This is a tutorial for turning surfaces on and off in single player games and probably would work for multiplayer as well. We will be doing this by changing the model.

This tutorial is specifically for replacing Kyle in a single player game and using Jan instead. This tutorial is for using Jan as the replacement. Big deal right? Well yes because:

 #1. The skin that comes with Jan is a boring thing to look at.

 #2. This means you will be able to play using the Jan Model as Kyle with other skins without the goggles or chaps  showing or  the vest getting in the way. Anyone remember Absath’s infamous skin???  (No do not ask I will not distribute this skin and e-mails will be ignored concerning it.) or you could use one of plasmacoolents Jan skins like the pink one where all she has on is Lingerie.

#3. Mostly as with keeping with the theme of  this guide  I am going to describe how to do this by altering the Model.Glm file without using 3DSMAX, MAYA, MILKSHAPE or any of those other 3D editing programs.


What you say?  How is this possible?  Well the answer to this is NOTEPAD!!! Yep that is not a typo comes free with every version of windows.

First I need to back up a bit and tell you about a list of resources you will need to acquire if you do not already have them.

A. The first release of the editing tools for this game.
B. The second release of the editing tools for this game.
C. A good zip utility like WinZip, or Ultimate zip found at the website by that name which is freeware. 

I am not going to describe how to use these programs as they are already quite well documented elsewhere in these forums and at JKII files dot com. Look for the addendum to Spacemonkies modeling tutorial it will tell you how to set these tools up correctly with the correct directory (file structure)

 This is critical as they will not work unless they are in the correct directory structure. The addendum also tells you how to use the Assimilate program. By the way for those who do not know directory is just a fancy way of saying folder and the terms are interchangeable.:) 

Another tutorial I highly recommend you read is the one Darklighter has posted at the general editing section of the Lucas Forums for this game concerning multiplayer to single player conversions. Absolutely worth the read.



For those of you who do not know: The first release of the editing tools for this game.
& the second release of the editing tools for this game are where you will get your source files from and the programs you will need to recreate the MODEL.GLM file which is the model for the player.

Ok did you get everything and read your tutorials? Good now lets start.

#1. Go to the file where you have the game installed if you read your tutorial (the addendum you probably re-installed the game to a shorter directory than the default. EX: C:\Games\GameData\base with the tools installed after the game of course.) 

#2. in the base directory you will find a file named assets0.pk3. (a .pk3 file is really a zip file) rename it to assets0.zip and extract the files.

#3. Once de-compressed go to the models folder and find the one named jan.

#4. Copy it to another area  EX: My Documents. Now you can delete the original. 

#5. Now open the Jan file you just placed in my document or wherever and find the Model.Glm file got it? Good now delete it. Now find the model_default.skin file in this same folder and delete it also. All done? Good now close out of here, remember where the Jan folder is because we will be coming back to it later.

Next part: Note I apologize if I am over doing this a bit for those of you who are old hands to this sort of thing but it can be quite confusing to someone who is new to all of this. I am doing my best to accommodate everyone. That being said let’s carry on.

#1. Go to your Example: C:\Games\GameData\base\models\players\jan folder you find after the tools are installed. NO this is not the same one we got the jan folder from earlier in here you will find two very special files. One is called MODEL.CAR the other is called ROOT.XSI 

#2. Now go ahead and copy all of the files that are in the jan folder saved earlier in my documents or wherever. Copy these files and put them in this folder with the MODEL.CAR & ROOT.XSI  at this point if you replacing the standard skin files which will have the extension. .TGA or .JPG remove the skins you are replacing and use the replacements instead. Make sure the names of the files stay the same and that they are for the appropriate body part.

NOW COMES THE FUN PART I THINK THIS WILL ACTUALLY BLOW A FEW PEOPLES MINDS AS I JUST ABOUT HAD A HEART ATTACK WHEN IT WORKED. IT IS SO DARN SIMPLE I KICKED MYSELF FOR NOT REALIZING IT EARLIER. 

Open the ROOT.XSI FILE with notepad. DO NOT UNDER ANY CONDITIONS USE A DIFFERENT TEXT EDITOR LIKE WORD FOR EXAMPLE AS IT WILL TOTALLY SCREW UP THE FORMAT!!!!!!!!

Ok go it open? Good now copy and paste the following. We will be inputting it into note pad shortly.


