Difference between revisions of "Creating Custom Doors for Fallout 4"

Again, if you've imported a vanilla nif then you'll need to remove all Havok data from it before proceeding, you can do this with the "Remove Havok Data" button on the Havok toolbar or from the text menu (Havok Contents Tools > Remove Havok Data.) You can also show the Havok toolbar from here, if it's hidden ("Show Toolbars" option.)

Again, if you've imported a vanilla nif then you'll need to remove all Havok data from it before proceeding, you can do this with the "Remove Havok Data" button on the Havok toolbar or from the text menu (Havok Contents Tools > Remove Havok Data.) You can also show the Havok toolbar from here, if it's hidden ("Show Toolbars" option.)

Your doors can be made of multiple objects, just make sure they're all linked to one central "Parent" object, best to use the biggest part of your door for this role. To do this, select the "Select and Link" button on your main toolbar, select the object you want to link to the main part of your door (for example, your doorknob, this is going to be a "Child") then click and drag to the main part of your door (this will be the "Parent"). When you release your click, you should see your "Parent" object briefly be selected, this is showing you it has worked. To keep track of your links you can go to Graph Editors > New Schematic View in the text menu, this will pop up a window which shows you how your objects are linked.

Your doors can be made of multiple objects, just make sure they're all linked to one central "Parent" object, best to use the biggest part of your door for this role. To do this, select the "Select and Link" button on your main toolbar, select the object you want to link to the main part of your door (for example, your doorknob, this is going to be a "Child") then click and drag to the main part of your door (this will be the "Parent"). When you release your click, you should see your "Parent" object briefly be selected, this is showing you it has worked. To keep track of your links you can go to Graph Editors > New Schematic View in the text menu, this will pop up a window which shows you how your objects are linked.

   

   

You can also make double doors, just follow every process normally making sure you give both doors collision individually. There will be some extra steps you need to take when we get to the animation manager phase. Both doors still need individual keyframed animation.

You can also make double doors, just follow every process normally making sure you give both doors collision individually. There will be some extra steps you need to take when we get to the animation manager phase. Both doors still need individual keyframed animation.

Select your pair of objects (the visual mesh of the object and the custom collision object you've made) and go to Havok Contents Tools > Physics > Create Rigid Body With Proxy(s), '''it's very important that when 3ds pops up the dialogue box it's showing the name of your visual object, otherwise the roles of your visual mesh and collision will be reversed. If the name of your collision object pops up, click "No."''' It can take a few tries de-selecting and re-selecting before you get the right mesh to show up in the dialogue, try different orders of selection. If it shows the name of your visual mesh, click "Yes" and we'll move on to the next stage.

Select your pair of objects (the visual mesh of the object and the custom collision object you've made) and go to Havok Contents Tools > Physics > Create Rigid Body With Proxy(s), '''it's very important that when 3ds pops up the dialogue box it's showing the name of your visual object, otherwise the roles of your visual mesh and collision will be reversed. If the name of your collision object pops up, click "No."''' It can take a few tries de-selecting and re-selecting before you get the right mesh to show up in the dialogue, try different orders of selection. If it shows the name of your visual mesh, click "Yes" and we'll move on to the next stage.

   

   

From here on out, you'll follow the simple method but your "Rigid Body" modifier will be on your visual object and your "Shape" modifier will be on your collision object. Selecting your collision object should allow you to edit "Collison Group" properties, we'll get to that further down.

From here on out, you'll follow the simple method but your "Rigid Body" modifier will be on your visual object and your "Shape" modifier will be on your collision object. Selecting your collision object should allow you to edit "Collison Group" properties, we'll get to that further down.

With the "Rigid Body" modifier selected, go to "General Properties" under the modifier list and input a weight in the "Mass (kg)" text field, from what I know the actual number here doesn't matter, it just needs to have a number other than zero. I use 6.66 for lols. (Remember, in the advanced method your "Rigid Body" modifier is on your visual object.)

With the "Rigid Body" modifier selected, go to "General Properties" under the modifier list and input a weight in the "Mass (kg)" text field, from what I know the actual number here doesn't matter, it just needs to have a number other than zero. I use 6.66 for lols. (Remember, in the advanced method your "Rigid Body" modifier is on your visual object.)

