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Old 27-03-08, 13:26   #1
Mytly
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Arrow Modding Tips, Tricks and Tutorials

Welcome to the Modding Tips, Tricks and Tutorials thread. This is a thread for modders to share any tips that would make creating or running mods easier in either Tomb Raider: Legend or Tomb Raider: Anniversary. Let’s share our knowledge so that everyone can benefit from it.

Please use this thread to post:
  1. Any tips that will make modding a particular outfit/level, or just modding in general, easier for other modders.
  2. Any modding tricks or secrets that you have discovered and would like to share with others.
  3. Any modded textures that you have made which others can use as well.
  4. Tutorials for any aspect of modding (refer to rule no. 4 first!).
  5. Tips for using Photoshop or other photo editors like Gimp.
Rules:
  1. Please post only modding related tips here.
  2. Please do not post anything other than tips – any questions, requests, thanks, discussions, etc. can go in the Legend or Anniversary modding threads.
  3. Please do not use this thread to show off your own or anyone else’s work – use the Showcase threads instead.
  4. Do not post anything that is already present in the tutorials on Tomb Raider Hub or in this thread, unless you can add to it or simplify it significantly.
  5. If you have posted a modding tip in any other thread, you can quote it or link to it here.
  6. Do not take credit for other people’s work! If you post something that someone else originally discovered, please credit them.
  7. If you want to post large textures or more than two textures in heavy formats like .tga, .bmp or .png, please post them as links.

Please remember:
Any posts that do not follow the above rules will be deleted.

Last edited by Mytly; 27-03-08 at 18:18.
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Old 27-03-08, 17:21   #2
Lafa Cvoft
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Arrow Some more in lessons...

1. How to make a new logo
You can use this one:

TRL.EXE_0xAE029F2A

You should load this texture in photoshop ( for example) and to edit so, as you want!

If you don't know, where can you get Photoshop:


2. How to make a new font
It is very simple! At the beginning find the texture in game. Then start Photoshop and edit that texture so:
1. Use this picture, as background:
2. Now you should make layer for every letter.
3. Pasteurize the textures with letters and edit them to that format, as they on the background image!
4. Save picture and make a mod!
Example:
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Old 29-03-08, 06:05   #3
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Default How to Streamline the Testing Process + Mod the Wet Texture

Testing Mods

Modding is a process of trial and error. Here I will share with you my process for testing mods. Hopefully it will save you some time and headaches trying to line up textures perfectly. Thanks Mytly for teaching me how to streamline my streamlining process! lol

You will need:
- TexMod
- A image-editing program that can handle layers, e.g. Gimp, Photoshop
- A fairly fast computer(PC) that can handle running a game, TexMod, Photoshop/Gimp, and possibly a web-browser at the same time (to look up any textures/reference photos you may need)
Tips:
- Be familiar with using the alt+tab buttons to switch between windows and programs
- Pay attention to what format you're saving your images in. If you forget to flatten your image before you save it, your image program might save it as a .psd or .xcf file instead of a .dds, etc. You won't see your changes if your image's file extension differs from the one written in your log file.


------------------------------------------------------

Step 1:
Log your textures and create a backup folder containing original, unmodified textures in case you mess up completely or need them for reference later.

Step 2: Open your image editing program and the texture(s) you'd like to change. Duplicate the texture as a new layer and/or create a transparent layer over the original texture. Just like when you create a digital painting, it is wise to keep each of your major changes in a different layer so you can easily change or delete something without losing all of your work.

Step 3: Use Mytly's tips for running your edited textures without creating a .tpf file

Step 4: Press alt+tab to switch between the game and your image editor as needed. Keeping your image editor and all the textures you're working on open allows you to unflatten the layers to easily correct any mistakes.

Hopefully this tutorial will help you streamline your mod testing process. This will save you time you would have spent rebooting the game for each test or wishing you didn't have to start over on a texture to fix one tiny detail.

*If you want to continue work on your mod at another time, save the unflattened texture in a format that supports layers, like .psd for Photoshop or .xcf for Gimp, etc. That way you can open this file up at a later time, finish your changes, flatten and save it as the file the original texture was logged as.
-----------------------------------------------

Modding the Wet Texture


Here I will show you the secrets of the mysterious wet texture. With a few tricks you can turn that little brown square into something awesome. This tutorial is inspired by Zipper - one of the first (if not the first) modders to discover the abilities of the wet texture.

