Edit: I Would post a screenie of my current texture in game but my photohosting site doesnt want to load...


I've been working on learning to texture and model for about 3 years now. However these next few months I am afforded with the time and desire I need to actually get it done. First up was modeling, I learned the basics and a few advanced techniques and my knowledge is coming along nicely, I already know how to use the CS and understand the scripting language ( well the old one). Next up on my checklist of things to start learning ( with the goal of putting all of my hardwork together during the Skyrim modding period) is texturing. I have been working with GIMP for a few weeks now and have a handle of some the tools and have been focusing on learning how to keep a steady hand during some of the more intricate parts. Enough for the story, now on to the issue.....

I understand how to make a texture but how does one apply multiple textures to the same item? As in....this part is metallic, but I want this part to be a blue cloth or similar situations in which multiple textures apply to the UV map. So far I have just been using filters and simple brushes on the DDS files. I am noticing the difference as the items appear different in game ( not to say they look good, but they are there =D. What other filters or tools will I want to use to make my textures look like a seamless part of the universe, even if I am just changing the coloration of an item.

One thing I have noticed with my dagger retexture is that it appears very flat and glossy as if someone wallpapered the texture on. I understand that the textures need a normal map and in some cases a reflection map but how do these things work in Skyrim specifically?


If you can direct me to any links or answer some of my questions I would be indebted. It has been a long term goal of mine to learn the steps of modding from the ground up in order to discover what I am good at. This would put me one step closer to creating a mod that I feel worthy of uploading.

On a side note

- I am in a programming based Game Design course at a 4 year school. This past quarter I learned Java and while reading over some of the scripts written in TEScript I noticed many things that were similar (mostly keywords). I know they are completely different but will any of my programming experience help me when it comes time to writing scripts. ( I currently understand how they work but have not tried to implement them yet.)

From my understanding (at least assuming nothing has changed), the mesh has to have texture slots pre-assigned in the modeling software. So if you just had a sphere with one texture map applied, you could only ever just replace that one texture. But if somebody had used say a dozen texture maps to create some designs, you could then replace any or all of those textures. However, you would still be limited to the shapes of the original texture maps. So if they made several different stripes going around the sphere, each with it's own texture map, you would only be able to add your own designs in those stripes.

I might not be using the correct terminology because I'm not a modeler, but hopefully I made at least some sense.


Yes it will.

I'm an old school programmer: COBOL, PASCAL, BASIC, Turbo Basic, and started a little bit of Visual Basic before I joined the Navy and haven't done programming since (although I wish I had, and still think about going back to school for more modern languages). Anyhoo, this was more than enough to help me understand the logic, syntax, formatting and other particulars behind the scripts in Morrowind. Scripting was really the only thing I excelled at in Morrowind. You have far more experience and education in programming than I do, so I'm pretty sure you'll have no problem with it either.

Well in addition to my other questions....

After I edit a texture to my liking I attempt to flatten it and generate a normal map. However when flattened it colors anything that is supposed to be transparent as white.How do I fix that? Again if your knowledgable on subjects like this please assist me, thank you!

That can be a pain in the balls. It depends on exactly what you're doing. What you have to do is you save to save the transparency layer to the file and it must be named "Alpha Channel 1" and then you delete the layer instead of merging it. I use Paint Shop Pro instead of Photoshop, so I wont know exactly where all of those functions are in Photoshop.

Using GIMP so maybe it more closely resembles Paint Shop.

What you want to do is save the transparency layer to the texture file as an alpha channel, and it must be named "Alpha Channel 1" and then delete that particular layer without merging it.

Alright so create a new layer, mark it as transparent and name it Alpha Channel 1 and then what? I'm not entirely sure I'm making the transparent layer in the right area.

I'm not sure what Gimp's terminology is. In Paint Shop Pro you create a new "Mask Layer" and define the transparency by white/black and then click "Layers>Load/Save Mask>Save Mask to Alpha Channel" and then you're prompted for a name for it.

Use Paint.net its free.

Though I use photoshop.

I made my avatar
<---------------

GIMP is also free and maintains many of the functions that PS has without the cost, maybe if I get decent at it and want to start throwing together a portfolio I would pay the couple hundred of bucks to get a nicer ui and more powerful features but for now its enough.


Thats all besides the point....okay so this is what I turn up with after creating the normal map, for some objects I get too dark or too light shading depending on where the light source is and on a couple it seems that the texture simply does not like being changed.

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/2599/daggerke.jpg, it still looks flat. In fact it doesn't look like the normal map was even applied. Ah well I'm exhausted, Ill try again tomorrow.

Use imgur??

In GIMP, flattening removes alpha values. Instead you want to use "Merge Visible" in the layers right-click menu. This will give you a single RGBA bitmap (one layer) that you can export with a DDS plugin or save to an intermediate image format for feeding through a DDS converter.

