How To: The Frontend Model .lua

[touy]

Heh. A simple guide that needs only basic knowledge of modding to accomplish. Made in response to a few mods having troubles with displaying the correct frontend models for the correct race. I hope this will be of assistance.


There are only two things that need to be remembered in dealing with the Frontend .lua and those would be completeness and alphabetical order.

For example, if one were to make a new race mod, the base frontend .lua would display the races like this:

race_0 = "chaos_marine_race",
model_0 = "Art/UI/3D_Models/Chaos_Lord_Frontend",

race_1 = "eldar_race",
model_1 = "Art/UI/3D_Models/Eldar_Farseer_Frontend",

race_2 = "guard_race",
model_2 = "Art/UI/3D_Models/Imperial_Captain_Frontend",

race_3 = "necron_race",
model_3 = "Art/UI/3D_Models/Necron_Lord_Frontend",

race_4 = "ork_race",
model_4 = "Art/UI/3D_Models/Ork_Warboss_Frontend",

race_5 = "space_marine_race",
model_5 = "Art/UI/3D_Models/Force_Commander_Frontend",

race_6 = "tau_race",
model_6 = "Art/UI/3D_Models/Tau_Commander_Frontend",


Now let's add a new race to the frontend model .lua. Remember though that the race name to be used must match the Race BPS. Let's have this new race be "new_race" and add it to the .lua. That would mean that it would be placed between "necron_race" and "ork_race". Renumber the races and that is all that should be done.

This also works wonders for combiner mods as well. The trick, though, is to place the new frontend model .lua in the combiner mod folder (as this will overrule and take priority over the other frontend model .luas in the other race mod folders being combined). Make the new frontend model .lua contain all the races to be included and alphabetize the races.

Thus, the frontend models should display correctly... hopefully (It's worked up to this point after many tests, so knock on wood for luck.).


Remember though. This isn't only way to go about it (as other very excellent, well-made mods have demonstrated), but it's the safest way to go about it without having to deal with all the hassles that come with it... Again, I hope this proves useful to at least a few. I've yet to have success with the Frontend Music though...

[roospion]

The problem I am hving now is the texture issues, it appears to be not working proper...

I am just doing some customised cloning of existing models, no editing, only past a model to another model.. and it is now somewhat errorous in the texture...

Any help would be great

[ravenmorpheus]

Well open another thread roospion - this thread is a how-to about how to get the model to display.

Very well done touy, perhaps you should ask finaldeath or someone to move it to the tutorials section? :)

BTW - Frontend Music is controlled by the soundplaylistfe.lua afaik. Your music files should be in sound\music and then you just reference the names of each file where it says track, dunno if that works but that's how I would imagine it does... ;)

[touy]

Thank you, ravenmorpheus. :)

What I'm trying to do with the frontend music pertains more to combiner mods than single race mods (There's already a solution for that...). I want it so that each time one would select a separate new modded race, that specific race's frontend music would be selected (as with the Inquisition Daemonhunters with their music and the Witchhunters with theirs). All I've managed to accomplish is to just put all the music in the frontend music .lua, but that plays music for all new races.

Currently, it's like me running into a brick wall multiple times, but I'm still trying to figure it out... I'll just have to keep on trying. It's what little I can do after all (Praise to the numerous excellent mods here.). :)

[ravenmorpheus]

Ah I see, don't think it's possible, you'd need a separate lua for each race and afaik you can't randomise which lua is used...