Guide on how to re-skin a Set

[Dragon Brother 619]

EDIT: Actual Guide part here.

 

Well, it seems that lately I've been messing around with skinning items in this game more than actually playing it after getting a taste for it when coming up with a few ideas for the dual wield set suggestion. Anyway, this is what I came up with for a "Dark Seraphim" style Niokastes that I wanted to do, no actual changes to the design, simply the colour scheme, anything else would have been a tad too complex to do on a laptop without a drawing pad or something (plus my skills, or lack thereof, wouldnt have allowed for it). So yeah, I was just posting these pics for people opinions on the looks...Like I said, I was after a darker look (which is why she's holding a red lightsaber in some of the pics...), but had trouble making things look too dark without losing details so yeah...what do you guys think about how it turned out? What do you think of the skirt too?

 

 

 

 

[Scleameth 19]

Great job! I'm liking the net

[King Angel 69]

Very nice

[essjayehm 58]

That skirt is cool. Figuratively and literally

 

Good job, DB!

[Schot 414]

Oh wow! How exciting for you DB. I'm sooo living vicarious through your experimentation here. I've been wanting to dabble with design editing for a long time. That's an excellent first try. If that's what you start like I wonder how far you can go with this.

 

Can you talk a bit about the process of editing? I assume you find the graphics from the game install and edit them but I'm a little in the dark about where those graphics are and what the best way to edit them is. Do you use a paint brush or some kind of recolouring tool? I'm very curious to know!

 

I hope your topic here will inspire others to dabble as well.

 

 

Very exciting news DragonBro. Thanx!

[Dragon Brother 619]

Well, the hardest part of this is probably the finding the correct images to edit...provided you know what you are doing when it comes to editing them. Firstly, winrar is necessary to browse through the zipfiles the textures are in, notepad++ is a much better program to open the various textfiles with than normal notepad, DXTBmp is what I used to open the .dds (texture) files and a program to edit the textures with such as gimp.

 

First I guess you want to decide what exactly you plan on editing, armour/weapon, set/legendary/unique. Everything is contained in the blueprints.txt file which is located in install directory as follows:

 

<main Sacred 2 install directory>\scripts\server\blueprint.txt

 

Then, you need to find your item. Alot of them have german names, alot of them have semi useful descriptive names. Set items are usually named with a variation of set_<class>_<setname>_<item type>, but can be labled as miniset instead of set. For alot of the stuff added in the Ice and Blood expansion, its named rather lazily, the dragon mage minisets are given with numbers instead of names and itemtypes, and the normal sets have the setname abbreviated to two letters. Also, the unique armour added in the expansion is named like so:

 

armor_unique_le_dr_09

 

Where I assume dr is the classname (so dr = dryad), le would be some abbreviation of the set name and the number is some identifier of the order in which they were created.

 

Anyway, finding specifically what you are looking for can be tough, I usually search through the text document with the find function for a few different key words depending what it is I'm looking for. Set items, usually I will search for set_, unique items I will search for unique_. Legendaries...can be labled as legendaries or uniques, set items can be labled as legendaries, which means that it can get confusing looking for specific items. But taking the niokastes set as an example we would open up blueprints.txt and search for set_sera until we found mention of some seraphim sets. The first hit we get is for "set_sera_technik_arm".

 

 

Now, my german is pretty crappy, but technik makes me assume this is the revered technology set, so we keep searching for something different. The next piece is "set_sera_kampf_hand"...kampf...don't know that word, so plug it into google translate and see what it tells us. And we get kampf = fight.

 

 

Sounds like the niokastes set to me, thats the only melee set of the 3 main ones. Now scroll down in blueprints.txt until you get to the line "itemtypes = {<number>,}," in this items blueprint id.

 

 

The number, in this case 1402, corresponds to the id number in the itemtype.txt file which is located at:

 

<main Sacred 2 install directory>\scripts\shared\itemtype.txt

 

This is the file which tells you the location of the files you want to edit are. Open it up and search for the number we found previously, 1402. This should bring you to just below the itemtype info for what is hopefully niokaste's gloves. Once there, all we need is is the name under the model0Data section which is:

 

models/heroes/seraphim/sets/angeldust/c_sera-angeldust-gloves.GR2

 

The location of the model file for this set piece. Now you may ask, why do we want to find the model file, and the answer is...we dont But, the location of the texture that is applied to this model file is very similarly named. All of the textures, sounds, models and such are located in the PAK folder in zipfiles in the main install directory.

