Welcome to Valen's Freedom Force vs the 3rd reich GOG guide.
THE LAYMAN'S GUIDE FOR INSTALLING MESHES AND SKINS FOR FFvsT3R.
This guide (Which does not support MODS) will give instruction on how to install meshes & skins without the use of any mesh or skin tools. It will also help you familiarize yourself with many of the terms and concepts used in regards to meshes and skins.
WHAT IS A MESH?
A mesh is a 3D model created with a model/rendering program.The mesh normally consists of two parts - a .NIF file and a .KF file. The .NIF file is the primary structure of the mesh, while the .KF file provides the mesh with movement.
WHAT IS A SKIN?
A skin is a set of textures which are in either TGA or DDS format. These textures are applied to the surface of the mesh which completes the visual image.
ACQUIRING MESHES AND SKINS.
Before you can install a mesh/skin you either need to create one (Which this Guide will Not cover) or you need to find a location on the internet and download the mesh/skin. The following Link is provided:
Champions Of Freedom: http://ffcenter.net/champions
* Most of the meshes/skins you find here were made for freedom force and NOT freedom force vs the 3rd reich. Once you download the mesh/skin you will have to install it in the correct location for freedom force vs the 3rd reich - Which is covered further on in this guide.
* When downloading a Mesh, keep in mind that it may be missing the .KF file (Commonly called a KeyFrame file). If this is the case, you will have to locate a compatible .KF file - Which is covered further on in this guide. Meshes normally come with a skin included.
* When downloading a Skin, keep in mind that most skins will not include a Mesh (That is the .NIF and .KF files). If this is the case, you will have to locate the compatible .NIF and .KF files - Which is covered further on in this guide.
COMPATIBILITY.
90 percent of all meshes and skins you will find, will be made for freedom force and NOT freedom force vs the 3rd reich. This However, does not mean that the mesh/skin will not work. 95 percent of all meshes and skins for freedom force WILL work in freedom force vs the 3rd reich - If the mesh/skin is installed correctly. Only about 5 percent of the freedom force meshes (Specifically the .NIF file) needs to be converted with a conversion tool. Don't wast your time with conversion tools for a mere 5 percent. If you install a mesh/skin correctly with all the required files and you get strange looking character model or error when trying to create a character in game, with your new mesh/skin - you have just encountered one of the 5 percent which will not work. Delete the mesh/skin install and move on.
INSTALLING MESHES AND SKINS.
Almost all meshes and skins you download will be compressed in either ZIP or RAR format. You will need to decompress the mesh/skin before you can proceed with the install. If you do not have a means of doing this already, I suggest a free and simple extractor called: ExtractNow. The following Link is provided:
ExtractNow: http://www.extractnow.com
Next, your computer MUST be set to show hidden files and folders. Navigate to the CONTROL PANEL and select FOLDER OPTIONS. Make sure your VIEW option is set to show hidden files and folders. This is required because the install path for your mesh/skins is going to be hidden by default.
The installation path of your mesh/skin will be:
C:\Documents and Settings\(user name)\Local Settings\Application Data\Irrational Games\Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich\Custom\Art\Library\Characters
* If any of these folders do not exist - You Must create them (Make sure you keep them in the correct order).
All your custom mesh/skin folders will be placed in the, " characters " folder (As seen Above).
Most meshes/skins you download - will not be correctly configured (Folders and/or files) for freedom force and the 3rd reich. Therefore, its is necessary to become familiar with the required structure for freedom force vs the 3rd reich.
Folder arrangement is as follows:
...characters\(Name of mesh/skin)\skins\standard
(Example: ...character\Captain America\skins\standard)
Expanded the folder structure would look like this:
...Characters
- (Name of mesh/skin)
- skins
- standard
File arrangement is a follows:
.NIF and .KF files go into the (Name of mesh/skin) folder.
TGA or DDS files are placed into the standard folder.
The skins folder will remain empty except for the standard folder which is already in it.
* The above folder and file structure is the simplist and most common way of installing new meshes/skins for freedom force verse the 3rd reich. If you use this method of manually installing your meshes/skins you should have no problems. However, you may come across some meshes/skins that were made for freedom force vs the 3rd reich. In this case, the folder/file arrangement may be a bit different (BUT CORRECT) and would still be placed in your, " Characters " folder.
So, installing your custom mesh/skin is as simply as following the above structure. If a folder does not exist - you create it. Then place all the required files in the correct folders.
Every time you install a custom mesh/skin you will follow the above procedures. Each and every new mesh/skin will have its own ...(Name of mesh/skin)\skins\standard folders with the required files in each folder.
LOCATING A MISSING .NIF AND/OR .KF FILE
As I stated above (ACQUIRING MESHES AND SKINS) some Meshes may be missing the .KF files and some skins may be missing the .NIF and/or .KF files. The first thing you want to do is look to see if there was a readme file included with your mesh/skin download. The readme file may discribe the required .NIF and/or .KF files needed - and may also give a link (Which will most likely be a group or a dead link).
If there is no readme file or the readme file does not contain the information you seek - Then the next step is to look at the skin files (TGA or DDS) for the reference to the specific mesh it was created for.
(Example: A TGA or DDS file named: male_basic_noface would indicated the .NIF {Male Basic No face} and the .KF {MALE BASIC} files needed)
* ALL SKINS AND MESHES ARE NOT COMPATIBLE. You must have the correct associated file(s).
Once you have a Good idea of what type of file(s) you need, your next step would be to locate them. The following Link Provides .NIF and .KF files:
Meshworks: http://newpowerinc.com/meshworks
As a final note: If you install you mesh/skins incorrectly and/or associated file(s) - do not expect your new custom skins to work correctly. They will either not work at all or will not work as they should.
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EDIT: Solved problem

I am running window 7... it appears that I can not create the path above. Any thoughts?

I think the path for Windows 7 is C:/Users/Username/AppData/Local/Irrational Games/Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich. Then just follow the rest of the folder structure in the guide. (Username being replaced with your username.)

The link above for getting skins is dead.

However, I've found this pretty handy mod site for getting more skin and meshes for your playing leisure.

http://www.alexff.com/index.php

Or just head over to freedomreborn.net, where all the modders hang out.

Hi! I recently got FF vs the 3rd Reich and I was really excited as a Marvel fan to get the Thor and Loki skins into the game. I made the folders underneath the Custom folder - Custom/Art/Library/Characters and then added in the skins, putting the KF and Character files under the character name ie. Thor MCU. It took me all night and the new characters won't show up. Do I need to download other files, meshes perhaps, for the characters? Or rename CHARACTER.NIF or KEYFRAMES.KF? As far as I can tell I followed the install guide exactly.

Hope someone can help! Many thanks in advance =)

Hmm. This is from a while ago, so you've probably forgotten about this by now, or figured it out yourself. However, in case you haven't:

1) Your character's folder, In addition to the character.nif file and the keyframes.kf file, needs a folder called 'skins'. Just right-click, create a new folder and name it that.
2) Once you've created the skins folder, open it and make still another folder and name it 'standard'. This will be the default skin for your character. You can name it something else, and in fact can have piles of different skins alongside it, but the game prefers you have your main skin named standard.
3) All your skin files go inside this folder- usually they're TGA files, although there will often be a portrait too.

Hope that helped, always assuming you're still stuck.