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Imported model is invisible or a checkerboard

Most of the time the model is fine and a path is wrong. Check the paths first, then the model itself.

What you see

  • The editor draws a green and black checkerboard cube and logs Could not load file.
  • In game the model is invisible or a black box, and War3Log shows Error loading texture or model creation failed.
  • The game crashes when the unit appears or plays an animation.

Why it happens

Texture path mismatch. The model asks for Textures\X.blp, but the file was imported as war3mapImported\X.blp.

Model path mismatch. The object's model field does not match the import path.

Animation problems. A missing or empty Stand animation can crash the game. Overlapping animation ranges work on Reforged but break the old 1.27 client.

Format version. Some recent classic uploads are saved as MDX 1100, which clients before 1.29 cannot read.

Dots in the file name. On 3.0.0, model_1.0.mdx failed to load. The 3.0.1 notes say it is fixed.

No faces. Models with vertices but no faces crashed until 3.0.1.

How to fix it

  1. In the Import Manager, tick Use custom path on each texture and set it to exactly the path the model references.
  2. Point the object's model field at the imported .mdx.
  3. Open the model in a model editor and check texture paths, that Stand exists with a real length, and that every geoset has faces.
  4. For old clients, save the model as MDX 800 and import any textures the old game does not ship.
  5. Rename files with extra dots and update every reference to them.

How WC3 Map Doctor detects it

Rules that look for this
  • Severe
    An imported model or texture has a second dot in its file name, which fails to load or crashes on 3.0.
    BRK-dotted-import-path
  • Warnings
    war3map.imp lists an import that is not in the archive, or an archived asset is missing from the import table.
    BRK-import-missing-file
  • Warnings
    The map imports HD-only assets, which classic clients cannot draw.
    PERF-A04
  • Warnings
    An imported texture has a width or height that is not a power of two.
    PERF-A03

Operations that fix it on a copy

  • compat.import-names Give imported files names Warcraft III 3.0 can load
  • compat.import-formats Convert .tif imports to textures the game reads

Sources

Written in our own words from our lab notes; these are the pages behind them.