Planning on a major retexture project of XCOM operatives. Ideas welcom

[Amineri]

Here are a couple of modified copies of the deco_kevlar0 kit, modified to appear as deco_kevlar2 and deco_kevlar3

 

Deco_kevlar2 only has minimal changes, and still shows up correctly in-game. Deco_kevlar3 I've modified all references, including those to the texture, normal, and specular maps. In-game it's 'broken' (it displays no kit at all), but I'm including it just to see what it does with TexMod.

 

I've tucked away the two modded kits as an optional file in my bug fixes mod (since no one every goes there it should bother people too much ^_^) : http://xcom.nexusmods.com/mods/107/

 

To install them, put them both in the DLC_PackIn / CookedPCConsole folder.

 

The add the following lines to the following .ini config files:

XComContent.ini :

; Kevlar Deco 2
+ArmorKitPackageInfo=(KitType=eKit_Deco_Kevlar2,ArchetypeName="Deco_Kevlar2.ARC_Deco_Kevlar2")
; Kevlar Deco 3
+ArmorKitPackageInfo=(KitType=eKit_Deco_Kevlar3,ArchetypeName="Deco_Kevlar3.ARC_Deco_Kevlar3")

XComEngine.ini

.Package=Deco_Kevlar2
.Package=Deco_Kevlar3

+Package=Deco_Kevlar2
+Package=Deco_Kevlar2_MOD
+Package=Deco_Kevlar3
+Package=Deco_Kevlar3_MOD

I put them under their respective Deco_Kevlar0 entries in all cases.

 

It doesn't hurt to go in and manually add the lines to the merged copies of the .ini files stored in the My Games folder, either. (I'm not sure if this is required, but the merging program should take care of it automatically. The ini files in My Games are merged versions of the base game plus and installed DLC.

[CaesarInvictus]

I could do quite a bit with additional deco and helmet/hat work, and I do mean *a lot*, but I'm bad at the coding side of things.

 

If only we knew for sure that Texmod could inject entirely new textures into the game. The way the program works you would need a texture to be already in the game in order for it to be injected: when you rip out a texture the program creates specific code that tells the program exactly where to place the edited texture back again, and this is used to create .tpf files with the package builder (.tpfs are what regular users will use to load up pre-made modifications.

 

It...might work, but I dont feel confident in the process. If we could just use a new dummy texture to fool Texmod/the game into thinking that there was a texture to be had there, we could get the code for that .tpf as normal and just use the proper modded texture in its place.

 

If that could somehow be achieved we would be golden. It would actually solve a number of issues I'm facing at the moment.

 

EDIT: you posted that after I started typing this, awesome! I'll check it out immediately.

 

Anyway! I promised pictures of the assault, so here's a treat: http://i.imgur.com/dMwwUsD.jpg

 

Very early sneak peak at the shotgun, after a few hours worth of trying to get that wood paneling right I come in game and realize I missed a few spots. Still, looks really good. I think I'll keep it.

 

The text on the shells reads '12 GAUGE' and is probably upside down/the wrong caliber but ehhh whatever.

 

The badass logo has "XCOM Assault Corps" written on it, though you'll never see that.

 

It just made sense to me that the Assault guys get the fun stuff like this. I mean if your main asset to the team is that you can run up to the alien menace and survive, you've earned to have some misplaced pride in your work!

 

I want to keep the shotgun looking low-tech, so I might try to make the metal look more...gritty, cut up and stuff. I'm also willing to add some personal touches to it if people like. Little mementos added on by the soldiers, that sort of thing. I imagine the Assault class can get pretty eccentric.

Edited July 25, 2013 by CaesarInvictus

[Amineri]

I don't feel very confident that replicating the deco armor will work, although it's worth a try.

 

I tried to convert some of the standard weapon kits (like the shotgun+kevlar kit above) into selectable deco kits, but wasn't able to get it to work. The textures for the Day 0 DLC all appear to be in the "CharTextures_DLC_PackIn.tfc" file, but that doesn't contain the standard weapon kits' texture files, which causes them to fail to load.

 

I think that's the same issue as when I changed the reference name for the textures in the deco_kevlar3 attempt, which is what causes it to fail to load.

