I currently have ver 1.3 sitting around to be uploaded. The new file will have 4 texture options, 2 of which won't dim a dark-skinned Warden spawned robes, and will subscribe to lighting better (because now we got proper specular maps! :P). I'm just waiting to be given permission so I can put it up.
Unfortunately I still have not gotten to work directly on the LOD issue. I learned Improved Atmosphere uses a simpler but different mesh for Mer's LOD2 (the basic apostate robes in DA2), and I only really got that working after implementing the fixpack, so I feel it won't sensible to put together the files from here and there. I.A. is just much more complicated, and it will clash with Kirkwall Exports because for example, Meredith's armor from K.E. has the same name as Merrill's armor in I.A.. x_X
I'm debating whether to make LOD meshes based on the existing K.E. armor or whether to actually re-port Merrill's armor atm, but I'm in no hurry since I do have other important stuff to do. I just need time to simmer in blender and gmax :3 . The next update after ver 1.3 will be the Improved Atmosphere edition of the Continuity Fix, which will have proper LOD meshes (hopefully >_<), retain K.E. stats, a different stave and more. I might make a new special icon for Merrill's robe too, because well, I like to do The Most.
Again this post-1.3 update will take quite a bit of time. Anyway, that's it for now. Thanks for downloading my mod everyone :^)
Looks awesome! Would you consider making an Improved Atmosphere version? If not that's fine, it's just that the IA version of this armor doesn't have the issue of the weird LOD file!
Btw, the problem with the armor changing color to match the character's skin can be fixed by creating a 0t DDS file for it, which designates which part of the texture are "transparent" to change colors with the character!
That sounds like a great idea! I'm definitely looking into doing an IA version then. However I don't have the slightest clue in making a 0t DDS file, though I assume it might require GIMP (which I've got installed) ?
Basically, it's a transparent file the same size as the other DDS files but has a solid black shape in the places where skin would be in the other version haha.
Oh, I see, thanks! Yeah so I saw a file like that there but it was labelled 0s.dds instead. So I just renamed it 0t.dds and it sorta worked, but the skin parts were ashy and the retexture patches looked washed out. I'm figuring that I might tweak the extracted DA2 .dds files on GIMP so it works accordingly on DAO, I always thought the Kirkwall Exports robe was a bit dusty so I'll also deal with that on GIMP :-P
As for the I.A thing, I was trying to replicate what I was aiming for w/ that mod's assets as a test, but it doesn't seem to work because Mer's robes come out either naked, the mage champion armor or meredith's armor. Now that I think about it, it might be an item variation clash, who knows...I'll check that out. I think it's best I make this version from scratch and just use I.A. as a reference. We'll see!
Anyway, thanks for the tip! Might take some time though since I've only started tinkering with stuff like this for about 2 months :^D
Honestly I haven't actually made mods myself (my computer won't run the toolset no matter how hard I try), just tested them for other people, but if I'm not mistaken it needs both the 0s and 0t to get the correct effect? In most DAO mods I see that aren't DA2 ports, though, the 0s file does something totally different so I guess it's different between the games.
As for the IA thing... yeah, my guess is it's an item variation clash. With using IA I've had to edit a few additional armor mods just to get them to even show up because of that...
Edit: So I changed the 0s into a 0t file and had the same result as you, then tried copying the 0d and renaming it to 0s... It worked beautifully to cover up the patches AND kept the robe from changing color when I made a very dark-skinned warden to test it on... except the robes are now SUPER shiny because 0s is the specular map, which determines shine. I can send a picture if you'd like.
Uploaded it to user images here! Feel free to remove it once you've seen it. I guess figuring out a proper spec map (maybe IA has one?) might be the ultimate solution to making this perfect!
omg turns out ur right! I feel kinda dumb that i didn't realize a solution already existed within I.A. for this issue ;_; . Though i guess it'd be convenient for a bunch of people if they had a standalone merrill mod..
