Okay, now I have a 'real' problem.
I ripped the hardpoints file with assimview, then used milkshape to convert the mod to an 3ds ascii (asc) format. Using truespace, I managed to get the new, nifty square torpedo tube area onto the DD I was playing around with. I only moved verticies, not creating new ones. The whole thing skinned properly, so it seemed fine.
When I used milkshape to export it back to a mod file, I tried taldren's mod viewer and assimview to load it, so I could get the hardpoints back in place.
Both programs crash mysteriously.
Are there any general reasons a modified mod file won't load? The change I made to the model wasn't particularly extensive, just an extension and a bit of tucking here and there.
A point of oddity was that both before and after, the ship appears untextured in both Milkshape and Truespace. Am I accidentally removing something, do I have to reapply the textures, or...?
If anyone thinks they might know what's going on and needs more info, just meow at me.
Hoping to refit its destroyer before Milkshape's unregistered existance expires,
Holocat.