I'm now receiving the "Your mask model must have the bone 'ValveBiped.Bip01_Head1'" error upon loading my model in the game client. As far as I know, I've done everything required by the 3rdparty mask tutorial in Blender as far as adding a skin modifier to attach my mask to the Valve bone, but I could be wrong about this and am willing to include my .blend file for evaluation. Here's what my .qc and wire .vmt look like currently:

[.qc - located in Blade Symphony\bin]
$modelname "76561198012071316\Pumpkin\Pumpkin.mdl"
$cdmaterials "models\76561198012071316\Pumpkin"
$scale 1.0
$body "Body" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Blade Symphony\workshop\models\76561198012071316\Pumpkin_ref.smd"
$sequence idle "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Blade Symphony\workshop\models\76561198012071316\Pumpkin_ref.smd" loop fps 1.00

[wire .vmt - located in Blade Symphony\workshop\materials\models\76561198012071316\Pumpkin]
//"VertexLitGeneric"
//{
// "$basetexture" "materials/models/76561198012071316"
//}

"Patch"
{
include "materials/models/76561198012071316/Pumpkin"
insert
{
"$basetexture" "materials/models/76561198012071316"
//"$bumpmap" "materials/models/76561198012071316"

"$basemapalphaphongmask" "0"
"$normalmapalphaenvmapmask" "1"

"$phong" "1"
"$forcephong" "1"
"$phongfresnelranges" "[0.5 1 3]"
// "$phongexponenttexture" "materials/models/76561198012071316"
"$phongboost" "10"

"$rimlight" 1
"$rimlightboost" "0.2"

"$lightwarptexture" "models/shared/lightwarp_darken"
"$envmap" "env_cubemap"
"$envmapcontrast" "1"
"$envmaptint" "[0.3 0.3 0.3]"
}

"Proxies"
{
"PlayerTint"
{
}
"PlayerChargeEffect"
{
"resultvar" "$chargeamount"
}
"PlayerChargeColor"
{
"resultvar" "$chargeColor"
}
}
}

You need to also show us a sample first 15-30 lines of your ref .smd.
The bone error means that either there is no bone (correctly named) in the scene or the mesh wasn't skinned/attached to the bone upon export.

Originally posted by fug4life:

You need to also show us a sample first 15-30 lines of your ref .smd.

Here's my whole ref.smd to avoid leaving out any necessary lines:

