Skinning, Not all that hard actually Options

[Tubal]

** Edit 8/3 -06: For a full list of my skins, visit my homepage


I've been unable to find any skin-mods (in the short time I've been searching that is) but I've read in some of the tutorials that it's hard to re-skin for UFO:AS, ShadoWarrior's tutorial for example. However, as I completed the steps in the tutorial I found that the textures were simple .dds-files, a format that is used in other games (Sid Meier's Pirates for example) and there are tools to convert to/from them, I used DDS Converter 2 (do a google-search )
Here's my results so far (click to enlarge) :


Humans in light and medium armour respectively.
I generally kept the blue of the original game since the laputans are probably unfamiliar with surface camouflage and have to be able to function in many different environments anyway (cities, bases, etc)
Also, blue camouflage is more "SF"


Cyborg 1 with advanced body, agility and dexterity limbs, and 'borg 2 with basic body and strength arm/leg implants.
I used more realistic camouflage for the cyborgs as I feel they would be well versed with fighting on the ground against mutants, reticuleans and other dangers. It also feels right to have realistic colours for the cool and logical cyborgs.


The psionic is just a test and the colours will most likely change. I have limited interest in psionics in the game as they are more vulnerable to damage than the humans and cyborgs. That's the reason I chose camouflage for them as well: they need every bit of protection they can get

The work is going a bit slowly since I skin things as I get them in the game (no heavy armour or advanced psionic suits for example) but the skinning itself is pretty quick.
I use Paintshop Pro and a lazy method to skin as I simply (well, it takes a bit of work...) block out the different parts I want to colour (armour, cloth, stripes etc) and then create "Overlay" layers over the original, filled with the colour or pattern and give it a mask with the pattern I blocked out previously. This leads to a lot of layers and the originals take up a lot of space but it's dead easy to change patterns if I want to, just fill in the proper layer completely with the new pattern. The mask makes sure it only shows up where it's supposed to.
The "lightsoldier.pspimage"-file that has the skin for human light armour is 7,25 MB and 9 layers, compared to the "lightsoldier.dds" that is 1,33 MB. The mod itself is 14,2 MB so far and will probably double when I'm done, if anyone is interested
To put the mod in the game I just save the original as a .tga (since DDS Converter works best with them), convert them to .dds and put them in the proper folder in my mod directory as per ShadoWarrior's tut and then run a batch file I made that creates, fills, and moves the finished mod to the game-dir. Then "Just push play"

[nonstop]

That's awesome

Your mod will be a great addition.

[Cpl. Facehugger]

You, sir, are my new Hero.

[ShadoWarrior]

Bravo!

[Excalibur_Bane]

At last a talented skinner! Excellent work. I look forward to your mod.

[Slaughter]

Good stuff! Thanks for the heads up, and keep up the good work!

If only we could add new models to the game...

[ShadoWarrior]

I generally kept the blue of the original game since the laputans are probably unfamiliar with surface camouflage and have to be able to function in many different environments anyway (cities, bases, etc)
Also, blue camouflage is more "SF"

While blue is "pretty", it's unrealistic. Blue really does stand out (almost as much as red does) against natural backgrounds. Would you consider a compromise that uses gray/black for the majority of the human armor with perhaps just the faction emblem and some minor (small) details in blue?

Even if you leave things as you have them, I think your skinning is gorgeous, and I look forward to your mod release!

[Slaughter]

Maybe he could re-skin some of the stuff in your mod even ShadoWarrior? (if needed)

[ShadoWarrior]

I'd be delighted if he did.

[Slaughter]

Then you have more work lined up if you have the time and interest Tubal

[Tubal]

I found a plugin for photoshop (and painthshop pro accepts ps plugins) that generates camouflage with the number and hue of colours you want. It's a bit limited since it only does one type of pattern, but as I only use it on one faction I think it's okay. I used the same colours as they have originally basically, but added a few different hues for a more camouflaged look.
It's still a work in progress but it's good to go through a few different versions so you know what will work.


I also skinned the heavy armour in the same style as the others humans.
Another colourscheme is very possible, and technically quite easy to do. Getting it to look really good is trickier



Work on the Weapon Rebalance mod (I'm guessing that's what you're talking about) is something I could think about but reading through a 98-page thread is a bit too much for me

[PlacidDragon]

Work on the Weapon Rebalance mod (I'm guessing that's what you're talking about) is something I could think about but reading through a 98-page thread is a bit too much for me

hehe, that is perfectly understandable

That shouldnt be nessecary though, just hook up with ShadoWarrior (the creator of the mod) and do a little brainstorming session together, etc

[ShadoWarrior]

That latest camo for the human looks GREAT! Adding the red striping to the heavy armor is pretty, but makes the armor even easier to spot. Suggestion: create two skin mods, one with camo and one with "pretty" armor. That lets players choose which they want (or they can mod your mod to get a mix of both).

As for my Weapon mod, you don't need to read the entire thread to reskin stuff. Just read the three text files included in the .ZIP. If you have any questions after doing so, feel free to PM me.

[ShadoWarrior]

For those that are interested, the files containing armor are in:

\tactical\textures\units\cyborgs
\tactical\textures\units\humans
\tactical\textures\units\psionics

It'd be really nice (hint hint) if Tubal were to write a step-by-step quickie guide on how to edit one of these .dds files. (I have all the proper tools, including Photoshop and I downloaded DDS Converter 2.1.)

Also, when I view a .dds file outside of a game (BTW, Civ4 also uses .dds) I see a 2D rendition of whatever it is, which makes visualization hard for me. Is there a 3D viewer, and does the plugin for PS allow viewing in 3D?

[Shai_Hulud]

For those that are interested, the files containing armor are in:

\tactical\textures\units\cyborgs
\tactical\textures\units\humans
\tactical\textures\units\psionics

(I have all the proper tools, including Photoshop and I downloaded DDS Converter 2.1.)

I use powerful enough tool for creation, viewing and convertings DDS of files, but it is delivered together with DirectX SDK. Still is plug-in for a photoshop (too in SDK).