 

<main Sacred 2 install directory>\pak

 

All item/weapon/effect textures along with their model files will be found in the files graphics01.zip through to graphics19.zip (there will be more of these if you have the elite graphics installed I think). You won't be able to open graphics19.zip as it is encrypted through the securom copy protection the game uses, meaning no editing of the stuff added in Ice and Blood as far as I am aware.

Anyway, now most textures (including all items) have a medium and low quality texture file, plus a high quality one if elite graphics are installed, meaning there will be two textures for the model we have found. These will be located in very similar directory structures to the model, the only difference being the model directory gets replaced with "mq/maps" and "lq/maps" and there will be 3 texture files for each quality for the model file, each effecting different aspects ingame.

 

Medium Quality (mq) textures are located in zip files graphics02, 03, 11, 12.

Low Quality (lq) are in files graphics04, 11, 12

Models are in graphics05, 06, 07, 10, 11, 12.

 

Sets are found in (mq) graphics02.zip\mq\maps\heroes and are then sorted by class name, lq ones are found in graphics04.zip\mq\maps\heroes.

 

If you know exactly what you are looking for instead of searching though the text files above you can jump straight to this step and browse through the class folders until you find the set you are after simply by opening the files and recognising which set they are from. The names themselves are useless when it comes to recognising the sets. Anyway, we know from our model file that we are after the angeldust seraphim set, so open up the mq location, graphics02.zip\mq\maps\heroes and navigate to the seraphim folder and then the angeldust set folder.

 

 

And here are all the files we need to make niokaste's set look exactly like we always wanted. Each piece is conveniently named for where it is equipped and any piece which has "-var#" or "-v#" at the end of its name means it is a variation of the texture that can be found on randomly generated items, so editing these will have no effect on the appearance of the set, ignore anything with this little extra in the filename.

 

 

You will notice that for each item in the set it will have 3-4 texture files associated with it. The file ending with _d.dds or _dx.dds or _do.dds is the main texture file and details exactly what everything looks like ingame, its the main one to edit. The file ending with _n.dds effects how the game deals with depth on items allowing details to looks indented or outdented (?..raised is maybe a better word) and the file ending in _sg.dds affects the lighting of your texture - Making the alpha channel on this white results in the edited area glowing, whereas black gets rid of any glow.

 

There are some variations on what effects files have for different items. For example the niokastes skirt at the back, editing the alpha channel of the _d.dds file allows you to edit how much of the skirt is seen, black areas are not rendered which is what allowed me to make the skirt above look more like a net than a skirt. Other textures, such as the lucretis set for the shadow warrior have black regions on the _d.dds texture which are where the t-energy pulse effects are added. Detail can be added to this and in the alpha channel of this file these regions will be white to allow the full effect to shine through, darkening this region means the t-energy pulse will become less and less bright until it cannot be seen at all, only the details on the main part of the texture. Everything else...you will need to play around with for yourself, Im still learning when things will cause effects, what effects they will cause...and so on.

 

Anyway, back to editing the textures, first you want to extract them from their zip folders, select all the files you want to change, in this case I extracted everything that wasn't a variation on the set. After selecting everything you want, click on the extract to button in winrar.

 

 

On the popup, in the destination path, remove the name of the zip file you are extracting from and the \ immediately preceding it and the file will be extracted to the correct folder that the game will expect it to be in (delete the highlighted text as shown in the picture and then click ok).

 

 

After this, navigate to the location of the extracted files and edit to your hearts content. If everything was done correctly they should have been extracted to the following location:

 

]<main Sacred 2 install directory>\pak\mq\maps\heroes\seraphim\sets\angeldust

 

Open up your game and you should see the new effects when you equip the skinned item as the game (or windows) is smart enough to load the extracted textures in preference to those in the zip files. If you make any changes while the game is open you can press CTRL+F1 to refresh the game and force it to reload the textures that you have edited since opening the game. If you either delete a _sg.dds file from your extracted folder or extract a new one while the game is open it will crash for some reason so try to have everything extracted before you open the game.

