Transparency in skins

[Circuit]

I know there's a way to make parts of a skin transparent. Several of the existing skins do it. Anybody have any idea how?

[FuShanks]

Alpha Transparency. It'll be in the help file/manual of your paint program of choice.

[Circuit]

As far as I know, .jpg files don't save alpha layer info.

[SEPtIc cHiLD]

just change the text in the model_default.skin file.

 

eg.. if you wanted to make the kyle models legs dissappear, change the line in the model_default.skin file from:

 

hips,models/players/kyle/kyle_legs.tga

 

to something like:

 

hips,models/players/kyle/kyle_legs1.tga

 

since the file kyle_legs1.tga doesn't exist the legs will be invisible.

[Octavius]

you can type nodraw instead of a file path too. that will tell it to not even draw that section. Although I feel that apha channels are better. the game can handle jpg OR tga. and tga handles alphas...

[FuShanks]

*sigh*

 

JK, like Q3, reads JPEGs only when it can't find a TARGA. If you'll note, all the .skin files reference TGAs. So, simply create a 32-bit TGA with an alpha layer, and delete the old JPG. Use your head, chief.

 

Yes, "breaking" the .skin file technically works, but why bother?

[Darkhold X]

couldnt you just delete that line of the skin file?

[SEPtIc cHiLD]

umm...I wouldn't know what an alpha channel was if it bit me on the ass, and no, I don't want an explanation. That is all.

[FuShanks]

Originally posted by Darkhold X

couldnt you just delete that line of the skin file?

Ahem...

 

Yes, "breaking" the .skin file technically works, but why bother?

Originally posted by SEPtIc cHiLD

umm...I wouldn't know what an alpha channel was if it bit me on the ass, and no, I don't want an explanation. That is all.

Good, 'cause I wasn't about to explain it again. RTFM.

 

This place feels like junior high. That's not a good thing.

[SEPtIc cHiLD]

wow FuShanks..humourless and condescending, nice combination.

Thanks for restoring my lack of faith in human nature.

[Circuit]

You're a damn *******, FuShanks. Why even bother responding to a question if it's so below you to do so? I have RTFM and I've had Photoshop for years, but I've never made skins in JK2. The way skins are handled varies from game to game so I like to ask questions before I spend a lot of time doing the wrong thing. Is that so incredibly difficult to understand for someone as intellectually advanced as you?

 

Anyway, thanks for the help from those of you who were able to without speaking to me like I'm an idiot.

[Darkhold X]

well I guess he was trying to say either method would wourk, or something. Of coarse since im am doing my first skin on any game period I wouldnt know. Anyway I have to do this for my skin so I will try what will work for me.

[FuShanks]

Allow me to retort...

 

You're hardly the first person to consider me an *******. Not coincidentally, you're not the first person to take something to heart from a complete stranger. Lighten up. Switch to decaf. Take a walk. I don't hate you, skip. I don't even know you.

 

As to the tone of my reply, I don't believe I was out of line considering that:

 

1) Any game that supports transparency in skins uses 32-bit TGAs to do so. If you've used Photoshop for years, I assume you know what a TGA is. I also assume you possess a modicum of intelligence. The skin files all reference TGA files, not JPGs. So why not try to use a TGA with an alpha channel? Even if you didn't think of it yourself, why not try it when someone blatantly makes the suggestion in plain english?

 

2) The request for transparent/translucent skins has been made more times on this forum than I care to count. I have personally responded to about half of them. The first time I actually posted background info on alpha channels as well as a quick tutorial. The next time I referenced that post. Every time since I have simply stated to RTFM. I'm sick of doing people favors.

 

3) It's fecking basic, man. I find it inconceivable that you've used Photoshop for years and don't know what an alpha channel is. That's akin to claiming to be a hot rodder and having no conception of the clutch.

 

4) This is like junior high. No one understands subtlety, no one gets a joke unless it's obvious, everyone wants stupid-ass "l33t" **** like flame sabers and WWF skins, everyone takes themselves way too fecking seriously, and no one reads a goddamn thing before asking a question that's been asked and answered a thousand times before.

