I’m in the process of founding a clan, which will be called Dutch aXe Murderers a.k.a. DxM. Coupla nights ago I had the idea of making a model of a default battle axe, and putting it into ET. We’ll be having our own server with full access (hard to get NO full access when I’m currently using it as a footrest ;-)). I’m also making a “mod” (no .dll edits though, don’t want to get involved in that sort a thing right now ;-)) that will change some menu’s (limbo, connecting/loading page etc), some textures (to show off our fancy logo), the explosions etc… All been done before, all very simple. Just unRAR pak0.pk3 and make your own with some replacement TGA images and menu/ui scripts.
But for the axe addition, things are going to get more complcated of course.
Let me explain a bit first. My idea was to take the knife in ET, rip it out, and replace it with an axe and it’s texture. I would also have to change the animation script in some way, since holding an axe upright and shoving it forward and backward isn’t going to look impressive eh 
I’ve got a friend/co-clanfounder who has been doing 3D modeling for some years now, and he made me a beautiful model of an axe. He works with ZModeler, the n00b :bump: . Says all the 3DS MAX stuff is too hard for him :banghead: . Anyway, I downloaded that editor, opened the file he sent me, unioned the two objects he had used (the wood part and the metal part) into one object as I was sure ET didn’t originally use more than one object for its knife, and saved it as a .3ds file. The editor nicely asked me to make the texture file it used compatible with the 3ds format, hit Yes, and it did.
Then I went doing some research on the model format ET (All Q3 games as far as I know) uses, stuffed into .MD3 files. This is where I got stuck last night.
I downloaded the NPherno’s MD3 Compiler prog which was, according to some google results, the tool you need for opening / creating MD3 files.
So I went into the folder I unRAR’ed my pak0.pk3 to, went to the models/multiplayer/knife folder, and found three MD3’s, among other files:
v_knife.md3
v_knife_barrel.md3
v_knife_hand.md3
After loading these files one-by-one into NPherno’s tool, I found out that the v_knife_barrel.md3 contained the b_knife object, which showed up as the actual knife in the viewer. It also contains tag_weapon and tag_barrel, which show as 3d Origins (the X,Y,Z-Axis red-green-blue markers you get in the corners of EVERY 3d editor out there ;)). V_knife.md3 apparently has the hand ET renders holding the knife, and v_knife_hand.md3 contains the same tag objects (objects? :???: ) tag_weapon and tag_barrel as I found in v_knife_barrel.md3.
Totally lost EVERY clue of what to do now, I took the v_knife_barrel.md3’s “b_knife” object (showing as the actual knife, remember ^^) and deleted it. I then loaded the axe.3ds file I created earlier on, renamed the object inside of it to b_knife, but then I realised I didn’t see an axe appear. That was about where I stopped last night, with all the noise coming out of that hole in my mother’s face 
So, finally, the question: can anybody please help me with this? I need help understanding the MD3 format the engine uses, and with animating it correcty so I won’t end up with a bunch of freaks running around poking people with the stick of an axe. Might find the animation out myself, but I got to have a working model first I guess…
Any help is welcome, even just links to tutorials or other forum posts I missed… Thanks
Add weapon to ET -> Axe
Thanks, I was actually waiting for a RTFM, and here is one but with a link 
Went on googling today, found http://screenshots.rq3.com/bird/exporting_guide/guide.html, I’ve just read it and it clarifies a lot already. All in one word: Get 3DS MAX. And so, i’m probably “Getting 3DS MAX” tomorrow or something. That is, only if the link you gave me doesn’t use GMax, which I’ve already installed.
Changing knife to axe is pretty easy , both use simple animations which dont require too work…
jup that’s right… but hey, give me some credit for seeing v_knife.md3 for the first time and instantly figuring out it must be a model I could now also have been asking something like “How do I edit the knife in ET?”
import , edit , export , pack it , all are md3 so you dont have to change filename…
all are md3 so you dont have to change filename…
Hmm - Could cause problems.
You’d be better off to use different filenames, and then add a knife.weap file, modded with the new names, to your mod files.