 

I think thats about it, here are a few pics to show you the different effects you can have when you change different parts of the .dds files. Also, when I talk about alpha channels I mean the alpha channel displayed in DXTBmp in the top right corner and by main image I mean the image displayed in the center of the window. Also, if you do edit anything, edit the medium quality textures, the low quality textures are the same as the medium quality ones, they are simply rescaled to half the dimensions, so save the mq ones, then resize to half size to get the lq ones.

 

 

Changing the Lucretis Set T-energy effect. As shown by these pictures the brightness of the T-energy glow on the set piece can be decreased by darkening the _d.dds files alpha channel in the correct areas, and by adding colour to the original texture you can make the pulse appear over the top of other glows or colours.

 

 

Editing the alpha channel for the pelvisskirt file for the angeldust set allows the removal of areas. Only the white areas in this alpha region are displayed ingame.

 

 

I hope thats what you were after King Angel and it wasn't to long winded, if anything is poorly worded or doesnt make sense just ask.

 

@Schot...so far, as all I've done has been done with a mouse I don't really have to precision or skill to use any sort of brushes very much, I've used them for little touch ups on really small, less noticable details. Instead, most of what I've been doing hasn't really required much/any skill. All I've been doing is recolouring selected regions through changing the colour balance in GIMP. It keeps all the necessary details, but just puts them in other colours. I have been trying to work on adding stuff to armour like glowing text or symbols, but so far I haven't quite got the control Im looking for with a mouse. Having said that there are a bunch of cool changes that I've gotten through such basic means.

 

Colour inversion:

 

 

Changing saraki's helmet to a red glow from green:

 

 

And the changes I made to niokaste's, the darker colour was achieved by desaturating the stuff I wanted darker.

 

So yeah...thats my probably unneccessarily long post on this...

[Spunky 16]

Very nice write up there DB

 

Must have taken you a great deal of time indeed!

[Aegis 256]

Informative either way, and I do like the colors you gave for the Seraphim.

[gogoblender 3,223]

DB, this is just amazing! I'm a little astonished with how much of this game's different parts you've become expert with. I'd come to rely upon your great explanation of sacred's evil game mechanics, was impressed with your work on Wiki quests... and now seeing your venture into modding with this fishnet skirt idea.... Beautiful!

 

Your write up guide is very well thought out, I think you're going to create some reader follower/fans. Careful we don't get Schot lost in this new skin/modding

 

 

gogo

[Dragon Brother 619]

Very nice write up there DB

 

Must have taken you a great deal of time indeed!

 

Thanks...yeah it did, took even longer to post because I couldnt seem to access the forum for some time yesterday.

 

Informative either way, and I do like the colors you gave for the Seraphim.

 

Thanks

 

DB, this is just amazing! I'm a little astonished with how much of this game's different parts you've become expert with. I'd come to rely upon your great explanation of sacred's evil game mechanics, was impressed with your work on Wiki quests... and now seeing your venture into modding with this fishnet skirt idea.... Beautiful!

 

Your write up guide is very well thought out, I think you're going to create some reader follower/fans. Careful we don't get Schot lost in this new skin/modding

 

 

gogo

 

Haha...well...thanks Actually...knowing schots graphic skill and panache I would love to see what he could come up with given the time

[dreeft 9]

Very cool DB. Can you do a short video of her moving around to show how the skirt moves?

 

I like the idea of an evil seraphim

[Dragon Brother 619]

I'll have a try at that in a bit, gotta go pick up my little sis from school

[Dragon Brother 619]

Ok, here it is...the skirt moves like the skirt normally would, unfortunately the lines kinda of disappear as you zoom out which is exaggerated due to the lower quality of the graphics in the video compared to the game...but zoomed in you can see it.

 

[gogoblender 3,223]

Cool!

This is a great idea, Dreeft. DB, I think this is the first time I've ever seen a video of a mod in action like this in a topic.

