CarthOnasty

Additive is equivalent to "add" or "linear dodge" mode - the color is added to whatever is underneath it.

 

Punchthrough is equivalent to "normal" mode, I think.

 

In the game, punchthrough is generally used when only transparency is needed, when there really is supposed to be nothing there (grass, leaves, grates, hair, etc) while additive is used for any translucent texture (such as windows) because it brightens the background and makes it easier to see.

 

You might be wondering why punchthrough is even there when we have alpha channels that can handle transparency. That's because the game is crazy and won't render anything behind another object even if its texture is transparent from the alpha channel, unless a blending mode is applied.

When using blending additive, can I have only certain parts of the texture be translucent? Or must the whole thing be? Ideally I'd have a texture that's mostly opaque, with a small area being translucent.

AFAIK isbumpmap just tells the game that this is a bump map just like cube tells it that this is a cubemap.

 

I also suggest that you post this in the tutorial section or that it's moved there.

 

Thanks for collecting this information.

You are correct! And that's a great idea, I'll recommend to a mod or repost once I get everything fleshed out. Thanks!

I am your padawan, instill within me your knowledge. Thanks so much for all the info!! I tried to paraphrase to keep everything a short read, so I hope you don't mind. Thanks again.

I was looking for a centralized list of all of the parameters for .txis and what they did, but I wasn't able to locate anything. Here's what I've discovered so far, looking through various KOTOR files. By all means let me know if anything is inaccurate or if you can provide any more information. Thanks!
 

blending

• Various blending options using the alpha channels of the .tga. (Think Photoshop blending options.)
• blending additive
  • Used for translucency.
  • Equivalent to Add or Linear Dodge, the color is added to whatever is underneath.
• blending punchthrough
  • Used for transparency.
  • e.g. grass, hair, etc.

bumpmapscaling

• Increases the intensity of the bump map, i.e. increases the height of the bump map.
• bumpmapscaling 1

bumpmaptexture

• Defines the bump map for the texture.
• bumpmaptexture C_Hutt01b

bumpyshinytexture

• Used with a bump map on a texture that uses an environment map.
• e.g. If you're using cm_baremetal on a metal texture, you'll want to use bumpshinytexture instead of envmap.
• bumpyshinytexture C_Hutt01b

cube

• Defines that the associated texture is a cubemap.
• cube 1

decal

• Renders the texture on top of anything it's flush with. Black areas of texture will be translucent.
• decal 1

defaultheight

• The height of 1 frame for an animation.
• defaultheight 128

defaultwidth

• The width of 1 frame for an animation.
• defaultwidth 128

envmaptexture

• Defines the environment map for the texture.
• envmaptexture CM_Bright

fps

• The speed at which frames will cycle when animated.
• fps 24

isbumpmap

• Defines the texture is a bump map.
• isbumpmap 1

isdiffusebumpmap

• ???
• isdiffusebumpmap 1

isspecularbumpmap

• ???
• isspecularbumpmap 1

mipmap

• Multiple copies of the same texture in different sizes to be rendered based on distance from PC. With this command, you can force the game to always show the highest mip.
• mipmap 1

numx

• The number of horizontal frames for an animation.
• numx 4

numy

• The number of vertical frames for an animation.
• numy 4

proceduretype

• Followed by cycle, initiates the cycling of frames for animations.
• proceduretype cycle

Here's a more specific example for how an animation would work:

• proceduretype cycle
• defaultwidth 256
• defaultheight 256
• numx 3
• numy 2
• fps 12

Shout out to Kexikus, JCarter426, and DarthParametric for all the additional info.

Try using this on it and seeing if it might work before giving up.  My apologies if I've misunderstood the problem.

No need to apologize, I wasn't very clear. This was mainly a post about creative block frustrations.

Your best course of action would to either give the existing sphere a new UV layout more suited to what you have in mind, or outright replace the mesh with something else.

Yeah, that's what it seems like more and more would be the best course of action. If I go down that road though, I'd do the whole thing. That's more of my version 2.0 plan, but I really might have to for stop-gap.

I'm kind of stuck at this point with the mod. I've gotten everything to the point in which I really like it, except for this little darn thing:

 
Not to mention I find the skin heinous to boot:

 
It's kind of a bizarre shape, a decahedron I want to say, and there's a lot of repeats. And then every other side of the shape uses a different part of the skin; any kind of seamless look has been damn-near impossible. I've gotten a basic texture on there I like, but I'm having trouble "finding some character" with it. e.g. The original skin has that weird circle/sun rusty-gold thing on it.
 
Anyway, I'm at a loss right now. It seems like a waste to just slap a texture on there considering all of the other details I've added to the rest. I'm certainly open for any suggestions!

This is going to be pretty cool once I get it implemented.

The particle system doesn't care one whit about your TXIs. The data is on the model, as you suspected:

 

The grid size determines how many animation frames there are and how they're organized. The one in your image is 2x2. It's the same way it would be in a TXI. If you just want to improve the texture resolution, then you don't need to do anything except keep your resolution a power of 2 and portion the frames the same way. All the game knows to do is halve it. If you want to add more animation frames, however, then you would need to edit the model. All this data is in on the OdysseyEmitter modifier.

You the best! Thanks for the in-depth info.

I've come across a .tga that is animated in a model (essentially increases and decreases in size to provide a glow-effect), though there is no associated .txi. Here's the file in question:

This leads me to believe that the graphic is animated by the model, though the .tga looks like it's set up in frames. Is there a way I can check to see if this is the case in the model?

Here's the HUD with a 50% transparency. Looks better imo and just needs a few tweaks here and there. Thanks for input!

