Character Tutorial
How to Modify a NWN Character in 3d Studio Max and Import it into the Toolset
by Andrew Norman
Step One - Finding Character Model and Texture
To begin working on a character, you first must find a character to use from the NWN
Explorer. Open up the program and expand the "NWN Main Data" menu at the very top.
Then expand the "data\models_01.bif" tab and open up the "Models" tab. You
will see a long list of .mdl files, and to create a character for the game it is wise to
use a file that begins with the letter 'c'. I used "c_orcb.mdl" for this tutorial.
Right-click the file name that you want to use and choose "Export", then save it
to wherever you want. I would recommend creating a new folder titled "Character Tutorial"
for this lesson.
We also need to export the orc's texture, so in NWN Explorer, close the "data\models_01.bif"
tab and expand the "data\textures_01.bif" tab, then expand the "Textures, TGA"
tab. Depending on which model you chose, you should select the .tga file with the same file
name as the .mdl file. In this case, I selected the "c_orcb.tga" file, right-clicked,
and then selected "Export". Save this file in your Character Tutorial folder along with your
mdl file.
Step Two - Bringing Character into 3D Studio Max
Locate the file that you just saved in the Character Tutorial folder. Open up 3D Studio
Max and select "File", then "Import". Since by default, under the
"Files of type:" section, "3D Studio Mesh (*.3DS,*.PRJ)" is already selected, you have to
open up the pull-down menu and select "All files (*.*)" so that your .mdl files appears.
Now select the "c_orcb.mdl" file to bring it into the program. A dialog box should appear,
and we want to check the "Don't import animations" option because for now we are
just dealing with modeling.
After importing the .mdl file you should see an image of the orc model in your four
viewports. It should appear as show below with complete texturing. If your model looks
grey without any sort of texture you should go back and make sure your .mdl file and .tga
file are in the same directory.
Step Three - Respecting the Hierarchy
We used an existing model because we want to preserve
the default animations and behavior that are seen in the actual game. That being said, we
want to be able to change as much of the orc as possible without destroying the properties
that allow it to function properly in Neverwinter Nights.
So if you are working on a character with minimal geometry such as a giant Pacman sphere,
you might want to use a more simple model (e.g. a penguin or bear) that doesn't have
humanoid hierarchy consisting of a pelvis, arms, legs, and multiple joints.
You'll notice that when viewing in the "Perspective" viewport, you can see several small
cubes around and in your character. 
These are called dummies.
Dummies help control the hierarchy of your character, so it is very important that you
don't delete them or alter them in any way. We'll be using the "Schematic View"
in this lesson, which can be found on the top menu bar near the right side of the screen.
When you open up the Schematic view you can see the entire structure of your character.
You can navigate in it using the middle mouse button to scroll and pan just as you can in
the main viewports. Upon scrolling out you can see tree of blue and green objects.
The blue rectangles represent the individual objects that comprise your character's geometry.
Instead of one big 3D figure you can tell that it has separate objects for the head, feet,
chest, etc. The green rectangles represent the dummies.
As you can see, the c_orcb dummy is at the top of the hierarchy, which is important for the
model to export correctly. We won't do anything here yet so you can close the Schematic View
for now.
Step Four - Modeling
Now we can start modeling. This whole step is completely dependent on what you would like
your finished model to look like. I'm going to go ahead and assume that you don't want your
character to have shinguards or a huge shoulderpad with spikes on it, so now we can subtract
the objects we don't need. To do this, select any parts of the orc that you would like to
remove. I chose to get rid of the shoulder, shoulder spikes, belt, chest strap, sidearmor,
beltbuckles, kneepads, and knee spikes. To select multiple objects hold down the Ctrl key
while selecting.
Right-click the selected group and go down to "Properties". The Object Properties box will appear.
On the Interactivity panel check the "Hide" option, and on the Rendering Control panel uncheck the
"Renderable" option. This will make sure these objects won't be seen in our final figure, and will
hide them from view while we work on our model. Now that you've done that your character will have taken on
a more civilized and hopefully less-violent look.
Now you are free to do your worst. The basic human form is there for you, so it is up to your judgement what
to change and what to keep. I decided to make the character less muscular by altering vertex points, and got rid
of his shin armor, fangs, and ears via the same method. I was able to create a completely new figure by only
utilizing a few tools in 3D Studio Max. Let's start by fixing his right shoulder.
As you can see, removing his shoulder pad left him quite vulnerable. The designers neglected to give him a right
shoulder because the shoulder pad covers it up and makes any extra faces a waste of space. We'll start by
selecting his right bicep and viewing it in the "Modify" panel on the top right portion of the screen.
The bicep is an editable mesh, like all of the other objects making up this character. We will keep them as editable
meshes throughout the process so we can bring them back into the game easily. Choose the "face selection mode".
When we have a hole in a mesh we want to mend it by creating a face from the surrounding vertices. After going
into the face selection mode, choose the "Create" button under the "Edit Geometry" rollout. Here
it is good to have a head-on view of the area so you can see all of the vertices around the empty area. Now choose
any one of the vertices and click on it. Move counterclockwise to the next vertex and click on that one.
After you've selected the third vertex the face will form.
To continue closing the empty space, start again by selecting the vertex that you ended on to close the last polygon face.
Continue this process until you have three polygon's completed with a triangular space in the middle. Do the same
counterclockwise method with the triangle in the middle and you will have closed the entire shoulder.
We still have a pretty sloppy shoulder, so try using the "Cut" tool in the Edit Geometry menu to add more vertices.
Then you can shape it to a more satisfying result.
Keep repeating this process of altering vertices and faces while in the editable mesh mode. You can delete vertices
if you want to have less defined angles, but remember to repeat the counterclockwise face technique so your
character doesn't have any empty holes. What is most important is that you stay true to the configuration of the
dummies and character hierarchy.
Step Five - Bringing Character into NWN Toolset
After a lot of alteration I ended up with this blue man. I took away his hair, flattened out his muscles, scaled his head and
hands down, and edited the pre-existing texture to make him look like an idiot. Now that the character is done we're ready
to bring him into the toolset.
Select "File", "Export", and export the file as an .mdl into your Character Tutorial folder.
It is crucial that your file name is the exact same as your root dummy name, which can be found in the "Schematic View" window. In this case the file will be titled "c_orcb.mdl". Now, if you're confident you've done everything
correctly, you can close 3D Studio Max because we don't need it anymore.
As of now you should have three files in your Character Tutorial folder; c_orcb.tga, c_orcb.mdl>, and a
3D Studio Max file because you damn well better be saving your work. Locate the "override" directory
in your NWN folder and drag the three files into that directory, this will replace the orc_b in the toolset to whatever work
you've done. If you'd like to learn how to add your character without replacing anything, check out the tutorial that
Peter posted on the blog here,
but for the rest of you, get used to the orc being gone from the toolset. After all it is pretty hard on the eyes.
It's time to open up the toolset. Use an existing area...create a new area...whatever. All that we're trying to do is get
this character to work. I used a big empty field 'cause it's simple and easy. Just like importing placeables, we have to
draw a character first so we can replace it with our character.
Click on the "Paint Creaters" button
and choose either a Monster or an NPC to paint, it doesn't really matter what you choose.
After your creature has been drawn right-click it and select "Properties".
The "Creature Properties" window will appear, which contains all of the information about how the character
behaves, including stats like strength and dexterity, inventory, class, etc. Next click on the Appearance pull-down menu,
and if you worked off of the orc_b file like I did you want to select "Orc B".
Once you are happy with the character's properties press OK.
You now have a character that actually works in the toolset. Now save your module and open up the game so you can
go beat the crap out of it!