Doing this would save all manner of confusion and hassle later.
I’m thinking of switching from the concept of replacing the knife with the axe, to taking the knife, duplicating it, modding that instance of the knife to the axe, renaming the stuff, modify all the refecences including the weaponcard image and the underlying GUI script, effectively adding a new weapon. Any suggestions, for example, to what classes it should be available, how much damage it will do (i’m thinking 2 hits = dead or something, to keep things near realistic), etc?
[edit] Why go for this alternative?
a) To keep the covert ops running around wanting to backstab but instead popping up a huge battle axe a bit satisfied.
b) To avoid confusion in the process of making the thing
c) To check out the possibility of creating more weapons for ET later on
[/edit]
Having thought of it some more, I don’t think it’s a good idea to make it a primary weapon choice, cuz nobody will select the axe instead of a long-range weapon when they feel like serious play. The other option: the secondary weapon. Nice, and many people don’t use the pistols very much (n00bies ;)), but on the other side, nobody will actually SEE the weapon because the Secondary Weapon menu in the limbo is rarely looked at. The only case would be when somebody get thrown into Spec mode, his client hangs (reconnects -> XPSave) or for some other reason he loses the selection of the dual wield weapons they received for high XP. At our LAN at school last week, I had to show the highest ranking player the existence of the whole menu.
So, I’ve thought up this idea: By default, the player starts with the Axe in weaponbank 1 (instead of the knife), and add an explanation to things like the Limbo Menu skin, some of the “Strategic Map” boards you come across in the game (Fuel Dump, in both Axis spawn buildings), etc. that by opening the VoiceChat menu (the V key) and pressing 0, then 1, they will get the knife back, and with v02 they get the Axe in slot 1. In other words, allow them to choose.
I know how to edit the VoiceChat menu, at our LAN I use it to give the default server commands (map restart, restart + warmup, gravity 150, 300, 800, lock teams / specs, votes on/off, default skills all 4 stars or all 0 stars and some other things), so that won’t be a problem. When you put the modified script in a pk3 file, all players get the same voicemenu, now let’s hope the engine gives a voicemenu the same rights the limbo menu has when it comes to weapon choice…
Don’t know whether it will be possible to change the weapon in a weaponbank just with a script command, but I expect it is possible. You can pick up a dead player’s weapon by +activate’ing, so it is in any case possible to change the weapon in a slot. I suspect the Limbo Menu only uses a certain command to define all the weapons in the player’s slots, along with the class. I’ll check the limbo menu’s scripting (if it’s in pak0.pk3, I think I saw it once), to see what it exactly does. Saw in the server console once, when I switched weapons, that the server received "weapon 5 0 0 " or something like that, long time ago.
I’ve got 3DS now, and some spare time today, so I’ll do the tutorial fretn gave me.
OK. I’m completely stuck again. I keep being unsure about the tutorials, since they are for RTCW or Reaction Quake 3, all slightly different… And I’m afraid ET doesn’t match this stuff.
Final question: Is everybody sure there is absolutely NO tutorial ever written especially for Wolfenstein Enemy Territory, not Q3 or anything?
If no -> is there anybody here who has done it before himself and who wants to help me (thru email or MSN msgr or something, PM’s fine too)? I’m really sticking hours of work into looking for the right tut’s or trying stuff, but haven’t succeeded yet. I’d be SO grateful, and would offer to write a tutorial based on what I’ve learnt to spread the knowlegde. I’m sure I’m not the only one wanting to do this sort of thing but doesn’t know how
I did some replacing weapons on ET.
But only in 3rd person view.
You can add me on msn: main_production@hotmail.com
But I don’t know anything about animations.
Greetz Panther
You can add me on msn: main_production@hotmail.com
Wish I could, it’s down again :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
“Jahaa!” it’s back on today
I’ll add you, I’m also getting help from No1_sonuk @ http://www.priceofpeace.net, almost hit the problem, but you might know something else/more that helps me out And anyway, it’s always nice to know some1 in the same (ETModding) business