 

The only faint ray of hope is that the game loads the identical textures twice into different memory blocks (which wouldn't be very optimized :p), and that TexMod can replace them separately. I'm not holding my breath, though.

[CaesarInvictus]

Ah well. Back to plan A then, basic straight up retextures. This much I can do!

 

I havent actually been able to test the new kevlar's ingame yet; it's awkward for me since I already added a large number of new 'deco's' to the game for personal reasons (read: the other armor classes' decos can be used by everything, even the basic low level stuff)

 

I'm currently struggling with the shotgun and LMG

 

Edit:

 

Today I let loose a bit and decided to release my inner spetsnaz a bit

 

These images represent an optional add-on to the main pack, which ive decided will be mostly a "XCOM, but better" release. In order to keep people satisfied optional textures like these will come out for various nations

 

((Note: Im previewing this with the "Military Retexture Pack" body armor texture. The first release is meant to be a compliment to that mod, after all.))

 

http://i.imgur.com/x1aRXlD.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/RiMKQe6.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/fklEmtK.jpg

 

"The Model T34 battledress was released publicly in eastern europe in 2014 to mixed reception. Despite its revolutionary lightweight metal and kevlar plate design the battle armor failed to properly mix with trends calling for light infantry tactics. Russia acted as the principle buyer of these armor systems, much to the military community's confusion."

 

"In March 2015 when the XCOM project initative launched, the Russian Federation revealed their hand: in secret they had attempted their own local 'XCOM' equivalent, made from crack spetsnaz teams. Engagements with the aliens were up close and personal, and to aid these russian units, the T34 was brought to bear; being perfect for this new dangerous war. In addition to some of its excess spetsnaz members being granted to the XCOM project, a large number of suits have been dispatched with their users. These are now at the disposal of the local base Commander, and are ready for use as of immediately."

 

"The T34s have taken on a sentimental quality with their users. It is normal to observe soldiers delicately paint battle cries of victory onto their armored plates, or obsess over their detailed camoflauge patterns"

 

Notes:

-Uses a combination of Izlom and Partisan camoflauge

-Minimal custom-colour options

-Bears Russian and spetsnaz insignia

-This particular suit was manufactured in Volgograd, dispatched to a Spetsnaz Guard Brigade, and finally brought here.

-It's official unit/user name is "Cherno Alpha"

-unofficially this particular unit has been dubbed 'Sasha'

-when originally released, this suit retailed for around 10,000 USD. Thanks to proficient russian industrial efforts, XCOM receives surplus suits free.

 

Well commanders, what do you think?

Edited July 25, 2013 by CaesarInvictus

[CaesarInvictus]

Update:

 

I've done futurisitic retextures of the male and female body armor. On paper it SOUNDS awesome, but I've run into texture problems.

 

Custom 'colour tint' maps are screwing with me. At first I thought I could just remove the channel that calls those colours up, but its not working the way I want. So instead of proper armor your actually getting this almost-correct weird tinted texture.

 

In the future I had planned to re-make the tint maps to suit the new radically different textures, but now I dont know.

 

EDIT:

 

Breakthrough! A lot of hard work payed off and I got some results for you guys. LOOKIT!

http://i.imgur.com/HT0rXNF.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/n0PeLjz.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/0114mGG.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/1vvemv1.jpg

 

These are images from my first beta test retexture of the basic kevlar body armor. See any differences? :tongue:

 

The female armor texture is almost entirely different in a good way. I plan to make XCOM look as visually diverse as I can. This texture will be even better once we can master the vagaries of getting the colour and light maps to properly work with the armor.

 

The next step is normals. which are easy. Very soon I'll have a basic "TIER ONE OPERATIVE" pack out, which retextures the basic body armor, the "Hyperion" deco body armor (looks kind of like football pad armor) and all the basic ballistic guns.

 

CURRENT PROGRESS towards public release:

Assault Rifle: 100% DONE

Shotgun: 99% - I need to make one change and its effectively ready. Looks badass, if you want I'll preview it.