version 1
nodes
0 "root" -1
end
skeleton
time 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
end
triangles
wire_174186203
0 0.050000 -5.740300 -0.734701 0.000000 -0.992896 -0.118988 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 0.050000 -5.752200 -0.635401 0.000000 -0.992895 -0.118994 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 -0.050000 -5.752200 -0.635401 0.000000 -0.992896 -0.118988 0.552700 0.101100 0
wire_174186203
0 -0.050000 -5.752200 -0.635401 0.000000 -0.202165 0.979351 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 0.050000 -5.752200 -0.635401 0.000000 -0.202165 0.979351 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 0.500000 -0.555700 0.437300 0.000000 -0.202165 0.979352 0.552700 0.101100 0
wire_174186203
0 -0.500000 -0.437300 -0.555700 -0.996397 -0.084212 -0.010042 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 -0.050000 -5.740300 -0.734701 -0.996397 -0.084211 -0.010092 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 -0.050000 -5.752200 -0.635401 -0.996397 -0.084211 -0.010086 0.552700 0.101100 0
wire_174186203
0 0.500000 -0.437300 -0.555700 0.996397 -0.084212 -0.010042 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 0.500000 -0.555700 0.437300 0.996397 -0.084212 -0.010041 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 0.050000 -5.752200 -0.635401 0.996397 -0.084211 -0.010086 0.552700 0.101100 0
wire_174186203
0 -0.500000 -0.437300 -0.555700 0.000000 0.033735 -0.999431 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 0.500000 -0.437300 -0.555700 0.000000 0.033735 -0.999431 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 0.050000 -5.740300 -0.734701 0.000000 0.033735 -0.999431 0.552700 0.101100 0
wire_174186203
0 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 -0.707119 0.702121 0.083717 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 -0.500000 -0.437300 -0.555700 -0.707119 0.702121 0.083717 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 -0.500000 -0.555700 0.437300 -0.707119 0.702121 0.083717 0.552700 0.101100 0
wire_174186203
0 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.618415 0.785852 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 -0.500000 -0.555700 0.437300 0.000000 0.618415 0.785852 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 0.500000 -0.555700 0.437300 0.000000 0.618415 0.785852 0.552700 0.101100 0
wire_174186203
0 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.707119 0.702121 0.083717 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 0.500000 -0.555700 0.437300 0.707119 0.702121 0.083717 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 0.500000 -0.437300 -0.555700 0.707119 0.702121 0.083717 0.552700 0.101100 0
wire_174186203
0 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.785852 -0.618415 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 0.500000 -0.437300 -0.555700 0.000000 0.785852 -0.618415 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 -0.500000 -0.437300 -0.555700 0.000000 0.785852 -0.618415 0.552700 0.101100 0
wire_174186203
0 -0.050000 -5.740300 -0.734701 0.000000 -0.992896 -0.118982 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 0.050000 -5.740300 -0.734701 0.000000 -0.992896 -0.118988 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 -0.050000 -5.752200 -0.635401 0.000000 -0.992896 -0.118988 0.552700 0.101100 0
wire_174186203
0 -0.500000 -0.555700 0.437300 0.000000 -0.202165 0.979351 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 -0.050000 -5.752200 -0.635401 0.000000 -0.202165 0.979351 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 0.500000 -0.555700 0.437300 0.000000 -0.202165 0.979352 0.552700 0.101100 0
wire_174186203
0 -0.500000 -0.555700 0.437300 -0.996397 -0.084212 -0.010041 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 -0.500000 -0.437300 -0.555700 -0.996397 -0.084212 -0.010042 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 -0.050000 -5.752200 -0.635401 -0.996397 -0.084211 -0.010086 0.552700 0.101100 0
wire_174186203
0 0.050000 -5.740300 -0.734701 0.996397 -0.084211 -0.010092 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 0.500000 -0.437300 -0.555700 0.996397 -0.084212 -0.010042 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 0.050000 -5.752200 -0.635401 0.996397 -0.084211 -0.010086 0.552700 0.101100 0
wire_174186203
0 -0.050000 -5.740300 -0.734701 0.000000 0.033735 -0.999431 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 -0.500000 -0.437300 -0.555700 0.000000 0.033735 -0.999431 0.552700 0.101100 0
0 0.050000 -5.740300 -0.734701 0.000000 0.033735 -0.999431 0.552700 0.101100 0
end

Originally posted by fug4life:

The bone error means that either there is no bone (correctly named) in the scene or the mesh wasn't skinned/attached to the bone upon export.

I think this is the biggest issue at the moment with my mask. I don't think I'm "attaching" it correctly, or even assigning the "Valvebiped" object as the bone, as instructed via the 3rdparty tutorial. I'll be looking over the sword tutorial in the meantime to see if there is any way I can figure out what I'm not doing.

Edit: Nimrodx's sword guide doesn't really help me out in regards to assigning a bone correctly in Blender because it uses a template which is already pre-assigned and positioned correctly. I need one that absolutely starts from scratch, and unfortunately, I think I'll only get that information from a workshop creator who has made working masks that are on the workshop right now.

Edit 2: I did get a copy of 3ds max about a year or two ago that I never ended up using due to being overwhelmed. If I get that going again, would you be able to help me with assigning the Valvebiped as a bone for my mask? Or better yet, if possible, would you be willing to provide a .3ds mask template for me to replace the files of, much like Nimrodx's .blend sword template? This might be my best bet for getting this to work.