Merging TTOR resources(units/abilities) with the latest version of Wc3 World Editor

[Goregoose]

Hi guys,
I've noticed a topic that has cropped up on the forums more than a few occasions with not many people replying and that's about utilizing the resources from the TTOR mod and putting into regular Wc3 for use. I myself mentioned this a couple times in my other two threads.
Well, I'm experimenting in merging the two and seeing how I can make this a reality.

&&DISCLAIMER&&
Tales of Raviganion(TTOR) was created by Rightfield and whomever his team was comprised of. All credits for his mod goes to him and his team, not me. I'm trying to contact him, if you have any relevant contact info for him, please let me know.
&&Disclaimer over&&

I believe I can't publish any results I create online without getting permission from the TTOR creator(who I believe is MIA in the warcraftsphere). But I'll update this thread to let you guys know how you can access and use TTOR spells and models/skins in the latest version of the World Editor.
What I'm doing could probably not be very impressive or cool but I felt some people may want to find a way of compiling resources in order to make them available for their (personal) use.

Background:
(I can only run TTOR with ROC and not TFT[I beleive TTOR needs TFT though?])


Past technique: Taking TTOR resources and importing them piece by piece manually
Current technique: putting TTOR files from the mpq into the war3x.mpq, without replacing vital war3x related files(a lot of trial and error and folder creation is involved).
(((Steps I've completed)))
1. I've managed to open the TTOR mpq using MPQeditor(mpqediten32).
2. I then extracted them into a folder I just named new folder.
3. I manually imported (through the editors import manager) every single dang file from "new folder" including many files I believe probably aren't meant to be imported through the import manager.
(4.) In a separate small map I've made, I was able to "import all object data" which includes the spells/buffs/units/dummies/items ect.
(5.) in the same separate small map I was also able to import the w3o file of TTOR through the AI editor.
All past steps have been not fruitful, so I restarted and worked with modifying the mpq.
(1.) I opened the war3x.mpq and created folders for all unit related content from TTOR and added the files into those folders.
(2.) I added the textures and replaceable textures from TTOR into the war3x.mpq
(3.) I added all slk files for abilities into the mpq.

(((CURRENT RESULT)))
I can get the models and icons to work, and textures as well but I can't see if the AI can use the abilities unless I get the abilities to work. I test this with using the time stop and bribe ability, so if they don't work abilities aren't working.

(((CURRENT PROBLEMS)))
1.Trying to get the other model files visible I tried to edit their path names in the import manager but it gives me this error:
this application has encountered a critical error: Not enough storage is available to process this command
File: SFile.cpp
Line: 898

2. How to play regular TTOR with TFT that doesn't cause it to crash or TTOR content to be ignored.
3. Learning how to better use the MPQ editor.
4. I've been trying to create new folders in war3x.mpq and unfortunately was stopped by trying to see if I could create a new folder within units/creeps/ and then add the model and skin files into there. Unfortunately if you do you end up with "Failed to add the file "ratseer.mdx" to the MPQ. The parameter is incorrect

7. Problems 1 - 4 may be irrelevant since my technique has changed. I'm now just trying to figure out what I need to do to get TTOR abilities to work exactly how they should.

I hope this thread will be useful to people, and I hope others would like to join me in trying to get this to work. If there are any tips or suggestions please let me know. Otherwise, I'll just keep updating you guys, I'm not a very good editor but I hope to improve and hope this thread will contribute to the Wc3 modding community in some manner.

*UPDATE* So I found there is no coorelation between changing an imported item's path from another drive and the World Editor crashing, I tested it out with a normal file I downloaded and imported content from that drive. So I can't seem to find what is the issue of changing imported data from the extracted mpq of TTOR.

*update 2* I added some stuff in the MPQ when I edited it, when I rename it ttor.mpq replacing the old it allows me to see all the custom textures applied to the units however prevents me from seeing the models from TTOR. TTOR icons can also be visible. I'm getting closer.
*update 3* I've been trying to create new folders in war3x.mpq and unfortunately was stopped by trying to see if I could create a new folder within units/creeps/ and then add the model and skin files into there. Unfortunately if you do you end up with "Failed to add the file "ratseer.mdx" to the MPQ. The parameter is incorrect.
(If I create new folders and add files into war3.mpq I don't have that problem but I still can't configure attributes...whatever that is)
I'm way in over my head but I'm adding this to the list of current issues.