Heavy LMG: 25% - looks terrible, not even worth previewing. I need to rethink it completely, perhaps even start fresh

Sniper: 0% - Have not yet begun work

 

MALE 'kevlar' body armor 65% - What I just previewed. Needs texture tuning, cleanup, a bit more 'XCOM' detail with logos, patches, etc. Also needs new normal maps and proper colour and glow-mapping

 

FEMALE 'kevlar' body armor 45-50% - The actual texture is around where the male is. but I had serious bugs putting it into the game, see above text. Will re-attempt soon. Beyond that, it has the same problems as the 'male' armor.

 

Hyperion (deco 2) armor: 90-100% - Texture is done, colour maps should work with my changes, the only reason this isnt counted as done is because I broke my own game and cant select that deco for testing. I plan to reinstall XCOM shortly to test things out better.

 

BONUS: T34 deco body armor - 100% Done! Glory for the motherland!

 

I'm hoping that now that people realize that I'm effectively four textures away from a huge release this will get some more attention.

Edited July 28, 2013 by CaesarInvictus

[CaesarInvictus]

More progress today, mostly on the 'Hyperion' elite soldier pack deco. Here's a few shots of it in action, I thought they looked cool!

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Hyperion X-1

 

http://i.imgur.com/MHI1KnY.jpg

 

On the outset of the war, XCOM founding members feverishly looked for the best camoflauge designs for their soldiers. Many manufacturers and clandestine military patterns were tested and considered, but ultimately it was the US-based "Kryptek" corporation which provided a clean answer: Their new Kryptek camo patterns had recently begun circulation in certain US army and marine branches after being tested and put into production in 2012-2013.

 

But enough of that, we have live footage of the camoflauge in action courtesy of XCOM Team alpha, on deployment in Mexico:

http://i.imgur.com/GeL8ad3.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QRFQCUP.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/RpjexH6.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/6Bo6qwF.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/8dE1WaK.jpg

 

Keep fighting the good fight out there commanders.

 

Edit: proof that sometimes, I can really, really botch a texture. I swear this seemed like a good idea at the time:

http://i.imgur.com/PwA2RFh.jpg

 

The good news is I can now make team colourable camoflauge and probably other stuff too. The bad news is it took two hours resulting in this horror show to learn it. Ugh.

Edited July 29, 2013 by CaesarInvictus

[CaesarInvictus]

Updates: Got the female 'kevlar' body armor texture ingame for some testing. Results were... very okay. It has a ways to go I think, but is less messy than the male equivalent texture, which is good. It's also a bit more bland though, which is bad.

 

http://i.imgur.com/Z2qywGQ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/rjy0Hw5.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/I7xbDv4.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/RiVvlnA.jpg

 

 

Try to look past some of the rather terrible mapping errors. The crotches on these poor ladies' pants just look really uncomfortable right now. I'll see about fixing that ASAP. A few straps aren't reaching around properly either...

 

I've noticed the male texture set actually has more detail and parts to it than the female equivalent.

 

Firaaxisss, do I sense bias ? :)

 

Just kidding. These are what Ill probably be working with for the next little while. The toughest leg work is done with these base textures. Now I just need to clean them, fix them, make them look preety, and then tint colour code them to perfection.

 

The look im ultimately aiming for is a believable futuristic group of professional soldiers. I'm gettin' close to that goal!

 

PS: Dat shotgun :3

[CaesarInvictus]

Alright, a few heavy metal albums later and some midnight oil, I think I might have something to show for this work.

Please remember this is WITHOUT NORMAL MAPS, so shadows and lighting look weird on it. I also havent made this tintable yet, but plan to!

Check this beautiful thing out:

http://i.imgur.com/Og9guO7.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/GhCca3l.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/zqkwZUc.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/RyQXiyK.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/vhhs4FZ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/3iukcob.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/xQpVK4d.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/KSPEccY.jpg


"XCOM Tactical Division was tasked early in the war to develop a next-gen armor using the best materials earth had available. The most advanced experimental future soldier programs all collaborated to create the Tactical Harness, referred to as "Kevlar" or "Flak Armor" by its users, the model XC-227E Tactical Combat Harness (TCH) system is a superior military solution to almost any scenario we are aware of soldiers getting into.

