Titan Quest Fans Forum

Titan Quest - Anniversary Edition => Anniversary Edition - General discussion => Technical Support => Topic started by: soa on 23 January 2018, 21:48:33

Title: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: soa on 23 January 2018, 21:48:33
Does anyone have a tutorial about the effects Editor ? There are practically no tutorials on the net (maybe there was in TQ.net)
Found this but the explanations are not very useful : http://titanquest.wikia.com/wiki/PS_Editor
Setting up the Editor seems difficult, as you don't know what it needs to work (for the Art Manager you need to point to the appropriate Working / Building, game directories...). Here you don't have a clue about anything.
I tried saving a blank new file, it went into My Games/TQ IT/Working/Custom Maps/Art_TQA2/source.
From there i can throw a .pfx in this folder, and open it in the Editor, but I don't see anything (no visible FX, no debug lines).
I tried adding the .tex files and shader files in the source directory, tried the "Run System" button, but well, nothing works...
 :(
Title: Re: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: Malgardian on 23 January 2018, 23:18:48
Does this one help?

http://web.archive.org/web/20130107091733/http://www.titanquest.net/tq-forum/threads/30758-Beginner-s-Guide-to-the-PSEditor
Title: Re: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: Bumbleguppy on 24 January 2018, 00:28:11
I gave up on the Nordic PSEditor. You no longer know where it looks for .pfx files.

I am still using the THQ version that came with the disc version just to do anything at all, even though it crashes when you try to open a different file when working on a file.

The Nordic version doesn't crash, but I need to open files from the extracted game effect files and I dumped the extracted game effects in every directory I could guess it might look in and still no luck

I feel ya man.

EDIT:

So I had an inspiration.

I opened PSEditor from the Steam directory. On the right hand panel I clicked the "Create New". This creates a new particle emitter. You won't see debug lines until you have an emitter.

Saved it as "thereyouareyoubastard.pfx" as .pfx isn't added as a file extension from PSEditor automatically, but it's the only file type it saves as so whatever.

Then did a Windows search for the file. It wasn't in Documents/TQ Immortal Throne. See, I have a Solid State Drive for my OS and I use my HDD to store all my mod files (because they get huge). I had set my ArtManager's Working Directory to a special directory on my HDD as the "Working Directory" in the ArtManager menu Tools/Options panel. The build directory is still Documents/TQIT/Custom Maps or the game can't see them to play.

So PSEditor has reading access to your ArtManager Working Directory file path to save from. BUT!! For some reason the devs decided to create a custom directory FOR YOU and there is no settings to change it as far as I know. Mine ended up here:

D:\PrevPC\Documents\My Games\Titan Quest - Immortal Throne\Working\CustomMaps\Art_TQA2\source

Where  D: is my HDD drive and the rest is the file path to the Working directory and the PSEditor CREATED A NEW MOD DIRECTORY without prompting or anything. How rude! Must be a setting left over from development of Ragnarok and they forgot to change it back before release is my guess. Whoops.

Anyway, mystery solved.

If you set your working directory to Documents\My Games\Titan Quest - Immortal Throne\Working\ then you will be fine.

IF YOU WANT TO PLAY AROUND  WITH THE GAME'S EXISTING EFFECTS:

You can use ArcExplorer and navigate to your TQ install directory/Resorces/Effects.arc, click "Extract" in the menu then select "All FIles". When prompted where to save them...POINT TO THIS NORDIC MADE DIRECTORY (or make it yourself first if it isn't there):

C:\Users\<User Name Goes Here>\Documents\My Games\Titan Quest - Immortal Throne\Working\CustomMaps\Art_TQA2\source

At least in Windows 10. YMMV.

That's where it looks for files now.

Still won't use the new version as every time I imported a new effect nto my mod, I would have to navigate to this directory and that's irritating to me. :)
Title: Re: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: soa on 24 January 2018, 19:35:58
Ok thanks to both of you. I'd already figured out the new path of files saved by Nordic Editor, but I can't see debug lines or see the fx (even after creating an emitter). So i'll use TQIT Editor.
Title: Re: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: Bumbleguppy on 24 January 2018, 19:48:13
This may seem an obvious question but do you have the "Show Debug Lines" checkbox checked?
Title: Re: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: soa on 24 January 2018, 21:42:22
Yes... hopefully, because I tried searching for a long time ! I'm suspecting an update from Microsoft .NET 4.7.1 to cause problems, MeshView is crashing everytime since I made the update. Will try getting back to 4.6.2.
Title: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: soa on 12 February 2019, 12:53:39
Does anyone know how to add a custom texture to a .pfx ? I can't seem to find the directory used by the Pick Texture button in the PSE (old one from Iron Lore).
My .pfx are in Docs\My Games\Titan Quest - Immortal Throne\Working\source directory, but the Pick Texture button doesn't use "Working\source\Effects\textures" directory...
Title: Re: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: WNG on 13 February 2019, 00:56:58
Does anyone know how to add a custom texture to a .pfx ? I can't seem to find the directory used by the Pick Texture button in the PSE (old one from Iron Lore).
My .pfx are in Docs\My Games\Titan Quest - Immortal Throne\Working\source directory, but the Pick Texture button doesn't use "Working\source\Effects\textures" directory...