*Update 4* Major break through! I was able to successfully get the latest version of TFT's World Editor to reckognize the new model I put into it, when I imported object data from the w3o file it recognized the correct path of the custom model...but another model it did not recognize so I'm not sure what's up with that, theoretically, if I do this step by step and add all the necessary files I should at the very least get all the units to work.
*note* the model does not show up as preset nor imported and can only be found if you use custom.

 

[MyPad]

This feels like it belongs to the Lab or some other section, and this could be useful to others who are interested with TTOR's. I'll tell some of the staff if they should move this to the Lab.

 

[Goregoose]

This feels like it belongs to the Lab or some other section, and this could be useful to others who are interested with TTOR's. I'll tell some of the staff if they should move this to the Lab.

Thanks I put it here because I thought the Lab was more for professionals who know what they were doing and since I need a great deal of guidence I though putting it here may fit. But maybe it'll be more cozy in the lab after all

*Update 5* certain files/folders have to be put into wc3x.mpq and others in wc3.mpq...I suppose that's because certain files are frozen throne dependent and...well I'm not sure why others would be ROC dependent.

 

[MyPad]

By the way, what is TTOR?

 

[Goregoose]

TTOR is that old 2005 total conversion mod for Warcraft called (the?) Tale's of Raviganion. The creator Rightfeild hasn't been active since 2005. I wish he wasn't because he could do it himself probably with more ease, but it's apparent the user has no more interest in wc3. So since I can't contact him to ask for permission I can merely see if it can be done and give instructions on how to do, I believe I could not distribute this edited mpq I'm making.
I used to play with this mod years ago, but it made it so sound couldn't work. Since now I'm older and more experienced with the editor I thought I want to give it a go once again, but alas the mod doesn't seem to work all correctly, so I figured I can just manually import all of it's data into regular warcraft to get the best of both worlds.

 

[MyPad]

Ah, okay. So, what is this TTOR all about? Is it a fantasy-driven story, or is it one of thrill and suspense?

 

[Goregoose]

Ah, okay. So, what is this TTOR all about? Is it a fantasy-driven story, or is it one of thrill and suspense?

It was really cool, I beleive it had no campaign and was more of a melee mod. But they had entirely new and unique abilities(not sure how they worked to be honest[did they use triggers or something else, I don't know]), but they replaced Humans with Wood Elves, Orcs with Trolls, Undead with Chaos, and Night Elves with Lizardmen...errr Swamplings...Swamp People I don't know. But it's more different than you'd think. Many new versions of Wc3 can't run TTOR properly so I'm desperate to find out how to make it something that's additional to current WC3 and not just replacing everything or worse yet reverting everything into ROC.
The creator of this mod Rightfield was very creative I think, though some of the models and their animations were sub-par but you were at least immersed in what he created.

Currently I feel more like a Warcraft Archaeologist rather than a Warcraft Scientist haha

 

[MyPad]

Oh, I see. I wish you the best in your endeavor.

 

[Kyrbi0]

Man, TToR is old-school. Lotta good memories there (though I'm not sure it's aged well). And his plethora of models really made the whole package that much better... In fact, up until this last year he was the author of the single, solitary Jungle Troll "town hall" building. Pretty much the only alternative. (though the crane & the smoke were way too much, definitely edited those out).

Good luck, man.

 

[Goregoose]

Man, TToR is old-school. Lotta good memories there (though I'm not sure it's aged well). And his plethora of models really made the whole package that much better... In fact, up until this last year he was the author of the single, solitary Jungle Troll "town hall" building. Pretty much the only alternative. (though the crane & the smoke were way too much, definitely edited those out).

Good luck, man.

Thanks, I hope I can get it to work, it seems that the war3x.mpq isn't being picky at the moment, I'm going to test the edited war3x.mpq now and hope it works just like an edited war3.mpq. Do you per chance know how TTOR had spells made? I kind of doubt merely having their files in the mpq will make them magically work.

