Modding your own GW

Joe Davis

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jul 2007

Dont have one

Mo/

23 Jul 2007 at 22:15 - 601
Quote:
Originally Posted by immortius
1. Make sure you capture the textures in .dds format.

(you may need this plugin for photoshop)

2.In photoshop, goto the channel view. You should see a Red, Green, Blue and Alpha channel.

3. The Alpha channel controls transparency, when it is black the texture is transparent. (Over R=100,G=100,B=100 the alpha layer controls shininess instead). The actual affect is probably dependant on the object, so results may vary.

4.When you save, make sure you have Explicit Alpha selected in the Nvidia dds options dialog that appears.
Im getting the Error "Image width and high must be multiple of four" when i try to save the file as dds with the "Explicit Alpha".

Edit: Ok solved, had to change on "generating MIP(?) Maps".

Gimme Money Plzkthx

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2006

23 Jul 2007 at 22:45 - 602
Thanks for the reply on transparency. Is there any easier way to make sense of the textures in the cubemap format, or do we just have to sort things out for ourselves and figure out what is what... I assume there is no way to preview them on a 3d object other than trial and error, but just checking...

Chthon

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Apr 2007

23 Jul 2007 at 22:52 - 603
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Davis
Im getting the Error "Image width and high must be multiple of four" when i try to save the file as dds with the "Explicit Alpha".

Edit: Ok solved, had to change on "generating MIP(?) Maps".
What are you editing? Unless it's a UI piece, you probably want to generate mipmaps. So you should probably go back and make your texture with sides that are multiples of 4 and save mipmaps. (Mipmap explanation)

Chthon

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Apr 2007

23 Jul 2007 at 23:17 - 604
GAH double post.

Gimme Money Plzkthx

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2006

23 Jul 2007 at 23:50 - 605
Quote:
Originally Posted by immortius
1. Make sure you capture the textures in .dds format.

(you may need this plugin for photoshop)

2.In photoshop, goto the channel view. You should see a Red, Green, Blue and Alpha channel.

3. The Alpha channel controls transparency, when it is black the texture is transparent. (Over R=100,G=100,B=100 the alpha layer controls shininess instead). The actual affect is probably dependant on the object, so results may vary.

4.When you save, make sure you have Explicit Alpha selected in the Nvidia dds options dialog that appears.
I'm not quite following. I'm well aware that the alpha channel controls transparency, but when I erase the alpha channel, I just get shiny-ness on the armor... then again, when the alpha channel is on, it appears red, not black....

EDIT: wasn't thinking, what I meant was the alpha channel+image is red, but the alpha channel itself is black.... what do I need to change it to to accomplish transparency?

omens

omens

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2006

24 Jul 2007 at 01:48 - 606
The alpha channel is in black and white. Black = transparent white = opaque.

Gimme Money Plzkthx

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2006

24 Jul 2007 at 02:42 - 607
So if the alpha channel is transparent, it doesn't reflect, if it's white/grey, it does, and if you erase it you get that silver shiny stuff?

omens

omens

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2006

24 Jul 2007 at 03:32 - 608
No you get the shiny from saving as a format that doesnt support alpah channel mainly. You dont want to erase the alpha channel or you will efectivly be saving it as a format that doesnt support alpha channel. To make something transparent you make that spot black in the alpha channel.

Gimme Money Plzkthx

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jul 2006

24 Jul 2007 at 03:38 - 609
Well it obviously doesn't make the texture entirely transparent as the alpha channel is black and yet I can still see the armor perfectly clearly...

Ailia

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: May 2006

R/Mo

24 Jul 2007 at 05:52 - 610
Generally speaking you cant add transparency to 3d geometry that didn't previously have any transparency.

immortius

immortius

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2005

Black Cats

E/Mo

24 Jul 2007 at 08:46 - 611
Yeah, my values were from experiments with the Hourglass Staff, which has transparencies. I'm assuming that ArenaNet has a variety of settings regarding how the alpha channel is treated by each object.

Riddell

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jul 2007

Hate The [Cape]

W/

25 Jul 2007 at 09:50 - 612
Can someone please tell me what parts are perminantly modable because I know things things like armour and hair are generated server side.

