Getting the WoW model viewer to work again
The rest of this information is ment for people who do not want a modelviewer which crashes on some models. However you will not be able to access the WotLK content with this modelviewer version...
Ever since the release of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Litchking or version 3.0.2, the WoW model viewer failed to load models from the WoW directory. No official word has been given by the WoW model viewer developer in relation to a possible release of a new version that does support WoW 3.0.2 and higher.
The biggest problem is that all those budding Machinima makers now have a problem, since they can't use their favorite tool to animate their characters. The only way of getting the model viewer to work again is to reinstall World of Warcraft in a temporary directory and patch it up to 2.4.3.
The good news is that this is actually much easier to do then one would think! The only real problem is the download time of the patches (4 in total)
Here are the steps to getting your very own secondary directory of WoW 2.4.3 for use with the WoW model viewer:
Step 1:
Don't worry this will not in any way corrupt your current installation of WoW, in fact it will actually protect it.
You have to rename your World of Warcraft directory in order to be able to start the installation from your WoW installation disks!
Step 2:
With step 1 completed, you now have the ability to install World of Warcraft onto your computer once more. Yes it is indeed as simple as that. And with your current install safely tucked away in its temporary directory you have nothing to worry about.
It is important you install it into your old directory, for example mine is E:GamesWorld of Warcraft as you've already seen.
Step 3:
Patching World of Warcraft up to 2.4.2 and not beyond. This is probably the more tedious part of all the steps. Downloading and patching up so you can use it with the latest WoW model viewer supported content!
The patches you need are as follows:
Patch 1: WoW-1.12.0>region<-patch.exe (467,2MB)
Patch 2: WoW-1.12.x-to-2.0.1>region<-patch.zip (644,8MB)
Patch 3: WoW-2.4.2>region<-patch.exe (1.154,8MB)
Patch 4: WoW-2.4.2.8278-to-2.4.3.8606>region<-patch.exe (25.6MB)
I was so fortunite to have them already downloaded on my backup hard drive. If you don't have them, you need to download them once more. You can either use the Blizzard downloader tool or you could get it from the FTP server hosted by University of Twente. Make sure you get the correct region versions!
Patching is a simple process of simply starting the pach in the order I've given above. You double click the patch to start the installation. However, patch 2 is a little bit tricky, but still pretty easy. For this patch you have to extract the *.zip file into the World of Warcraft directory, then start WoW and login. WoW will then check the patch files and ask you to restart the game to start patching up to 2.0.1
Step 4:
After you've patched the game all the way up to 2.4.3.8606 do the follwing:
Now rename your current up to date version of WoW back to E:GamesWorld of Warcraft. This folder location is related to my installation location. You're installation location can of course be different.
Step 5:
The final step is configuring the World of Warcraft model viewer. You can download it from:
- home.nl - wormodelviewer version 0.5.09d
I’m hosting it on my provider webspace, because wormodelviewer.org is down at the moment...
Extract it anywhere you like and run it once. It will as usual ask you what language to use (this is the model viewer interface language!). After you have run the model viewer once, you need to close it! What this procedure has done it create a config.ini in the model viewer folder. Go to the model viewer folder and open the conig.ini, if you have never opened up *.ini files you will be asked which program to use. Choose notepad here.
Now look for this line:
Of course you need to use your own folder locations, these are just an example using my installation locations. Anyway have fun with the model viewer once more!
This solution will not allow you to access the WotLK content at the moment. That version of WoW simply isn't compatible with the latest release of the model viewer, I'm afraid.
Ever since the release of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Litchking or version 3.0.2, the WoW model viewer failed to load models from the WoW directory. No official word has been given by the WoW model viewer developer in relation to a possible release of a new version that does support WoW 3.0.2 and higher.
The biggest problem is that all those budding Machinima makers now have a problem, since they can't use their favorite tool to animate their characters. The only way of getting the model viewer to work again is to reinstall World of Warcraft in a temporary directory and patch it up to 2.4.3.
The good news is that this is actually much easier to do then one would think! The only real problem is the download time of the patches (4 in total)
Here are the steps to getting your very own secondary directory of WoW 2.4.3 for use with the WoW model viewer:
Step 1:
Don't worry this will not in any way corrupt your current installation of WoW, in fact it will actually protect it.
You have to rename your World of Warcraft directory in order to be able to start the installation from your WoW installation disks!
Step 2:
With step 1 completed, you now have the ability to install World of Warcraft onto your computer once more. Yes it is indeed as simple as that. And with your current install safely tucked away in its temporary directory you have nothing to worry about.
It is important you install it into your old directory, for example mine is E:GamesWorld of Warcraft as you've already seen.
Step 3:
Patching World of Warcraft up to 2.4.2 and not beyond. This is probably the more tedious part of all the steps. Downloading and patching up so you can use it with the latest WoW model viewer supported content!
The patches you need are as follows:
Patch 1: WoW-1.12.0>region<-patch.exe (467,2MB)
Patch 2: WoW-1.12.x-to-2.0.1>region<-patch.zip (644,8MB)
Patch 3: WoW-2.4.2>region<-patch.exe (1.154,8MB)
Patch 4: WoW-2.4.2.8278-to-2.4.3.8606>region<-patch.exe (25.6MB)
I was so fortunite to have them already downloaded on my backup hard drive. If you don't have them, you need to download them once more. You can either use the Blizzard downloader tool or you could get it from the FTP server hosted by University of Twente. Make sure you get the correct region versions!
Patching is a simple process of simply starting the pach in the order I've given above. You double click the patch to start the installation. However, patch 2 is a little bit tricky, but still pretty easy. For this patch you have to extract the *.zip file into the World of Warcraft directory, then start WoW and login. WoW will then check the patch files and ask you to restart the game to start patching up to 2.0.1
Step 4:
After you've patched the game all the way up to 2.4.3.8606 do the follwing:
Now rename your current up to date version of WoW back to E:GamesWorld of Warcraft. This folder location is related to my installation location. You're installation location can of course be different.
Step 5:
The final step is configuring the World of Warcraft model viewer. You can download it from:
- home.nl - wormodelviewer version 0.5.09d
I’m hosting it on my provider webspace, because wormodelviewer.org is down at the moment...
Extract it anywhere you like and run it once. It will as usual ask you what language to use (this is the model viewer interface language!). After you have run the model viewer once, you need to close it! What this procedure has done it create a config.ini in the model viewer folder. Go to the model viewer folder and open the conig.ini, if you have never opened up *.ini files you will be asked which program to use. Choose notepad here.
Now look for this line:
Path=E:\Games\World of Warcraft\Data\
And change it to:Path=E:\Games\World of Warcraft 2.4.3\Data\
And save the changes.Congatulations!!!
You now have a working WoW model viewer
You now have a working WoW model viewer
Of course you need to use your own folder locations, these are just an example using my installation locations. Anyway have fun with the model viewer once more!
This solution will not allow you to access the WotLK content at the moment. That version of WoW simply isn't compatible with the latest release of the model viewer, I'm afraid.
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"Getting the WoW model viewer to work again"
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really?
The link you posted to the new one is awesome, it works most of the time... THX!