Quote: "What I'm needing to know is any extra steps that people take when they hit problems like this. The entities that I'm trying to load are characters."
I wish I could offer more, but I made our developments so I can create the core level (geometry) in FPSC, build the entire level(s) as a complete build, then port into DBP and go from there. I coded it to use the "level#.zip" files from the build, which is where I also copy the associated folders such as texturebank, segments, etc. That's why I mentioned the folder structure, but perhaps my method is for using the actual FPSC level along with the media whereas yours is more porting the media only into your project.
Quote: "As a quick tip, I recommend using Notepad++ to look inside files and not Notepad or WordPad because it's a MUCH better text editor. It also has plugin support for things like Hex edit mode, XML formatting and so on. Also, you can right click a file and go 'open in Notepad++' on any file; even binary ones, so it's super convenient."
I like Notepad++, but we actually use TextPad ourselves. But you are correct- it is nicer to edit the files with either Notepad++/TextPad.

There's no problem that can't be solved without applying a little scripting.