Heroes of Might and Magic Community
visiting hero! Register | Today's Posts | Games | Search! | FAQ/Rules | AvatarList | MemberList | Profile


Age of Heroes Headlines:  
5 Oct 2016: Heroes VII development comes to an end.. - read more
6 Aug 2016: Troubled Heroes VII Expansion Release - read more
26 Apr 2016: Heroes VII XPack - Trial by Fire - Coming out in June! - read more
17 Apr 2016: Global Alternative Creatures MOD for H7 after 1.8 Patch! - read more
7 Mar 2016: Romero launches a Piano Sonata Album Kickstarter! - read more
19 Feb 2016: Heroes 5.5 RC6, Heroes VII patch 1.7 are out! - read more
13 Jan 2016: Horn of the Abyss 1.4 Available for Download! - read more
17 Dec 2015: Heroes 5.5 update, 1.6 out for H7 - read more
23 Nov 2015: H7 1.4 & 1.5 patches Released - read more
31 Oct 2015: First H7 patches are out, End of DoC development - read more
5 Oct 2016: Heroes VII development comes to an end.. - read more
[X] Remove Ads
LOGIN:     Username:     Password:         [ Register ]
HOMM1: info forum | HOMM2: info forum | HOMM3: info mods forum | HOMM4: info CTG forum | HOMM5: info mods forum | MMH6: wiki forum | MMH7: wiki forum
Heroes Community > Heroes 3.5 - WoG and Beyond > Thread: [Guide] How to create NPCs for HoMM3
Thread: [Guide] How to create NPCs for HoMM3
FirePaladin
FirePaladin


Legendary Hero
DoR Modder
posted February 25, 2020 12:47 PM
Edited by FirePaladin at 01:03, 26 Feb 2020.

[Guide] How to create NPCs for HoMM3 (and other stuff)

This guide contains all the steps to create an NPC-like object (or any other object besides castles and units) for HoMM3, both SoD and HotA. The objects are created based on other objects (like seer hut, etc.), while not replacing older ones.
You should also backup Objects.txt from H3bitmap.lod and HotA.lod (EdObjts.txt too for HotA) before doing anything! And don't forget to backup the modified file and replace it with the original if you want to play online multiplayer!

If you try to use the method found here to create modified Seer Huts in WoG, the normal (and HotA) editor will crash after copy-pasting such objects. This is also one of the main reasons I decided to create this guide.

Edit: Right click to open images. Sorry, I'm gonna fix them as soon as I know how. Fixed them.

List of needed tools:

MMArchive or ResEdit (link for ResEdit: http://www.heroesofmightandmagic.com/forgetown/files/resedit.rar)

You might also need ERA 2 with WoG in order to see the sprites' names in the editor itself. But you can also search directly in the archive with ResEdit  (or MMArchive), even though it will take a little while.

First of all, we should choose a type of object we want the new NPC to be. Usually, NPCs are quest-giving characters, so we would want to choose the Seer's Hut. You also have to choose a sprite for the NPC. Right now I will use the rogue's sprite for this. However, in order to use it, we need to know its name. We can find its name by either using the WoG editor or ResEdit/MMArchive.

With WoG: After opening WoG editor, place a rogue on the map. Select it and press "space". A menu like this should come up:



In the "Picture" section you can read its sprite name (for rogue, "avwrog.def"). Copy it to a notepad file. You will need it later. Now, you have to obtain the sprite name for the type of object you will create. Do the same as with the rogue (sprite name for a seer hut is "avxseeb0.def") and copy its name into a notepad file. The first part is done.

With an archive opener: Search their sprites manually by using the preview option and write their names into a notepad.


After we obtained their names, we need to add the object itself into the game (or editor). To do this, we have to open H3bitmap.lod (or HotA.lod, if using HotA) with either MMArchive or ResEdit and extract "Objects.txt" (also "EdObjts.txt" for HotA).



