3D model progress

Ok, so here's where I'm at with 3D files...

I've successfully extracted the data and put it into meshes as wavefront .obj files, which is a pretty standard format for 3D objects that can be opened and extracted from several different 3D modeling programs.

I was able to then get that same .obj file and import it into the game, putting it in the .dat3 that is used for modded textures with TexTools, meaning that the official model is not modified in any way.

So while that is all well and good, the issue I'm running into is when importing meshes after they've been exported as a .obj from Blender. I think it may have to do with me not having enough experience with Blender or 3D modeling in general, its been a learning experience.


As far as I can tell the problem lies with the vertex normals, the reason I say this is that the original file I extract from the game has one normal per vertex, but when I export from blender without even modifying the file there seem to be less vertex normals.

For example,

The body portion of the Bridesmaids Tights has 100 verts and therefore 100 normals, after exporting from blender, I still have 100 verts but only 92 normals, and the game crashes after I try importing it.

After doing a bit of research, I was able to get it back to 100 normals by switching off the Auto Smooth checkbox

Now that it had 1 normal per vertex I was able to get it to work in-game but then it ends up looking like this

So that's not going to work out at all :(



I decided to then test it with modifying the mesh, I extended the left side by taking a piece from the body and joining it with the gear

I also had to turn off smoothing to get it to work, but then when I went in-game...

The body mesh is the only piece that looks semi-decent the rest is messed up


So I'm trying to figure out how to get this to work correctly, which I think has to do with the vertex normals, because when comparing the file exported from Blender to the original, the only section that is different is the vertex normal section.

Here's the fist 5 as an example:

Blender Exported (with Auto Smooth off)
vn -0.1565 -0.0623 0.9857
vn 0.0000 -0.0027 1.0000
vn -0.1585 0.0072 0.9873
vn 0.0000 -0.1064 0.9943
vn 0.1565 -0.0623 0.9857

Original
vn -0.155273 -0.045380 0.986816
vn -0.000031 -0.001118 1.000000
vn -0.158569 0.007191 0.987305
vn 0.000000 -0.127319 0.991699
vn 0.155273 -0.045380 0.986816

I have a few ideas as to what's going on that I'll be testing, there's also the matter of additional data that is in the file that may need to be calculated like blend weights and tangents, there's also some data that remains unknown.

I'll keep posting updates as I do more tests and figure things out.

Feel free to comment if you have any suggestions, questions, feedback, etc.

Bug Reports

So I've received several bug reports from the form on the website, but it seems I forgot to place an option to put a contact e-mail, and some people asked some questions, I'll do my best to answer some of those questions here, and I'll be placing an optional contact info box on the bug report/feedback form soon.

Thanks to everyone who has been submitting bug reports and sending in feedback, I'll be working on squashing those bugs and updating the application, I'll post some updates on the status of some of the bugs as I get around to them.

Dev Blog

I've decided it's time to set up a developer blog for FFXIV TexTools, because updates are likely to become less frequent as the features remaining to be added increase in complexity.

I'll be sharing some of the progress, successes, and challenges while building up to the next version, you can probably expect some pictures of the changes that go into the application, as well as some in-game pictures of some of the tests I'll be running, and general progress reports.

I may also rant about how things never seem to work out and all seems hopeless, only to post an hour later how everything is magically working and I may have overreacted.

Feel free to post some comments, I always welcome any suggestions and/or feedback.