Could Someone Give me Advice on Customizing Ship Models in Pirates Ahoy?

[Jamesmiller]

Hello there,

I have been diving into the world of ship customization in Sea Dogs and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow; and I have run into a bit of a challenge. I am hoping to tap into the knowledge and experience here to help me figure this out!

Specifically; I am trying to modify ship models mainly changing textures and adding some custom details like sails and flags without affecting the game’s stability or overall gameplay. I have come across a lot of tutorials and guides; but I am still a bit unclear on the best approach to take.

What tools do you recommend for working with ship models? I have heard of programs like 3D Studio Max and Blender; but I am unsure which would be most effective; especially when it comes to importing and exporting assets to work with the game engine.

Also, I have gone through this post; https://www.piratesahoy.net/threads/new-complete-guide-for-ships-on-potc-new-horizons-rpa-certification which definitely helped me out a lot.

Are there any best practices or tips for ensuring custom ships don’t cause crashes or glitches? I have seen some posts where custom ships cause graphical issues or even crash the game; and I would like to avoid those headaches.

Thanks in advance, and happy sailing!

 

[Grey Roger]

For textures, you will need:
. GM Viewer: https://piratesahoy.bowengames.com/Cloud/Tools/Modeling+Texturing/GM Viewer.zip - shows ship model parts, also shows which texture files they use.
. TX Convertor: https://piratesahoy.bowengames.com/Cloud/Tools/Modeling+Texturing/TX Convertor.zip - converts .tga.tx files which the game uses, to .tga files which can be edited, and also converts them the other way so your edited file can be used in the game.
. Hex Editor: https://piratesahoy.bowengames.com/Cloud/Tools/Modeling+Texturing/hex-editor.7z - allows you to edit a .gm file (or any other file, for that matter) directly.
. Some sort of picture editing software, whether commercial like Photoshop or free like GIMP, which can handle .tga files.

Some ships have a single file which contains almost all the textures. For example, "brig1.gm" uses "bortoutbrig1.tga.tx" and "deck.tga.tx". The one you want is "bortoutbrig1.tga.tx". These are very easy to retexture! You can use Hex Editor to edit a ship's .gm file, find the part with the name of a .tga file, and change it - but your new file name must be exactly the same length as the original, or you'll overwrite some other part of the file and make it useless.

Others have the colours arranged by the .gm file. Use GM Viewer to take a look at "FR_NeptunusE.gm" and "NL_NeptunusE.gm", for example. You'll find a lot of texture files with similar names such as "phank", "p2ank", "p3ank" etc. Remember what I said about changing the texture file name to something with exactly the same length? That's what's been done here.

Another, older program which you can use on ship models is TOOL: https://piratesahoy.bowengames.com/Cloud/Tools/Modeling+Texturing/Inez Dias Tool.rar. This has the disadvantage that some ship models can't be read by it, and has the advantage that I know how to use it, so I can help. I know nothing about 3D Studio Max or Blender, so unless you can find someone else who knows them and is willing to help, you're on your own!