 

[Kyrbi0]

I don't remember; I'm not even sure I played it back in the day (mostly just mined it for ideas & models). I can say, however, that they used to modify a certain file back then ("common.j", or was it the ".slk"s I think?) instead of using the trigger editor, so you may not find the ability codes int he way you are hoping.

 

[Goregoose]

I don't remember; I'm not even sure I played it back in the day (mostly just mined it for ideas & models). I can say, however, that they used to modify a certain file back then ("common.j", or was it the ".slk"s I think?) instead of using the trigger editor, so you may not find the ability codes int he way you are hoping.

Oh what you're saying is actually super helpful. Because I found a bunch of .slk's in the mpq so I think I can squeeze them in there. I was just testing out the new war3x.mpq and it works thus far...so my theory is correct thus far. I hope it works out. I'm probably not going to go through the effort of replacing the UI but if people would like me to try I can.
Since my technique allows the imported object data to be treated as editing the units I can revert to defaults of any given race so theoretically I can have wood elves vs night elves etc.
I was also thinking maybe I should be able to put this edited mpq on the site because the creator has been gon for 12 years. Would that be something alright to do or perhaps that'd be a little presumptuous and bad of me to do. It would save you guys a lot of time if I could though

 

[Kyrbi0]

Personally, I'm all for "updating/fixing/releasing of old projects"; it's something the likes of @Kam & me take as a mutual ambition. I know there's a lot to be said about "respecting old works", but in this case, with an author gone over a decade & the stuff foundering away... I see no problem. : )

 

[Kam]

At this point I would say it was fine. We are going to need mods to create a policy regarding this sort of thing though. @Ralle

 

[Kyrbi0]

That's a good point Kam. Honestly, though, I think we need to start from the beginning and modify human behavior in this matter. @GOD

 

[Ralle]

What is the TTOR mod? Kyrbi0, I don't like that you are faking a quote from me. It will confuse people.

 

[Goregoose]

What is the TTOR mod? Kyrbi0, I don't like that you are faking a quote from me. It will confuse people.

The Tales of Raviganion mod for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
It's a mod for melee in wc3 and added a lot of new creeps different playable races and new abilities.
@rightfeild was the creator of the this mod, his profile is still up on hiveworkshop. I don't know anything about his reputation in the wc community but I figured that somebody should attempt to make his mod compatible with TFT and the latest updates so it can be useable to people in this decade.

Oh this actually explains a bit of the reason for the creator's absence RightField

And here is his user page RightField

*UPDATE* when putting everything into the folder Creeps in the mpq, I had no snags, though some I'm guessing will have to belong in the regular war3.mpq. When making a new folder in the units folder things get tricking where when I add a file into the mpq it tells me that file already exists in the mpq...sometimes, so it's acting all bogus for no good reason so I guess I just have to keep trying to get that to work. Now I also came into the issue where some of the files that were successfully put into the new folder "chaos" under units, will not show up still. I wonder if it's something to do with another dependent file else where. I hope once all the files are added I won't come into that issue again. Any tips?

Ah! I almost had everything perfect, but I seemed of turned my mpq file into read only mode! Help! I can't edit anything this way and the mpq editor is using a bunch of jargon I don't understand.

Well I'm at a loss, Ladik's mpq editor is only opening the mpqs in read only mode for no apparent reason. I can only continue if someone tells me how to open in not read only.

 

[Kyrbi0]

What is the TTOR mod? Kyrbi0, I don't like that you are faking a quote from me. It will confuse people.

Fair enough; I've edited it. 'Twas merely a joke, anyway. : )

And Goregoose did a fine job answering the other half of your post.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

I don't want to play the devils advocate here, but I don't see a merit in reviving ancient, long abandoned projects, especially when the original author is gone.

Get creative and move on with your own project. I highly doubt such a revived project would ever live up to the level of quality we apply to WC3 maps these days anyway.

 

[Goregoose]

I don't want to play the devils advocate here, but I don't see a merit in reviving ancient, long abandoned projects, especially when the original author is gone.

