I'm fairly new to Omnitech, but I've been a fan of Battle Tech for a long time, and have access to a great deal of source books for the game itself. I loved MechCommander 2 when I got it, and I greatly enjoy the Omnitech version.
Most importantly, I like to mod games, and it was a pain in the posterior for me to mod MC2 with simple things (different weapons or alternate weapon/mech performance).
It is much easier with omnitech for me to do simple this like those. I understand the 'compbas' file well enough that most of what I make seems to work right in game (nothing seems to outright crash when I use the mew/modded stuff), and I can use the Mech Object files well enough to add/remove jumpjet/ecm ability, change weight, and remove weapons ... and I want to take the next step ... new/modded mechs and vehicles.
For this, I have a few questions about files and methods, but my current coal is to use an existing model and texture for a new mech with entirely different weapons and statistics.
First, about the Mech .csv files
I believe I understand most of it except for a few things
Item22MasterId,13,-1,-1,139,Clan Heavy Laser,short,7.00,2.00,5.00,10.00,197,4700,LEFT ARM : Weapons or Armor (Weapons with Ammo must have the Ammo pack listed. Ammo packs are ALWAYS listed LAST!!!)
In the component listing ( I assume that is what ^this^ is) the number after the Item#MasterId, ('13' in this case, seemingly label 'Load#'), is that related to placement, type of object, or something else like location on a list that I have not found (The Number never matches to anything consistent on the compbas list)
For location, is the 'LEFT ARM :' part what actually determines the location, because that always seems to match to me from the files of the mechs that I know well enough to walk through, except for the Catapult (listing four LRMs in each arm plus two in the left torso)
Finally (for this part), the numbers after the component name ('7.00,2.00,5.00,10.00,197,4700' in this case) listed as 'Range,Heat,Weight,1Hit Damage,Dam/10Sec,BR,C-Bills', how important are these numbers, because some do not match the compbas file, such a the damage, and even the heat in the case of the Active Probe unit. The 'Dam/10sec' number is also somewhat confusing. Is it important, and if so, how is it calculated (I know it is based of the Dam and RoF, but how exactly?)
Those points would be really helpful to me. Also, how does one know what weapon fires out of which node on the location (It would look rather silly if the MG shot from the big beefy arm and the Gauss rifle shot from some tiny point of the Torso).
Also, when I copy and paste a new Mech file, and naming everything I could find (sagittaire .csv file, with the Mechname and Variant name changed but the two Icons and the Animation left the same, in this case the Warhawk stuff, and no other modifications), the 'new' mech does not appear in either the Clan or IS listings (btw, good way to organize the mechs better, but I do miss being able to view the non flying vehicles ... it would have saved me some testing). A List of files that I would Have to Change, Both for added models and 'core' models (Like the Sha Yu, Anubis, and Catapult).
Are there other files that I have to copy and/or change? And if so, what are they and where are they located? I also assume it would be the same for the vehicle files (I don't have any questions about them, everything is either self explanatory or easy to guess/experiment with)
Finally, If I kind of want to make some of my own models and textures for mechs and vehicles, but I only have access to blender and I am very new to it. IS there a way to modify already existing .tgl files with Blender (I was thinking that would be a good starting point), and if so, how do I do it. and how would I export files that the game would recognize and use if it is possible with Blender?
Note, this is a strictly 'for fun' hobby for me, If I cant do the new models with blender, than I will simply scrap the idea because I'm not made of money to get expensive modeling/animation software. If it can be done however, I might donate some of my mechs and models to Omnitech for their use (I have access to many BT source books and mech profiles. The Sagittaire is an Inner Sphere 95ton jump capable assault mech focused on extreme CQC with pulse lasers tied into a targeting computer (sweet).
Any and all help is greatly appreciated, even if you could answer only one question.