Much appreciated.

sykoone

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2005

Mystical Chaos

E/

25 Jul 2007 at 10:41 - 613
Pretty much anything except for player armor and hairstyles are moddable, and even that is possible to a point. You can modify your own armor, as long as you don't switch it out to something different.

Arcane_Penguin

Arcane_Penguin

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jun 2007

Land Downunder

The Shadowheart Vanguard

R/Mo

25 Jul 2007 at 11:04 - 614
My Pre searing Mesmer, hawt!

fenix

fenix

Major-General Awesome

Join Date: Aug 2005

Aussie Trolling Crew HQ - Event Organiser and IRC Tiger

Ex Talionis [Law], Trinity of the Ascended [ToA] ????????????????&#

W/

25 Jul 2007 at 12:37 - 615
I'll have my first BIG mod put up here shortly, just have to clean a few things up I think. It's looking nice though

Karel

Academy Page

Join Date: Jul 2007

[DoE] Dutchmen Of Emania

N/Me

01 Aug 2007 at 15:54 - 616
where do i get the program?

sykoone

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2005

Mystical Chaos

E/

02 Aug 2007 at 04:52 - 617
Many thanks to the people who found and brought this wonderful program to the GW community. My guildmates have jumped on the modding bandwagon, and now have in the late beta stages a fully functional Cartography Made Easy mod. It will show you exactly where you need to go to find those final hard to reach spots. We used a Legendary Cartographer's maps as a basis for the mod, however, due to the leeway in mapping, you may find some areas that weren't uncovered originally.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...oone/gw272.jpg
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...oone/gw271.jpg

There are still a small handful of areas yet to be completed on the mainland, as well as the desert and Fire Island chain. Those areas are still in production, and will be completed asap.

fenix

fenix

Major-General Awesome

Join Date: Aug 2005

Aussie Trolling Crew HQ - Event Organiser and IRC Tiger

Ex Talionis [Law], Trinity of the Ascended [ToA] ????????????????&#

W/

02 Aug 2007 at 10:45 - 618
I finished version 0.9 of my mod. V1.0 will have a completely redone UI, rather than partly done. I'll redo the borders and make them less dumb :P



That's a preview of it. And yes, my warrior DOES look like that in the mod, if you download it, you can even see :P

http://rapidshare.com/files/46497111/V0.9.tpf.html

Have fun with it. Feedback would be nice :P

bobrath

bobrath

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jun 2005

Texas

Scouts of Tyria

02 Aug 2007 at 12:34 - 619
Quote:
Originally Posted by sykoone
Many thanks to the people who found and brought this wonderful program to the GW community. My guildmates have jumped on the modding bandwagon, and now have in the late beta stages a fully functional Cartography Made Easy mod. It will show you exactly where you need to go to find those final hard to reach spots. We used a Legendary Cartographer's maps as a basis for the mod, however, due to the leeway in mapping, you may find some areas that weren't uncovered originally.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...oone/gw272.jpg
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...oone/gw271.jpg

There are still a small handful of areas yet to be completed on the mainland, as well as the desert and Fire Island chain. Those areas are still in production, and will be completed asap.
Looks interesting to say the least. I'll be waiting to hear of your "final" release so I can nail down the last 1% for Cantha and Elona!

stouda01

stouda01

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Apr 2007

Czech Republic-Prague

[LUST]

R/

02 Aug 2007 at 12:44 - 620
Quote:
Originally Posted by sykoone
Many thanks to the people who found and brought this wonderful program to the GW community. My guildmates have jumped on the modding bandwagon, and now have in the late beta stages a fully functional Cartography Made Easy mod. It will show you exactly where you need to go to find those final hard to reach spots. We used a Legendary Cartographer's maps as a basis for the mod, however, due to the leeway in mapping, you may find some areas that weren't uncovered originally.

http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...oone/gw272.jpg
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m...oone/gw271.jpg

There are still a small handful of areas yet to be completed on the mainland, as well as the desert and Fire Island chain. Those areas are still in production, and will be completed asap.
maaaaaaaaaaaan finally some useful GMC mod

Mournblade

Mournblade

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: May 2005

Houston, Texas

Dawn Treaders [DAWN]

W/Mo

02 Aug 2007 at 13:13 - 621
Finally? There are like 6 different mapping mods already. Syko's looks the prettiest though.

stouda01

stouda01

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Apr 2007

Czech Republic-Prague

[LUST]

