NWN2: Importing a 3d model into the game: Part 3

So in Part 1 and Part 2 we converted a small object for placing ingame. What about an object where we want to allow creatures to walk on it, like the balconies of the stock game. We are going to add a walkmesh to the object. The walkmesh is not a required file for placeable objects (many stock game tables do not have them as an example).

A walkmesh tells the game very specifically where the player and creatures can and cant walk. I've made a copy of one of the stock game balconies to work with here. Here it is in gmax, it's object PLC_MC_BALCONY13.mdb.



Well we already have our object from Parts 1 and 2. so let's stop looking at everything that's not walkmesh and just focus on that for now. The picture below shows the important parts of the walkmesh. The model part must end in _w, NWN2 requires this. We've selected one polygon at left and under the surface properties at right we can see that the material is set so the game knows you can walk there, and also what footstep sound to make. Also, you can see the walkable part is marked with a different color than the non-walkable in gmax.



Here's an example walkmesh for download and import to use:  https://www.dropbox.com/s/uydar353lxggkp2/walkmesh_example.7z
It's a very basic square of "no walking here". You can import it into your kiwano model from Part 1 and 2 if you want.

More complicated shapes, such as the balcony, require more polygons in your walkmesh than I have included in my basic example, but the basic idea is the same. You will need to add polygons to get a shape you want.

Very basically, here is how you can do that in gmax.



Then add your triangle point by clicking somewhere



Then close the triangle, it's always triangles for this.



If you want that part to be walkable, select the triangle or triangles and set the triangles to a material ID telling the game you can walk there. For stairs or non-flat walking, adjust the triangles as needed. See the first screenshots from the balcony walkmesh for an example.



Once you're done, export the object and test it out ingame (remember to bake the area so it uses the walkmesh you just made).