For info on how normal maps work in Oblivion, this is an excellent place to start: http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/Normal_Maps

Skyrim appears to use the same mesh/texture data setup as Oblivion (apart from some new extensions to the mesh format), so the Oblivion texturing tutorials should apply.

Okay so Ive followed EggDropSoap's advice of Merging the visible layers and it worked perfectly. Then I did the Color to Alpha method and used the normal map filter.


What I end up with in game, with both the normal map and the texture map saved is http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/9880/robed.jpg, the texture appears very flat and as you can see has some strange shine that I did not add to it .

Equipped it looks like ......http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/5270/robe2l.jpg

OMG you just invented pleather in Tamriel... you're gonna be rich!

Lol I guess all of those beautified, busty women mods will have something to wear now. Unfortunately I wanted it to look more like burlap but something is going wrong with the normal maps.

http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/5003/robe3.jpg

Okay so I followed a different tutorial this time and this one had me changing the scale of the Normal map so it ramped up the detail. Also, it has me adding an alpha channel after the normal map is created; then using the eraser tool with varying opacities on areas where I would like it to be less shiny. In this image I have erased the top half of the robe with an opacity of 89 while the bottom was erased with an opacity of 5. In the normal map the top half appears as completely erased so I am not sure if I am negating the effects of the normal map by doing this but the shimmer is definatley decreasing.

The tutorial I am following is right http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/Quality_Normal_Maps, if anyone could elaborate on the portion that has me erasing the image in order to reduce the amount of shine I would be happy.

The top half is looking pretty good. If you have to add an alpha channel and then erase it to reduce the shine, is the shine coming from the alpha channel then?

I guess, I've never really seen a normal map look as if it has been erased before but I assume it is because they do not add an alpha channel. I may be wrong here but I think the shine on textures may be thanks to another program.Again I'm really new to this stuff and the tutorial does not go into the matter with incredible depth. If anyone would care to elaborate?

For posterity and to see if the new tutorial I'm following is helping.....

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/2599/daggerke.jpg



http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/3779/dagger2.jpg- This is the dagger retexture after I

- Changed the scale of the normal map
- Used the eraser tool with an opacity of 90 on the handle portion of the normal map
- Added some sharpness to the edges of the blade

Yeah, the alpha channel (opacity) of the normal map is used by Skyrim as the specular map. To set specularity for the whole image without using the eraser (which is desirable for texturing most non-reflective objects):

• Load up the normal map fresh (before erasing)
  
• In the Layers window, right-click the normal map's layer (there's probably only the one layer) and choose "Add alpha channel". If this is greyed out, perfect: it already has an alpha channel and you don't need to do anything.
  
• Again in the Layers window, move the Opacity slider (it's at the top, just under "Mode") to set the opacity for the entire image consistently.
  
• Export it for testing and repeat as necessary to get the specularity you want.

Well you sir have been a godsend. I've finally gotten to a texture that I feel is a nice starting point. I guess it is time for one more question and that is how to make a higher resolution texture.

You're very welcome! I've been using GIMP on-and-off for years, so I've learned a lot of how it works. I've been bumming around the Oblivion mod community for ages too, so I've picked up useful things here and there.

For larger textures, you should just be able to create a new higher-resolution image and drop it in the same place and it will work. Make sure that its dimensions are a power of 2 of the original: a 512x512 texture can be replaced by a 1024x1024 texture, a 2048x2048 texture, a 4096x4096 texture, etc... Smaller works too: a 512x512 texture can be replaced by a 256x256 texture. Just so long as the layout of the texture elements within the image is the same in the scaled-up version, it will be laid out on the mesh correctly.

You can even mix-and-match texture sizes for multiple-texture meshes, though rarely you'll want to do that. The usual use for that ability is to use lower-resolution normal maps with high-resolution textures, and this is common in the official files. For example, you'll find a lot of 1024x1024 textures that have 512x512 normal maps.

God I love learning this stuff. This forum has helped me out so much.

For the high res textures, do I have to replicate the current ones from scratch or can I scale improve in order to get the desired resolution. I do know that I cannot simply jump resolutions up without any alterations due to the fact that there is no data, just not sure how far this extends.

Won't let me edit my post but, I've tried to set the Opacity for the whole image using the slider you suggested. I set it to 90 and the cloth hood that I had made still turned up as very reflective and shiny, I set it down to 5 and the hood was still shiny, set it somewhere in the middle and the hood still had the shine. Perhaps something is going wrong with the alpha layer?

http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/7677/hood3.jpg - now the texture looks how I want it to. I don't mind having to use the eraser but I assume after a while it will get tedious. Also can i recieve some feedback on what my texture looks like.