Step 1: Open TexMod and run the logging mode to begin extracting textures for your new mod.

Step 2: Choose a level/area with water nearby. Dunk Lara in the water and start scrolling through the textures with the + and - buttons to find it. You'll know you've found it when Lara's top or outfit looks like it has a clear pinkish-purplish shell. The texture itself will look like a tiny brown square in the upper-left corner of your screen. Close Texmod after this step.

*You might be wondering...Why does the wet texture turn that weird purple color when you select it, instead of turning green like other textures? It's actually a clue to how the texture works!

Step 3: Open the wet texture in your image editing program and resize it to at least 512x512 pixels, and increase the resolution to 300dpi or so (as long as it is higher than 72dpi, the texture's original resolution). Now the fun begins!

Step 4: If you are familiar with my testing process then these next steps will be easy. Make a transparent layer over your wet texture and write some random symbols/numbers/letters all over the transparent layer using a bright colors. Distribute these symbols/numbers/letters in a grid - this will become a map to help you place features on the wet texture.The more detailed you get, the more helpful your map will be. Flatten the layers and save the file under the same name and extension it was logged. Minimize the image editor, but do not close anything.


Step 5: Follow Mytly's tip for using the DefFile feature to load your edited textures without creating a new .tpf, and dunk Lara in some water. You'll see your symbol-grid magically appear...

But the symbols are completely different colors! Why? It's because the wet texture inverses any colors you put on it. Any color you paint on the wet texture will appear as its opposite, or inverse, in the game - white becomes black, greens become reds/pinks, blues become oranges/yellows, and so on. I wrote the letters on the top of my grid in bright green, but the letters appear pink on the top of her shirt. We also see that for this particular outfit, the wet texture stops at the bottom of her shirt, then repeats itself separately on her shorts.

Step 6: Minimize the game or press alt+tab to go back to your desktop.Do not close the game or TexMod. Unflatten your texture and decrease the opacity of the grid layer. This way you can still see the grid to place your details, but it won't get in the way of your painting. Make a new transparent layer to paint your details on. I wanted to add some pink hearts to the top of her shirt and her shorts, so I just filled in the area above the grid where I had written in green letters. To make the hearts show up as pink in the game, I have to paint them the opposite color of pink (which is bright green) on the wet texture.

When you are done painting the details you want, delete the grid layer or make it completely transparent. Flatten your layers together and save the texture under the same name and file extension as it was logged.


Step 7: Use alt+tab or click on the minimized game window to bring it up again. Roll Lara through some water again and you'll see your results


*Modded wet textures work best on white or very light-colored outfits.

Last edited by Quasimodo; 01-04-08 at 21:42. Reason: Simplified some steps. Thanks Mytly! :)
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Old 29-03-08, 08:09   #4
Lafa Cvoft
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Smile

Photoshopish tutorial
Recoloring texture
  1. If you don't care about your texture, choose a new color and get brush with Opacity=50% or less and color your texture
  2. If you care about it you can do:
  • Click Layer -> New Adjusment Layer -> Hue/Saturation and make that color, you want.
  • Click Layer -> New Adjusment Layer -> Color Balance... and make that that color, you want
  • Click File -> Save as... and save into .PSD format. Double your background Layer ( with that color, that you wanr, or that texture, you wanted. You should have only one Layer). Then click Filter -> Filter Gallery -> Texture -> Texturizer. Find your saved texture and make Scaling=100% and Relief=that you want


Load Screens
  1. Simple Load Scrrens.
    • Find textures in game.
    • Go to Photoshop and click Image -> Image size. Make it into 1024x768
    • Run game and make screen, you want or find screen in Internet ( or make it yourself)
    • Extract your image to load screen file
  2. Survey load screen.
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Old 31-03-08, 20:05   #5
Mytly
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Default Run your edited files without creating a .tpf

Creating a .tpf file everytime you make even a minor change to one of your modded textures can be quite annoying, especially if you, like me, like to keep checking how every change you make looks like in the game. But there is a simpler way, using TexMod’s Logging Mode. This is how it works:
  1. Keep the files you have edited in your Out folder (i.e., the folder containing your TexMod.log file).
  2. Start TexMod and go to Logging Mode. Make sure the field marked “DefFile” contains the path to your TexMod.log file (see the screenshot below).
  3. Click Run. You’ll see that your modded textures appear in the game, even though there is no .tpf, and you’re running Logging Mode not Package Mode.
  4. Close/minimize the game, and go back to your Out folder. If you need to edit your files further, simply repeat these steps as many times as necessary. If not, then go to Package Build and build your .tpf. In short, you don’t need to create a .tpf until your mod is completely done. Make sure that you run your final .tpf once just to check it, though, just to be on the safe side.
This simple and efficient method may be known to other modders too, but I decided to mention it after reading Quasimodo’s excellent post above – since she was trying to streamline the modding process, but included creating a .tpf at every step, I thought I should share this tip that streamlines the process even more.