Now we have the file which contains all objects. Open it with a simple editor like notepad. Use the "find" function (found in "edit -> find...") to find the sprite name for the type of object you want to create (in this case, "avxseeb0.def" for seer hut)



After finding the line in which the object's sprite is, look at the last digits, just like here:



The first number (83 here) indicates the type of object, which is seer hut for us. We can also see that there are two (or more, for HotA) other objects below which use the same number. This means that there are 3 seer hut objects that exist in the game. Now, to add your NPC, select and copy one of the seer hut lines like this:



Then paste it below:



Now you have two identical objects. For the second object, the added one, replace its name ("AVXseeb0.def" for us) with the name of your NPC's sprite ("avwrog.def", we use rogue for now)



To finish this NPC, replace the digit after 83 (or object type) with a number higher than those of the other objects which use 83. In this case, it will be "3".



Save the file and close it. Backup the old file and the new one in separate folders and replace the old file from the archive with the new one. For HotA, you have to copy the line with your object and paste it in "EdObjts.txt". You can now close the archive opener (MMArchive or ResEdit).
After you're done, take a look in the editor:



Now you have created your first (or maybe hundredth?) NPC ! Remember, you can also create quest guard NPCs or even any other type of object (except castles and units, I think), including mountains, rocks, trees, etc.

You can also download the already finished file with the rogue here, for SoD: https://www.mediafire.com/file/0u00nu3ul2ctbcx/Objects.zip/file

And in case you forgot to backup your old files, here's a clean one for SoD and here for HotA.

Good luck !

Edit: Also backup your modified objects in a file before updating HotA. After the update, copy-paste them back in their respective files.

 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | PP | Quote Reply | Link
Markmasters
Markmasters


Famous Hero
Dragon of justice
posted February 25, 2020 03:09 PM

oh great for custom maps with an rpg element, thanks!

 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | Quote Reply | Link
FirePaladin
FirePaladin


Legendary Hero
DoR Modder
posted February 25, 2020 03:13 PM

Markmasters said:
oh great for custom maps with an rpg element, thanks!


No problem ! The idea of making the guide occurred to me while I was making one of my maps, which is going to have RPG elements. So why not help others create such maps?

 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | PP | Quote Reply | Link
RoseKavalier
RoseKavalier


Admirable
Supreme Hero
posted February 26, 2020 12:09 AM

This is only useful if you want these objects in random maps.
Otherwise this is much simpler:

1. Place 2 objects (target, source)
2. Spacebar on source, copy def name
3. Spacebar on target, paste def name

Pictures

For HotA there's a utility somewhere that lets you copy/paste between maps.
____________
My Let's Plays: Metataxer's Revenge - The Empire of The World 2

 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | PP | Quote Reply | Link
FirePaladin
FirePaladin


Legendary Hero
DoR Modder
posted February 26, 2020 12:59 AM

RoseKavalier said:
This is only useful if you want these objects in random maps.
Otherwise this is much simpler:

1. Place 2 objects (target, source)
2. Spacebar on source, copy def name
3. Spacebar on target, paste def name

Pictures

For HotA there's a utility somewhere that lets you copy/paste between maps.


You're right (for normal objects), but you can't do this for Seer Huts, which is very important in maps with NPCs (and also Prisons, and maybe some other objects). The editor just crashes if you copy-paste a modified Seer Hut from WoG. And sometimes it's just nice to have the object readily available for future use (but this is not too important).

 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | PP | Quote Reply | Link
RoseKavalier
RoseKavalier


Admirable
Supreme Hero
posted February 26, 2020 03:42 AM

No.

1. setup target

2. copy from source

3. paste to target

done


Check in game




Prison?



As far as I know, this works with pretty much everything except heroes as they have their own separate list of defs.

The h3m format stores image properties for every object separately which is why this works.
____________
My Let's Plays: Metataxer's Revenge - The Empire of The World 2

 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | PP | Quote Reply | Link
FirePaladin
FirePaladin


Legendary Hero
DoR Modder
posted February 26, 2020 12:00 PM

RoseKavalier said:
1. setup target

2. copy from source

3. paste to target

done


Check in game




Prison?



As far as I know, this works with pretty much everything except heroes as they have their own separate list of defs.