Get creative and move on with your own project. I highly doubt such a revived project would ever live up to the level of quality we apply to WC3 maps these days anyway.

I can understand your perspective on this and honestly I'd love to do a more original project. I actually first posted this thread under world editor help as I did not see it technical enough nor my own enough to be in the Lab. And especially since I have literally no clue what I'm doing. I'm not trying to revive it, I'm not going to update it nor claim any of the things involved in it are mine, I'm just trying to see if I can seemlessly merge two mpqs to provide more resources for myself for the editor.
However, I have several reasons why I'm doing this.
1. I've seen several threads that seemed interested in the prospects of using ttor's resources. Myself and apparently Kyrbi0 and Kam seemed interested in it as well. Well I'm just assuming they are
2. I can't do jack, I can't make models, I could probably make skins but I really don't care to make skins anyway. I can't really make abilities beyond the ability editor. Although I've played Warcraft for years I'm really a novice at editing anything.
3. This is a good start for me to learn how to use the mpq editor and some other deeper tools.
4. I'm experimenting with this method of manual mpq merging. If I'm able to get this to work(meaning all TTOR and TFT content work in coexistence) then that can give great implication that I could potentially compile more resources together for my own personal use.
5. TTORs stuff may be dated (especially some of the models) but a lot of these models are still useful and seem unable to be imported easily with the import manager. So allow access to the model files is useful to me.
6. There were a lot of custom abilities in TTOR that if I manage to get the .w3o and .slk files to work along side of vanilla TFT I now would have access to almost twice as much abilities without doing tedious copy pasting and worrying that all the triggers are going to work. Some of these abilities were really rad.
7. As I said I want to do my own stuff, but for now this should be a starting point for myself. I do have many custom race ideas and caimpaign concepts but I really doubt anybody is interested in doing any of the work involved for that for me, and I don't have the cash to pay them too either.
If I were to make a total conversion project it'd probably be based on my comic series
Mercenary Gu | Tapas
I already have the lore and factions set up for it. Besides that I had a neat idea for a fantasy movie themed race conversion which would include units that would be from The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth...but I wouldn't know how to make a story out of that with out it turning into cringey fanfic. Besides those two things, after I get the abilities and models I wanted out of the TTOR's mpq I was going to use those for co-op DnD inspired maps for me and my friends to play together.
Well actually before all this I was sort of making something but it was really lame, I made humans into all humans(no dwarves nor elves), orcs into a variation of centaurs and other savage creatures, undead into demons, and night elves into serpent and reptile people. This was already very similar to TTOR, except my idea was much worse. I was trying to get additional races to play with but I couldn't get it to work (I downloaded a bunch of Chinese themed models to make a Chinese faction of humans, but I couldn't figure out how to make a functional AI compatible 5th and beyond race). Possibly the only thing interesting I made were a few custom abilities that I made without using the trigger editor.

-sorry for writing a wall of text. Again I totally understand your view on this, but I can't think of any easier way to get all the models and spells from that mpq to be imported into the latest version of wc otherwise. If I could get an "angel invester" of wc to aid me with my custom map ideas then I probably would abandon what I'm doing now. It'd certainly save me a lot of time lol

*update #something or other*
Turns out all I had to do make everything normal again was just to refresh the windows explorer page...weird. However the one mpq is still perma read only so I used a backup I had to edit instead. Fortunately itd's now only that one mpq that's read only.

Edit: sorry the : P emoticon looked a lot cuter than intended

 

[Goregoose]

I don't remember; I'm not even sure I played it back in the day (mostly just mined it for ideas & models). I can say, however, that they used to modify a certain file back then ("common.j", or was it the ".slk"s I think?) instead of using the trigger editor, so you may not find the ability codes int he way you are hoping.

I managed to put all the slk files into the mpq, however it doesn't seem to get the abilities to work(such as the stop time ability). When I tried the common.j file it actually prevented me from testing out the map and opening pre-existing maps. I think it may of messed something up with melee initialization. Any tips what I should do to get the abilities and buffs to work as normal? Maybe the files are dependent on something else.
I was actually thinking perhaps if I change things in the war3local or war3xlocal mpq it would have less adverse on the game. Do you know what those two mpqs are meant for usually?