   

   

Next, with the Rigid Body modifier still selected, expand the "Advanced Properties" section further down and tick the "Quality Type" box and in the drop-down list next to it select "Keyframed".

Next, with the Rigid Body modifier still selected, expand the "Advanced Properties" section further down and tick the "Quality Type" box and in the drop-down list next to it select "Keyframed".

   

   

Now we need to address the "Shape" modifier that's been applied to your object or objects. The only property you need to set for this is "Shape Type", I haven't experimented with this but my guess is you'll just want to select "Box" since most doors are essentially a tall, wide, thin box shape. If you want more complex collision, choose "Mesh" here but this can take up a lot of processing power without really needing to. (The "Shape" modifier is on your collision object using the advanced method.)

Now we need to address the "Shape" modifier that's been applied to your object or objects. The only property you need to set for this is "Shape Type", I haven't experimented with this but my guess is you'll just want to select "Box" since most doors are essentially a tall, wide, thin box shape. If you want more complex collision, choose "Mesh" here but this can take up a lot of processing power without really needing to. (The "Shape" modifier is on your collision object using the advanced method.)

   

   

Finally to set up our collision, we need to go to the "Utilities" tab located above your modifier list to the right-hand side and under the "Utilities" heading click the "More..." text button and select "Collision Group" from the list that appears. This will display the "Collision Group" heading underneath the "Utilities" heading. Collision Group options will show up on your collision object if you're going the advanced path.

Finally to set up our collision, we need to go to the "Utilities" tab located above your modifier list to the right-hand side and under the "Utilities" heading click the "More..." text button and select "Collision Group" from the list that appears. This will display the "Collision Group" heading underneath the "Utilities" heading. Collision Group options will show up on your collision object if you're going the advanced path.

   

   

In the "Default Materials" dropdown select what type of material your object is, this is entirely up to you and will affect how your object acts when shot or hit or walked on (the sound it makes, damage decals, there may be other things I'm not aware of too.)

In the "Default Materials" dropdown select what type of material your object is, this is entirely up to you and will affect how your object acts when shot or hit or walked on (the sound it makes, damage decals, there may be other things I'm not aware of too.)

   

   

Next set the "Object Type" dropdown in the "Collision Group" properties to "Anim Static." Click the "Apply to Selected" button.

Next set the "Object Type" dropdown in the "Collision Group" properties to "Anim Static." Click the "Apply to Selected" button.

   

   

Finally, when all your collision is set, we need to reset our Xforms. I don't know what they are or what they do but we need to reset them to make our nif happy. Simply '''select everything''' in your scene, click the "Reset Xform" text button under the "Utilities" heading (the same place the "More..." text button was earlier) and when the "Reset Transform" heading pops up below (still on the "Utilities" tab with the hammer icon) hit the "Reset Selected" text button. Now go to your modifier stack, and collapse any "XForm" modifiers that have been created by right clicking on the modifier and selecting "Collapse To." I'm not sure you have to collapse these, but it's just tidier to do so.

Finally, when all your collision is set, we need to reset our Xforms. I don't know what they are or what they do but we need to reset them to make our nif happy. Simply '''select everything''' in your scene, click the "Reset Xform" text button under the "Utilities" heading (the same place the "More..." text button was earlier) and when the "Reset Transform" heading pops up below (still on the "Utilities" tab with the hammer icon) hit the "Reset Selected" text button. Now go to your modifier stack, and collapse any "XForm" modifiers that have been created by right clicking on the modifier and selecting "Collapse To." I'm not sure you have to collapse these, but it's just tidier to do so.

   

   

You've just set up collision for your door, give yourself a pat on the back and pour a glass of cherry coke (cherry coke optional).

You've just set up collision for your door, give yourself a pat on the back and pour a glass of cherry coke (cherry coke optional).

Double doors need one extra step in order to work properly with both doors opening together. You'll need to create a dummy (Create > Helpers > Dummy), click and drag until it appears as a box, it doesn't matter too much what size and position it is as it won't be visible, to be tidy I keep it at the bottom of my doors in the centre, I think this is what Betheda does. Now use the "Select and Link" tool to link your doors to the dummy, '''your dummy must be the parent and not the child'''. You can check your links by going to Graph Editors > New Schematic View, the popup window will show you how all your objects are related. Don't worry about any parts like doorknobs that you have linked to your doors, or custom collision if you took the advanced route, they only need to be linked to the "main" part of your door that you've linked to the dummy.

