NPC Scene

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Introduction

Play animations from .vcd files using NPC Scene.

This addon started as a fix for the old v1.2, but evolved into a standalone tool.

How to ensure that scenes will play

Scenes may fail if the game cannot find an actor with the correct name. Check the console for missing names and define them properly using the tool.

TF2 scenes are limited: NPCs may play sounds and facial expressions, but usually won’t lip sync or animate. TF2 uses a different phoneme table than HL2.

As a workaround, Model Manipulator can convert NPCs (e.g. Father Grigori) into Standard TF2 ragdolls like Heavy, allowing basic movement.

Game Support

** Half-Life 2 scenes are always included**.

These scenes are available when their respective games are mounted:

• Half-Life 2 Episode 1

• Half-Life 2 Episode 2

• Half-Life 2 Lost Coast

• Left 4 Dead 2

• Portal (Requires: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1456559884)

Not supported:

• Left 4 Dead (already included in L4D2)

• Team Fortress 2

• Portal 2

Creating scenes / Automatic lip sync

Add custom scenes by placing .vcd files in "garrysmod\scenes" or "garrysmod\addons\myaddon\scenes". Scenes are created with hlfaceposer. See the official guide:
Choreography creation

Avoid GMod’s bundled hlfaceposer (21.07.13), as it crashes frequently. Follow the steps below instead.

A) Icons fix:

Extract this into the SDK bin folder (or hl2 game directory), or extract gfx/hlfaceposer from the main VPK.

B) Enable automatic lip sync (E.g. HL2):

• Get the fix files from my zip and copy them to your "common" folder;
• Open "common\Half-Life 2\bin\hlfaceposer.exe".

or you can manually get the fix files:

• Install Source Filmmaker;
• Copy "Half-Life 2\hl2\gameinfo.txt" to "Half-Life 2\bin";
• Copy "SourceFilmmaker\game\bin\lipsinc_data" to "Half-Life 2\bin";
• Open "Half-Life 2\bin\hlfaceposer.exe".

C) Using automatic lip sync:

• Load a model (File -> Load Model);
• Open the Phoneme Editor;
• Change Speech API to "Lipsinc Speech API";
• CTRL + O: load a .wav;
• CTRL + R: detect phonemes;
• Commit extraction and save.

We use this method to dub Half-Life games into Brazilian Portuguese: Project page

Extracting VCD files

TL;DR; Download [VCDs for HL2, Ep1, Ep2 and BM I extracted using VSIF2VCD.

Valve packs VCD files into scenes.image](https://mega.nz/file/1MtmVAgS#GqJrAEMXucfuC9-Q9s80YERv_Tmiq6p9xMFYFKVBBhc). To edit or reuse animations, they must be extracted first.

File names are stored as CRC checksums and cannot always be recovered. Cross-referencing maps helps, but many files remain unnamed. I’m not entirely sure why this happens (and honestly don’t remember anymore), but I’ve had good experiences with the extracted files. Once the names are recovered, everything that really matters seems to be there.

Therefore:

• Use GCF Scape to get the scenes.image file;
• Use VSIF2VCD to extract VCDs from the scenes.image file.

Note: VSIF2VCD requires a maplist.txt in the game root, for example:

d1_canals_12 d1_canals_13 d1_eli_01 d1_eli_02 d1_town_01

Recompiling VCDs into scenes.image

This information was passed on to me by Dejoota and David Macalister — thank you very much! Guide for Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, and Half-Life 2: Episode Two. Not tested with the Half-Life 2 Anniversary Update:

• Locate hlfaceposer.exe in the bin folder of your game. To run the program without issues, carefully read the “Issues” section of Valve’s official documentation, as some compatibility fixes are required.

• The scenes.image file ** will NOT compile** if the VCD directory tree does not exist on your system — and you'll never know, because the error is silent (no warnings at all). Therefore, make sure ALL VCD files from the target game are extracted into the scenes folder, strictly preserving the original folder and file names. You can obtain these files online or extract them yourself using VSIF2VCD, as stated in the earlier section.

• At this point, the file should compile correctly in Half-Life 2. However, for Episode One and Episode Two, additional adjustments to gameinfo.txt are still required so the game can properly mount the folders and allow hlfaceposer to function correctly.

Source code

https://github.com/Xalalau/NPC-Scene

Special thanks

Testers: HomemCamisinhaCósmico, Pepeu.

Cool things

Enable "Apply Scenes Multiple Times" and try:

• Spam "scenes/trainyard/cit_scan_id" on citizens;
• Use "scenes/trainyard/cit_breenagain" on Breen;
• Alyx + G-Man + "scenes/citadel/al_end" (spam fast);
• DOG + Alyx + scenes/eli_lab/attack04.vcd.

Old addons:

• Dance Animations
• Npc Animation V4
• Cremators pack
• Cra0kalo's Animations

Backup old addons: Mirror 1: Mirror 1
Mirror 2: Mirror 2

(UMPA animations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0gu9BFau4g)