A Beginner's Notes on Tile Editing

So, I've just started delving into modifying a few tiles to help me tailor existing tilesets to my own preferences. I've ended up teaching myself a few things that I thought I'd share for those Aeneans that might be interested in working on their own custom content.

Notes: I use a program called gmax for editing NWN models, and the following assumes you know a little bit of how to use this software. It's got a learning curve (which I'm still in the middle of myself), but with practice things go a bit smoother.

I've been using tile models right out of the NWN game resources, removing a couple of minor tile "decorations" that I don't care for. It turns out that even taking something out that shouldn't be affecting PC movement can cause problems during gameplay. Problems that require the creation of a brand new walkmesh (the .wok file) for that tile.

Here's how I finally managed to get my own new walkmeshes to work:

1. Import the tile model into gmax.
2. Remove the existing mesh that has the "AuroraWalkmesh" modifier.
3. Create a new 1000 x 1000 plane centered at coordinates 0, 0, 0 (x, y, z). Make sure it has enough pieces to pretty closely mirror the major sections of your tile model (so you can control what PCs can walk on, see through, etc.). Name it with the name of the tile, followed by _WOK (for ease of use). Link it to the tile's base.
4. Convert the plane to an Editable Mesh. Moving vertices, manipulate the plane so that there are flat surfaces for walking and nearly-vertical walls for blocking vision. Anyplace that might have different materials to walk on (grass, water, snow, dirt, etc.) should have their own "rectangle" in the mesh. Don't overlap polygons, and make sure the entire 1000 x 1000 square remains covered from edge to edge.
5. Select the tile base and export it to your working directory (hopefully the same one as your textures, so you can see them in gmax).
6. File > Reset
7. Re-Import the new tile model. Select the walkmesh plane object, and it should now have the "AuroraTrimesh" modifier added. Looking at one of the wireframe windows, you should now see that each "rectangle" is now two triangle polygons.
8. Go back to the Editable Mesh and pick "polygons". You can now use the move tool to pick individual polygons. In the "editing" panel to the right, you should be able to scroll down to a spot that has an "ID" number (probably a 1). Change this to match the desired walking surface for that individual spot:

Spoiler:

9. After all polygons have a material ID (I usually start by selecting them all and making them obscuring (2), then going and changing my other ones to the materials I desire)., Go back to full mesh view and then on the auroratrimesh. Add the AuroraWalkmesh modifier on top. Find the Build aabb data button on the right hand side and click it. Immediately select the model base and export it. You should now have a proper tile and walkmesh that you can add to your hak file(s).

Good luck!

Thanks !!