Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

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Chad Balthier

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ChadBalthier

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About this mod

This is a tutorial on how to edit the models from FFXII TZA.

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Permissions and credits
So, I couldn't find any tutorial on how to edit the models from FFXII TZA.
So, I decided to make one so that there can be more mods for this amazing game.
Gdrive folder with the plugins for Noesis and Zodiac Engine: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mQ8MhlX5c_i3x37TYDgXtlaCy6-xCxSq?usp=sharing

Video tutorial: https://youtu.be/qfJMLurlsc8

Things you'll need:
VBF Browser: Program that extracts the files from the game (you can find it here on nexus)
Zodiac Engine: Program that opens the original models from TZA (wich are in .dae.phyre format) and allows you to export\import models (you can get it here https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/191202-final-fantasy-xii-the-zodiac-age/79904520)
Noesis: A program that can open 3d models from a lot of games (you can find it on richwhitehouse.com)
Noesis plugins: The base plugins of Noesis can't import\export .tri files (wich are the files that Zodiac Engine exports)
3D editing program: For this tutorial I'll use Blender

You'll also need the model for the character you're gonna edit, wich are in .dae.phyre format. The models are divided in body model and head\hand model, and each one is localized in an expecific folder (note that the body model also contains the head and hand but editing any of these won't have any effect in-game).
Body model folder: gamedata\d3d11\artdata\chr\chara\c10\???\mws
Head and Hand model folder: Head and Hand model location gamedata\d3d11\artdata\chr\high\c10\???\mws
Replace the ??? with the folder of the character you're gonna mod
c1004 - Vaan
c1005 - Balthier
c1006 - Fran
c1019 - Basch
c1021 - Ashe
c1023 - Penelo
c1024 - Vossler
c1025 - Reks
c1026 - Larsa
c1029 - Reddas

How to edit the model (I'm gonna use Vaan body model in this tutorial)
1° Open VBF Browser and extract the model you're gonna edit (Vaan body model is located in gamedata\d3d11\artdata\chr\chara\c10\c1004\mws)
2° Open Zodiac Engine and click "Load dae.phyre"
3° Go to the folder you extracted the model (c1004.dae.phyre) and open it
4° Click "Export.tri" and the Zodiac Engine will export the dae.phyre model to and .tri model
5° The model will be exported to the "Export" folder inside the Zodiac Engine folder (DON'T CLOSE THE ZODIAC ENGINE)
6° Open Noesis, find the .tri file you exported, righ-click it and choose export
7° Make sure the "Main output file" is set to ".fbx - Autodesk FBX" and choose a location to export
8° Open the 3D editing program (Blender in my tutorial), delete any object that may be in the work area, go to "File>Import>FBX (.fbx) and choose the .fbx file from the last step
9° Edit the model in any way you want, just remember that all the faces must be triangles (just hit ctrl+T in blender or go to "Face>Triangulate Faces")
10° Export the model as .fbx (File>Export>FBX (.fbx))
11° In Noesis left-click the .fbx model and click on "Tools > TRI export", then export the model to any location
12° Go to the Zodiac Engine and click "Replace.tri" (If you closed the Zodiac Engine, just open it again and click "Load dae.phyre" and open the same file from step 3) and choose the file from the last step
13° A file will be created inside the "Import" folder in the Zodiac Engine folder
14° Rename the file inside "Import" so that it has the same name as the file from step 3
15° Open VBF Browser and inject the file from the last step in the same folder you extracted in step 1
16° The end

Edit: I made a public Google Drive folder for these modding tools: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mQ8MhlX5c_i3x37TYDgXtlaCy6-xCxSq?usp=sharing
Edit2: I'll be making a video tutorial shortly!
Edit3: I made another video tutorial cause the last one had some audio issues