Haydee Blender exporter and model

[Darak]

The developer kindly provides 3DS Max files and an exporter, but unfortunately not everybody has Max or knows how to use it. To make modding easier I'm writting an exporter for Blender.

The exporter can currently create the following types of files:

• .dmesh files: in-game models, optionally skinned using a skeleton. This includes things like Haydee body parts, the robots, or props for your levels.
  
• .dskel files: skeleton files, containing an armature. You need to export this if you create a custom rigged model or modify an existing skeleton.
  
• .dpose files: contain a skeleton pose. Useful to make custom poses for your in-game models, such as Haydee bodies, and loading them in the level editor.
  
• .dmot files: animations. You can create new animations for Haydee. You can also make models animate in the level editor.

In addition, it can currently import the following types of files:

• .motion files: in-game animations. Those are the binary files included in the game (you'll need to unpack the Actors.pak file to have access to them). Note that binary file compatibility may break between game versions, but the feature has been added because it is important in order to check poses and weighting before exporting.

Download links and installation

• Exporter script: download it here[mega.nz] (v0.3.1). No need to unzip this file. You install it using 'Install from file' inside Blender's preferences > Add-ons. You then click the check box and save your preferences. The new entries for Haydee files will be available under File > Export.
  
• Haydee model: download it here[mega.nz] (v0.3.1. This is a .blend file containing essentially the same thing as the .max files you already have in your Haydee installation, that is, the Haydee standard model. The most important thing in this file is the armature.
  
• Haydee nude model (NSFW!): download it here[mega.nz] (v0.4). Note that this file contains both the nude model and a 'nude suit' model. This suit model is just a human Haydee with a suit on. The nude version is hidden.
  
• Haydee weapons: download it here[mega.nz] (v0.1). Those are a direct import of the .max files provided with the game.

How to export your models

The exporter creates .dmesh files, which are not intended to be read by the game. Instead, you need to use the Haydee editor to compile them into a '.mesh' and optionally a '.skin' file that can be used in game.

Here is what you need to do:

• Select your model in Blender. Make sure you select only the part you need to export. The game uses different models for the hands, body, and head.
  
• Click File > Export Haydee mesh (.dmesh)
  
• You have some export options that are more or less common in Blender, such as the option to apply modifiers or not.
  
• You can also choose to export the skeleton (armature) or not.
  
• You can also choose to export only a single material (only polygons matching the material will be written). Haydee meshes, as far as I know, can only have one material/texture, so this may come in handy if your mesh has several parts.
  
• Now, open the Haydee editor 'edith'
  
• Click Tool > Import Model
  
• Click File > Import Model and load your .dmesh file
  
• Click File > Export Mesh. This will create a .mesh file that can be used by the game.
  
• Click File > Export Skin to create a matching .skin file if your mesh has a skeleton.

How to export your skeletons

You probably shouldn't mess with the default Haydee skeleton, since the game's animations depend on it. The developer has also mentioned that there may be dependencies with the bones available and their names.

But you can use this feature to create any kind of animated props for your levels. Like .dmesh files, the .dskel file is not understood by the game, so you need to compile it first. The way to do this is somewhat convoluted. Here is what you need to do:

• Select your skinned model in Blender, or the armature.
  
• File > Export Haydee skeleton (.dskel)
  
• Now open the Haydee editor 'edith'
  
• Add a new actor to your level using right click > Spawn > Actor
  
• In the new 'actor' popup window, click 'Add component' and add an Animation/Skeleton
  
• Click 'Convert to Bones'
  
• Click 'Import Bones'
  
• You can now preview your skeleton if you enter skeleton mode in Edith. To do this, press the bone icon that should be visible to the right of the button bar when this actor is selected. You can view, select and manipulate the bones in this mode. Press ESC to leave it.
  
• Click 'Save Skeleton'. This will save a .skel file (no 'd'!) which can be read by the game and the other parts of the editor that requires it.
  
• You can delete this working actor now.

How to export and use your poses

Fortunately, it is much easier to use a pose. However, in order to be able to pose something, you first need a skinned mesh in your level.

• Pose your figure in Blender (make sure you are in 'Pose' mode and NOT in 'Object'!!!)
  
• File > Export Haydee pose (.dpos)
  
• Now open the Haydee editor 'edith'
  
• Add a new actor to your level using right click > Spawn > Actor
  
• You need to add two components to this actor: a Skeleton component, and a geometry component (Geometry/SkinMesh).
  
• In the skeleton component, click 'Skeleton' and load your .skel file (see previous section). If you are posing Haydee you can use the standard .skel file, located in the Actors pack IIRC.
  
• In the mesh component, choose your 'Mesh' and 'Skin'.
  
• Now you can click 'Load Pose' and load your .dpose file directly. There are also .pose files that are binary-only and can be saved with the 'Save Pose' button, but I don't think there is much use for them since you can use the .dpose file here.

How to export animations

You can create new animations for your props in level, making Haydee move or act around, or change one of the animations included in the game if you import it first (see below).

But first, you need to compile your animation into a .mot file that can be read by the game and the editor. Here is what you need to do:

• Animate your model in Blender. Make sure your timeline has a correct start and end frames, and you set the frame rate FPS to 30 in render settings.
  
• File > Export Haydee motion (.dmot)
  
• Now open the Haydee editor 'edith'
  
• Click 'Tool > Import Motion' from the main menu bar.
  
• In the resulting dialog, navigate and choose your .dmot file.
  
• Now, in the new dialog, you need to choose the bones that will be animated. You can simply select any bone in the list and press Ctrl+A.
  
