Porting WarCraft 3 models to StarCraft 2

[FockeWulf]

Porting WarCraft 3 models to StarCraft 2

Here are the videos where I walk you through the steps:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40HDe2Vekqg&feature=youtu.be

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_TYsSFWorc&feature=youtu.be

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3zG_oTHs_c&feature=youtu.be

Some extra notes:

Portraits: Yes the 3rd party plugins to support cameras. I have just gained contact with the guy who is currently working on them and I will try to figure out a method to make it work. However I cannot provide any estimate as to when I can make it work if at all.

Wireframe Icon: You know that green icon you see at the bottom when you select a unit?

Here is a trick to get it to work without any effort:

1. Import the unit icon/button I showed you how to make.

2. In the actors tab, for the unit's main actor, set the Wireframe field to the icon.

3. Enjoy. StarCraft 2 will automatically make it green for you!

Unit Sounds: I did not go into this, but it really isn't to hard.

Here goes:

1. Make sure that the sound files are in the best compressed .ogg format you can tolerate. StarCraft 2 has the best compression (for smaller filesize) with the .ogg format. It can use .wav and I think .mp3 but .ogg is still best.

2. Go to the sounds tab in the data editor. Create a new sound. Then find the field "sound assets" and input the appropriate sounds. If you input multiple, whenever the actor calls upon that sound it will, via a method you can set, chose one to use.

3. Go to the unit's actor. In the appropriate sounds field add the sounds for the specific types of sound calles. For instance there is a "move" field and a "yes" field that I think ought to use the same sound link from the sounds tab.


Closing:

Well guys thats it. I can try to answer questions but keep in mind I had to find all of this out via experimentation, which took close to a year on and off to figure out. If I don't know it and I don't need to know it I'm unlikely to explore the topic for you.

I am not going to try to fix up your guys's models. You can upload them to the forums and I can take a look at them once in a while should I be in the mood.

Remember I will only use 3d Studio Max 2011 for any help I give. If you give me a .max file that is not 2011 I am very unlikely to help you again.

I'm saying all this because fixing models that don't work is a HUGE pain and I have enough trouble with my own stuff.

Extra:

If you guys like seeing WarCraft 3 models in StarCraft 2 (or any of my other models or other player's models) help put pressure on Blizzard to release the art tools. Make your own petition. Support other petitions etc etc. If enough of us do it then the point may get through and they will prioritize it. This would definatly help get StarCraft 2 modeling off the ground more than anything else.

Edit: I have been told by the maker of the export scripts that transparency is indeed possible. Keep in mind though my tutorials are based what I have and have not been able to get certain things to work. In my experience transparency does not work. If I can be shown how to make it work then I will upload an extra tutorial showing how.

Hope the guide helps!
FockeWulf

 

[skrab]

Super! Finally someone with a video tutorial. Waiting for part 3 to see how this will all look in the game.

 

[FockeWulf]

Ya sorry I only have 70kb up and my friends wanted me to play with them >.>

 

[RiotZ]

Portraits are easier now, since you can just select any portrait you want. I could give a Grunt, Jim Raynor's portrait and be done with it lol.

Or you could use 2D portraits etc, easy to workaround this problem.

 

[Lemninas]

You said that you will only give out help for 3D Studio Max 2011. Is this because of personal preference/inability to acquire later versions, or is it because later versions do not work? I am using 2013 and so far I have tried both an archer and a raider but the models always mess up. Also, when I apply the material/textures, the entire model is just teamcolored, but the textures display correctly in-game. Help please

Edit: Huh... the sc2mapster forum page for the .m3 plugins says 2013 is not supported, guess I should learn to read

Also, is there any way to get the actual wireframes? I know you said to use the icon, but it just looks kinda weird to me because the actual wireframe/wireframe icons are little outlines of the unit's model.

 

[FockeWulf]

It depends if you can find wireframes in the files. I haven't found them but I haven't looked for them. On the plus side the same button will also serve as a wireframe. The game auto tints it green.

 

[TheQuiet]

I'm not sure if you still check on this, but when I try exporting the model from 3DS Max, it comes up with a "failed to init" error and links me to a bunch of code. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I can provide a screenshot.

EDIT: Okay, it just seems to be the version of the M3 tools. 2.2 is broken. All set. Great tutorials by the way.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Soon you will only need an importer script, the rest the art tools will do.

 

[Marcraft22]

Hi people.
Everytime I try to convert and import a model from another game: the editor crashes.
I know some models are corrupted, bugged or may close the tool but in my case every model I try to import shuts down the editor.
I even tried with some models which are known to work (like the Peasant model from WC3) but nothing, all the time: StarCraft II has encountered an unexpected DirectX/OpenGL error. This may indicate an issue with an out-of-date videocard driver blah blah blah...

My graphic card (an Asus GeForce GTX 560 Ti) has its newest drivers.
I have reinstalled the whole game three times.
By the way I'm using 3DS Max 2010 and following the linked youtube tutorial from the first post.

All the crashes happend a second after the model is imported, no matter which map is open. It's like this software is haunted or something else :S

Thanks for reading.

PS: Sorry for my bad english.

 

[FockeWulf]

I am no longer in the SC2 modding community due to having exceeded my limit of BS from Blizzard.

However I will say this: This is not an issue with my guide. You may want to reinstall your editor or move to to something like C:\Games\SC2 due to UAC (although I've never had a problem with SC2 on this).

I have imported dozens of files that SC2 does not support via the import tool. An m3 file should only cause a crash on import because of 3 reaons:

1. The export tool wrote some corrupt data.

2. Your installation of Galaxy Editor is corrupt.

3. Blizzard screwed up something in a patch (very, very common).

 

[plumsy460]

So this method allows you to convert ANY Warcraft 3 unit into a usable Starcraft 2 model?