monsters Created 17 years ago2007-01-09 09:50:57 UTC by bal

Where can i find new monsters i can include in my maps? I don't mean new skins, but entirely new characters with AI. I use spirit and my pak browser is Pakscape. When i have found and downloaded them, how do i import them to my maps and place them like any other monster? Right now im desperate, i really need some human workers, civilians and new enemies for my maps, the setting would just be silly otherwise, since the only civilians in half life are the scientists. Thanks in advance I'm afraid i can't finish my project if i don't find anything, and trust me, i have searched everywhere!

You'll have to code them yourself, or be satisfied with some custom models/skins. There's no AI plugin system for HL. With some modelling trickery, you can combine custom models with existing ones, using the submodel system, so you can have both normal scientist models and custom skinned scientists in your maps, but anything beyond that will take some programming.

Thanks, could you tell me how to do that? I know the site got a texture tutorial, but how do i choose between a monsters textures, so i got different looking Barneys in one level?

Well, you decompile the original models and the custom ones, and then make sure they both use the same skeleton and animations. Then, you modify the .qc file, to compile all body parts into the same model. This may mess up stuff in-game, but you can specify what submodel combination a model has to use with the 'body' key, which you can add to your monster_scientist entity (or any other model entity) with advanced edit mode.

I'll have to look up how to do this exactly at home though.

Search for a program called HL Model Browser and install it. Open a model you want to edit and click on one of tha tabs (Can't remember which) till you see inport and export. You can select a texture from the list and export it and edit it in Paint etc and then inport it back and you can view it in real-time.

Thanks all. Im very noob at modelling, i know how to create maps, but custom models.. not a clue (i know how to use model viewers and view the textures/animations) I have no idea how i decompile models, and make sure they use the same skeleton : and what is a qc file and how do i modify it? I understand if you don't want to bother taking your time explaining in detail when i don't know anything about what you are talking about, but if you did, Well, i would thank you a million times, lol I'm a quick learner when it comes to all of this. (just exported some scientist textures by the way)

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Erm what was the '.' about?
Anyway mess around with those scientist textures and then import them back in and voila.

A bit of a late reply, but better late than not I guess.

@Habboi: he wants differently skinned Barney's all in the same map. Some skin replacement isn't going to cut it, allas.

@bal: I'm going to explain how to do this with Milkshape 3D. It has a 30 days trial version so you'd better learn fast.
Anyway, you must decompile both the original barney model and the custom one. In Milkshape's Tool menu, go to Half-Life and click Decompile Normal HL MDL File. Open the model and click ok, then click ok on the next dialog that pops up (leave all things ticked). You'll end up with a crapload of .smd files, a few bitmaps and a .qc file. Decompile the other model just as you did with this one, but we only need the reference .smd files and textures from that one, so untick the other two boxes.

Now open the .qc file in a text editor. It's a pretty large file, but we only need a little of info from it. Search for '$bodygroup studio'. It should contain the line 'studio "BARNEY-X_Template_Biped1"' between accolades. Notice the other bodygroup, called gun, which contains 3 lines. That's because Barney can swap it's gun bodygroup: one of the lines has the gun mesh attached to the hand, another one has it placed in the holster and the last one is empty (for when Barney dies). The soldiers and scientists use this system as well: it allows them to use the same body, but different heads and weapons. Essentially it's a modular system.
Well, the idea now is to add some other Barney bodies to it's studio group (because that contains his body). You decompiled the custom Barney and got it's reference .smd's. Find out which one contains the body (you can import them into Milkshape to view them). Give it a different name to avoid name conflicts, and add a line to the .qc file, inside the two accolades, that refers to it's filename.

Now, go to Milkshape's Tools menu, to Half-Life and select Compile QC File. Select the .qc you just modified and hit go. If everything went right, you should now have a new barney model, containing a different body, which you can select with the 'body' key that you manually add to your monster_barney entities.