In this tutorial we will run through the basic steps to create a new static textured object in 3D Sudio Max and add it into The Elder Scrolls: Construction Set (TESCS) for use in a Morrowind mod.
For this, you will need:
Install the NIF exporter plug-in if you dont already have it. This can be downloaded from the Morrowind website, and allows you to save files in Morrowind's NIF (NetImmerse) format. Just save the plugin to the Max "plugins" subdirectory and it will automatically be loaded when you next start 3DS. Run 3DS now and you should get the default (empty) screen:
For this example I'll create a simple model using one of the standard primitives from 3DS - a cylinder. You can use any of the standard 3DS primitive types and the NIF exporter will automatically convert everything to meshes when it creates the export file. Also note that Morrowind will use the model to create its own bounding box (for collision detection), so for simple models you don't need to create a separate bounding box.
So click on the cylinder object from the toolbar (or click the Cylinder button on the standard primitives list). Drag out the base circle in the window and click once to set the base circle size, drag up to set the cylinder height and click again to complete the cylinder creation.
Hit the M key in 3DS to bring up the normal texture window. The library of materials that you have created is shown by the spheres at the top of the screen. Click on the first sphere and under "Shader Basic Parameters" click on "TES Shader". This creates a default material that can be used by the NIF exporter to display textures in Morrowind.
Click on the button next to diffuse and the Material/Map browser will be opened. From the "Browse From" section, select "new" and select "All" or "2D maps" in the "Show" section. Click on "Bitmap" from the selection box to pop up the file open dialog and select the texture you want to use.
For this example we'll use one of the brick textures that is included in Morrowind. If you use the TESCS CD, all the files are unpacked from the main Morrowind.esm file and lie in the textures subdirectory. You can pick tx_ex_stronghold_wall01.tga if you want to follow along with this example. After selecting the bitmap file to use, 3DS will return to the material browser, displaying the settings for the texture. In the map listbox you can see the new Map#1 displayed beneath the 1 - Default material
Leave all the default values alone for the time being. I will explain all the options in more detail in a later tutorial.
The UVW map generates a default set of texture coordinates for the object, and effectively tells 3DS how to map, orient and tile the texture that you create on the surface. Select the cylinder, click on the Modify tab, and select "UVW Map" from the dropdown list of modifiers. In our case, we'll select the cylindrical mapping and apply it to our object.
With the cylinder still selected, press M to open the material browser again. Make sure the material you just created (1 - Default) is selected and click the button "Assign Material to Selection" from the toolbar just below the spheres. The cylinder in the Perspective view will change color to the Diffuse color that you selected for the material (gray by default).
You can try running a test render in 3DS Max to check that the texture looks OK.
Save your 3DS scene to a MAX file, and click the Export button and select a filename with the extension NIF. Since there is no animation or anything complex in our model, we can just select the defaults and hit OK.
The exporter will then pop up a window to acknowledge the generation of the file.
Open The Elder Scrolls Construction Set and in the Object window select the "Static" tab. Right-click on the window and select "new" from the popup menu. In the pop-up dialog hit the "Add Art File" key and browse for your NIF file. Note that the NIF file should be in the Data Files/Meshes subdirectory or the editor may not be able to find your new model. Hit save, and the new model will be added to the list of Static models available.
To test out the model, you can then drag and drop it into your world, or just open the Preview window and click on the model to display it.
Thats it. You can now go ahead and use your new model in your plugin.