- Tutorial by Yomgui -
Yes, you read correctly, today we are going to learn how to add a granny file to Age of Empires III.
Here is screen of what you will get eventually :
Yes, I know, a cylinder hat has strictly nothing to do in AoE but this is merely an example. (This one is not perfectly adjusted, it can be corrected though, do not worry).
- Age of Empires III (of course) (the version does not matter)
- 3DS Max 7
- Expotron plugin
- Nwn2 plugin
- AoE3Ed (
- Granny viewer (always useful)
- BRF edit (quick way to modify .obj files)
You can find everything you need at this address :
It contains everything except, obviously, AoE and 3DS max.
I will show, in this tutorial, how to modify a 3d model and how to convert it into a .gr2 file accepted by the game engine. I will therefore take .obj files as a basis of my work (it should work for any other kind of 3d files, but I haven't tested it yet, so you'd better stick to .obj files)
Note also that I am speaking here of importing attachments, not whole units or buildings (even if the latter is possible and the first one way more complicated for the moment since it will not have animations).
You'll also need some basic skills in 3d editing, and with 3DS Max. I am not a 3d artist at all and learn how to do it alone for the purpose of aoe3 modding. Consider therefore that it is not difficult to do.
For the sake of this tutorial, I will use a cylinder hat model in a .obj format. You can find a lot of good .obj models in some mods for Mount&Blade. However, ask their creators before using the models, even if modders from this game release their material open source.
First of all, we need to rotate the model in order for it to be correctly positionned in Aoe3 (Indeed, aoe3 uses peculiar orientation properties).
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You should obtain that :
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However, this is for hat coming from M&B, maybe it'll be different from models from elsewhere. You'll have to test it ingame and adjust carefuly. It is just that BRF edit is a fast way to modify .obj. But you can use anything program you want. (If you do this directly in 3DS Max, it won't work for some odd reason).
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When you'll close the application, you'll be able to save a .brf to keep the .obj in it, with proper orientation. This is up to you.
Beware, this part is really important. I assume that you have a texture with your model (if not, create and apply one but that's advanced 3d skills and it is not up to me to teach you that)
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Aoe 3 uses a specific units of measure. However, and I tried, if ou give this one to exported gr2 models, it does not work. We therefore have to rescale manually the model so it has a good size in game (It means that you'll have to try two to six times to find the correct size ingame. I know, it is experimental).
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The next step is to make a proper gr2 file.
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Well, that's mostly it. Hats work perfectly, cloaks too. Haven't tested weapons yet but it should work alike.
For any questions, any problems, please send a private message to me (Yomgui) either on aoe3 heaven forums or ne.elpea one.
I would love to show some of the attachment realized, but they have to remain secret. Try and imagine...
Good luck