The physics on the skirt is pretty good

 

 

gogo

[locolagarto 15]

I just caught this. Nice job DB. Your jumping into the deep end and getting into some really cool stuff here. Keep it up.

[Dragon Brother 619]

Thanks loco

[dreeft 9]

That looks great DB, nice fluid motion still. Works well.

[Schot 414]

I've been meaning to post on this for a long time and finally I get to celebrate in the joy of your experiment DB. The write up you provided, (post #6), is far more than I expected when I asked if you could talk about the process you went through while creating the new armor styles you made. I loved reading it. It's so well written that I imagine most anyone who reads it would feel the sudden urge to create their own styles. I find your guide makes the reader feel as if experience doesn't matter. You describe it so well that I'm sure anyone reading your experience could easily follow in your footsteps.

 

I'm not sure if you intended your write up as a guide but I certainly think it is guide worthy. Not just guide worthy but inspirational. To that effect, I dub thee pinned.

[Dragon Brother 619]

I've been meaning to post on this for a long time and finally I get to celebrate in the joy of your experiment DB. The write up you provided, (post #6), is far more than I expected when I asked if you could talk about the process you went through while creating the new armor styles you made. I loved reading it. It's so well written that I imagine most anyone who reads it would feel the sudden urge to create their own styles. I find your guide makes the reader feel as if experience doesn't matter. You describe it so well that I'm sure anyone reading your experience could easily follow in your footsteps.

 

I'm not sure if you intended your write up as a guide but I certainly think it is guide worthy. Not just guide worthy but inspirational. To that effect, I dub thee pinned.

Thanks schot It probably sounds like you don't need experience because I didnt have any experience doing this when I did it, that may have carried over, but all you really need is a bent for graphics design.

[gogoblender 3,223]

Congratulations on your Stickie, DB!

 

The guide you put together is just so impressive. I'm sure others reading it will learn, and maybe have some ideas on how to go forward with their own vision.

 

 

 

 

gogo

[Wardust 20]

Impressive.

 

Thanks to your tutorial, I was able to do a lot of work. In the picture I'm submiting you can see Niokaste armor transformed into a plate and chainmail armor, the leather set of the hight elf transformed to tiger and leopard skin and the MageDragon with skin and models changed.

 

I try to do the game more serious, and I was changing all the "irreal" colors and also I change a lot of sounds and music. 1'5g total :-P

 

 

 

Thanks another time!

[Dragon Brother 619]

No, thank you for showing us that. You've already done more impressive work than I ever have and could. Thats awesome, I'm glad I could help by showing you where things are

[gogoblender 3,223]

Nice modding Wardust! Plusses for the Leopard skin.

 

Ash, yer famous!

 

 

+++

 

 

gogo

[Schot 414]

Wicked work Wardust. Thanx for showing us! And thanx again DB for providing inspiration.

[Wardust 20]

Thanks people!

Perhaps I could share this as a mod, because it's impossible to find anything in the web (except de seraphim nudes xD)

 

At the moment this is what I have:

 

The "customoptions" changed to improve the camera (no zoom and any rotate in interiors, far zoom etc)and battlemusic removed.

 

A lot of music changed to medieval ones

(an example:

), and other as the orc region ones, replaced with "blade of darkness" music. (the region music that change are: Hight Elf, Human, Seraphins, Desert, Orc and all the special enemy battles)

 

The Seraphin: Darker colors, more metaliced armors, less hotty and more warrior in general :-P

The HightElf: less lingerie things and more chainmailed others, lot of new skins.

TheMageDragon: Changed models and skins. It's more like the centurion but with new armor skins.

 

Bard sound changed (no more heavy, he plays medieval songs)

 

Total:

textures: 170mgs

Sounds: 30mgs

Music: 53songs(432megs x3(different culities? I don't know)= 1'36Gs (the themes are longer, about 3minuts. Think that I eliminated the interruptions with battle music)

 

This is what its done :-)

but I don't have any idea on how to transform it in a mod, where I must upload it etc, I'm only a graphical dessigner! :-P

 

If someone can help me, maybe I will be able to share this with other people.

Regards!

Edited March 25, 2011 by Wardust