Client side custom skins

[Pugnadeus]

Hello, I'm wondering if I can alter my warcraft 3 version by adding custom skins. Here is what I mean: I download a custom skin for a Fel Guard, and I put it in my warcraft 3 folder. Every time I'm in game and everyone else sees a normal fel guard with a normal model/skin, meanwhile I will see it differently.

I have a vague memory of reading something about that, but now I'm doubting if it's possible. I've tried searching a bit but 'client side custom skins' doesn't give me good answers.

 

[deepstrasz]

Not sure you can do this anymore with CASC files.
@Retera please, if you know anything about it.

 

[Retera]

Although I know that you can accomplish doing this on 1.31 with the "Allow Local Files" registry key, as far as I'm aware that system was removed in Reforged.

I believe Blizzard probably wants to take that power away from the user in Reforged. There was a rumor that it was only removed for the Beta and would be added back in, but I figure that was probably something that was only said to appease information hungry fans -- if it was ever officially stated at all.

 

[Pugnadeus]

Should have mentioned which version I was talking about. Version 1.26a. Is it possible @Retera ?

 

[Retera]

Pfffffff what? 1.26a is like a knife cutting butter, you can make it do whatever you want.
But that's a double edged sword. I once played a map that opened command prompt.

But yea you can make 1.26a do literally whatever you want. As well as being able to activate the Allow Local Files registry entry for modding, if you don't like the registry, you could also:
1.) Copy your installation (so you have a backup), get literally any MPQ editor, and hack away at the file contents, changing whatever you like
2.) Keep your installation, make all modding in its own MPQ, download MPQDraft and generate a SEMPQ EXE so that basically you just double click on "MyMod.exe" and it launches the game, but with custom assets loaded
3.) Some people do some weird thing where they put an MPQ inside of a .mix file and they put the .mix file inside of their game installation and it automatically loads itself. I have barely any experience with that. It just wasn't something I encountered, other than one time some kid needed me to fix the firelord model on some weird hacked dota installation of wc3 which I was basically afraid to touch, so I installed a Windows VM and then found out my old copy of 1.26a from the disk was unable to play the map he was playing so I got a jank copy from online basically that was similar to his, then I used an MPQ editor and told it to open the .mix file that he had as MPQ, then added the fixed firelord model or whatever. Total headache, wouldn't want to do that again.


Edit:
Here is a video of me playing Patch 1.26 in 2019, but I changed all the races, and made new custom models for them: