Tomb Raider Forums  

Go Back   Tomb Raider Forums > Tomb Raider Level Editor and Modding > Tomb Raider Modding

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 25-01-10, 14:28   #1
CelticGuard
Member
 
CelticGuard's Avatar
 
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 2,091
Lightbulb Classics Modding (TR1,TR2,TR3) Tutorial!

Edit, 2020-09-05: Most of the images in this thread are broken, I'll try to reupload those that I can find, but until then hopefully the verbal instructions are good enough!

---

Tutorial

In this tutorial, we’ll be modding the South Pacific costume top from the Tomb Raider III Demo by making it red.

What You Need

Steps
  1. Open TRViewer.
  2. Open the file called SHORE.TR2 in your \DATA\ directory in your demo folder. (Make a backup first!)
  3. Expand ‘Coastal Village’ and ‘Movables’ from the lists that appear.
  4. Scroll down until you find ‘Lara True Appearance’. Click on the cross next to it to expand it.
  5. Select ‘Mesh_007’ which is the top mesh so you can view it.
  6. Right-click and choose ‘Export texture as TGA’ and save it somewhere (e.g. Desktop) with a suitable name.
  7. Open it in your image editor. You’ll see a big jumble of textures. What we want to do is change all the light blue textures into red. This step takes patience but the results look good. (If you’re too lazy to do this feel free use my texture file for now and save it as a TGA using an Image editor).

  8. Import the TGA onto your mesh, by right-clicking it and choosing ‘Load and Replace TGA’.
  9. Check whether the movable is still ‘Lara True Appearance’. If it has become some ‘Moveable #-1983475’ you will need to change its ID. Click on the wrench icon to open Settings and change the ID to 315.
  10. Congratulations! Now save this level as SHORE.TR2 in your \DATA\ folder and run the demo to test it. You can save ‘Lara True Appearance’ as a trmvb file to distribute your outfit.

Troubleshooting and Tips
  • Modding will not work with the India demo!
  • You need to use a no-cd patch if you want to mod the full games
  • Old savegames will not work with modded levels
  • If you’re changing the thigh meshes then remember to edit the ‘Lara Pistol Anim’ thigh meshes too!

Working with the other Tomb Raiders
  • Tomb Raider
    Apparently, TR1 Demos do not allow modding, sorry. If you are able to no-cd patch the full game that would work. I had figured out a workaround once, but I haven't modded TR1 for a long time. Perhaps the 3dfx demo (which I haven't tried modding) might work?

  • Tomb Raider II
    The essential aspects of modding TR2 are the same as TR3; the only difference in modding TR2 is that instead of editing Movable #315 i.e. 'Lara True Appearance' you edit Movable #0 'Lara'.

  • The Last Revelation and Tomb Raider Level Editor
    For TRLR no-cd patch is a must: demo cannot be modded. You can also mod TRLE and make new outfits for Lara using TRViewer but editing TR4 and TR5 outfits is more complex because of joints, vertex remapping etc. If you want to get your blocky outfit into TRLR/TRLE you need to:
    a. Remove the joints by right-clicking 'Lara skin joints' and choosing 'clear meshes'
    b. Import your trmvbs. Only difference is that 'Lara' (TR2) or 'Lara true Appearance' (TR3) goes into the 'Lara Skin' slot.

  • Tomb Raider Chronicles
    TRViewer does not support Chronicles, so you need to mod your outfit in TRLR/TRLE and use FexMerger to merge 'Lara Skin' and 'Lara Skin joints' (should be empty!) into your TR5 level. The demo can be modded, but FexMerger corrupts a door in the Colosseum which does not allow you to proceed after you get the second gemstone piece. At least you can admire your creation

---

Mesh Gallery

Here are some nice meshes from some forgotten TR3 levels which you can use. You can also texture them in PixStr. Click on the name to download them.
  1. Open your level in TRViewer.
  2. Expand 'Lara true Appearance' so that the meshes list appears.
  3. Right click the required mesh and choose 'Import from TRMSH'.
  4. Choose the mesh that you downloaded. By exporting *.trmsh files you can distribute your meshes too.

Meshes

Corset by Carlos de la Calle, seen in At Home With Lara

Bra by Adam/Vagrant, seen in Nite Tripper 2

Lara's head with lipstick by Adam/Vagrant, seen in Nite Tripper 2

Sophia headmesh by CORE, seen in City

Trading *.trmvb Outfits between Tomb Raider II and III

You might have seen a TR2 outfit which would really look good in TR3, the other way round, or you want to make your own outfit available to both games. In this case you need to do some simple editing:

From TR2 to TR3
  1. Load the TR3 level.
  2. Right-click 'Lara True Appearance' and choose 'Import from trmvb'. Then select your TR2 outfit which should be named 'Lara'.
  3. Check 'Meshes' and 'Dont overwrite dummy meshes' Animations MUST be unchecked.
  4. Press Okay. Repeat this for 'Lara pistol anim' and 'Lara uzi anim' (their counterparts have the same name)
  5. Replace the ponytail. Other animations can also be replaced but they're optional.
  6. Save your level and before closing TRViewer check for the 'Movable #-183473794' bug.
  7. Test your outfit in-game.

From TR3 to TR2
  1. Load the TR2 level.
  2. Right-click 'Lara' and choose 'Import from trmvb'. Then select your TR2 outfit which should be named 'Lara true Appearance'.
  3. Check 'Meshes' and 'Dont overwrite dummy meshes' Animations MUST be unchecked.
  4. Press Ok. Repeat this for 'Lara pistol anim' and 'Lara uzi anim' (their counterparts have the same name)
  5. Replace the ponytail. Other animations can also be replaced but they're optional.
  6. Save your level and before closing TRViewer check for the 'Movable #-183473794' bug.
  7. Test your outfit in-game.

For getting TR3 outfits in TR1 the method is exactly the same as the 'From TR3 to TR2' section above. Remember not to import models with a huge number of polygons or else the game will crash.

---

Good luck, and happy modding!

Last edited by CelticGuard; 09-05-20 at 18:40.
CelticGuard is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-01-10, 14:36   #2
Alex Fly
Inactive
 
Alex Fly's Avatar
 
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 31,967
Default

Great work ! Thanks for taking the time to make a tutorial, no doubt this will be appreciated !
Alex Fly is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-01-10, 14:45   #3
[Sascha]
Member
 
[Sascha]'s Avatar
 
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 597
Default

WELL Done!
Thanks for the Turtorial!!!
[Sascha] is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-01-10, 15:06   #4
Mokono
Member
 
Mokono's Avatar
 
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 8,922
Default

Excellent idea to keep everything in a single thread .
Mokono is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-01-10, 18:28   #5
ClassicCroft
Member
 
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 3,147
Default

THANK YOU =], Mayby i can mod the classic games. finally..
ClassicCroft is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-01-10, 22:44   #6
ryan91
Inactive
 
ryan91's Avatar
 
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 3,326
Default

umm u said TR1 in the title as well. is it possible to edit TR1 too? if so, playing TR1 with Legend outfit would be lovely
ryan91 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 25-01-10, 22:54   #7
Mytly
Member
 
Mytly's Avatar
 
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 14,252
Default

I added a link to this thread in the Guide to Important Threads & Sites.

CelticGuard, the thread title says TR1, 2 & 3, but you have posted a tutorial only for TR3. Will you be posting similar tutorials for the other two games as well? Also, please include links to the tools mentioned (TRViewer and TR3 demo), so that people can access them directly.
Mytly is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-01-10, 03:26   #8
CelticGuard
Member
 
CelticGuard's Avatar
 
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 2,091
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by ryan91 View Post
umm u said TR1 in the title as well. is it possible to edit TR1 too? if so, playing TR1 with Legend outfit would be lovely
I can't get the demo to work right now, but yes this IS possible. I'll post a picture soon.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mytly View Post
I added a link to this thread in the Guide to Important Threads & Sites.

CelticGuard, the thread title says TR1, 2 & 3, but you have posted a tutorial only for TR3. Will you be posting similar tutorials for the other two games as well? Also, please include links to the tools mentioned (TRViewer and TR3 demo), so that people can access them directly.
I might be posting examples rather than complete tutorials for the rest, because the method is the same for all three games. I chose TR3 because it is the least buggy of all. I'm still in the process of updating the tutorial

Links will be added soon.
CelticGuard is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-01-10, 08:10   #9
Surohicko
Inactive
 
Surohicko's Avatar
 
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,731
Default

Nice tutorial
Surohicko is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 26-01-10, 11:22   #10
CelticGuard
Member
 
CelticGuard's Avatar
 
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 2,091
Default

Added potentially useless rendering section.

[IMG]http://i46.************/ilyn49.png[/IMG]
CelticGuard is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT. The time now is 23:51.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Tomb Raider Forums is not owned or operated by CDE Entertainment Ltd.
Lara Croft and Tomb Raider are trademarks of CDE Entertainment Ltd.