Double doors need one extra step in order to work properly with both doors opening together. You'll need to create a dummy (Create > Helpers > Dummy), click and drag until it appears as a box, it doesn't matter too much what size and position it is as it won't be visible, to be tidy I keep it at the bottom of my doors in the centre, I think this is what Betheda does. Now use the "Select and Link" tool to link your doors to the dummy, '''your dummy must be the parent and not the child'''. You can check your links by going to Graph Editors > New Schematic View, the popup window will show you how all your objects are related. Don't worry about any parts like doorknobs that you have linked to your doors, or custom collision if you took the advanced route, they only need to be linked to the "main" part of your door that you've linked to the dummy.

   

   

Now that you have your dummy set up as parent to your doors, '''all animation manager functions will be carried out on your dummy''', you needn't worry about the doors themselves.

Now that you have your dummy set up as parent to your doors, '''all animation manager functions will be carried out on your dummy''', you needn't worry about the doors themselves.

Go to the "Utilities" tab in the Command Panel (the hammer icon) and under the "Utilities" heading, click the "MAXScript" text button. Don't worry, we're not going to be writing any script, the Bethesda plugins will do all the hard work! Again, this is where using 3ds Max makes life a lot easier. In the next heading down "MAXScript" there should be a dropdown menu, select "Gamebryo Animation Manager," this should drop down a whole bunch of new headings below.

Go to the "Utilities" tab in the Command Panel (the hammer icon) and under the "Utilities" heading, click the "MAXScript" text button. Don't worry, we're not going to be writing any script, the Bethesda plugins will do all the hard work! Again, this is where using 3ds Max makes life a lot easier. In the next heading down "MAXScript" there should be a dropdown menu, select "Gamebryo Animation Manager," this should drop down a whole bunch of new headings below.

      

      

Below the "Actors" heading there should be a dropdown called "Known Actor Roots" with an "Add" text button beneath, click this and you're ready to add your door as an actor. Simply click on the '''main part of your door that everything else is linked to (not your collision mesh, if you made a custom one)''' and now your door is an actor ready to have animation assigned to it.

Below the "Actors" heading there should be a dropdown called "Known Actor Roots" with an "Add" text button beneath, click this and you're ready to add your door as an actor. Simply click on the '''main part of your door that everything else is linked to (not your collision mesh, if you made a custom one)''' and now your door is an actor ready to have animation assigned to it.

   

   

Next, scroll down to the "Active Sequence" heading, in the text field labelled "Active Sequence Name" there should be something similar to "EMPTY_SEQUENCE_AT_XXX", delete this and type in "Open". Below this is a "Loop Sequence" checkbox, you should uncheck this if it isn't already. Below that are "Start Frame" and "End Frame" text fields, enter the numbers for the keyframes that start and end your animation here, typically your "Open" sequence will begin at 0.

Next, scroll down to the "Active Sequence" heading, in the text field labelled "Active Sequence Name" there should be something similar to "EMPTY_SEQUENCE_AT_XXX", delete this and type in "Open". Below this is a "Loop Sequence" checkbox, you should uncheck this if it isn't already. Below that are "Start Frame" and "End Frame" text fields, enter the numbers for the keyframes that start and end your animation here, typically your "Open" sequence will begin at 0.

   

   

Scroll further down to the "Sequence Tags" heading and open it if it's collapsed (it usually starts as collapsed, with only the heading visible.) Move your time slider (under your viewports, at the bottom of your window) to 0 and hit the "Add Morph Tag" text button. If you get a warning, this means your slider is not between the start and end times of the sequence you just created. In the "Key Text" text field, type "Open", an underscore "_" will be added to the end of the name, don't worry about that. Check that the "Tag Time" number is the start frame of your open sequence, in this case probably 0.