 

[Zwiebelchen]

I can understand your perspective on this and honestly I'd love to do a more original project. I actually first posted this thread under world editor help as I did not see it technical enough nor my own enough to be in the Lab. And especially since I have literally no clue what I'm doing. I'm not trying to revive it, I'm not going to update it nor claim any of the things involved in it are mine, I'm just trying to see if I can seemlessly merge two mpqs to provide more resources for myself for the editor.

So basicly you want to extract contents out of an MPQ without agreement from the original authors just because you are too lazy to learn how to create abilities, models, etc. on your own?

That actually makes this thread worse.

 

[Kyrbi0]

I don't think laziness is implicit here. And I don't see much of an issue with making usefulness out of uselessness (had *anyone* successfully gotten it to work lately, especially with all the recent patches?).

 

[Goregoose]

So basicly you want to extract contents out of an MPQ without agreement from the original authors just because you are too lazy to learn how to create abilities, models, etc. on your own?

That actually makes this thread worse.

Ah nevermind, if several or so reasons aren't good enough rationalization for you I guess your just the forum troll. Sorry for prodding you to make a response. But by all means if you have any tips on how I can do things let me know. Doubting the concept is fine but once is enough. Consider the next thing that comes out of your keyboard, depending on what it is will determine whether or not you're worth replying.
Also to make it clear once more the original author has been gone for 12 years, he was perma-banned apparently for being a less than stellar mod. His total conversion mod is so old not many people even know about it. I wasn't even considering releasing the edited mpq unless I got permisssion from the mods at least.

Ralle obviously already looked at my thread, if he didn't like it he'd state that already since he already let me know that I multiposted so obviously he went through the thread. So I believe I'm in the clear. if I can even get the mpq merging to work, then that's the time I will see if I'm aloud to upload anything. Which I wasn't intending to do in the first place unless allowed.
I already looked for the author's contact info and I couldn't find anything, it may not come to a surprise to you, but it's more difficult to look for stuff on the internet in China. If you want to show me up, then prove to me how easy it is to get Rightfield's contact info, send me a link to it, I'll shoot him an email and wait a month for a reply.
That's a win-win, I look like a doofus so you can chortle in glee as you guess I feel ashamed over the internet, I get the contact info I've been looking for, and maybe the creator is remotely interested in revitalizing his own work or at the very least helps me out.
If I get a response from the actual Rightfield telling me I can't do what I'm doing. I will replace my avatar with the words "Forum Doofus".

Next time look through the whole thread, it's not that hard of a read.
I didn't even orginally put my thread in the lab.

Edit: also I'm not even joking, I'm actually sorry if anything I said came off as rude. I just didn't expect such a weird response.

Edit2: because I don't want to eat a my-own-words-sandwich, I see he has way of getting in touch through email on Wc3C.net Wc3C.net - View Profile: RightField I cannot however register for that website for unknown reasons. Like I haven't received any confirmation emails nor can I use any info I put in registering to log on.

I don't think laziness is implicit here. And I don't see much of an issue with making usefulness out of uselessness (had *anyone* successfully gotten it to work lately, especially with all the recent patches?).

Thanks for being supportive. And your right, the mod simply doesn't work with the latest version but people should be able to play it with the latest version if they wanted to. Mostly there seems to be an issue conscerning melee intialization.

 

[MyPad]

So, how's the mod going?

 

[Goregoose]

So, how's the mod going?

Thanks for checking up on me. I now have successfully been able to get the models, skins, and icons to work, the only issue I have now is getting the abilities to work, since these aren't trigger based abilities it's not clear what I have to do to get them into the game. It may have something to do with the common.j file wich seems like a delicate file in the mpq. I'll see if I can manually change the properties in a common.j file. I'm also trying to see how to get ttors models to show in preset instead of custom path, because one drawback TTOR had with the editor is that it would replace models in the preset model list, I want both available and easy to browse. I've been at this for days but I think I'm starting to learn more about the inter-workings of wc files. Well just the tip of the iceberg at least.
Besides that I unintentionally got Zwiebelchan upset over my thread. Not sure why any of this bothers him and only him. But I perhaps came off as too rude or he may just think of me of some 12 yr old trying to take credit for someone else's work.
I'm trying to get a Wc3C.net account but I can't seem to register properly, I may need a VPN to do so, but I may potentially get into contact with the original creator if he is still using the same email as 10 yrs ago.
All in all, all is well. Just stuck at the abilities part of things.

