I've made a tool to convert two quake models into a single model.
This tool works where, for example qME does not, due to correctly supporting the texture coordinates for models that do or do not have backfacing triangles with onseam vertices.

Please read the enclosed readme.txt

I'd be interested in any feedback

https://mega.nz/#!g2w1kaRb!V2KX1gsn7vrVzT3eqxXE6WYlmr_Ha8kJyGs4wya51X8 

You fucking stud. Nice work. I'm not a modeler but new tools are always welcome. Cheers. 

Hi c0burn, been playing with your tool and it looks really promising. Few things I've noticed from a quick look at the source and a play with it:

If you run a merge where model1 is small and model2 is large, the second model doesn't merge in all that well. See for example

modelmerge.exe g_plasma.mdl player_capnbubs.mdl

I think that your code to translate the model2's coordinates into model1's space misbehaves. Possibly only in the case when the second model is larger than the first, not sure about other cases. In generally I think there aren't any "really good" ways to tackle this problem, only "less bad" ones.

Is there a reason why you chose to extend the skins horizontally rather than vertically? I'm sure it would be a lot easier to cope with front/back splits when stacking vertically - if the skins are the same width it's practical free regardless of the model's UVmapping type. I have a feeling I know why QMe chose to do it that way, and I'm wondering if that's your concern too.

Have you considered an "overlay skins" option for the tool? The case I'm imagining is where you might want to clone an object but have the same skinmap for both copies. For example, making a multi-strand vine model with four copies of the geometry but one skin, by inputting the same model twice on the command line.

I have some ultra nasty UV tricks up my sleeve that probably thwart most attempts to merge models, but I'll spare you those. For now. 

Isn't the reason to extend horizontally for skins that there's a height limit but not a width limit for mdl skins? (or has everyone been talking about the 480 height limit with the implicit understanding that it's the same for width?? D: have i been living a lie?!) 

Thank you for the feedback.

I can't remember now why I solely did it horizontally. Skin height limitations was a concern certainly, but there was something else as well. Some extension horizontally is unavoidable, as internally the engine will move onseam backface verts += skinwidth / 0.5. So you need to fudge it so both models behave.

This thing was coded at 2am on a weekend so some details of my choices are fuzzy. :)

I need to revisit the coordinate code so it's less of a fudge. It certainly only works correctly at the moment if model2 is "smaller" than model1. 

all animation data (frames) from input2.mdl are discarded apart from the first frame

Too bad there isn't any model merging tool that preserves the frames of the imported model. Back when I did modelling, this is something that could have saved lots of hours of work.

Something simple like "if both models have the same number of frames, merge each frame individually" could work. 

I tried to use the programm, but I got the VCRUNTIME140.dll error.
I liked to see how it would work with some earlier models I had construckted from Q3 models.
(and the hazard ways I had to make the top, midle and leg parts together)

It must be a VisualBasicStudio update I don't have.
After downloading the dll I ended up in obscure sites with the warning the dll alone won't be enough. 

Install the Visual Studio Redistibutable from here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=48145 

You might need the 2017 one actually, that's here: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=746571 

That worked. Thing is that the two models from Q3 have one lower part with all animations, and the head which is static.
So I could also import the head in Qmle aside the animated lower part to get the same result.

I remember having a lot of work to make the head also animated, but in Q3 the parts were scattered from eachother, ie lots of moving lower parts and a few head animations. I wonder how this tool would work around with that.

No offend from me, it's a handy tool, thanks for that!
Modelling for Quake 1 stays a delicate work. 

Osjclatchford found a fully animated, ready to use mid-poly Ogre by Chillo. Really nice work and surely worth a look. It is quite faithful and shows how much love from Chillo went into it. It comes with 2 skins for Quake and Rogue.

