Thank you for adding Guardian Siege and Ironguard Dwarf.
Can you do something to the Guardian Siege when he walks / runs because it looks weird. Maybe it could be smoother?

For some reason the Wraith Lord's skin changed to yellow, and the previously skin disappeared (Red Skin).

Can you add more skins for Pet that still have no other skins and for other pet (I like dark colors for some Pet), such as Pet Cat TL1 (more skin), Mimic (more skin), Ordraake (black), Nethermancer (black), Gao Pet (more skin), Galandrix Pet (more skin), Scorpion (more skin) etc.

Thanks @Phanjam !  It's working. 

Whew! Good to know I was afraid my fix wouldnt work!  Promise i will do proper testing in the future (i was just out of time earlier).

Two questions :
- With what kind of software you can edit mesh files ?
- What kind of information is stored in the mesh file ?  Obviously the 3D model, but what else ?

I ask because I may have to use alternative mesh files for the pets I debug to can attack, like you did for the sand colossus.
Because the way I used to do that is to create an Attack1 animation base on another animation.
But I'm afraid it can alter the way the original monsters act in battle.

First, what did i do with the sand colossus?...

i did not do any mesh editing at all all i did was make a copy of sand_construct.mesh and put it in the same RESOURCEDIRECTORY but renamed it to variantpet_sand_construct.mesh.  So it is the exact same file as the original monster mesh except for the name.  Then i just pointed to this new file-copy in the pet unit .DAT file ( <STRING>MESHFILE:variantpet_sand_construct ).

However there are 2 sister-files for every .MESH - the .ANIMATION file (contains the definitions of all animations the MESH can do) and the .MATERIAL file (contains the definitions of what texture/image files to use on the MESH and how).  All these 3 files must have the same filename, so...

1. variantpet_sand_construct.MESH
2. variantpet_sand_construct.ANIMATION
3. variantpet_sand_construct.MATERIAL

this is how they "recognize each other".  Lastly these new files should all go in the original model directory along with all the .SKELETON and image files, otherwise the .ANIMATION file (which references the .SKELETONs) and the .MATERIAL file (which references the images) will not be able to find those files.  Of course you can make a totally new model directory and put all those files in there again, but that seems inefficient to me.

So now you have a completely different model you can use where you can change (some) animations and even textures without affecting the units which use the original model (like the .ANIMATION edits i made which would affect even the regular Construct unit if i had used the same .MESH)

This should also address your last concern about making new animations without affecting the original units.

----

Now about MESH files... really the only data in there is about the model (vertices, faces, UV maps and armature "bones"). Blender is a good tool to work with the OGRE .MESH 3d models used in Torchlight 1 and 2 - it's free, has a LOT of helpful communities for support and is used by our 3D guru-members @Vkoslak and @Kva3imoda there are also several good tutorials for it on our wiki.

But based on the above discussion, you should not have to go as far as model-editing just to have new animations

Hi @Korzeam

May I know, what variation DDS when you use fixing Pet Starwars?
More precisely, how to fix it? so it can be suitable for Mac users.

Because, the way you used to fix Pet Starwars might be able to fix the other Mod that can not be played on a Mac.

Can it be used to fix a Pet that sometimes looks colorless like Pet Kirby, Cube companion, Cat Box, Eye of the beholder, Ponya Armored, etc?

I just remembered about the swamp troll not showing in the pet window, i confirm i got the same issue but i havent found the cause yet. Hopefully i'll have time this weekend.

Hi @Korzeam thx for the update! Nice to have a pet shop too! Limited duration and permanent pet transform potions?

Here is a Pet who still can not use spell:

- Scorpion
- Felstalker
- Ravager

Bug Report:

- Pet Troll King also has the same problem with the Swamp Troll. On the Pet Menu Tab looks black.
- Pet Guardian of the Wild when using spell he is casting it over and over again. For example, a fireball spell is supposed to fire once but he can fire up 3 fireballs.

Considering pet shops

The way I implemented it, each pet shop merchant will sell randomly between 30 and 40 pet 'aspects'.
Those aspects will transform permanently your pet into another.
As in that version all the pets should be balanced, there is no option for temporary transformations.
The merchants are also selling a few pet trinkets (it's a feature frequently asked by players)

Merchant stocks are renewed like any other merchants.
If you gain a level, if you walk into 3 zones or if you launch a LAN game.

Why I didn't make a merchant selling all the pets ?
The main reason is about the huge number of pets.
Merchants stashes contain only 40 slots so it would take 5 tabs to contain them all.
So, the only way to implement would be to have 2 merchants (I don't really like the idea) or to change the UI to have 5 tabs (more complicate, I hate changing the UI).
Moreover it would be difficult to find the pet you are searching for.

I like the idea of randomness, but if you think it's dumb I still can try to change it.
By the way, now the cost is only 1 gold for the aspects (for testing convenience), what do you think the cost should be eventually ?


Considering balance

The pets are not balanced yet.
If they all share the same stats, there is one thing that is very different from a pet to another.
The attack speed is not only determined by the suitable stat, but also by the animation's length.

For example a Panther has an attack animation of 1 second, but for the Troll King it is 2 seconds.
The Troll King is very weak now...

I have 2 solutions to balance that : either I increase attack speed for slow pets or I increase initial damage.
In one case as in the other it will be a problem for phase 3...
What do you prefer ?


Considering Synergies compatibility

I may have a solution for avoiding doubles when you'll use Variant Pets with Synergies.
I can add the pets from Synergies in my project, but changing the UNITTYPE 'STARTING PET' by 'PET'.
The only exception would be the Paladin I did'nt included in my mod.
In this way you still can use your Synergies Pet if you have started with it before using Variant Pets, but you won't be able to choose it with a new character.
What do you think ?