I can't tell for sure, but I think it takes the textures from this file :

Code: [Select]
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Titan Quest Anniversary Edition\Resources\Effects.arc
Title: Re: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: Bumbleguppy on 16 February 2019, 01:36:41
I hope ssomeone can answer this as far as viewing the texture IN pseditor.

It's been no problem to type the path to a custom effect's texture by hand in the "select texture" file picker in the pseditor, I have done that on a couple effects and it works in game. But seeing it in the pseditor as I work? No idea.

My custom texture is in my mods Source/Asset directories.

EDIT:

Hmm...what if...
you created a new directory in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Titan Quest Anniversary Edition\Resources\ as "Effects" and dropped the .tex in there?
Title: Re: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: nargil66 on 16 February 2019, 09:13:54
Try making an Effects folder with the same structure as the vanilla one and then place it in the main Database folder. Tried that for a custom blood texture and it works.
Title: Re: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: Bumbleguppy on 18 February 2019, 21:40:47
Do you mean create an effects folder in the game's install directory?
Title: Re: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: nargil66 on 20 February 2019, 17:19:36
Yeah, PS Editor can browse them there.
Title: Re: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: Bumbleguppy on 05 July 2019, 22:05:43
My GOG and Steam PSEditor don't work at all since the Atlantis update.

I thought that maybe it was looking in a different directory again, but  can't even create a new emitter.

Anyone else? I am back to using the original THQ disc version.
Title: Re: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: WNG on 06 July 2019, 00:54:04
Still works for me. I don't own the GOG version though, if that has any relevance.
Title: Re: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: Bumbleguppy on 06 July 2019, 02:00:50
Okay, it is reading from a custom mod I named "AtlantisMap" for some reason.  I copied all my effects into that mod's source and it can see them.

I open a file from there...nothing. No emmitter, no debug lines...nada.

Ah well, I guess I'm just screwed, then.

I'll continue using the original disc versions of PSEditor and Viewer then. Bummer.
Title: Re: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: undefind on 09 July 2019, 02:04:41
nobody got a fix to this? i was able to use the PSEditor last week. loading a pfx does nothing anymore. super frustrated.
Title: Re: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: lixiss on 16 December 2020, 01:42:17
Here is my way how to make PSEditor work with Atlantis:

1. Magic mod name "Art_TQA2" is default mod name hardcoded in PSEditor. In Atlantis this mod name defaults to "Art_TQX3". You can change this mod name in Tools.ini in Editor section with lastMod option (don't mix up with other sections which may hold own option with same name). E.g.

Code: [Select]
[Editor]
lastMod=MyMod

In this case PSEditor will look for .pfx in ...\Working\MyMod\source directory.


2. Now you need give access to resources. PSEditor looks like scan game archives, but for me, for some reason it doesn't read them from game archives. However, it looks resources in the folder derived from Tools.ini file, Login section, additionalbuilddirs option. So if you specify this option - it will look-up resources under {additionalbuilddirs}\Database (e.g. if you specify C:\MyDir it will look them in C:\MyDir\Database). When this option is not specified, it look-up resources under Titan Quest - Immortal Throne\Database. So in this folder you need typical resources structure, e.g. Shaders and Effects folder(s).

As side note: There is exist PSEditor.cfg file, however what is configurable is unknown.

PS: If you a familiar with filesystem directory junctions (symbolic links) then it might be easier to extract Effects.arc into some mod directory (into source folder), and then make "Database" directory alias somewhere where it might be pointed by Tools.ini.
Title: Re: PS Editor (Effects Editor)
Post by: Bumbleguppy on 27 November 2022, 22:15:50
After having to revert my graphics drivers because the latest AMD drivers refused to see my second monitor, the original THQ PSEditor stopped working, just errored and quit.

So I went back to the Steam version and, although the application loads up okay, nothing in the editor worked. I discovered what directory it was HARD CODED TO LOAD AND SAVE FROM (really?? a file picker in Windows is so easy to implement, this is outrageous. If I had made this I would have been fired).

So @lixiss used the word "permission". And I thought "permissions"? So I "ran as administrator" and the Steam version actually worked! WTF?? I have to run PSEditor as administrator? WHY??

So I could work with and see the emitters and grid lines, great. The background color no longer saves to the pseditor.cfg file like with the original THQ version, guess that was also too much trouble to port over to the new versions. Oh well.

Anyway, I wanted to post this in case someone ends up from a google search in the future. Along with the other helpful tips in this thread, try running PSEditor as administrator and see if that does the trick.
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