 

[MyPad]

Don't worry about upsetting people, it happens. As long as you can give credit to the original author, the author would at least realize that you are not claiming his work as your own.

If you need help with the abilities part, just describe it to me and I'll give the corresponding code: (at least in GUI, JASS or vJASS)

 

[Goregoose]

Don't worry about upsetting people, it happens. As long as you can give credit to the original author, the author would at least realize that you are not claiming his work as your own.

If you need help with the abilities part, just describe it to me and I'll give the corresponding code: (at least in GUI, JASS or vJASS)

Thanks I think that'd be helpful. I'll send you a PM. But I think recreating all 191 custom abilities may be a bit of a cumbersome task. If there is a simpler way of making them work in the war3x mpq just like the ttor mpq that'd be easier.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

Besides that I unintentionally got Zwiebelchan upset over my thread. Not sure why any of this bothers him and only him. But I perhaps came off as too rude or he may just think of me of some 12 yr old trying to take credit for someone else's work.

It's not about taking credit for someone else's work. That is obviously despicable and I assume you know that. However, using art assets that someone else created without their permission (or implicit permission by them uploading these assets to the public) is just as despicable. You are breaking the copyright law by using his files (= copying them) in your own work in the same way as if you would use licenced music in your project.

By submitting art assets to hive, you agree that your resource can be used by other people. But this guy never submitted his resources.

This is in no way different than ripping art files from other games and using them in your own. This is illegal. Just because Blizzard is A-okay with the WC3 community using WoW models and resources in WC3 doesn't mean that you can do that with everything.

The idea that stealing other people's art is fine as soon as you give credit to the original author can only come from people who don't create art themselves.


Let that sink in for a moment before you call me a troll again. Because I'm not trolling you. I'm dead serious.
And no, it doesn't matter if you are able to contact the original author or not.

 

[Goregoose]

It's not about taking credit for someone else's work. That is obviously despicable and I assume you know that. However, using art assets that someone else created without their permission (or implicit permission by them uploading these assets to the public) is just as despicable. You are breaking the copyright law by using his files (= copying them) in your own work in the same way as if you would use licenced music in your project.

By submitting art assets to hive, you agree that your resource can be used by other people. But this guy never submitted his resources.

This is in no way different than ripping art files from other games and using them in your own. This is illegal. Just because Blizzard is A-okay with the WC3 community using WoW models and resources in WC3 doesn't mean that you can do that with everything.

The idea that stealing other people's art is fine as soon as you give credit to the original author can only come from people who don't create art themselves.


Let that sink in for a moment before you call me a troll again. Because I'm not trolling you. I'm dead serious.
And no, it doesn't matter if you are able to contact the original author or not.

What I mean is this, this is for my personal use only. I wouldn't upload anything unless there is allowance to upload dated resources at all. Which of course I'm trying to figure out too.

Thanks for trying to protect me from doing anything wrong. Sorry for being defensive.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

You can use any MPQ editor to extract resources. If its for personal use only, then that's legit. You just aren't allowed to redistribute it.

 

[MyPad]

It's good to know you weren't trolling. As I said, I won't upload anything without mod permission. But I see your concern at the same point. But of course you aren't implying I can't do this for my own personal use, right? All I want out of this thread is to figure out how I can do what I intend and let others figure out ways for their own personal use too. Some people want to simply play the damn mod in 2017. This is mostly just a comparability thing...merging it is the only way I can figure out to make it compatible with the latest version, and yeah the end result of that would mean you could use the resources from the mod LIKE YOU ORIGINALLY COULD, the mod lets you use the world editor so you can play around with the stuff he created for it. I'm not repurposing anything.
Here let reduce my thread to this: getting this mod to work. Simple now, right?