• Click 'Compile' and that will allow you to save your .mot file.

Now, in order to use your new animation in a level prop:

• Create a new actor containing a Skeleton component and a SkinMesh component. Make sure the skeleton, mesh and skin are corretly set. Check the previous sections.
  
• Add a 'Animation/Motion' component to this actor.
  
• Click 'Motion' and choose your brand new .mot file.
  
• You should now be able to preview the animation if you press the Mickey Mouse button from the top bar. It should also work if you play the level using F5.

How to import animations

You will find .motion files included with the game inside the Actors.pack file (just drag and drop that file into the unpacker.exe also included with the game and that should bring up an unpacked folder with all the file's contents).

Importing it should be easy:

• Select the armature of the Haydee model.
  
• Make sure you are in pose mode and there is no previous animation data in the timeline.
  
• File > Import Haydee Motion

Note that some of the motion files contain only information for the upper or lower bodies. The game mixes multiple motions in some cases, depending on the weapon you have equipped.

Version history

• 0.1: first version
  
• 0.2: added skeleton/pose/motion exporters. Fixed an issue when exporting multiple meshes at once. Fixed a rigging issue in Haydee's vest model.
  
• 0.3: added bone constraints to follow the game's deformations more closely. Added a .motion file importer. The armature now follows Blender conventions (the exporter knows about it and should write proper Haydee files). Added blender files for the weapons (not really tested, but they are pretty simple).
  
• 0.3.1: the armature exporter will now ignore any vertex with weight 0, automatically limit the weights to 4 bones, and normalize the results.

Known issues

• Some .dmesh files seem to randomly crash the editor when you navigate to its folder. I have not been able to figure out the cause (yet).
  
• Smoothing groups are not supported and will be always exported as 0. That is because Blender and Max manage normals very differently, so converting sharp edges to smoothing groups can be very difficult or even impossible in some meshes. Just add an Edge Split modifier to your mesh and you should be fine.
  
• No check is made to ensure no vertex uses more than four bone weights, which is the maximum supported by the engine, so please make sure you don't exceed this limit.
  
• No check is made to ensure no polygon has more than 10 vertices, but the developer mentioned that being a limit somewhere. If in doubt, stuck to quads and triangles.
  
• Unlike the Max files, there is no proper rig with IK and suitable constraints in the Haydee blend file, you just have the raw bones as read by the game. This means making your animations and poses will be quite cumbersome. I'm no good at rigging but I'll give it a shot if nobody else wants to do this (hint!).
  
• The skeleton, pose, and animation exporters have been tested only with the Haydee skeleton. Chances are working with new skeletons won't work properly or be bugged everywhere. Feel free to experiment and tell us the results.

Feel free to use the exporter and let me know of any issues you found. I'll update this thread in case I add new features or fix some bugs.

[𐂃𐂃]

It is downloaded from here. I just load it in blender 2.76b and export torso without changing anything. Here is dmesh I exported: http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?file_id=08685947231452460251

[Darak]

The .dmesh you uploaded works fine for me. Edith loads it with no issues.

Now that I think about it, I've seen the same thing happening when Edith couldn't open the file, for example if the script crashed before closing the file. If that is the case you may need to exit Blender until Edith (or any other software) can open the file.

[Darak]

I've finally uploaded a new exporter version. This version should be nicer to work with since it has now constraints to better follow the game's mesh deformations, and proper bone naming so you can work with symmetry on.

There is also the ability to import the .motion files directly from the game pack. I'm not fond of importing binary formats when a proper text version exists, but unfortunately we don't have the Max animations (and it would be hard to move them to Blender without a matching rig), so we have no other way to accurately test the model in Blender using proper game poses.

[retrogunner]

For those needing copy of Blender, you can always get it for any platform at www.blender.org but an Open Source Windows USB Portable version is re-packaged at the SourceForge site http://portableapps.com/apps/graphics_pictures/blender_portable .

Release BlenderPortable_2.78a.paf.exe is clean according to VirusTotal's 2nd opinion. It's 110MB and expands to about 512MB.

[Darak]

I'd stay away from SourceForge since they have a notorious history of including malware with their releases. You can download Blender in a .zip from the official page, no need to install it.

[Zorba]

Missing part of the Helmet in HaydeeBlenderModel_v0.3. Please fix it's. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=813889751 http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=813889816
BTW, how can I import the .mesh to blender?

[Darak]

I wonder what happened, I'm sure that part was present in the model at some point. I'll take a look at that.

There is no easy way to import a binary .mesh. It can be done, but it is a hard and error-prone process. I could write an importer but I don't think it would be useful.

[Darak]

Ok, looks like the part was a separate piece. It was present in other versions of the file. I've added it to the scene and uploaded it as version 0.3.1 (link in the original topic).

[Zorba]

Darak, Thank you, I appreciate it. Download link mega.nz requires a key. :(

[Darak]

The download requires no key, but Steam decided to mangle the link with its profanity filter so it doesn't work anymore. Aparently 'cjb' should me some kind of serious insult in Steam's language (that is 'c j b' without spaces).

Edit: Ok, I've uploaded the file again. Hopefully this time Steam decides to leave the link alone.

[Zorba]

OK, now all is well. thanks again.

[Kazachidla]

How i can import *.motion files in 3d max?

[Darak]

A Max importer for motion files does not exist, as far as I know. It is a feature of the Blender importer only.

[Big Beautiful Bearded Woman]

Any chance we could get the bot mesh as .Blend Files?

[henaro]

> Any chance we could get the ... mesh ... ?
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