I noticed someone uploaded a Ganon's Tower stage made via the whole Mario Kart Wii obj replacement method and such, which I guess proves it actually works decently enough. I've attempted to do it myself but failed, though... and because I'm basically a total newbie when it comes to using 3D model programs I can't be sure if I simply did something wrong, IE trying to use a model with too many polygons(it's from a Wii game, though...), if there's some texture or UV map related issue, if it's some wrong scale, or if I simply botched up the MDL0 hexing.

Are there any more recent tutorials that take into account more recent updates to the Mario Kart program or the MDL0 hexing? Or, at least can someone who knows what they're doing see if I even have the first step, the model that I am converting, done up correctly?

For anyone curious, I'm... trying to import the Yellow Submarine from The Beatles: Rock Band that I ripped from Dolphin to see if I can do something with it stage wise, like replace the Wind Waker Pirate Ship or one of the Star Fox ships. Figured nobody did a Beatles stage before so no matter how bad I managed, it'd be unique.  Might alternatively see if I could do a few more steps and toy with replacing non-stage related single props, though I assume if nobody's gone and, say, gave Pit a KH Keyblade model swap, then I'd definitely have less luck with halfhearted weapon swaps myself.

I'm toying around with an idea for a stage taking advantage of the Castle Seige multiple stages thing. To make it more interesting, however, I want the whole transition smoke falling effect to be legible... as it stands now, replacing the texture with, say, Matrix style code text, makes it stretch beyond belief so it's only a bunch of long green lines. Of course, that's fine if you want it to look like you're falling or just teleporting or whatever, but I wanted to try and get... well, a Matrix data falling/rising/whatever effect, as if the next section was literally being loaded.

I guess it might be possible to skip making it on Castle Seige and just have the relatively simple stage bits swapped around in 1 frame animations or such with a flat overlayed transparent model at around the camera's position... unless there's a better way to "attach" an animation to the camera so it doesn't mess up when characters make it move. I still would have trouble hiding the swap or making it look nice unless anyone knows how the

Mt Pyre

hack pulled off the fading thing... animated lighting? Something I couldn't mange without a point to the right tutorial direction, at least.

Another related question, especially if I did the second idea, is there any way to have scrolling textures instead of having a large plane with a semitransparent image and moving it around in a way that makes a good loop? In fact, if I made a stage mostly out of stage builder blocks, are there even any good models that would support a transparent texture? Both for the possible effect and for flat fence type borders on the actual stage.

Oh, while I'm at it, Brawl wouldn't curl up and die if I stuck like ten or fifteen stage builder blocks with different textures just to make a floor design with a non-square shape, fifteen or so more for a fence and ten or so more random decorations, would it?  That, or making one main center block the size of several ones with a texture larger than the original and then some tacked on the sides to expand it beyond a square/rectangle?