If you are concerned please bring a mod into this, I would assume that the owner of the forums viewing the thread is good enough, but it's alright I don't want to do anything that would harm anyone.

But if you are implying I'm not allowed to edit anything I download for my own personal use then that's insane. Would you suppose it's wrong that I edited some sprites in Leiro? Or that I changed the stats of a character in M.U.G.E.N.? Or found ways of making multiple wad files work with Doom 2?
I have literally uploaded nothing to the internet, I'm asking for help so I can just play a damn map the way I wan by myself, offline as I always do.

What I can do is request a mod to see if there is anything wrong with what I'm doing. Then I will persist to get into contact with the creator.
Here is my question for you:
How long do I have to wait? If 12 years isn't long enough, then when?

So I'll get a mod to look into this tonight. Fine with you?

What I mean is this, this is for my personal use only. I wouldn't upload anything unless there is allowance to upload dated resources at all. Which of course I'm trying to figure out too.

Thanks for trying to protect me from doing anything wrong. Sorry for being defensive.

It's good to know you weren't trolling. As I said, I won't upload anything without mod permission. But I see your concern at the same point. But of course you aren't implying I can't do this for my own personal use, right? All I want out of this thread is to figure out how I can do what I intend and let others figure out ways for their own personal use too. Some people want to simply play the damn mod in 2017. This is mostly just a comparability thing...merging it is the only way I can figure out to make it compatible with the latest version, and yeah the end result of that would mean you could use the resources from the mod LIKE YOU ORIGINALLY COULD, the mod lets you use the world editor so you can play around with the stuff he created for it. I'm not repurposing anything.
Here let reduce my thread to this: getting this mod to work. Simple now, right?

If you are concerned please bring a mod into this, I would assume that the owner of the forums viewing the thread is good enough, but it's alright I don't want to do anything that would harm anyone.

But if you are implying I'm not allowed to edit anything I download for my own personal use then that's insane. Would you suppose it's wrong that I edited some sprites in Leiro? Or that I changed the stats of a character in M.U.G.E.N.? Or found ways of making multiple wad files work with Doom 2?
I have literally uploaded nothing to the internet, I'm asking for help so I can just play a damn map the way I wan by myself, offline as I always do.

What I can do is request a mod to see if there is anything wrong with what I'm doing. Then I will persist to get into contact with the creator.
Here is my question for you:
How long do I have to wait? If 12 years isn't long enough, then when?

So I'll get a mod to look into this tonight. Fine with you?

What I mean is this, this is for my personal use only. I wouldn't upload anything unless there is allowance to upload dated resources at all. Which of course I'm trying to figure out too.

Thanks for trying to protect me from doing anything wrong. Sorry for being defensive.

By the way, these two messages can be merged into one, since doing this falls under double posting.

 

[Goregoose]

By the way, these two messages can be merged into one, since doing this falls under double posting.

I actually meant to delete that first one. I just deleted it.

 

[Goregoose]

You can use any MPQ editor to extract resources. If its for personal use only, then that's legit. You just aren't allowed to redistribute it.

Yeah that's pretty much what I just intended. Just for personal use.
I really don't care to upload the edited mpq. But I just considered doing that if there was something allowing me to do so, like prolonged creator abscence, but it seems that I can't or rather shouldn't. I hope others are up to doing it manually though. I think it's best that I just keep people updated on how they can merge a total conversion mpq with vanilla Warcraft's mpq. That shouldn't be any issue, right?
I trust people using this method wouldn't upload anything from an edited mpq just like they wouldn't upload another persons stuff.
Why I thought it's an interesting experiment is because total conversions cause some annoying problems when you want to use the base games resources at the same time as well, so merging should allow this and further editor flexibility. Unfortunately I'm not good at what I'm doing and still can't get the abilities to work.

I actually just read something Rightfield posted in regards to people uploading his stuff to HIVE...but I can't find it at the moment. Anyway no worries I won't upload anything just to be safe.

Again I apologize for any confusion I caused you. I hope we can start over the right foot.

 

[MyPad]

It's okay, though. By updating your progress in this endeavor, you can get insightful feedback from those who would like to see it.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

There is no method to be found here. You just take the mpq, extract the stuff and add it to the other mpq. I'm not even sure why this is in the lab. You make this sound so complicated when it's just using MPQ editor.

