Replacing Models

## Things you'll need

* Notepad (the basic texteditor that comes with windows)
* Winrar, Winzip, WinAce or Pakscape (I recommend having WinRar and Pakscape - but this guide will not use Pakscape)
* A Non-MB-Model of your Choice (Commander Neyo as an example) [I will refer to this as MyNewModel from now on]

## Unpacking the Model

When you download a model from JKHub, it usually comes as a .zip file that contains the .pk3.

First off - Put the MyNewModel.zip on your desktop and unpack it into a folder. (The name of the folder is up to you, it has no importance) Open the folder and locate the MyNewModel.pk3 file in there. Open it with Winrar (or Winzip, WinAce). If Windows pops up a dialog asking you which Application you want to use to open this file, pick the option that allows you to select the program yourself and choose Winrar (or Winzip, Winace).

Now that you opened the .pk3 - Unpack it into a folder. (you can name it zzzMyNewModel if you want to, but you can also rename it later)

You'll now see a few of the following folders (Note: in most cases not all of these will be there):

* botfiles (that's for bot-support)
* ext\_data (that's for npc-support and hilt-references)
* models (that's the most important one)
* scripts (also for bot-support)
* shaders (well, that's for the shader...)
* sound (here are the taunts, etc...)

## Editing the files

First off - you'll delete the folders "botfiles", "ext\_data" and "scripts" (if your model doesn't have them, be happy, less work for you).

Now double-click the "models" folder, you'll find a "players" folder inside. double-click that too. Now you're almost there, you will see a folder now that is called "MyNewModel" - Before you double-click it, you have to know what MB-Model you want to replace. We won't take the red clone, because that won't work (all clones use the same model.glm - so either you replace them all, or leave it) - Let's take a hero for now. Lando for instance.

Now that you know what to replace your file with, open the MBAssets.pk3, MBModel1.pk3 and MBModel3.pk3, go into "/models/players/" of each of these 3 pk.3's and look for the name of the folder that Lando is using. In this case it's "lando" (case-sensitive - only on Linux machines tho). Now rename your "MyNewModel" to "lando" and open that folder.

Okay, you made it into the heart of the model, now you see a bunch of .jpg's, .tga's, .skin's and a .glm file.

Double-click the "model\_default.skin" file with Notepad. (Again, if windows gives you a dialogue, chose the option to select the program manually and pick Notepad). Now you'll see some text that'll look something like this:

```
head,models/players/MyNewModel/hair.tga

```

What you have to do now to make the replacement work is to change the word "MyNewModel" into "lando". This will tell the game that it has to look for the textures for your model in the "lando" folder. Make sure to rename every single reference that points to "MyNewFolder" into "lando". (I personally use the search-function [shortcut: CTRL+F] to find all the references I need to replace and just paste [shortcut: CTRL+V] the new reference)

It should look like this now:

```
head,models/players/lando/hair.tga

```

If you also see lines like this:

```
hips_cap_torso_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

```

leave them as they are, all lines that point to the /stormtrooper/ folder are just for the caps. (the caps are what tells the game where to dismember a limb if it's cut off by a saber. you see them too when you f.i. cut somebody's arm off, they are the burnt wound you see at the end of the stump)

Once you're done, save the file. (Keep it's exact name - "model\_default.skin")

Now delete everything from the folder that you don't use. That means if your model comes with team support, it will have .jpg's, .tga's and .skin files for a red and a blue skin. If you don't use these skins, you should delete the files that belong to them. (If you delete these unused skins here you should remove their reference in the shader too, it's your choice, I personally do it because having too many shaders can cause a variety of bugs)

Now rename the file "icon\_default" to "mb2\_icon\_default". Now the icon of your MyNewModel will be seen instead of the icon of the model you wish to replace.

Once you're done, move up two folders until you see the directory called "shaders". (If your model doesn't have it, skip this)

You'll see a file in there that is most likely called "MyNewModel.shader". Open the file with Notepad (again, if Windows comes up with a dialogue, well, you should know by now...).

Again there is only text in there. What you need to do is similar to the job at the "model\_default.skin" file. Find and replace every reference that has the name "MyNewModel" in it and replace it with "lando" (or whatever the folder name of the model you wish to replace is). Also, delete all entries that refer to the blue or red skins of your model (Note that the entries are separated by paragraphs, you have to delete the whole paragraph if it refers to the blue or red skin). Once you're done, save the file.

## Finishing it off

Okay, you're almost done. Now move up one folder, so that you can see the following:

* models
* shaders
* sound

Select all three of them and create a .zip file called "zzzMyNewModel.zip". Rename this file to "zzzMyNewModel.pk3".

Now put it into your "MBII" folder, delete everything you have on your Desktop from making this replacement and play.