Yes, you'd need to install the game again, but choose to install the mod tools and mod samples as well.
Yes i knew about the Start Model / Texture Converter, i've used that. When selecting a mod, there's a error screen: cannot open projectfile. But after clikking ok the converter still opens with the the "Source root" and "Destination root" already filled in.
When i choose "Open Project" and go to the folder where the .lwo file is or the .tga files there is nothing to open File types: Builder projects. There are none.
Of course you can't open any project, because you didn't create one for your mod yet. Just start the converter, click Ok on the error message and choose "Save project". Save it as "__work\art\converter.tpr" in your mod's folder and it'll be loaded automatically from now on. You can choose a different filename, of course, but then you'll have to use "Open project" manually each time you start the Converter.
Tasks:A task is basically a group of files each using the same converter settings. For example, for the Freespace mod, I've created a "Meshes - XXX" and "Textures - XXX" task for each race with XXX being the actual race's name. Create, rename and delete tasks by using the buttons in the upper left of the converter dialog.
Source Root:The source folder for all the art assets you want to convert (meshes, textures, sounds, etc.). This is set by default to the "__work\art" subfolder of your mod directory. I recommend just using that default name.
Destination Root:This is the target folder for all your converted assets. It's set by default to your mod's base folder. Leave it at that.
Destination Directory:This is the subfolder your converted assets belonging to the selected task will end up in. For example, set this to "meshes", so your converted models end up in the correct model folder. Model textures usually belong in the "textures\meshes" folder, so set up a separate task for these with the "textures\meshes" destination directory.
Source Files:This is the list of the actual files you want to convert. Each task has it's own list of source files.
Use "Add", "Delete" and "Clear" to add new or delete old source files from that list. Use them to add your .lwo, .lws and .tga files to each task.
If you're done, use "Save Project" to save all your settings. Then hit "Process All" and everything will be converted just nicely. If you check "Process Changed Only", it'll skip assets that haven't changed since the last run.