 

[Goregoose]

There is no method to be found here. You just take the mpq, extract the stuff and add it to the other mpq. I'm not even sure why this is in the lab. You make this sound so complicated when it's just using MPQ editor.

I posted it under world editor help originally, I didn't intend to move it here but it got moved none the less.
Putting the models and skins in is relatively simple, yet somethings like custom abilities with custom triggers don't work properly. Also I kind of want to figure out how to put these models in the preset section of the object editor model file list instead of relying on custom path...as I said it's like an experiment.
EDIT: If I can get this merge to work without the need of the w3o file, then that's even better. Though the original does this, but it replaces models in the preset list, which is not what I'm looking for, so that's why allowing the mod to operate as if it's just custom data allows me to undo and changes to any units I wanted to. So say I just want the "wood elfs" to be human again, I'd merely just need to reset those units to their defaults or could one by one import the units from another map to have an additional race...though I suppose that'd only work if I got my self to play that additional race, I want the normal AI to use the new race I created. So I just want additional units and models listed, not replacements which seems like something nobody seemed to of achieved yet.
If everything works the best way, then I could potentially achieve the holy grail of wc editing, which I always assumed was allowing more than 4 playable races (which could be selected when you select the map in the frozen throne). If I figure out how we can do this, then I'd let people know. But I'm probably dreaming too high.
Besides using the mpq editor I have to also experiment with things in the world editor and I've found myself often opening up certain files to see if I can change the text inside to have a significant effect within the game without causing it to crash, but I'm new to everything still so forgive my ignorance if there is relatively simpler ways of achieving it.
I'm trying my best to get to know all these extra editing tools(and I'm glad most have been patient enough to explain somethings to me) but I find my spare time scarce, especially since I'm trying to dedicate most of my creative ability and money to my comic series. My wife prefers me not to spend too much time on warcraft(like right now for example I'm right next to my computer but if I don't spend this time next to her she might be disappointed in me [understandbly so] I was almost unable to post my previous comment but fortunately I have my phone when I'm not on my computer), so I'm doing what I can for now.

 

[Zwiebelchen]

You can just build your own MPQ that replaces internal model files entirely and ship your project as that MPQ (users would have to make a backup though and they will no longer be able to play the game in Bnet).

However, why do you want to replace original models in the first place? Just import them normally; the editor allows you to replace everything, including UI and UI strings.
Custom races have been done before numerous times.

And no you cant have more than 4 races simply because the dropdown race selection is hardcoded to 4 entries. If you want to replace art assets in the game menu, you'd have to rely on MPQ editing.

 

[Goregoose]

You can just build your own MPQ that replaces internal model files entirely and ship your project as that MPQ (users would have to make a backup though and they will no longer be able to play the game in Bnet).

However, why do you want to replace original models in the first place? Just import them normally; the editor allows you to replace everything, including UI and UI strings.
Custom races have been done before numerous times.

And no you cant have more than 4 races simply because the dropdown race selection is hardcoded to 4 entries. If you want to replace art assets in the game menu, you'd have to rely on MPQ editing.

Thanks for the tips man, actually I mean I intend not to have the model files replace anything, because then I'd have less to work with...then again if I replace some hardly used doodad model files with unit model files that may get me to be able to select it.
The current method does allow the base games models and the new ones but if I want to use or even just browse the additional ones I have to type in the file path.
Good point about the 4 races being hard coded I was figuring that was the case but wasn't sure. And yeah I knew that creating a custom race isn't too difficult, I've made a few for fun before...though I should get to know the AI editor more, before I'd make custom triggers for custom heros to be used and leveled up by the AI. I'm sure that's elementary trigger editing though.
However I did see a neat mod that I believe it let you have a 5th race (naga) if you set night elf handicap to a certain level the ai or player would be naga instead...I'll have to try that out.
Kind of related, do you know how for a custom map I can make an additional custom playable race for the ai to use? So I may see something like 7 unique races pitted against each other, I'm assuming that's done through the ai editor too...sorry to bother you about it.
Thanks again