** 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"

That's awesome

Your mod will be a great addition.

You, sir, are my new Hero.

Bravo!

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

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

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

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!

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

I'd be delighted if he did.

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

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

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.

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?

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).

A tutorial is not impossible, we'll see

In the meantime I've put up a quick webpage for the finished skins. I've put the skins in mods depending on faction and style, so the blue human skins are in one mod and the camouflaged cyborgs are in another. They should be compatible with most other mods and with each other, as long as only one mod affects each set of skins.

Site is here but my advice is that you turn on any pop-up blockers, and we'll see how far the bandwidth quota will last. I'd happily take any recommendations for other free webhosts

Savefile.com

A friend of mine felt insulted since I didn't let him host the page in the first place so I guess I will move it soon

Still, thanks for the tip. I might host addons there if they get large to save my friends bandwidth.

I will add them to StrategyCore soon (if it's okay?).

Edit: Added the Cyborg and Human skin. Let me know if it looks okay.

I'm using them in my game and they look fab! Thanks Tubal!

Actually, is it possible to re-upload them? I switched to http://tubal.slush.gotdns.org/ and changed the readme in the zips to reflect that. The old page has been replaced with a message and link to the new site, but it's always nice to let people go the short route
The updated zips are available on the new site.

Because of the move I've included some php-scripts that didn't take me all day to modify to my needs, oh no... and they're not even done yet... There are formating issues as well as added functionality I want to add but they should work as intended. PHP is nice but since I've never programmed with it before I'm fumbling in the dark, wearing shades

Thanks for the kind comment Nusku

Hi

Can i use both Human and cyborgs mods at the same time?

Yes, as far as I know it should be no problem. As long as they do not modify the same characters / items, they will not interfere with each other.

@Tubal: Updating the files now. I'll keep an eye on this thread, or you can PM me if there are new updates. If you plan on many updates for the same package, version numbers would be nice

I've added skins for the psionics at last
http://tubal.slush.gotdns.org/skins.php


Well it works for me


No changes are planned but you never know. I'll add something like "v1.1" to the end of the filename if I do though.

edit++ btw, is there any rules on this board? I can't find them

At the top of the GENERAL forum: Forum Rules

Thanks

edit++ Added a green skin for humans. Mostly flat green but with some tigerstripe camouflage on cloth parts.
http://tubal.slush.gotdns.org/skins.php

Added a skin section to our files section in your honour Tubal . Well done!

Ha, maybe I should get working on a guide so don't have to be so lonely...

Added a red skin for the cyborgs, similar in colour to the originals but with a camouflage pattern.

Yeah, a guide would be GREAT!

Oh, and the latest skin added.

... except for the camouflaged psionics I just added

Now that I have camouflaged "realistic" skins as well as skins in the classic colours for all three factions I can start thinking about some more unusual skins or skins for other models. Themed, matching skins is one idea.

If you'd (please) do the guide, then I could create the camo patterns I'd like to see, and I could begin skinning all the toys in my mod ...

Tubal, a skinning guide would be a great Valentines gift. *hint hint.*

Then I can finally start playing ShadoWarrior's mod with fancy new skins!

The first draft of a tutorial is up here. I'd welcome constructive criticism on it, especially from the less 1337 crowd (if you didn't get that, then I mean you ). I know what I mean, but it's hard to look at it with someone else's eyes.

A note for those who want to skin weapons is that the process is (probably, I haven't actually tried) the same but the skins are in the "tactical\textures\weapons\" folder, rather than "tactical\textures\units\". I will probably add that to a later version, along with a few other things.

If someone manages to figure out exactly what the ######x_specular.dds and ######x_normal.dds files do they are welcome to tell me. One is probably related to the shine, or glossiness, of the models but I don't know for sure.

Being non-1337 I can tell you that the font you used is hard to read. Might I suggest a larger point size, and/or perhaps switching to a non-serif font?

Thank you very much for creating this tutorial. Now all I have to do is brush up (pun intended) on my Photoshop skills.

I increased the size a bit and made the column thinner, it should be a little easier on the eyes now. White-on-black isn't the most ergonomical look though

Thank you. I can now read the page without fear of further ruining my already deteriorating eyesight.

Just one question, with the skinning mod and ShadoWarrior's weapon rebalancing mod is it possible to create new variants of enemies? Can we copy a basic WGs profile, change the stats, give it different weapons and colour it differently and thus create a "new" WG?

Only Altar can answer if completely new aliens can be added to the game. Remember that I was unable to add new abilities because of hardcoding in the game. The same may be true for adding new NPCs. Regardless, the question belongs in a different thread than this one.

Added

_normal.dss - bumpmap texture
_specular.dss - gloss texture
_filter.dss - gloss filter texture( not sure )

this textures used with shader to make game models looks more realistic.

The _specular.dds definately control shinyness as can be seen in this image. Black is matte and white is gloss. Even his pants are shiny now

Very neat looking! (though I agree with ShadoWarrior in that no soldier in his right mind would use shiny armour )

I added a bit to the tutorial about skinning heads and weapons, including a sample mod with a golden deagle. Nothing really groundbreaking after you've read the first part but it's there for completeness
I will probably add something about the _specular files later.

I did note something odd while playing today though: a neutral human (those with green armour) was wearing a light helmet with my skin on it, not the green as he should. A small "bug" but not something I can do anything about.

http://tubal.slush.gotdns.org/

Added a pack of matching skins for all player factions, though still separated in three addons for those who want to pick and choose:
http://tubal.slush.gotdns.org/skins.php#packs

Very nice, Tubal. I'm impressed

Doing skins for SW's Mod would be awesome too (hint hint) lol.

That's on my (secret) to-do list.

About that, do you know how to change the skin for an item without changing the original? For example changing the laser sniper skin for the laser MG item without changing the skin for the rifle at the same time.
So far I have only done straight replacements for the original skins.

Also, somebody should really re-skin the wargots... I remember thinking how ugly they looked in their orange armour the first time I saw them
Any suggestions for a colour-scheme?

Tubal your my hero.
final my cyborgs can get out of there ugly pink pants and look seriously kick ass.
only the thought of it. soldiers in pink pants with red jackets pfff

HAIL TO YOU. keep up the good work.

These skins are six Awesomes out of five.

I hope you can work with ShadoWarrior and help him skin his guns... his guns need skinnage. And his new cool lewts.

To get the game to use a new .dds name you must edit the model file (found in the "\tactical\models\" tree), which is something I don't know how to do. However, Shai_Hulud is an expert at that. Perhaps you can collaborate with him, and then once you know how to do it, you can post instructions so that I (and others) can do it.


Blood red, with black trim. Perhaps some yellow trim also.