1st  group 

 hips_chaps              hips_belt               torso_comp           	
 hips_chaps_off       hips_belt_off        torso_comp_off     

torso_vest                head_goggles
torso_vest_ off         head_goggles_off 

Above group 1. These surfaces are visible normally we are going to tell the program to ignore them.


Below Group 2. These surfaces are normally not visible in the game. So we are going to tell the program to show them.

2nd group

hips_augment_off     torso_augment_off         hips_torso_off       
  
hips_augment           torso_augment                 hips_torso

Wow that would really stink if we had to read all of the code and root all of this out wouldn’t it?

 Well that is what I did I read the entire file to get a feel for how the .XSI  is written took about 3 hours.

 But take heart there is a much easier way and I am sure most of you reading this know what it is.

So go back to the ROOT.XSI  file now and open it up again in NOTEPAD.

#1.Click on edit at the top of the window and choose replace.

#2.Now copy hips_chaps and paste it into the top text field.

#3.Now copy hips_chaps_off and place it into the bottom text field.

#4.Now click on the replace all button. Grab a cup of coffee if you have a slow computer and watch the screen scroll by as the replacements are made.

CONGRATULATIONS YOU JUST CHANGED A MODEL WITHOUT  3DSMAX AND WITHOUT UNWEIGHTING ANYTHING. THOSE WHO ARE FAMILIAR WITH MODELING KNOW THIS IS A VERY, VERY BIG DEAL! 

#5. Now go back and do the same for each of the surfaces you do not want to show  in the first group. Then go back and do the same for the surfaces you do want to show in the second group. 

#6. All done? Took awhile didn’t it? Now click save and close.

 Want to see what you have done? Go to you tools folder where you loaded the JKII editing tools.

 Make sure you set them up according to the addendum to Spacemonkies instructions. Open the assimilate program. 

#1. Click open and go to the folder we just left with the .XSI file  here you will see the MODEL.CAR file open it.

#2. If you did not follow the instructions you will get the message .GLA not found. Go into the extracted assets0 find the folder named humanoid and copy the two files in there into the humanoid directory found for example: 

C:\Games\GameData\base\models\players\_humanoid 
which is in the same player folder you got the original jan folder you have been working on.

#3. Once you have the .,CAR file open click edit then click validate AKA CAR WASH. Click yes for whatever comes up. Then you will receive a message telling you everything has been done.

#4.Now reopen the .CAR file and this time click on the red B button and it will build a  .GLM file.

#5.After everything is done close out of ASSIMILATE and open MODVIEW in the tools folder and open the new .GLM file you created.

 “Hello”  “IT’S A WINNER” all the correct surfaces are on and none of the ones you don’t want to see are showing.

You will probably see messages about missing textures like for the eyes and mouth go grab them from the unzipped Kyle folder and add them to this one that will take care of it.
There you have it modeling without the use of MAX or the others. 

If you replace the original jan folder in Assets0 with this and then rezip the folder and rename it to assets0.pk3 you will see the changes to jan as well as the jedif (jedi female see cheat codes.

Hold on to this folder because we are not done yet keep a copy loose. Go and read Darklighters tutorials for the rest. To create a PK3.

Or create a new folder with a structure like this \models\players\kyle and dump the contents of your jan file in here. Zip it all up in a compressed file called janmod rename it jan mod.pk3 than put this folder in the base directory next to assets0.pk3 and the rest.

You can also change the sounds by creating a folder with the following structure. sound\chars\kyle\misc  dump the jan sounds which are in the assets1.pk3 file in your base folder in it’s misc folder  and zip this up along with the model folder called janmod.pk3 Start the Game and have a good time.  

I predict that this discovery may well lead to people asking the modelers out there for there ROOT.XSI  flies and not just the finished product.

I would like to thank JK2files.com, JediknightII.net & Lucas Forums for continuing to be a great source of information for this terrific game, The Moderators for keeping these boards a nice place to visit, and all of the wonderful people who have contributed to the boards. In the following order but not necessarily there importance:

 Darklighter as mentioned above for his work, Plasmacoolent, Clu, Spacemonkey for his tutorial, MacD whose addendum to spacemonkeys work is priceless and better than the original in many ways for beginners.

I hope this is of help to someone and makes for a more rewarding gaming experience.

Sincerely,
                  Obikenobi  e-mail cronpa69@yahoo.com 
