Texture Modding Help! (I'm a newb)

[PooPMasta]

Hi! I just started getting into modding and wanted to try simple texture mods going before moving to more complex stuff. I followed some tutorials on extracting character pac>pach>zlib>dds files and altering the image as a whole (saturation, hue, brightness, etc.) I played around a bit more and tried to add logos maybe? and tried coloring sections of the texture files but can't seem to get the alignment right sometimes. I feel like I'm doing a terrible job and was wondering if any experienced texture guy could teach me a better way to modify textures (like a detailed tutorial maybe?). I'm doing most of my research via Youtube lol. Hopefully if I'm good enough I shall release some mods back to the community  Cheers!

[hovathagod32]

when you're coloring textures you don't always have to mess around with hues etc. You can just create new layers and draw (pen tool or whatever you're comfortable with), or color in what you want. drag your _ao.dds and _n.dds files (so if it's an outfit.dds you're editing, try adding the outfit_ao.dds or outfit_n.dds) into your workspace as a guide for the particular thing that you're trying to color or draw. Alignment issues are really trial and error.

[PooPMasta]

Thx hovathagod32 for your comments! So far things I know how to do/workflow for editing textures:

1. Get texture.dds file (for example all_color.dds)
2. Duplicate layer (don't know why, just a habit.. I like to duplicate layers :P)
3. "Select Color Range" of the part of the texture.dds file I want to change (Still a bit hard to select what I want sometimes)
4. New layer with selection (and this time I apply hue/saturation changes) Still have some issues with good type of blending methods to achieve different things.
5. Clean up selection with eraser tool or pencil/brush tool on mask directly
6. Save as dds and re-inject (victory dance optional)

I haven't gone around editing the ao.dds and n.dds yet. Do you think its good to work with the ambient occlusion and normals while editing the texture? I guess it could be useful for alignment!! I find editing the colors of dark/black images really hard. I just started to learn to invert and stuff. Sorry for my newbieness. Will upload some stuff to forums once they are decent looking xD Cheers!

[ObsoleteRipZz]

As you mess around with it, it definitely gets easier and you find corners you can cut rather than sticking to the default layout. The n.dss I still haven't figured out how to duplicate it with different designs properly. If I were you I'd get the NVidia .dds plugin because it'll come in handy with texture edits. Each one has 4 mip maps. When you paste it back into Visual Studio it only goes to one mip map if you do it through photoshop with the dds plugin it'll generate for you 

[PooPMasta]

ayy thx RipZz!! Plugin is god-sent :D! Today I figured out multiplying the ao maps on the texture.dds makes it look 10x better !! I'm learning slowly but surely. Anyways quick question (not sure if I should create request/help topic) but does anyone know where to find the logos used in-game ala CAW stuff. Just looking to get some logos kthx

[ObsoleteRipZz]

Not too sure to be honest BUT you could probably check psd-dreams logos are usually fairly easy to find. Also search the forum for past game textures those help a lot as well if you are doing older attires.

[PooPMasta]

Nice one RipZz! I didn't even know about such an awesome site, Really helps some stuff I'm putting together  My texturing potential is limitless!!  

 

Side note: This may be a bit pre-mature but do you know good tutorials to inject shirts/other accessories/ maybe hair?? that are in-game to superstars entrance model? I'm still looking for a good tutorial out there. I have Blender but I never modeled before

[LordJustice17]

As you mess around with it, it definitely gets easier and you find corners you can cut rather than sticking to the default layout. The n.dss I still haven't figured out how to duplicate it with different designs properly. If I were you I'd get the NVidia .dds plugin because it'll come in handy with texture edits. Each one has 4 mip maps. When you paste it back into Visual Studio it only goes to one mip map if you do it through photoshop with the dds plugin it'll generate for you 

Pro Tip (that I just learned recently): Visual Studio will also generate mipmaps. Click on the little scroll icon in the tool bar and it should show a drop down menu. Go to "tools" and then "generate mips".

Second Pro-Tip (which I learned long ago): For those using GIMP as their editing program, there is also a DDS plugin available for it which auto-generates mipmaps (http://registry.gimp.org/node/70).

[PooPMasta]

 

Pro Tip (that I just learned recently): Visual Studio will also generate mipmaps. Click on the little scroll icon in the tool bar and it should show a drop down menu. Go to "tools" and then "generate mips".

Second Pro-Tip (which I learned long ago): For those using GIMP as their editing program, there is also a DDS plugin available for it which auto-generates mipmaps (http://registry.gimp.org/node/70).

Cool stuff dude!! but.... what are mips and why are they important? (I did some research and couldn't understand) * I'm stupid  * Tried using Gimp for edits but didn't work, guess I was missing the dds plugin! Thanks mate  Cheers!

[LordJustice17]

 

Pro Tip (that I just learned recently): Visual Studio will also generate mipmaps. Click on the little scroll icon in the tool bar and it should show a drop down menu. Go to "tools" and then "generate mips".

Second Pro-Tip (which I learned long ago): For those using GIMP as their editing program, there is also a DDS plugin available for it which auto-generates mipmaps (http://registry.gimp.org/node/70).

Cool stuff dude!! but.... what are mips and why are they important? (I did some research and couldn't understand) * I'm stupid  * Tried using Gimp for edits but didn't work, guess I was missing the dds plugin! Thanks mate  Cheers!

Mips are essentially separate layers that are just smaller versions of the main layer. They are used so the game doesn't have to use system resources rendering high resolution textures when the object is not close to the camera.

[PooPMasta]

Mips are essentially separate layers that are just smaller versions of the main layer. They are used so the game doesn't have to use system resources rendering high resolution textures when the object is not close to the camera.

I get it!! Yup. They're pretty important!  Ohey shameless plug but I just released my first of many texture mods to come, check it out when you can. I still haven't figured out how to modify the pach to change clothing/props items on existing models though. Need some guidance on that.

Not too sure to be honest BUT you could probably check psd-dreams logos are usually fairly easy to find. Also search the forum for past game textures those help a lot as well if you are doing older attires.

 

Best. Site. Ever.

Edited June 4, 2016 by PooPMasta

[PooPMasta]

Ok so, question... If I wanted to add a shirt to a superstar's entrance... how can I mod that in? Right now I know how to get to the yobj file but not sure what to do with it... how to mod it and re-inject etc, are there tutorials out there to help me? Also can i re-bake normals and bumps? using the yobj?

[PooPMasta]

So I'm just starting to release my mods now.. and attaching screenshots, I used imgur.com but the previews don't show up sometimes on the sites... what image uploading service is recommended to fix this? 

[LordJustice17]

So I'm just starting to release my mods now.. and attaching screenshots, I used imgur.com but the previews don't show up sometimes on the sites... what image uploading service is recommended to fix this? 

I use tinypic, it seems to work well enough.