R/

02 Aug 2007 at 13:51 - 622
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mournblade
Finally? There are like 6 different mapping mods already. Syko's looks the prettiest though.
that why i said finally those older r all same stupid and useless...only with different color of fog

dr_ishmael

Academy Page

Join Date: Apr 2005

02 Aug 2007 at 15:30 - 623
Quote:
Originally Posted by stouda01
that why i said finally those older r all same stupid and useless...only with different color of fog
Stouda is right - a re-colored fog may help you see spots you're missing in the interior of areas, but it does nothing to indicate what you're missing on the borders of areas. Sykoone is referencing a 100% GMC map and drawing the actual explorable borders onto the in-game map textures. While this won't be perfect either (the borders are quite fuzzy in a lot of places), it's still a big improvement over the red fog.

While I won't be using any of the cartography mods myself (got Legendary on my main and don't care about it for other chars), I applaud Sykoone's efforts - that's 100 individual map-piece textures he's modding just for the Tyrian map. Cantha+Elona is another 100, and then there's Eye of the North.

[EDIT] (Thought of this just as I hit Submit.) Actually, you'd need to use Sykoone's mod in conjunction with a red-fog mod in order to get *both* the interiors and borders.

sykoone

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2005

Mystical Chaos

E/

02 Aug 2007 at 19:52 - 624
Actually, the current version of the mod includes a no-fog mod. The final will include all of Tyria's GMC reference maps, the colored fog overlay, and the no-fog to clear it all out. And the interior areas are even easier to spot than the borders, due to the solid line I have at the edge of the fog area. I'm up for any suggestions to improving this before final release, which I hope to have ready within the week. My team is also prepping Canthan and Elonian maps, so I expect to have them all modded and released before EotN release date.

BenjZee

BenjZee

Forge Runner

Join Date: Dec 2006

The Overacheivers [Club]

Mo/

02 Aug 2007 at 20:50 - 625
fenix nice mod
does it come in green? ... could you possibly do me a special green version.
Nice work people on these GMC mods, it will help us people with 0.X% of a map and especially hlepful for our monuments

elecwolf

elecwolf

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Aug 2005

The Northeren Hoard

E/R

02 Aug 2007 at 22:24 - 626
Help...
I went through like dozens of forums last night. At like 2a...
I know, I just got drawn into this. This whole idea so rocks.
But, I want to share a specific image with my Guild to get them interested.
Can anyone help me find the picture of the person who made their cape say:

'I joined a guild and all I got was this stupid cape'?

I have no idea where all I went, I think I only managed to bookmark this thread after a can of Dew...

Edit : Photoshop, DDS format and still getting shiny. :P What am I missing?

fenix

fenix

Major-General Awesome

Join Date: Aug 2005

Aussie Trolling Crew HQ - Event Organiser and IRC Tiger

Ex Talionis [Law], Trinity of the Ascended [ToA] ????????????????&#

W/

02 Aug 2007 at 23:59 - 627
Quote:
Originally Posted by SmithyBen
fenix nice mod
does it come in green? ... could you possibly do me a special green version.
Nice work people on these GMC mods, it will help us people with 0.X% of a map and especially hlepful for our monuments
Once I've finished up the mod the way I want it (ie redesigning the window borders), then I'll be able to make other colour versions. For now I'm just tweaking things and spending time reshaping other things

elecwolf

elecwolf

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Aug 2005

The Northeren Hoard

E/R

03 Aug 2007 at 02:25 - 628
I am a complete moron but now I have successfully completed a mod.
Just a little personal one, unless people really want it, and it's not really creative since I saw someone else with it, but I do feel like I've acomplished something.

Mad King Corn

Banned

Join Date: Dec 2006

03 Aug 2007 at 04:23 - 629
Sykoone, I am really looking forward to trying your cartography mod, it looks great!

Thunder79

Thunder79

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2006

Chaos Rising

03 Aug 2007 at 04:32 - 630
Quote:
Originally Posted by elecwolf
I am a complete moron but now I have successfully completed a mod.
Just a little personal one, unless people really want it, and it's not really creative since I saw someone else with it, but I do feel like I've acomplished something.