Last edited by Mytly; 31-03-08 at 20:06.
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Old 01-04-08, 15:21   #6
Minty Mouth
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Default

The Perfect Blonde Texture.

I know I have lots of trouble creating the perfect blonde texture, so you guys could well have too. I thought I would share this with you.

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Old 10-04-08, 14:54   #7
zipper
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Default dirt texture edit

Quote:
Originally Posted by Quasimodo View Post
Editing the dirt texture is quite easy, really. Some outfits don't have a dirt effect, like the dresses and bikinis. For all the other outfits, make Lara tumble around the floor until she gets good n' dirty, then scroll through the textures until the dirt turns bright green, and log the texture. In your image editing program, resize the dirt texture to at least 512x512 pixels, and place whatever picture you'd like to replace it with on top of it. When testing your dirt effect, you can use trial and error to find which places you'd like to keep transparent, e.g. over her face, and make that part invisible in the alpha layer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zipper View Post
right! -- the face is somewhere in the center of that thingy -
normaly the dirt is darkbrown and has a simple cloudy alphachannel
  • the blood patch
  • the extra dirt patch
  • the ice patch (in snow in ghana)
  • the fire patch (in ghost raider) and
  • the teminator patch
    have some opaque parts and some transparent parts (black and white in alpha)
  • the feather patch
  • the graffiti patch
    are the same - I think?!
(the higher the resolution the higher the quality of dirt... the ice patch with quite detailed frost pattern has 2048x2048 pix )

Quasi!
I´ll combine our posts and put it in tutorial threat! okay?
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Old 21-04-08, 20:17   #8
C.C. 13
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Smile Useful! Replace textures with real images!

Ok...sure you have noticed that good moded outfits look so realistic?
Thats because they replace the original textures with real stuff...don't understand me?
Take a look at this picture.
Yes it's an eyebrow... and a real one. You can just copy it in photoshop (I say photoshop cos i use it and i think it is very good for moding) and put it on the right place! Change some colours and you're done!

Look at the pic below. by putting real eyes,hair,makeup from real people... she's beutiful! You can make it even better!
Just remember to be patient and search for many different images,until you find what u like!


Last edited by C.C. 13; 21-04-08 at 20:18.
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Old 25-04-08, 01:58   #9
Lara's #1 Pal
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Default For those of you who use microsoft paint.

For those of you who use microsoft paint.

I use paint, worst program ever. But luckilly i never do any big projects, i only recolour outfits. Heres how to make the classic blue top, red.

Step 1.Go into texmod and load the texture you want blah, blah, blah.

Step 2.Now open the picture in microsoft paint.

Step 3. Take the part of the texture you want, in this case the blue top, and press "cut."

Step 4. Open up microsoft publisher.

Step 5. Paste the texture.

Step 6. Right click and select "Format picture"

Step 7. You will see a button marked, "Recolour", press it.

Step 8. Click on the colour you want, Red, or go to custom colours.

NOTE: You will need to choose a darker version of the colour for it to look right.

Step 9. Click "Apply"

Step 10. Copy your recoloured image and paste it back into paint.

WARNING: The picture will be bigger than it was when you origionally cut it.

Step 11. Luckilly you pressed "cut" so you can see the size it was.

Step 12. Put it in place and press save.

Step 13. Put it into texmod and run the game.

Well done, you have sucessfully re-coloured a top, this also applys with any texture, you can have a green-skinned lara if you like.
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Old 02-05-08, 11:19   #10
Lafa Cvoft
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Smile Making textures more beautiful

Making textures more beautiful
1. Open Texture
2. Use PS
3. You have such texture ( example):

Then click:
Image ->Adj. ->Autocontrast
Result:

4. If you use textures with black or white color/ skin, delete this colors from your detailed parts
5. Save image and enjoy
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