I'll try explain better. I've gone back and refreshed some of my old knowledge. I will assume that you've already created new class, by making new UNITTYPES and cloned one of the existing classes. If not you can see how this is done in this video, by Omnifas:
Spoiler (hover to show)
Browse to the folder where your mod lives, and create the directories:
\MEDIA\MODELS\PCS\HUM_F\ and
\MEDIA\MODELS\PCS\HUM_M\ This is where your new custom animations will live. From now on I'll just explain how to do the rest for the Female version of the class. You need to do alle the same steps for the Male version as well.
Now we need to copy the files we're after from the original game files. So browse to:
\Torchlight II\MEDIA\MODELS\PCS\HUM_F\ and then copy the following files over to your mod directory:
HUM_F.ANIMATION HUM_F.MESH HUM_F.MATERIAL Since you're using the Wherewolf Run animations for your skill, you also need to copy these .SKELETON files:
SPECIAL_WEREWOLF_RUN_START.SKELETON SPECIAL_WEREWOLF_RUN_LOOP.SKELETON SPECIAL_WEREWOLF_RUN_END.SKELETON You should now have these six files located here:
\NAME_OF_YOUR_MOD\MEDIA\MODELS\PCS\HUM_F\ As we don't want your mod to conflict with other mods, you must give the files new unique names. Use whatever names makes sens to you, mine are just examples.
Rename
HUM_F.ANIMATION to
MY_CLASS_F.ANIMATION Rename
HUM_F.MESH to
MY_CLASS_F.MESH Rename
HUM_F.MATERIAL to
MY_CLASS_F.MATERIAL Rename
SPECIAL_WEREWOLF_RUN_START.SKELETON to
SPECIAL_MY_COOL_SKILL_START.SKELETON Rename
SPECIAL_WEREWOLF_RUN_LOOP.SKELETON to
SPECIAL_MY_COOL_SKILL_LOOP.SKELETON Rename
SPECIAL_WEREWOLF_RUN_END.SKELETON to
SPECIAL_MY_COOL_SKILL_END.SKELETON Next you need to edit the .SKELETON files to give the animations new names. I generally use the same name as the file names. (Runic also does this)
So open
SPECIAL_MY_COOL_SKILL_START.SKELETON in a text editor and scroll down until you see
Special_Werewolf_Run_Start Edit this text to:
Special_My_Cool_Skill_Start and save the file. Now do the same for the other two .SKELETON files. Just change the text to:
Special_My_Cool_Skill_Loop and
Special_My_Cool_Skill_End respectively.
Now you need to edit the
MY_CLASS_F.ANIMATION file to add your new animations. So open it in a text editor an look for this code block:
[ANIMATION] <STRING>FILE:special_werewolf_run_end.skeleton <STRING>NAME:Special_Werewolf_Run_End <FLOAT>DURATION:0.266667 [KEY] <STRING>NAME:FADEINMESH <FLOAT>FRAME:1 [/KEY] [KEY] <STRING>NAME:SPAWNPARTICLE <FLOAT>FRAME:0.174603 <STRING>LAYOUT:media\particles\playerskills\berserker\werewolfdash\end.layout <BOOL>PARTICLEATTACHES:false [/KEY] [KEY] <STRING>NAME:PLAYSOUND <FLOAT>FRAME:0.15873 <STRING>SOUND:POISONWANDIMPACT [/KEY] [KEY] <STRING>NAME:FADEINMESH <FLOAT>FRAME:1 [/KEY] [/ANIMATION] [ANIMATION] <STRING>FILE:special_werewolf_run_loop.skeleton <STRING>NAME:Special_Werewolf_Run_Loop <FLOAT>DURATION:1.6 [/ANIMATION] [ANIMATION] <STRING>FILE:special_werewolf_run_start.skeleton <STRING>NAME:Special_Werewolf_Run_Start <FLOAT>DURATION:0.333333 [KEY] <STRING>NAME:FADEOUTMESH <FLOAT>FRAME:0 [/KEY] [KEY] <STRING>NAME:HIT <FLOAT>FRAME:1 [/KEY] [/ANIMATION]Copy that block and paste it inside the same file. (MY_CLASS_F.ANIMATION)
Now edit the block of code you just pasted, so it refers to your new animations and not the werewolf_run animation.
[ANIMATION] <STRING>FILE:special_my_cool_skill_end.skeleton <STRING>NAME:Special_My_Cool_Skill_End <FLOAT>DURATION:0.266667 [KEY] <STRING>NAME:FADEINMESH <FLOAT>FRAME:1 [/KEY] [KEY] <STRING>NAME:SPAWNPARTICLE <FLOAT>FRAME:0.174603 <STRING>LAYOUT:media\particles\playerskills\berserker\werewolfdash\end.layout <BOOL>PARTICLEATTACHES:false [/KEY] [KEY] <STRING>NAME:PLAYSOUND <FLOAT>FRAME:0.15873 <STRING>SOUND:POISONWANDIMPACT [/KEY] [KEY] <STRING>NAME:FADEINMESH <FLOAT>FRAME:1 [/KEY] [/ANIMATION] [ANIMATION] <STRING>FILE:special_my_cool_skill_loop.skeleton <STRING>NAME:Special_My_Cool_Skill_Loop <FLOAT>DURATION:1.6 [/ANIMATION] [ANIMATION] <STRING>FILE:special_my_cool_skill_start.skeleton <STRING>NAME:Special_My_Cool_Skill_Start <FLOAT>DURATION:0.333333 [KEY] <STRING>NAME:FADEOUTMESH <FLOAT>FRAME:0 [/KEY] [KEY] <STRING>NAME:HIT <FLOAT>FRAME:1 [/KEY] [/ANIMATION]Make the changes you want to the particle effects, sounds, etc and save the file.
Next we need to make the custom class use your copy of the MESH file. So start GUTS and launch the Player editor.
Select the Female version of your class and click the
Files tab. In the
Mesh File box change the mesh from
hum_f to
my_class_f Now save.
Repeat all of the above steps for the
Male version of your class.
The last step is to make the custom skill use the newly created animations.
So in the skill change the strings:
<STRING>ANIMATION:special_werewolf_run_start <STRING>ANIMATIONLOOP:special_werewolf_run_loop <STRING>ANIMATIONLOOPEND:special_werewolf_run_endTo
<STRING>ANIMATION:special_my_cool_skill_start <STRING>ANIMATIONLOOP:special_my_cool_skill_loop <STRING>ANIMATIONLOOPEND:special_my_cool_skill_endSave the skill and you should be done.
If all went to plan and I didn't forget something, the custom skill should now use the custom animations.
I hope that was clearer and easier to follow than my links and ramblings in my previous replies. Good luck.
BONUS: Here's a video I rediscovered, while looking through my modding tutorials bookmarks. It's a stream of an Runic employee teaching how to make custom classes and skills. You might find it educational.
Spoiler (hover to show)