saber tutorial -1 reply

anyone know where a good tutorial is for making sabers or swords? thanks

First, go here and get a trial version of 3dsmax, a free modelling software, so that you can make models and saber hilts. Then get this tutorial. I must apologize. I should have looked at jk3files, but it doesn't work for me now. I'll reply if I'll find more.

There's also This one http://psynex-land.com/saber%20tutorial/Custom%20JA%20Sabers.html, and http://jk3hilts.evilzz.net has some sabers to look at and Darth doughnut and Keshire to help.

I don't know of any good online tutorials, but here's all I do (Yes, I make sabers. I'm currently working on a Master Chief for some clanmates who are making a Halo Total Conversion too) Files needed: 1. Modeling tool (I use GMAX) 2. GMAX import/export *.md3 plugin (see below) 3. The JKIII SDK 4. Pakscape 5. Some kind of text editor for the *.sab files

---

1. Get a model program of your choice. I use Gmax 'cause I can't afford a real modeling tool (I could've bought Maya5 but they got sold out... $40 canadian too ;_;)

2. Search on Yahoo for the Brothers in Arms site - If you find it, it has a *.md3 and *.map export plugin. Extract it to your Gmax folder.

3. Open Gmax. Model away, but keep it small or it looks funny in your players hands (I should know - A barbell that's the size of King Kong just isn't right).

4. Create a cone in the very middle of your model from the top view. Name it tag_blade1 and rotate it 90 degrees to the left in the top right window (forget if this is front or side lol)

5. Move the tag upwards a bit in the same window so it isn't coming out of your hand.

6. Clone this tag if you want a staff (edit, clone) and mirror it (there's a mirror button on the toolbar - its 2 triangles side by side) so it faces down. Rename this to tag_blade2

7. Move it down so it isn't coming through your hand.

8. Click through stuff on the side menu till you find a pulldown menu. Highlight all your polygons and go to unwrap uvw

9. Go to edit, than close this. I don't know how to work it properly, but you still need to use this or it goes gimped (I made a scythe once - Didn't unwrap and it was so screwed up it was unbelievable)

10. Save it and export it as a *.md3

11. Open MD3view from the JKIII SDK and open your model. Save it as a *.glm (the second *.glm option in the file menu - the one for JKIII).

12. Open a *.sab file of your choice from the assets *.pk3 (it's under ext_data/sabers) and edit it. Change the name at the top, the name under the } symbol, and the directory of your model (if it was models/weapons2/saber1/saber1.glm change it to something like models/weapons2/mysaber/mysaber.glm). Save it in the same directory as your saber file.

13. Open pakscape. Create a new file and add some directories. The first one we'll do is for the saber model. the structure should be like models/weapons2/mysaber/ - from here, import your saber *.glm now go back to the root of the pk3 (with the first directory in it) and make a new directory structure like this one: ext_data/sabers/mysaber/ and import your mysaber.sab file - save your pk3 as whatever you want in gamedata/base

14. Load up the game - select your blade from the menu and play! it won't work online if the server doesn't have it, but it will work if you /devmap an offline game.

*I used mysaber.sab and mysaber.glm and the mysaber directories for the tutorial - You didn't have to do them this way lol - name them what you want ^_^

---

Hope I helped you ^_^

You didn't cover skinning/texturing to make your saber not just gray. I haven't got it worked out properly yet(darn) It's the same as skining players (i've heard).

yeah i have the modview but i deleted the rest of the jk3 sdk can someone give me the viewer by itself? well maybe some one will cover the skinning part. thanks u have been a big help

I found this tutorial http://www.btinternet.com/~howe_alison/brothers/tutorial/gmax_jkii_tutorial.htm for gmax jk2 it contains a good skinning part. I'm seeing if it will fix my probilems.

Hi I followed this http://psynex-land.com/saber%20tutorial/Custom%20JA%20Sabers.html and came up with some problems....

First off the sword I made doesn't appear at all, and secondly the blade shows up below the hands and doesn't move.

If anyone could help me that'd be great!

Just rename the zip to pk3 and thats the file im trying use...

Eather the linkage to the .glm was wrong, the tags were wrong or the files weren't working( eg. corrupted file) I'd test the file for correctness but the import I used soen't work. The tags are : tag_blade1-8 (the blades leave out the 1-8 thats the number of blades you can have) tag_parent (where the hands grip) the parent 1 should be at the top of the grip not the middle and the meshes could be called something that doesn't have w_ "mesh name" before the mesh name w_ need to be put the code needs it.

My tags are right, I think...I have one blade "tag_blade1" and "tag_parent". Is the tag suposed to be numbered like "tag_parent1"?

I used w_mesh thing too....

I'll run through everything again....to make sure I did it right..