2008, some however are going to require a new version.

[Elis]

yes where are these skeletons? from what im going to assume is that u make the mesh in a 3d app (max), then save out with actorx and then load into ut3 ed, and then add the skeleton there and rig it there..,

if so.. then how could 1 make a custom skeleton, can someone clear up this skeleton business

[Denny]

You make the skeleton, rigg and animate the character in 3dsmax/Maya/Whatever before getting it into UT3 Ed.... And no, you don't export the character as a static mesh, but a skeletal mesh with the axmain command.

The actual stuff you do to your character in uED is connecting materials, making an animSet, AnimTree, Phys(phat) and similar.

[Elis]

but what if u want to use an already existing skeleton and its animations instead of taking the time to do ur own (much faster and almost the same),

i know it can be done :P, question is where can i obtain one of the skeletons from the game, and how to attach it to the already existent animations for that specific models skeleton,

[Denny]

Hmm, can't find a way to export. The nice thing is that all joints with the same name in the hierarchy as the original will get the same animations from the animation set. Let me explain.

1. You have the original UT3 character with his animations and skeleton.
2. You make a new mesh and skeleton with the same names in the hierarchy.
3. The new skeleton will be able to use the same animation set but will probably look like **** as you have to make the exakt same orientations (not position) to the joints as the original to make the animation work properly. For example, if the spine bends back in the original animation it could be bending left due to different orientations.

So, either Epic releases an official skeleton for us modders to use or we have to make it ourselves.

Edit*
http://udn.epicgames.com/Three/UT3Mods.html Check at the bottom, seems Epic already has done their early work. Works for those with 3dsmax.

[Caravaggio]

Yeah, thanks for the link, I was expecting them to release it since that's what they did for 2004. It's probably for the best because it seems like there's been a lot of threads where even the slightest deviation from the original skeleton in position or orientation has caused really awful bugs.

edt: Huh, I actually thought there'd be more bones. Aside from including fingers this time, things aren't all that different.

There seem to be two sets though? Maybe it's an either-or use...

The arms are relaxed too. This is a weird set.

[Elis]

its a lil different,.. but this is the real thing.. so let us get started , sucks that it need max9.. upgrading sucks :O

anyone know how to convert these max9 files to max8?, deep explorer wont open them.. or if someone could load them into max9 then save them as objs that would be fine.

[Lord Vipes]

There is a reason why I'm not telling all the details, it's called an NDA. I know exactly how it works, but I don't want to ruin my life just to tell you all how it technically works before the game is properly released outside Germany.

Cheerios

hey its out, TELL ME!

[Lord Vipes]

hehe thats true,.. damn hunching.. well its not too serious, when u make/position your model just keep in mind the hunchingness so set it up right and it shouldnt be too bad,. really remaking all those animations is time consuming.., perhaps if u plan on porting more then 1 model, make your "own" skeleton with animations that u could use for more then 1 model.. then it pays off..

btw, for the person who used max2008, whats it like? right now im using max8, was thinking of upgrading but not too sure if its worth it in terms of differences,

could someone point me to this actorx plugin.. im still not able to get into the udn.. arg..

Well the Ihskar all look alike, except the different tribes have different colors for the armor, and the style of the back spikes. And i guess the Krail animation set i will use, i mean they are reptilians too...