Start skinning (Unmapping? and stuff)

[United]

Well, Ive decided I'd like to start skinning for RO, but I have run into a problem.

The other game that I skin for, Aces High II, already has the skin unmapped. All you need to do with it is open up a bitmap file and edit.

From what I understand, you must unpack/unmap? the texture you want to skin in RO.

My question is, how do I go about doing this?

[Moz]

Let me take a swing at it (i've had afew too many beers :S)

open unrealed.

Click on the texture browser. (top menu, the one that is a picture icon)

Find the package with the vehicle you want and look for the texture.

Right click and select export.

The file is DDS, which means you'll need a DDS plugin. (google)

Getting it back in is alot more work.

I'm actually working on a mut right now that replaces the skins of the stug 3 and p3 myself. But it **** at skinning and they look like balls.

[Arro]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"]I don't know why everyone suggests the plugin for PS.

Just use this small program. Click

It works perfectly.

Now, if someone can just tell me what to do in ROED to get the skin in game, I'll be all set.
It's like some freaking secret or something... [/FONT]

[Drag-On]

well, everyone suggests it because when you want to convert it you'll probably will want to edit it to, so why not open it in photoshop/paintshop, edit it and then save it as another file

if you want to get it ingame, import it into a myLevel package and select it in the texure browser
then place the static mesh you want into your level, and somewhere in the staticmeshes properties there is an option which allows you to change the texture.
press on the use button next to that option and it should be replaced with your own texture.

pretty sloppy explanation by me, but i think it's covered in the unrealwiki @ beyondunreal, you'll find it more detailed there

[Arro]

Originally Posted by Drag-On

if you want to get it ingame, import it into a myLevel package and select it in the texure browser
then place the static mesh you want into your level, and somewhere in the staticmeshes properties there is an option which allows you to change the texture.
press on the use button next to that option and it should be replaced with your own texture.

pretty sloppy explanation by me, but i think it's covered in the unrealwiki @ beyondunreal, you'll find it more detailed there

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"]No I mean for player skins. I see no static meshes for that anyway. I can get it in the animation browers. I think it has something to do with spawninfo actor or w/e it's called, but I still am unable to figure it out.[/FONT]

[Moz]

its a coding thing. you can go to the animation browser and change the skins to preview it (DON'T SAVE) but if you want to use then in a map you're going to have to get a coder to help you and a mapper to use it.

[Arro]

Originally Posted by Moz

but if you want to use then in a map you're going to have to get a coder to help you

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"]You wouldn't mind pointing me to the appropriate
resource as to where I could learn to do it myself?
I've looked all over the unreal wiki - and am clueless.

I guess I'm not good at finding things like this... [/FONT]

[Welt]

The DDS converter gives me errors, "Cant load something.dds, convert failed"

Any ideas how can I convert them if that program doesnt work? (No photoshop on this comp.)

E: had to resort to photoshop, it did the job fine.

[Moz]

Took me many moons to learn the wonders of my ways.

Then again I am a moron.

What you need to do is subclass 3 actors. (the tank pawn, the cannon weapon, and the cannon pawn)

*ofcourse you'll need to learn what subclassing is.

Change the default properties of the new subclasses to reference your skins

*ofcourse you'll need to learn what defaultproperties are

Then you'll need import the skins

*ofcourse you'll need to learn how to work with packages.. (LIKE NOT USING THE SAME NAME, EVEN FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF PACKAGES - this one was a tough lesson is frustration)

Then you'll need to compile it.

*wotgreal is the uscript editor to have. the free version is okay except an annoying message at the begining.

Then you'll need to stick it in a map. (find any mapper, ask them nice enough and they could make a version of konigsplaz is about 30 seconds that would have your skin in it.)

???*

PROFIT

*unrealwiki knows all

[Moz]

if you come to me with a finished skin. If I have time I could throw it all together for you. All I would need is the .utx file with the skins

[Arro]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"]Well I made a recolor of the stock green german skin to the grey color which I took a sample of from a real picture of the M36 german uniform. It looks pretty good in the animation editor. I do think I need to go in ROED and find the helmet texture though.

If you want it, or a screen, hollar.[/FONT]

[Viper83]

Screens Please!!!!!:d:d:d:d

[Arro]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS]Well, nothing to brag about but...



I still need to do the helmet and the collar.

I also think it would be smart to skin the gore textures. It wouldn't make sense if you threw a grenade at someone wearing a grey uniform, and their bloody detached arm had a green sleeve on.

I also was thinking about adding more brown to the suspenders because they look kind of green.
[/FONT]

[Fennich_FJR6]

Originally Posted by Arro

[FONT=Trebuchet MS]Well, nothing to brag about but...[/FONT]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS][/FONT]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS]I still need to do the helmet and the collar.[/FONT]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS]I also think it would be smart to skin the gore textures. It wouldn't make sense if you threw a grenade at someone wearing a grey uniform, and their bloody detached arm had a green sleeve on.[/FONT]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS]I also was thinking about adding more brown to the suspenders because they look kind of green.[/FONT]

The problem with photos is that they often don't accurately show colours, particularly 60 year old photos. Feldgrau WAS green! (usually) - although due to the dying processes available at the time & the varying quality of wool used on uniforms, there was a great deal of variation in colour - some feldgrau was greyer, some greener & some even almost brown. It was also rare that a soldat had matching shades of feldgrau on trousers & tunics (even different parts of the same garment may have had different shades). Fully grey uniforms are usually found in Hollywood, but not in the Wehrmacht.

However, if you still wish to have a grey M36 uniform, remember that the collar should be a dark bottle green.

anyway congrats on your first RO skin & I look forward to seeing what else you do.

[Arro]

[FONT=Trebuchet MS]I started on the hats, but I have yet to find where the collar is.
It isn't in the same texture with the uniform...or then again it
might be, I'll have to look again.

Here are the photos I used.

Link


[/FONT]

[Fennich_FJR6]

You'll find the collar on the bottom right of the rifleman texture.

The only reliable photo on the Hessan Antiques site is the black & white period photo (not exactly a good colour guide!), the rest are pictures of repro uniforms & not the best repros either - all vendors of repro kit say that theirs is the best & most accurate - it's a sales pitch. (As a fallschirmjager reenactor I'm fed up with all the Heer camo FJ smocks that are sold as 100% accurate when the camo is vastly different to luftwaffe camo)

[Arro]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"]Originally, I was trying to make a uniform similar to one that a soldier from the 2nd Panzer Group would wear. I was researching what their uniforms were and I come across a uniform requirements page for what seems to be one of those WWII reinactment groups (here. So I searched for pictures based on those uniform specifications.

I don't even think the Hessan Antiques uniforms look all that great, I was just looking for a color sample.[/FONT]

[United]

Ah, just got the time to figure this out. Thanks for all of your help! Hopefully I'll be able to turn out a few decent skins in the coming weeks.