#Dragon age origins mage armor how to#
#Dragon age origins mage armor install#
#Dragon age origins mage armor code#

#Dragon age origins mage armor code#

(There are some anomalies: for instance Ancient Elven Armor is listed in the toolset as Medium Armor E, but is in fact heavy armor so has an item variation code of 'hvye' (it also has no tint map, being a one-off piece), but such cases are not too hard to track down once you understand the overall schema.) Once you understand the prefixes, the textures can usually be located quickly in the relevant erf, with the part code (where applicable) coming next, followed by the item variation code, followed by the texture code. For instance, a Chest mesh (the actual model or msh file) is by necessity both race and usually gender specific, several mmh files will usually reference one msh and are prefixed similarly, while textures will map to any model with the correct UV map, so usually begin with 'p' and may or may not be gender specific. The armor prefixes are a compound of a 'race' letter - h, d, e, q, k (for children) and p (for person, or humanoid) - and a gender letter - m, f or n. Spend a little time browsing through these files, and the naming convention will become clear.

And inside the MAO File (open with Notepad) are the references to the texture filenames.

At the end of MMH file (extract, open and Expand All with the toolset), is the reference to the material object filename (page up two or three times from the end of the file).

With these 3 Strings, and Dragon Age's Naming Scheme you can find the MMH Main Modelfile.

'Robe, Apprentice' has Namestrings followed by 'rob' 'app' 'a'. In there, locate the Row called whatever Item Variation your Item had. It has many pages, locate page 'clothing_variation' since we know our 'Base Item Type' is of 'Clothing'.

#Dragon age origins mage armor install#

Open up the 'ItemVariations.xls' File located under '(dragon age install directory)/tools/Source/2da/rules'.

The robe has a 'Item Variation' called 'Robe, Apprentice'.

In the listing of information that appears to the left of the item, note that the 'Base Item Type' is 'Clothing', which is branching off into the Item Variation.

Any Item can be found in the 'Item' Category. In the following list you see the ResourceName followed by ItemName 'gen_im_cth_mag_app (Apprentice Robes)'. These Items are pretty well sorted though, it is to be found under _global / Clothing / Mage Robes / Unique. Now comes guessing where this piece is to be found there.

Open up the Toolset and in the Resource Palette on the upper right click on 'Items' (appears as a sword icon).

Starting up our example, the mages apprentice robe, as it is worn by human females. To track back to the DDS File, you need to run up this list in reverse. And then displays the final version in your game.

The Item Type is lastly referenced by the Game, when choosing which gender and race this item is worn.

The different Clothing Variations are then referenced by the Item Type made via the Toolset.

In our example, the sub 'clothing_variation.gda'

A Model is then referenced by the 'ItemVariation' type of files.

A DDS File is referenced by the Material Properties of a Model.

How DDS Files are referenced by an Item you see in Game is a long list of database references.ДЄ quick rundown on references we need to be aware of

A somewhat difficult task will be finding out which files are tied to the model so that you can edit them.ДЇirst and foremost, you are looking for DDS Files. However, there are situations where creating/modifying textures is appropriate, but in those situations it is preferable to create a new item variation and associated machinery to add the texture rather than overwriting an existing game resource.ДЄt the beginning, you only know how the Model looks and what its called. Additionally, a custom tint file has the advantage of working for both high and medium textures at all LOD. In any case, recoloring a model which already has a tint applied will either not work or lead to unpredictable results.

Most armor and weapons have a tint map, and if the aim is simply to recolor a model, then a custom tint should be used. Tools needed are the Dragon Age Toolset, and a grafic editing Applications capable of Opening, Editing and Saving DDS Texture Files. As an example, the default textures of the human female mage's apprentice robes will be changed.

#Dragon age origins mage armor how to#

This tutorial describes how to reskin, or change the default texture, of items that already exist in-game.

3 Extracting the Texture from the Package.

2 Locating the Model Textures the Hard Way.