 

5) As an example of #4, the illustrious SEPtIc cHiLD decided he was better off doing things backasswards for the rest of his life. So feck 'im. I never had a problem with you, Circuit. You asked something, I did my best to answer. You claimed my answer was wrong, I proved it was correct. You wanna call me an *******, then that's peachy. Like I said, you're hardly the first.

 

Condescending? Perhaps, but I talk that way all the time and here I feel justified, which is a boon. Humourless? Just 'cause you don't get the joke doesn't mean it wasn't made, chuckles.

 

@Darkhold: Yes, I was saying either method would work. Much like running into a wall or using the brake will both stop a car.

[Circuit]

Well, if you'd actually read my posts, I never said you were wrong and I never said I didn't know what an alpha channel was. I simply said that I wasn't aware that jpgs could contain information about the alpha channel and didn't know you could use TGAs for the skins.

 

And it's not like you're being forced to answer the question anyway, since you've obviously put loads of time and effort into answering other, similar questions on this board. If you're "sick of doing people favors", stop posting to the threads. And if you think you upset me or made me angry in any way, then you have no clue. It takes much more than someone like you to make me angry on a friggin' gaming forum. I called you a condecending ******* because that's what you came off as after someone asked a simple question. Not everybody reads this forum every single day and the search function crashes this stupid piece of crap browser I have here at work.

 

BTW, take a look at the boots_hips.jpg in the Jedi player's skin. Notice the large green area doesn't show up in game and it's a JPG file. That's what I was wanting to know about. Since there's apparently a way to use JPGs and still get transparency, I'd rather do that than use a TGA, which has a larger file size. If it's not too much trouble, you think you could explain that? You seem to know quite a bit about skinning for Q3 engine games. If you like, you can go ahead and call me some more names and tell me to calm down and such.

[FuShanks]

I hate forums where cross-posting is rampant and questions are asked multiple times. When those are both due to not only lack of moderation, but ****ty forum software (you're not the only one having search problems) my aggravation is mutliplied tenfold. Like I said, it's not you, skip. It's the dozen people before you. You just happened to be around when I felt like venting.

 

*shrug*

 

As to your question, I'm not at home so I can't check out the Jedi model. As it is, I have no memory of a large green area on the skin. At least not in the model viewer.

 

Raven used one model as a base for other models, but not all parts of the model were transfered from piece to piece. For example, the legs skin for the Chiss model has some extra parts that aren't used on that model, but are on other models. Basically, you end up with wasted space, but it saved time in development. So my first guess (without being able to verify it) is that the green areas on the skin simply aren't mapped to the Jedi mesh.

 

However, if it's showing up in the model viewer, then it's one of two things. One, it's a glitch of the model viewer itself as installed on your machine, as I remember no such green areas being displayed on the mesh on my machine. Or two, it's a function of the .skin files.

 

From a coding standpoint, yes, it's possible to get transparency with a JPG. But it invovles either a seperate greyscale image for transparency or simple color replacement on the JPG (Raven used the latter for some menu effects - black is rendered as transparent). However, neither seems to be implemented for player skins. If you want transparency you've got to either use TGAs and take the file size hit (which is negligible in-game anyway), or edit the .skin files.

[Circuit]

Yeah, the green areas don't show up in the model viewer, so I assume what you said about the wasted space is correct. I've heard the same thing you mentioned about the use of transparency in JPGs, so I was curious if it worked on the player skins in this particular game. I'll just use TGA.

 

Thanks, man.

[FuShanks]

You're welcome. Have fun.

[monkeyglove]

Thank god it's over. "Why all the fighting" -H. Simpson (stoned)

[Circuit]

Eh, I don't really consider that fighting.

 

But, I do have another problem. Using the TGA with the alpha transparency makes the skin I'm doing show up correctly in the model viewer; everything that's supposed to be transparent is transparent after turning on the alpha blending option in the modview. But, in game, the parts that are transparent are visible. What am I missing here?

[FuShanks]

Might require a shader file...