The h3m format stores image properties for every object separately which is why this works.


But, did you copy-paste the object from WoG to normal (or HotA) editor? What I see is just the same map created in WoG and then opened with normal HoMM3. What I was talking about was a more broader case, when you are currently creating a HotA map and you need such an NPC, but you can't copy-paste it from WoG, because the HotA editor will crash.

 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | PP | Quote Reply | Link
RoseKavalier
RoseKavalier


Admirable
Supreme Hero
posted February 26, 2020 02:32 PM

1. Create the map with normal means, save.
2. Open this map with hota editor.
3. Open your target map with hota editor.
4. copy paste between hota editors
____________
My Let's Plays: Metataxer's Revenge - The Empire of The World 2

 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | PP | Quote Reply | Link
FirePaladin
FirePaladin


Legendary Hero
DoR Modder
posted February 26, 2020 02:53 PM

RoseKavalier said:
1. Create the map with normal means, save.
2. Open this map with hota editor.
3. Open your target map with hota editor.
4. copy paste between hota editors


I guess you're right. However, you can't use HotA sprites, unless you fully import them into WoG. And it's just nicer to have the object in your editor list.

 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | PP | Quote Reply | Link
Salamandre
Salamandre


Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Wog refugee
posted February 26, 2020 11:06 PM

Well, if you use Era anyway, you can download my patch with hundreds of NPC extracted with 3DS max

https://drive.google.com/open?id=11Bme26UHApQodjh-YBYlYN83ELwTPvzm

 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | Quote Reply | Link
FirePaladin
FirePaladin


Legendary Hero
DoR Modder
posted February 26, 2020 11:46 PM

Era NPCs

Salamandre said:
Well, if you use Era anyway, you can download my patch with hundreds of NPC extracted with 3DS max

https://drive.google.com/open?id=11Bme26UHApQodjh-YBYlYN83ELwTPvzm



They don't quite fit with the HoMM3 style (I'm a guy who likes everything to have a certain style, no offense), but thanks anyway. I might actually give it a try sometime, when I have enough time. As a side note, what is the source of their 3D models (since you extracted them from 3DS)?

 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | PP | Quote Reply | Link
NimoStar
NimoStar


Responsible
Legendary Hero
Modding the Unmoddable
posted January 12, 2022 05:33 PM

The salamandre NPC's are 404'd

Also, does anyone have a page for all the new fanmade monster custom defs?

It was like a polish or Russian library, can't seem to find it anywhere.
____________
Never changing = never improving

 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | Quote Reply | Link
Salamandre
Salamandre


Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Wog refugee
posted January 12, 2022 08:22 PM
Edited by Salamandre at 20:27, 12 Jan 2022.

NimoStar said:
The salamandre NPC's are 404'd




Here they are.

Note that those NPC are part of a big graphical patch, with a lot of buildings which I needed for role playing maps, so most of them are probably worthless for those abiding to Heroes 3 vanilla graphics.


 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | Quote Reply | Link
NimoStar
NimoStar


Responsible
Legendary Hero
Modding the Unmoddable
posted January 13, 2022 06:01 PM

Useless regardless since those isometric graphics would fit perfectly with HOMM IV =
____________
Never changing = never improving

 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | Quote Reply | Link
Centurion
Centurion


Hired Hero
posted November 08, 2022 04:47 PM

I'm looking for a way to edit a Seer's hut to have repeatable quests. Anyone able to easily explain to a beginner?

 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | Quote Reply | Link
Salamandre
Salamandre


Admirable
Omnipresent Hero
Wog refugee
posted November 08, 2022 04:54 PM

You need advanced scripting knowledge, to play around with quests.

 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | Quote Reply | Link
Centurion
Centurion


Hired Hero
posted November 08, 2022 04:55 PM

Ok I understand

 Send Instant Message | Send E-Mail | View Profile | Quote Reply | Link
Jump To: « Prev Thread . . . Next Thread »
Post New Poll    Post New Topic    Post New Reply

Page compiled in 0.0715 seconds