Scroll further down to the "Sequence Tags" heading and open it if it's collapsed (it usually starts as collapsed, with only the heading visible.) Move your time slider (under your viewports, at the bottom of your window) to 0 and hit the "Add Morph Tag" text button. If you get a warning, this means your slider is not between the start and end times of the sequence you just created. In the "Key Text" text field, type "Open", an underscore "_" will be added to the end of the name, don't worry about that. Check that the "Tag Time" number is the start frame of your open sequence, in this case probably 0.

   

   

That's everything set up for your "Open" sequence!

That's everything set up for your "Open" sequence!

To create your "Close" sequence, go back to the "Active Sequence" heading and click the text button that says "Append New Sequence," your new sequence should start the frame after the last frame of your "Open" sequence (remember that one frame we left between? That's why.)

To create your "Close" sequence, go back to the "Active Sequence" heading and click the text button that says "Append New Sequence," your new sequence should start the frame after the last frame of your "Open" sequence (remember that one frame we left between? That's why.)

   

   

Now repeat the steps you took for your "Open" sequence but this time you should use "Close" as the name and the start and end times should be the first and last frames of your keyframed closing animation. '''The "Loop Sequence" checkbox will definitely check itself this time, so be sure to uncheck it.''' Use the first frame of your "Close" animation for the position of your "Close" morph tag.

Now repeat the steps you took for your "Open" sequence but this time you should use "Close" as the name and the start and end times should be the first and last frames of your keyframed closing animation. '''The "Loop Sequence" checkbox will definitely check itself this time, so be sure to uncheck it.''' Use the first frame of your "Close" animation for the position of your "Close" morph tag.

Select everything (except your dummy, if you've used one) and open the material editor by pressing M. Select a blank material if the first one selected isn't blank (these are the spheres you can see). Click where you see the text button that should say "Standard" and select "BSLightingFX" from the list that pops up.

Select everything (except your dummy, if you've used one) and open the material editor by pressing M. Select a blank material if the first one selected isn't blank (these are the spheres you can see). Click where you see the text button that should say "Standard" and select "BSLightingFX" from the list that pops up.

   

   

Now drag the sphere that you just assigned BSLightingFX to onto your selected objects and a popup should appear, select "Apply to Selection", everything should go white, this is normal. We're ready to export!

Now drag the sphere that you just assigned BSLightingFX to onto your selected objects and a popup should appear, select "Apply to Selection", everything should go white, this is normal. We're ready to export!

Go to File (big 3ds Max logo in the top left) > Export and when the save window pops up, select "Gamebryo..." as your file type. If you have the niftools unofficial plugin installed too, the file option "Netimmerse/Gamebryo..." will show up in the list too but don't use that option.

Go to File (big 3ds Max logo in the top left) > Export and when the save window pops up, select "Gamebryo..." as your file type. If you have the niftools unofficial plugin installed too, the file option "Netimmerse/Gamebryo..." will show up in the list too but don't use that option.

   

   

When you're shown the export dialogue you need to select PE Anim in the "File Export Script" dropdown menu and hit Ok. If you get any errors about xforms, repeat the step to reset xforms, making sure none of your objects were missed the first time. If you've done everything right, your nif should export and be ready to be run through Elric.

When you're shown the export dialogue you need to select PE Anim in the "File Export Script" dropdown menu and hit Ok. If you get any errors about xforms, repeat the step to reset xforms, making sure none of your objects were missed the first time. If you've done everything right, your nif should export and be ready to be run through Elric.

   

   

== Elric ==

== Elric ==

Elric can be found in your "Tools" folder in your Fallout 4 directory. Open the app, go to File > Load Settings... in the text menu and find the "PCMeshes.esf" file in the Elric/Settings folder, click "Yes" when the dialogue box appears.

Elric can be found in your "Tools" folder in your Fallout 4 directory. Open the app, go to File > Load Settings... in the text menu and find the "PCMeshes.esf" file in the Elric/Settings folder, click "Yes" when the dialogue box appears.

   

   

Now click the "Convert Files" text button in the lower left of the app and find and select your nif. Once you've done this, your converted and ready-to-use nif should be in the Elric/Processed folder.

Now click the "Convert Files" text button in the lower left of the app and find and select your nif. Once you've done this, your converted and ready-to-use nif should be in the Elric/Processed folder.