Importing Warcraft 3 Models Into WoW
Not for beginners!
Tools Needed:
MyWarcraftStudio
MDXConverter
Ultimate Unwrap3d
BlpConverter
3dsToM2
Cryect's Tools (M2Modder)
DISCLAIMER: THIS GUIDE ISN'T EXACTLY NOOB FRIENDLY. IF YOU DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT 3D MODELS AND UV WRAPPING I WOULDN'T SUGGEST TRYING THIS.
1) Open up war3.mpq in MWCS. Go to Units then pick your category. There is Creeps, Critters, Demon, Human, NightElf, Orc, and Undead. For this tutorial I will choose Undead.
2) Then find the folder that has your units name. I will be using the Crypt Fiend. Extract UNIT.mdx. Do NOT extract UNIT_Portrait.mdx. As you can see there is no texture file here. Some might have the texture file in this folder but some won't.
3) Now we have to get our texture file. Remember or write down your creatures name. Now go to the Textures folder.
Now just scroll down to where your unit's texture is. IMPORTANT: DO NOT extract the texture! Click the Save Image(S) button in MWCS. (Reason for this is because WC3 blps have a different structure than WoW's blps) Save as PNG.
4) Now you can close out of MWCS. Open up MDXConverter. Go to File -> Load MDX. Locate your mdx and select it. Then go to Convert -> MDX to 3DS. Close MDXConverter.
5) Now open up Ultimate Unwrap3d. Go to File - Open and select your 3ds file. You will see a lot of random squares like this:
Simply select them and delete them. Now move it all into the grid. You probably won't have to move anything around in most cases because it's usually where it's supposed to be, just off of the grid.
6) Now go to File - Save As. Save it as 3ds. Overwrite or give it a new name. Close Ultimate Unwrap3d
7) Now for some conversions. Convert your 3ds file to m2 and your png texture to blp with 3dsToM2 and BlpConverter. (Note: When converting the model in 3dsToM2, set Optional Scale to 5 otherwise your model will be HUGE)
Now in M2Modder with your file opened, do this:
t
n
0
TEXTURENAME.blp (You might have to make the name shorter, there's a limit of 15 characters)
-1
q
q
9) Now packing is just like normal. Create a new mpq archive. Get what your changing's treepath (in this example, a frog). Add your m2 to the archive under the treepath and name. Add the blp to the archive. (DO NOT RENAME IT OR PUT IT IN A FOLDER IN THE ARCHIVE.)
10) Place the mpq in your data folder and name it patch-(1-9)(a-z).mpq
11) Load up WoW and enjoy your new model!