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Note the project will be looking at focusing on new models or free CC0/open source models and textures with a no copyright infringement. This means no ripped models and textures from other games.
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Models
New Models Style Guide
The models in NWN, especially pre-HotU generally are low quality but cartoony and animated enough to be fine at a distance, especially smaller creatures such as Goblins or small animals.
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On the top of them there may be upgrades done to the animations for instance making simple model animations include the PC animations set, like emotes and the like.
Model Replacement and Naming Information
Models generally will replace the same ones like-for-like for the models to be loaded properly for a "pure override art pack" style. This means you'll have "c_ettercap.mdl" present even if the actual model is upgraded and textures changed.
For texture overrides the texture must be pretty much identical to the original - since that texture may be used by multiple models even in the base game. Be careful about changing the even the orientation or any kind of colours across existing texture upgrades. This also applies to portraits and icons - if the model is drastically upgraded the relevant portrait should be replaced as well (if possible - items can't have their own identifiers thus need to override only).
For new models and textures an identifier "op" will be used in the name, eg: c_op_xxxxx or t_op_xxxx, ife_op_xxxx, po_op_xxxx etc. See individual overhaul pages for more information naming conventions. These will be strictly marked for each use across the project - sharing is possible but not highly recommended across different tilesets (instead a duplicate should be made).
Model Source and Compiled Formats
The source format will be a Blender or 3dsMax project file if available, but at the very least the uncompiled ASCII version.
The compiled format will be the MDL file but compiled in game.
Textures
Texture Replacement Source and Final File Size Notes
The SVN maintaining Overhaul will contain the source textures in a compressed PNG format at the highest possible quality (and on top XCF or PSD is fine to add!). This can be 4K, 8K or whatever - but bigger the better regardless of use case (even the smallest on screen item).
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- 4K - Release of textures scaled to a maximum of 4096x4096 big. 4K monitors and the like benefit the most. 4K monitor appropriate and potentially VRAM heavy.
- Note for tiny items like say, Daggers, or some specific smaller bodyparts this might still have smaller ones generated - not sure yet.
- 2K - Medium quality, 2048x2048 maximum texture size. 2K monitor appropriate.
- 1K - Lower quality. 1024x1024 maximum texture size. 1K monitor appropriate.
PLT files will be sized to suit as well, with 4K getting all the originals (none are over 4096 I think) and resizes to 2K max and 1K max.may be different see PLT section below.
Note on sizing - 15MB is a good guideline due to nwsync and sanity as it were.
| Dimensions | Typical MB for a DTX5 (Alpha) | Typical MB for DTX1 (No Alpha) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4096 x 4096 | 21.3 MB | 10.6MB | Upscaled from 1024x1024 - no Bioware HotU or earlier models are this large - so is newer DLC or custom content |
| 3600 x 3600 | 16.4 MB | Odd size not sure what texture this was. | |
| 2048 x 2048 | 5.33 MB | 2.66MB | Upscaled from 512x512. Likely best general square size. |
| 1024 x 2048 | 2.66 MB | Longer texture - some cloaks and stuff use this. | |
| 1024 x 1024 | 1.33 MB | 682KB | Upscaled from 256x256 |
| 512 x 512 | 341 KB | 170KB | Upscaled from 128x128 |
Texture Replacement Naming Information
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| File Type | Reference | Naming Convention | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTR | materialname | originaltexture m_modelname modelname m_texture | tcn01_glas02.mtr m_wswdg_b_011 wswdg_b_011 m_greatsword.mtr | Original texture replacements are common especially on tilesets and placeables where the original models are left otherwise untouched. m_ keeps all material files prefixed. Helps to remove clashes. However requires new models. New textures with a 1:1 mapping to the MDL (no reuse) could use the model name to keep things simple If you want full clarity you can use m_texture.mtr - this is useful also in the cases of shared MTR files |
| Diffuse | texture0 | texture_d | tcn01_glas02_d | If a PLT file this needs to be excluded from the MTR file entirely (have no texture0 line) and instead have the bitmap file in the original just be "modelname" since this is automatically done by the game (and just makes it clearer) |
| Normal | texture1 | texture_n | tcn01_glas02_n | |
| Specular | texture2 | texture_s | tcn01_glas02_s | If it's not shiny using "black" as a reference here is worthwhile (else it's potentially auto generated from the roughness) |
| Roughness | texture3 | texture_r | tcn01_glas02_r | |
| Height | texture4 | texture_h | tcn01_glas02_h | |
| Self-Illumination | texture5 | texture_i | tcn01_glas02_i |
Model Replacement and Naming Information
Models generally will replace the same ones like-for-like for the models to be loaded properly for a "pure override art pack" style. This means you'll have "c_ettercap.mdl" present even if the actual model is upgraded and textures changed.
For texture overrides the texture must be pretty much identical to the original - since that texture may be used by multiple models even in the base game. Be careful about changing the even the orientation or any kind of colours across existing texture upgrades. This also applies to portraits and icons - if the model is drastically upgraded the relevant portrait should be replaced as well (if possible - items can't have their own identifiers thus need to override only).
For new models and textures an identifier "op" will be used in the name, eg: c_op_xxxxx or t_op_xxxx, ife_op_xxxx, po_op_xxxx etc. See individual overhaul pages for more information naming conventions. These will be strictly marked for each use across the project - sharing is possible but not highly recommended across different tilesets (instead a duplicate should be made).
Model Source and Compiled Formats
The source format will be a Blender or 3dsMax project file if available, but at the very least the uncompiled ASCII version.
The compiled format will be the MDL file but compiled in game.
Texture Source and Compiled Formats and Dimensions
The source files should be XFC (GIMP), PSD (Photoshop) or similar uncompressed originals if available.
The source folder would also contain the "final" intermediary PNG file that is not game suitable (again can be oversized).
The compiled file be at most a 15MB DDS file. DDS has compression which acts identically for each dimension. Some examples of dimensions and final sizes:
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PLT Files
Source files - if they exist - can be in whatever PSD/XCF is done before changing to PLT although PLT has no quality loss.
PLT Files
Source files should be the layered GIMP/Photoshop as appropriate. There is no "PNG" intermediary however. There may be a resized version for the game conversion since the GIMP PLT saver just uses the base file size as it's dimentions.
The final PLT files are all kinds of awful and 8MB max is what Beamdog used and even the game chokes on a lot of hardware (due to the amount of bodyparts loaded at once) . Further testing needed there.Need to figure out a good methodology for PLT and the sizing of different parts especially if PLT shields are addedeven with PLT load improvements.
The 4K/2K/1K options may become:
- 4K - original file sizes
- 2K - Halved sizes
- 1K - quartered sizes
TBH though might go through and make several bodyparts get standardised sizes, like all Necks being 512x512 or something...just to make the 4K pack not choke so much! Would need to resize things like normals to match as well.