Screenshots:
http://www.imgbox.de/users/Seven007009/front_and_back.jpg
http://www.imgbox.de/users/Seven007009/snap22646a.jpg

I recorded a small comparism video clip with Chillos Ogre and original Ogre side by side: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAuj8k8nw-E

Chillo´s link and Download:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1eGMYlL_NY 

Amazing model, but oh god that vertex swimming. Would it be worth spanking off an md3 version for use in DP, FTE and QSS? 

This guy did versions of all the Q1 monsters, or most of them, didn't he... 

https://twitter.com/danielwienerson/status/947991068422709249?lang=en 

The linked ogre really suffers from vertex swimming. That was his first Quake monster model.

After that he worked on other Quake monsters and greatly improved the vertex swimming for them. He even made a complete rework of the linked Ogre. That one has a much better vertex behaviour, but he gave him protruding ears which in my opinion does not fit so well. The new ogre is included inside his Quake model compilation pack v1.6 if you want to test it.
All his monsters are included in the compilation 1.6 so far, except chton. He just released him some days ago in a seperate download. All links can be found in his twitter page.

Chillo is a really passionate modeller with the right sense for low poly Quake models. I like his work and am happy he does it faithfully with just a little bit of personal touch :) 

I am with a strange phenomenon in the elden ogre I made. If the Ogre is killed, the death frames run as they should, but the last frame shoots white. There is nothing left but a weird white gray frame.

At first I thought it was code, namely
$skin badass3 or $skin base or $skin skin
but it does not matter much.

In BengtGLob there is nothing to see, but Fizquake and Quakespasm do give this weird pale end frame.

Is there anyone who has an idea what is going on? 

Are you changing the shirt or pants colors of the ogre in the code? Monsters don't support it.

If the last death frame calls the same function of the player, to replace the entity with a dummy, it will try to set the color values. 

Changing no color pants, last frame doesn't call player.

Check for yourselve here
Code included. 

https://twitter.com/quake_txt/status/1000384108583845889 

Which QC file are you compiling?

oldogre.qc:


void() xogre_die15 =[ $death15, xogre_die15 ] { /*self.skin = 2;*/};

void() xogre_dieb10 =[ $bdeath10, xogre_dieb10 ] { /*self.skin = 2;*/ };


XOGRE.QC:


void() xogre_die15 =[ $death15, xogre_die15 ] {self.skin = 2;};

void() xogre_dieb10 =[ $bdeath10, xogre_dieb10 ] {self.skin = 2;};


Skin 2 doesn't exist in the model. 

What engine are you using? Most default to skin 0 if a number other than what exists is used (unless you are on an old version of Quakespasm). 

Oh, I'm a fool. I was so in my element with the discovery that I could include a second skin in the death frame, that I put it in this code.
Later I completely forgot what it was needed for and it crept into it.

Of course it was the cause of this pale end stautus.

And yes, I use xogre.qc and am working in fitzquake085.
Thanks for this reprimand, I can die of primer.

I am using the shielding code in another model, the Star-Track version of the Borg. It is quite a mess because it is encapsulated in the Rubicon code.
And there is a lot I do not need. In addition, I also want to give the Borg an adapted status, something of <100health> 200 health "Borg gets adapted".

And now a shield code for nails and grenades is not that bad, but the gunshot in particular is a trickier case. This is not "substentative", so I've still a very kinky case with it.

Thanks Mankrip & Qmaster for the advice,

I am a bad peanut!:P 

Well progress on my map/mod has been slow and depressing, but I have spent a lot of time in Blender. You can see some screens showing the progress of a new monster, from my quick concept sketch to in game. Its a 'wraith' like monster thing. And no, there is no code yet:

Sketch: https://i.imgur.com/21BdNVR.png

Model: https://i.imgur.com/Ysg8KTD.jpg

Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/Mi57D15.jpg

Also, I made a time-lapse video of the monster being made. Its full of silly mistakes (that I even annotated), and has cool electronic music. There is some neat stuff to see though including how I applied alpha masking to portions of the model.

Video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjSN3kdttyQ&feature=youtu.be

Cheers! 

That looks like a great start ... and I'm not even surprised.

But now you have to animate it, hahaha :D