If it's using blending, additive, then it doesn't need an alpha channel - all the black parts of the texture are rendered transparent. So to make it less opaque, you could darken the texture.

You were correct! This did the trick, thanks!

That's probably what it is then. I couldn't find the txi info to confirm it, but it seems to be the most likely thing.

 

Also, as an unrelated suggestion for your new textures: In yours, the spiral shape of the galaxy is very hard to see, so maybe improve on that? I think it'd look more like a galaxy and less like a star cluster then.

I agree, that's another idea I've been playing around with. I liked the idea of using a nebula in there, but it starts to get really cloudy.

Can't you use the alpha channel for that? Or is it used for something else?

It usually is from what I understand, however on all of these HUD pieces, the original alpha channel is completely white. Therefor meaning the whole .tga has the transparency applied to it. (From what I can gather.)

Looks great!

 

Maybe you could make the HUD more transparent and the map itself more opaque?

Yeah, looks to me like you killed of the transparency of the original. Did you delete the alpha channel?

The alpha channel is still there for sure. I'm not sure how I'd go about making the HUD more transparent though. My theory is that the the original was so blurry that it gave that illusion of a more transparent HUD.

Here's an update for you folks. I've been messing around with the map hud(?), getting cleaner lines and sharper graphics. Take a look:

The one downside I'm seeing (personally) is that now the graphics are more crisp, they also tend to clutter up the map as a whole. I've been playing around with alternate graphics but have to find something I like. I think once released, I'll over the original version and then my version.

Best-organized WIP post...ever???? Love the skin.

Haha, glad someone appreciates my idiosyncrasies... Thanks bud.

I'm not sure how to best describe this, but here goes. Can more than one effect be applied to a model in the .txi file?

e.g. Can I have envmaptexture CM_Whatever AND blending additive? Can and would more than 1 alpha channel have to be used? TYIA.

Yes, if you want them to be unique. The only other option would be to incorporate them into the room model. It may still be possible to call the animations via script in the same fashion as the vanilla game. You can do so in TSL at least, not sure about K1.

Gotcha, maybe in the final version then I'd offer just a basic revamp and then a version for extra placeables and whatnot. Seems a bit short-sided on BioWare's part, but ah well. Thanks for the info!

 

I like your skin so far, especially the blue lights!

 

But in K1 there's an awkward placeable limit, as stated here which you should be wary about.

Thanks! In regards to the placeable limit (bummer btw), would this be in reference if I were to make a model for each zone?

 

Agreed with djh269, the lights look great. Good luck with the project!

Thanks!

///// 01. Background /////

Hey folks, I wanted to learn about reskinning, modding, etc. I noticed this last time that the star maps could use some tender love and care, so I thought I'd give them a shot. Here's an example of one as well as its skin as a reminder:

///// 02. Prep /////

After locating all of the model files, I wanted to first know where everything fell on the model, so I made a grid and applied it as the star map skin:

Resulting in the following:

I then took screen caps of various angles, locations, etc.

///// 03. Planning /////

I knew I wanted the textures to be a much higher quality as well as much more realistic. I perused through various metal textures, corroded, rusted, etc to find one I liked at still fit into the time period. I found old, abandoned trains to be a great source of inspiration/textures.

Regarding the runes on the model, I wanted them to stand out much more and thought were a very cool feature that could be integrated. I made them a bit more front-and-center and added a glow via CM_Bright.

///// 4. Work Thus Far /////

Okay, enough stalling, here's what I have so far:

///// 05. Challenges /////

• Lining up the indentations was very difficult and they honestly don't line up on every side. I just got them as even as I could considering the sides and hoped for the best.
• As you can see in the above screen caps, there's discolored between the body and the feet, though this isn't the same for every location. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about that.
• Lining up the circle piece is pretty tough, as the surrounding areas' texture is also about 40% larger so it's just a matter of finding that balance.

///// 06. Next Steps /////

• Figure out what the hell to do with that base. I'm not even sure I like what's there originally. Maybe leave it blank? Or does it need something, I dunno.
• General seam clean-up.
• Retexture the sphere in the middle as well as a couple other pieces once the map opens.

///// 07. Future Plans /////

• In thinking about a version 2, I'd like to actually edit the model files. I think some edges could be softened, but mostly I'd like to adjust the mapping to avoid so many repeated areas of the texture.
• I'd also like to adjust the lighting in a couple of places.
• Would I go as far as to customize it for every zone you find a map? I dunno, that's a big endeavor.

///// 08. Final Remarks /////

Well there you go. Thanks for reading through this wall of text. Feel free to leave any constructive criticisms or advice. I'm open to any and all!

I've separated out an .mdl with mdlops (just to see what textures a model uses). I'm on a Mac, so I'll see if I can't run it via Wineskin or Parallels. I may just be getting ahead of myself though and should maybe make a basic reskin to start.

Thanks for ALL of the info, I really appreciate it!

Gracious, much more than I anticipated, but I'm not surprised. Would this be where I create the ascii version of the mdl file? Could this be done in Blender or Maya or is 3ds Max the best way to approach this? Thanks for the feedback!

When playing around with modding K1, I've noticed a lot of parts of skins are repeated on the model. Here's a example I noticed with the star maps:

Am I able to keep the original model, though create a new skin (that in this example) would be unique for each arm of the star map? Does this make sense?

Thanks for any info you can provide!

Recently, I've been playing around with modding some skins (K1)--simple placeables, etc. to get a feel for it. One issue I keep running into is that the modded skin in-game is much darker than outside of game.

I'm wondering if this is an issue with the .tga format? Or is there something I'm not seeing attached to the object I'm skinning? Could it be purely environmental light throwing off the color?

Any advice you could offer would be much appreciated. Thanks!