Nice work....

oh and if you "saw someone else with it" that means that person was wearing the same texture on their cape...that means you were seeing your own mod...not someone elses...to them they see the original texture that you edited into the mod texture...

omens

omens

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2006

03 Aug 2007 at 06:25 - 631
Hes refering to the cape I made a month ago.
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...9&postcount=63

(although if you want your cape to look like this you have to find the checksum of your own cape, each cape combo has a different one.)

elecwolf: try saving it as a dtx5 .dds format, your probably saving as a .dds format that doesnt support a alpha channel.

bobrath

bobrath

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jun 2005

Texas

Scouts of Tyria

03 Aug 2007 at 16:49 - 632
Quote:
Originally Posted by sykoone
Actually, the current version of the mod includes a no-fog mod. The final will include all of Tyria's GMC reference maps, the colored fog overlay, and the no-fog to clear it all out. And the interior areas are even easier to spot than the borders, due to the solid line I have at the edge of the fog area. I'm up for any suggestions to improving this before final release, which I hope to have ready within the week. My team is also prepping Canthan and Elonian maps, so I expect to have them all modded and released before EotN release date.
Oh... so its Tyrian only at this point. Ah well, guess I'll have to wait for version 2 then. No worries, its still a great idea (and heck I may use it to get GMC on some of my non-mains).

Arduin

Arduin

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

The Netherlands

Limburgse Jagers [LJ]

R/

03 Aug 2007 at 19:04 - 633
Quote:
Originally Posted by sykoone
Actually, the current version of the mod includes a no-fog mod. The final will include all of Tyria's GMC reference maps, the colored fog overlay, and the no-fog to clear it all out. And the interior areas are even easier to spot than the borders, due to the solid line I have at the edge of the fog area. I'm up for any suggestions to improving this before final release, which I hope to have ready within the week. My team is also prepping Canthan and Elonian maps, so I expect to have them all modded and released before EotN release date.
Can't wait untill you will release the final version. Only .7% to go

elecwolf

elecwolf

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Aug 2005

The Northeren Hoard

E/R

03 Aug 2007 at 19:47 - 634
Any notes on just how much reduced the other copies of a skin are in the texture file? I want to make sure it looks good at all sizes but some of these get rather small and are hard to place...
For that matter, do we have to tweak all the sizes or just the large one?

Chthon

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Apr 2007

04 Aug 2007 at 00:00 - 635
Quote:
Originally Posted by elecwolf
Any notes on just how much reduced the other copies of a skin are in the texture file? I want to make sure it looks good at all sizes but some of these get rather small and are hard to place...
For that matter, do we have to tweak all the sizes or just the large one?
Those are mipmaps. There should be a setting to automatically generate them when you save the file.

elecwolf

elecwolf

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Aug 2005

The Northeren Hoard

E/R

04 Aug 2007 at 02:27 - 636
Ah. Thank you.

Edit : So much easier once I pay attention.
You all rock and I look forward to seeing all the things you all make.

sykoone

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2005

Mystical Chaos

E/

04 Aug 2007 at 05:42 - 637
We've progressed much faster than anticipated, and have not only completed the Tyrian mod, but the Elonian mod as well. The Canthan mod is still in development, with an estimated completion time of seven days. A page on the mod, with screenshots and download instructions is on the official wiki.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/User:...aphy_Made_Easy

Rogge

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Aug 2006

Germany

Onlinewelten Gilde

04 Aug 2007 at 08:54 - 638
Quote:
Originally Posted by sykoone
We've progressed much faster than anticipated, and have not only completed the Tyrian mod, but the Elonian mod as well. The Canthan mod is still in development, with an estimated completion time of seven days. A page on the mod, with screenshots and download instructions is on the official wiki.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/User:...aphy_Made_Easy
Thanks! Works great for Tyria so far. Looking forward to the Canthan Mod.

stouda01

stouda01

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Apr 2007

Czech Republic-Prague

[LUST]

R/

04 Aug 2007 at 09:14 - 639
THX man!!!..so much...now i can be grandmaster Cartographer cause i have Elona and Cantha already and now thx for u i can finish tyria........

Mad King Corn

Banned

Join Date: Dec 2006

04 Aug 2007 at 09:15 - 640
Can someone else host skyoone's cartography mod? I downloaded the tyrian one and it won't let me download the other because there is a free download limit of one file apparently.