Prerequisites[]
- Heroes V editor
- create folder with name <heroes 5 game folder>\Complete. At the end you will have a path like C:\Program Files\Ubisoft\Heroes of Might and Magic V - Tribes of the East\Complete. This is the source directory from where the Map Editor loads *.MB models (Maya version 6.0).
- Put the MB model from "-----STEP WHERE MB MODEL WAS EXPORTED-----" in <heroes 5 game folder>\Complete
- Heroes 5 Map Editor plugin - CUDE archive
- extract the contents CUDE.zip archive into folder <heroes 5 game folder>/Editor
- Maya 6.0 plugin - MECP archive
- create folder with name <heroes 5 game folder>\Editor\MayaExport. At the end you will have a path like C:\Program Files\Ubisoft\Heroes of Might and Magic V - Tribes of the East\Editor\MayaExport
- extract the contents of MECP.zip archive into <heroes 5 game folder>\Editor\MayaExport
Credit goes to Psatkafor hosting the files and providing installation manual.
Prepare Heroes V editor[]
Game editor mod should be configured.
- Open<game folder>\profiles\editor_a2.cfg
- Change the value of setvar map_editor_mode to 0 - for Game Editor. Return it back to 1 for the Map editor.
- Open map editor and go to "View". "Log Window" should be present, select it.
Log window will appear with text "Compiled with 2.5.0.5 (prerelease) granny version (.h). Using granny2.dll of version 2.5.0.5."
- Select "Resource" -> "Select Table" or shortcut "CTRL + T". This will open "Game Database Tables"
- in "Set Database Tables" check Animset, AIGeometry, BasicSkelAnim, Geometry, Model and Skeleton.
- select "OK"
- go to "View" -> "Game Database" -> "Game Database Window".
Last step should enable a new window on the left. Map editor is now successfully converted for model import operations.
Creature model - Convert MB model to Geometry and Skeleton files with HV Map Editor[]
Create a test map[]
The editor will associate the imported creature model files with map. After the import process is finished all necessary files will be discarded (including the map).
- Go to "File" -> "New"
- in "Create New Map" window
- fill "Name" a name of choice. For this tutorial we use "test_map"
- set "Size" to "Tiny"
- select "OK"
Import MB model[]
- in the opened "Game Database" window select "Model" from the drop-down list
- right click in the empty area below and select "New Object". The new object will be created in the last selected folder. For example if the file "06Azure" was selected, then a new object will be created next to it.
- In "Create New <Model> Object" window
- "Name" - enter a unique name for your object (a test name, this won't be used for final output result)
- in "Properties" tab
- left-click value field in "SourceScene" and select the MB model file from the Maya 6.0 export[1]. The MB file should be already placed in "<game folder>\Complete" directory.
- in "RootTransform" value field enter the name of the root bone node of the model. In the case of our example that is "Global"
- select "OK"
Importing the MB model will create entries in Map editor Model and Skeleton tables.
Export Skeleton file[]
- in "Game Database" window select "Skeleton" from the drop-down list. You should see the skeleton .xdb of the imported model
- Right-click on the skeleton and select "Export"
If export is successful, then the "Log" window will show similar result as on the image below.
Issue 1 - "Map editor can't see Maya 6.0"[]
If both Maya 2009 and Maya 6.0 are installed, Heroes 5 Map Editor sometimes have trouble seeing Maya 6.0 because of license conflict. This issue will prevent exporting MB files from the game will prompt an error.
Workaround - the license from Maya 2009 to Maya 6.0 should be manually rolled back before launching the Map Editor. To do this replace the license files in the "FLEXlm" folder on the "C:" drive. In dire cases where the solution does not work, you may need to restart your computer or reinstall Maya 6.0 to fix the problem.
Export Geometry file[]
- in "Game Database" window select again "Model" from the drop-down list
- select the creature .xdb model
- right click on it and select "Export"
Successful export should provide the following message in the "Log" window.
- double-click with the left mouse button on the newly created file in the "Model" window
- Map Editor will ask if the content should be saved - select "Yes"
Models without textures are displayed in red in the editor. Further down the guide a texture will be applied to the model.
Collect exported files and cleanup game directory[]
Next, we need to get directly the skeleton and model files themselves, so that we can use them in the game, since it is convenient, and not how it turned out to be imported through the editor.
- go to "<game folder>\Editor\Editor\H5MMods\test_map" (assuming you named the test map "test_map"). This folder contains all the files created by the map editor in the previous step.
- Browse "bin\Geometries" and "bin\Skeletons" subfolders. Which contain the Geometry and Skeleton exported files.
These files have no extension and their names should be in UUID format[2]. For example - "B282CF9D-C429-4BF0-85D9-F16E154FFD94". These are the files Creature .xdb geometry and skeleton entries refer to as "Geometries", "Model", "Skeleton".
- Copy the files from "Geometry" and "Skeletons" folders into a separate location and make a side note which one refers to skeleton and which one refers to Geometry.
- Delete the temporary map locations as they will not be needed anymore:
- folder with the test map "<game folder>\Editor\Editor\H5MMods\test_map".
- the test map itself "<game folder>\Maps\test_map.h5m"
Final result[]
At this stage:
- map editor should be working successfully in game editor mode
- two Heroes V engine model files should be present - one for Geometry and one for Skeleton of the model. Files will have UUID names[2].
Next step: Rename the GR2 animation in UUID format.