there's already good .dds files for merrill's robes in there, and 0s.dds file (it seems to do what a 0t.dds is purposed for in this case) overrides perfectly without needing the no-holes patch, so merrill doesn't have white arms. Also works for my dark-skinned warden too. However I still prefer the armor stats from Kirkwall exports, and I still like the no-holes version, so I might remake that version by patching up the I.A. file. *_*
My hunch now for the lod popping problem is that the original mesh files for K.E. was not rigged for farther distances, and that I.A. fixed it. The merrill robe files extracted from the KE erf appear to only have mesh files that end in _0, but the Improved atmosphere, aside from _0 mesh files, also has files that end in _2. so it's just a matter of finding all the mesh files and putting them together.
i'm hoping the next update gets arranged in a few weeks, but might take a while longer cause i have more important things to attend to :0 but it's great that i actually know much more about what i'm supposed to do :-D
Yay! Glad I could help in my small way. I definitely prefer the KE stats too so I look forward to your update so Merrill (and my Dalish mage playthrough warden lol) can have a pretty AND well-balanced robe.
Give Feedback
17 comments
I currently have ver 1.3 sitting around to be uploaded. The new file will have 4 texture options, 2 of which won't dim a dark-skinned Warden spawned robes, and will subscribe to lighting better (because now we got proper specular maps! :P). I'm just waiting to be given permission so I can put it up.
Unfortunately I still have not gotten to work directly on the LOD issue. I learned Improved Atmosphere uses a simpler but different mesh for Mer's LOD2 (the basic apostate robes in DA2), and I only really got that working after implementing the fixpack, so I feel it won't sensible to put together the files from here and there. I.A. is just much more complicated, and it will clash with Kirkwall Exports because for example, Meredith's armor from K.E. has the same name as Merrill's armor in I.A.. x_X
I'm debating whether to make LOD meshes based on the existing K.E. armor or whether to actually re-port Merrill's armor atm, but I'm in no hurry since I do have other important stuff to do. I just need time to simmer in blender and gmax :3 . The next update after ver 1.3 will be the Improved Atmosphere edition of the Continuity Fix, which will have proper LOD meshes (hopefully >_<), retain K.E. stats, a different stave and more. I might make a new special icon for Merrill's robe too, because well, I like to do The Most.
Again this post-1.3 update will take quite a bit of time. Anyway, that's it for now. Thanks for downloading my mod everyone :^)
I particularly like the patched up look.
Requires a bit of mods, but the morph is uploaded! :^D
Btw, the problem with the armor changing color to match the character's skin can be fixed by creating a 0t DDS file for it, which designates which part of the texture are "transparent" to change colors with the character!
As for the I.A thing, I was trying to replicate what I was aiming for w/ that mod's assets as a test, but it doesn't seem to work because Mer's robes come out either naked, the mage champion armor or meredith's armor. Now that I think about it, it might be an item variation clash, who knows...I'll check that out. I think it's best I make this version from scratch and just use I.A. as a reference. We'll see!
Anyway, thanks for the tip! Might take some time though since I've only started tinkering with stuff like this for about 2 months :^D
As for the IA thing... yeah, my guess is it's an item variation clash. With using IA I've had to edit a few additional armor mods just to get them to even show up because of that...
Edit: So I changed the 0s into a 0t file and had the same result as you, then tried copying the 0d and renaming it to 0s... It worked beautifully to cover up the patches AND kept the robe from changing color when I made a very dark-skinned warden to test it on... except the robes are now SUPER shiny because 0s is the specular map, which determines shine. I can send a picture if you'd like.
there's already good .dds files for merrill's robes in there, and 0s.dds file (it seems to do what a 0t.dds is purposed for in this case) overrides perfectly without needing the no-holes patch, so merrill doesn't have white arms. Also works for my dark-skinned warden too. However I still prefer the armor stats from Kirkwall exports, and I still like the no-holes version, so I might remake that version by patching up the I.A. file. *_*
My hunch now for the lod popping problem is that the original mesh files for K.E. was not rigged for farther distances, and that I.A. fixed it. The merrill robe files extracted from the KE erf appear to only have mesh files that end in _0, but the Improved atmosphere, aside from _0 mesh files, also has files that end in _2. so it's just a matter of finding all the mesh files and putting them together.
i'm hoping the next update gets arranged in a few weeks, but might take a while longer cause i have more important things to attend to :0 but it's great that i actually know much more about what i'm supposed to do :-D