RougeTheBat Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 It has been a LOOONG day! I finally worked out the actual process for skinning (remember I am new to ALL of this) and it looks ok in 3Dsmax 5 (except for an odd seam that does not make sense why its there) but when I drop it into my override I get the sabre with a pink sheen, no skin? what could I be doing wrong. question 1. what does the TXI actually do and where do I get the data for it. Q2. is there a paticular naming convention that I need to use. Q3. what actually tells the game what TGA to use... thanks again... sorry to be a pain! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malivolus Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 Did you check this tutorial, it explains how to create lightsaber from A to Z. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T7nowhere Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 Ok to make thing clear. You built a new model, compiled it with replacer and then dropped it in override? Or Are you just useing max to check the progress of the skin? A to Q1) the .txi file is a simple text file that contains additional information for your texture. Most Commonly used to add shaders to your item. A to Q2)I'm not certain what you mean, but the txi must be named the same as your texture. so if you texture is "mytex.tga" then you txi would be "mytex.txi". If your talking about the name for the lightsaber model then it should be w_Lghtsbr_xxx single hilt (xxx is the 3 digit number) w_Dblsbr_xxx double hilt w_ShortSbr_xxx short hilt A to Q3) For items the texture reference is stored in the model. so if the texture is applyed to the model when you export it from max then it should work fine if the texture is in override. If you have done this then check to make sure your texture is a perfect square. (as in 64x64, 128x128, 256x256, ect) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RougeTheBat Posted March 25, 2005 Author Share Posted March 25, 2005 Yes actually I have... Its been opened on my system for 2 day's now. I used it to learn how to rig the sabre, and the suggestion of using the waylons tech. of uv mapping I took. He does not (that I have seen) mention a naming convention or what the game looks to for the mesh skin. the only thing that is mentioned in relation to TGA's is the checker pattern for determining where you have mesh stretching. The TXI is not even referenced. I did use it to learn more about the modeling, but I already had a lot of that. He does not mention what you need to save the mesh skin name as. If i missed something obvious... I am sorry, I think my brain is about to burst from too much input! I am more than happy to read how to do things just point me to where to go and I will. I checked any of the tuts in the modeling and skinning section that seemed to apply but failed to find the data I needed to accomplish this last (and I though simple task). any other ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RougeTheBat Posted March 25, 2005 Author Share Posted March 25, 2005 Yes the model is in the game and working... just no skin. I did use max to help me paint the skin.. it looks mostly right in there. good enough for now. the txi is named the same as the skin. thank you. is the skin's name based on the model or data in the model or something else? is the txi file necassary or helpful only? is there a list of commonly used effects and what they do? Perfect square, when I exported it it was a 800X600... no good clearly. suggestions for best size overall? the text file that is exported about textures when you compile the ascii model back to binary... whats it for. logging only? if I seem terse forgive me I am tired but don't want to stop until this last thing works. Thank you very much for your time and patience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChAiNz.2da Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 Like T7 had stated perfect square will make for the best (and necessary) option. 512x512 should be more than enough to give you some playing room for detail. I wouldn't go over those dimensions though.. 512x512 = 1,025kb (1mb) & that's just for the skin (256x256 is a nice middle ground too) I assume you've done the UVmapping? This is absolutely necessary in order to skin your custom model. T7's tutorial should cover the steps you'll need. svösh also did a great tut here: http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=143297 If you have UVmapped, set your edited skin (512x512) as your model's material (in the material editor)... and repeat the steps necessary in order to export your model. IF, you have already done all the UVmapping and exporting... and the only thing you need to change is the dimensions of your skin.... use MDLOps renamer function. It will allow you to set the saber's hilt skin & blade colors without having to go through the trouble of the "import / export" game ::edit:: Almost forgot about the .txi in notepad, enter this: envmaptexture CM_Baremetal make sure there's no spaces after the line or below it. Save as ANSI format (not .txt) and then double-check the file to make sure it doesn't have a .txt extension. Now in your skin file (.tga), the higher your alpha channel, the brighter 'metallic' sheen your skin will have. Though watch out, 100% turns it into a murky "gold-ish" color. I'd suggest lower than %50 on most areas.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T7nowhere Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 For the size of the tga it all depends of the amount of detail you want it to have. (but it needs to be square) I would suggest 256x256 or 512x512. Most of the weapont textures that are in the game are 64x64. very low detail imo. For the txi info you can scan whats applied to the textures in the textures pack but generaly what most peole use on weapons is envmaptexture CM_Baremetal This combined with the alpha channel level will make your texture shiny in-game. When you apply a texture to your model, you should name that material(in the materialeditor) the same as your texture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RougeTheBat Posted March 25, 2005 Author Share Posted March 25, 2005 I'll test immediatly... wish me luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RougeTheBat Posted March 25, 2005 Author Share Posted March 25, 2005 I now have an inviso sabre! its completly invisible when the texture is there. any ideas... I used photoshop 6 to save it. Its a 32 bit uncompressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow Blaze Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 Did you make the txi file for the hilt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChAiNz.2da Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 Originally posted by RougeTheBat I now have an inviso sabre! its completly invisible when the texture is there. any ideas... I used photoshop 6 to save it. Its a 32 bit uncompressed. 1) Sounds like you have 100% alpha & no .txi in your override. Make sure the .txi file is the same name as your skin hilt .tga or 2) Does your skin have an alpha channel? (it should) 3) double check you .txi entry (in notepad). Make sure it's envmaptexture CM_Baremetal no lines or spaces after the text or below it. "Save As" yourhiltname.txi 4) make sure both your hilt skin & .txi file are in the override folder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RougeTheBat Posted March 25, 2005 Author Share Posted March 25, 2005 just as I read your posts I figured it out... I am an artist by hobby, (stuff I can't post here) but I have never worked with alpha channels before, read the tut. in the modeling section and it all fell into place. thank for the help so much, I hope to start making things now.... and try to pay everybody back for all their help... I don't think I can but I am gonna try. I am no writer, but perhaps this data that was told to me would make a good one? the sabre looks good in the game needs more tweeking of course (first try and all) but it works and looks right. THANK YOU Chainz and T7, and anybody else who answered my unending questions. Stuff soon! ::chainz your sig , whats it from heard for many years but don't know where it came form! DARKECHIBI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChAiNz.2da Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 Originally posted by RougeTheBat ::chainz your sig , whats it from heard for many years but don't know where it came form! DARKECHIBI Yeah, alpha channels will get you 8 out of 10 times Glad everything fell into place though My sig? oh gadz... I've been using it forever. Do a google and you'll see it's everywhere... Guess I need to start looking for another hehehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkkender Posted March 25, 2005 Share Posted March 25, 2005 Originally posted by ChAiNz.2da Like T7 had stated perfect square will make for the best (and necessary) option. 512x512 should be more than enough to give you some playing room for detail. I wouldn't go over those dimensions though.. 512x512 = 1,025kb (1mb) & that's just for the skin (256x256 is a nice middle ground too) On a side note you can craft your skin using a larger format for detail and then scale it down once you are satisfied with it. so If you want great detail you can always work with 1024x1024 then when your done scale the image down to 256x256. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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