by Enjay » Thu Nov 01, 2018 1:24 pm
Having spent a bit of time messing around with models that I have downloaded from a variety of sources and extracted from a fair number of games, it is VERY common for models to have internally set skin names that are different to the graphics files/skins that are actually packed with them (either relying on some game specific config lump to specify them correctly or (if not directly from a game) expecting an end user to create such a lump themselves before they can be used). So, under those circumstances, being able to use the skin property to override internally set names is actually very useful.
Moreover, because internally set skin names have historically basically been ignored by GZDoom, there has been no need to ensure the internal name and the skin match. e.g. in my case it's not uncommon for me to have a working name for the model and skin files but I might change them to something more suitable for distribution when packaging up the mod and, of course, there is no reason to edit the model to change the internal name because I can just override it with MODELDEF (so I have done).
Then there is the possibility of different actors using the same model but different skins (e.g. many of the enemies in my Genetech mod - such as the workers, the basic grunt soldiers, the scientists, the civilians and a few others). Without the skin property in MODELDEF, and only being able to use internal names from the model, each new skin would need a new copy of an otherwise identical model too (potentially increasing a mod size by many megabytes).
So, the skin property in MODELDEF is very useful IMO.
Having spent a bit of time messing around with models that I have downloaded from a variety of sources and extracted from a fair number of games, it is VERY common for models to have internally set skin names that are different to the graphics files/skins that are actually packed with them (either relying on some game specific config lump to specify them correctly or (if not directly from a game) expecting an end user to create such a lump themselves before they can be used). So, under those circumstances, being able to use the skin property to override internally set names is actually very useful.
Moreover, because internally set skin names have historically basically been ignored by GZDoom, there has been no need to ensure the internal name and the skin match. e.g. in my case it's not uncommon for me to have a working name for the model and skin files but I might change them to something more suitable for distribution when packaging up the mod and, of course, there is no reason to edit the model to change the internal name because I can just override it with MODELDEF (so I have done).
Then there is the possibility of different actors using the same model but different skins (e.g. many of the enemies in my Genetech mod - such as the workers, the basic grunt soldiers, the scientists, the civilians and a few others). Without the skin property in MODELDEF, and only being able to use internal names from the model, each new skin would need a new copy of an otherwise identical model too (potentially increasing a mod size by many megabytes).
So, the skin property in MODELDEF is very useful IMO.