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Author Topic: An Intro To Hacking Part 1: Making Your First Texture  (Read 3194 times)
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Gazoinks
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    « on: August 06, 2009, 05:07:51 AM »


    This is the first part in my intro to hacking series.  It takes you through the creation of your first texture.  I'll try to get part 2 up soon.

    An Intro To Hacking (Part 1)

    Needed
    • Photoshop (This tutorial will be written for Photoshop 7.0 but it should work with most programs)
    • ASH
    • ntcompress and texconv.  These can be found in the Revolution SDK which I cannot provide a link to.
    • Character .pacs
    • Basic Photoshop Knowledge (Mainly what the polygonal lasso is)
    • (Optional) Visual ASH
    ASH and the character .pacs can be downloaded from The Download Everything Thread.

    Instructions
    (Click thumbnail for full picture)

    Step 1: Place ASH in its own folder somewhere on your computer.  Unzip FitMetaKnight00.pac into the same folder.  Place ntcompress and texconv also in the ASH folder.


    Step 2: Whether through VASH or manually, run step1_extract.bat.  When it prompts you, type in the name of the .pac you want extract.  In this case, FitMetaKnight00.pac.


    Step 3: Once ASH closes, open up your chosen image editing program (in my case Photoshop) and navigate to 03metaknight_body within the ASH folder and open the .tga it contains.


    Step 4: What you see displayed in front of you are the textures for MK's gloves, mask, shoulder pads, and body.


    Step 5: Select the polygonal lasso tool and draw a rough outline around the main mask texture as well as the other stuff I've selected (observe picture).


    Step 6: Go to Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation.


    Step 7: Check the colorize box in the lower right of the Hue/Saturation Window and drag around the Hue, Lightness, and Saturation sliders until you find a color you like.  In my case I went with a nice blue.


    Step 8: If you feel the need, do other stuff with the texture (draw on it, add text, etc.).  In my example, I added a G to the shoulder pads and some lines to the mask and reduced the Opacity.  (Opacity and Blending styles won't be covered in depth here.)


    Step 9: File>Save As.  Navigate to 03metaknight_body in the ASH folder, make sure Targa is selected as the File Format and double click the original file (tex#00_14.pac in this case).  When it asks you if you want to overwrite, click yes.  When it asks you the Targa Options, be sure to choose 32 Bits/Pixel.


    Step 10: Run step2_create.bat in the ASH folder.  Type "y" for the textures you edited (in this case 03metaknight_body) and type anything else for textures you didn't edit.


    Step 11: Wait for ASH to finish and move the resulting _new.pac and _new.pcs files somewhere else.  Rename them to FitMetaKnight##.pac and FitMetaKnight##.pcs.  Replace the ## with the number of the costume you want to replace.  The list of costumes can be found here.


    Step 12: Observe my Dynamic SD Loader guide for info on how to get it into your game.





    Tips:
    • There must only be one file (the tga) in each ASH folder.
    • Use the Character Page at the Dojo for refreshers on what the character looks like.
    • Don't use fully saturated colors! (255, 0, 0, or 0,255,0, or 0, 0, 255) it'll make all our eyes burn!  Even with black or white, use a dark or light grey instead.  It'll improve your textures immensely.

    Next up: Indexing and other advanced character texture stuff!

    Questions?  Comments?  Stuff to add to the tips?  Post here!
    « Last Edit: October 21, 2009, 09:16:01 AM by Gazoinks » Logged



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    « Reply #1 on: August 29, 2009, 06:08:34 PM »


    I don't really want to bother you with stupid questions, but ASH isn't working properly.
    It refuses to extract .pac files and has an error message that says the file is in use, but I don't see how. I tried to skip that part but it won't repack the files, it has an error message that there are no files to repack.
    Please help.
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    « Reply #2 on: September 02, 2009, 06:17:32 PM »


    If you're using ASH v2.3, the normal textures are added automatically without prompting you a question.  You're still prompted a question for indexed textures though.
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