FreeMW

[Penultima]

Judging from the OpenMW Example Suite subforum, that project seems dead. I stumbled upon it while discussing with my friends the possibility of a FreeMW project with similar goals, but more of a focus on creating a base for total conversions than on creating a total conversion to demonstrate OpenMW's capabilities. I was wondering if everyone would be fine with me starting such a project, as it'd feel weird to try and contact modders on behalf of a project I'd never talked to, but it'd also feel weird to potentially cannibalize the OpenMW Example Suite if that had plans for a revival.

[Greendogo]

The Example Suite is not dead, but is on hold until the OpenCS is in a more finished state.

We are going to use the OpenCS entirely instead of reusing anything we've made previously using Bethesda's Construction Set, and so we are obviously not able to do much work on it yet.

Also, the Example Suite subforum contains mostly outdated information. The ES is going to be scaled back to being a demonstration of the engine's capabilities, as well as a base for total conversions.

I suppose I should put a notice about the hiatus in the Example Suite subforum. But yeah, you should feel free to either start your own project or you are welcome to collaborate with us, but we won't be ready to do any real work for a while beyond planning.

If you're interested in helping with a few things that will hold up any project like this (yours or ours), there is a definite lack of useable male/female body models + animations using 100% Bethesda free resources. All the body models currently available in the community generally use Bethesda's NPC's model's joint/skeleton and their associated animations, none of which can be used for an OpenMW Example Suite type project.

[Penultima]

The Example Suite is not dead, but is on hold until the OpenCS is in a more finished state.

That's definitely good news!

We are going to use the OpenCS entirely instead of reusing anything we've made previously using Bethesda's Construction Set, and so we are obviously not able to do much work on it yet.

Ah, that would explain it.

Also, the Example Suite subforum contains mostly outdated information. The ES is going to be scaled back to being a demonstration of the engine's capabilities, as well as a base for total conversions.

I'm glad about that. I definitely can't wait until indies start using OpenMW as a starting point for their games. From what I've seen of OpenCS so far, it looks quite easy to use.

But yeah, you should feel free to either start your own project or you are welcome to collaborate with us, but we won't be ready to do any real work for a while beyond planning.

I'd be glad to collaborate with ya'll. I'm hoping to create some tools that would make asset creation easier, such as a map to static converter for Worldcraft 3.3 (the last version before they instituted that EULA that restricted it's use to Half-Life) to Morrowind. Are there any tools that would help out that fall outside the scope of OpenCS?

If you're interested in helping with a few things that will hold up any project like this (yours or ours), there is a definite lack of useable male/female body models + animations using 100% Bethesda free resources. All the body models currently available in the community generally use Bethesda's NPC's model's joint/skeleton and their associated animations, none of which can be used for an OpenMW Example Suite type project.

That's definitely going to be the hardest part to begin with, seeing as it's hard to raise interest while there's nothing yet to show, and it's hard to have anything to show while the animations aren't done yet. I come mainly from a New Vegas background, so I don't know the differences between the internal formats of the Morrowind and other TES games; how hard would it be to port Skyrim animations to Morrowind? I ask because I get the feeling it'd be easier to raise some money and hire a Skyrim animation modder than to try and find someone who still mods animations for Morrowind. Then again, maybe OpenMW has reignited people's love for Morrowind modding. I know it made me give the game a chance again, after playing about a decade ago for the original Xbox.

[Br0ken]

how hard would it be to port Skyrim animations to Morrowind? I ask because I get the feeling it'd be easier to raise some money and hire a Skyrim animation modder than to try and find someone who still mods animations for Morrowind.

New animation capabilities in plans, as post-1.0 feature (I want the SmartBody support ). So, there is no need to port animations from other TES games. Especially since this "porting" may encounter with legal issues.

Quote from OpenMW wiki:
"Bethesda has clearly stated that they do not wish any of their assets to be transferred from one of their games to another, and we respect that."

[Penultima]

I didn't mean "how hard would it be to port Skyrim's animations," I meant "how hard would it be to port animations in Skyrim's format to Morrowind's format if we found a Skyrim modder who was willing to make animations for us."

If SmartBody support is added, that would make things significantly easier, though I assume we'd still need to make animations for casting spells, and possibly other attacks depending on exactly how SmartBody works.

[onionland]

Porting from Skyrim will likely be as hard, if not harder, to port animations from as any other software, I am not knowledgeable regarding the specifics of the animations, but very few files in skyrim carry any sort of resemblance to their morrowind counterpart. To convert animations made with tools such as blender would probably be more realistic.

[Penultima]

Ah. Sorry, I'm more used to the Command and Conquer series where most of the installments (the 2D ones, anyway) use very similar formats.