Falling from high on? Not to worry, reinforced boots and shock absorbers keep the user relatively safe and ensure his or her gear remains secure and tight.

Running into a burning building? No problem, flame-retardant fibres laced into the tactical harness slow burning and internalized heat sinks keep users relatively cool under pressure.

Shot by assault weapons? The TCH system has been tested and proven to shrug off small arms and even low caliber sniper ammo. While XCOM's advanced array of tactical ballistic arms can breach the TCH system, tight council control over arms proliferation has ensured that only XCOM operatives could actually kill XCOM operatives... with bullets.

The tragedy of the TCH was, while it was itself a perfect armor system of near-futuretech, it could not stop the alien advance. Casualties from its users mount continuously despite the XCOM initiative's best efforts. Under-vests of alien nanofibre mitigated the problems somewhat, but by the end of the war the TCH was known to be a cushioned, comfort-fitted death-trap given to low ranking disposable personnel. The designers of the TCH, a multinational team of Earth's very best, were seen as frauds and murderers by many a Great Invasion veteran soldier, and the Council's internal review committees found that while the TCH was literally the best armor they could produce, and indeed, earth had ever seen up to that point, it was simply not enough.

The TCH remained a staple of XCOM deployments however, due to its all-earth material construction, making it remain highly visible and prominent in X-COM operations until, finally, alien compounds were successfully replicated, several decades after X-COM launched.

In that time, over one-hundred thousand TCH systems were manufactured and deployed by both X-COM and several council conventional military's, notably certain Russian Spetsnaz divisions, and the United States Rangers and Marine Corps.

A retired X-COM Tactical Division colonel once reported.
"The TCH? Hell, that thing was a hunk of junk against Xray plasma, but I'll damned if it didnt look great. Wonder if the designers prioritized aesthetics over practicality? Guess we'll never know either way."

Stay posted for more updates from X-COM Tactical Division, commanders.

Reports indicate that new "SNIPER" weapons systems are currently in the pipe, five-by-five.

Edited July 30, 2013 by CaesarInvictus

[CaesarInvictus]

Well, the Sniper came together fast:

 

http://i.imgur.com/2uzoX8r.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/duUuhtA.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/yBxyFVd.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/Qv7i406.jpg

 

((Note: the text is upside down, I'll correct that in the final version. Just says 'XCOM Tactical'))

 

The M.99 General Purpose Scout-Sniper Rifle was released to the market originally as a civilian weapon system.

 

Chambered to fire low caliber hunting rounds meant to take out deer, the scout-sniper rifle then dubbed 'huntsman' proved to be surprisingly effective at eliminating targets at potentially absurd ranges, thanks to the advanced computer and targetting systems which complemented what could be called the first true 'power-rifle' thanks to all of its gadgetry.

 

Professional hunters complained that the tracking and targetting systems reduced their sport to a dull competition of 'who has enough money to buy and use a Huntsman' and so many tournament organizations banned the rifle, and outside a niche market in the United States midwest of rich part-time sport hunters the rifle gained little traction.

 

In 2014, however, things changed. Rapidly.

 

Rather than use a military rifle from a selection of the countries present, the council demanded that a wholistic gaze be cast for equipment and team membership, scouring the far reaches of the globe for the best tech and personnel for the initiative. The M.99 Huntsman was a late contestant, added in on the whim of a sniper consultant impressed with the targetting software the device sported.

 

Indeed, in accuracy tests the M.99 defeated all competition by a wide margin, and was quickly sent to XCOM's Tactical and Engineering divisions to create a military alien-killing high powered rifle.

 

The result of that work was the M.99 as XCOM operatives know it: resembling something out of science fiction, the rifle's scope has been heavily modified so that the targetting computer interfaces with user's eye movements, automatically adjusts for wind, and plots probable bullet trajectories, even identifying soft and hard cover for the user, allowing for routine astounding trick shots by senior snipers through walls, rocks, trees and more.

 

Complementing this computer lie a number of other devices: instead of manual scope adjustors, automated dials were placed where needed to ensure near perfect aim on target.

 

For ammo, an impressive store of depleted uranium slugs is planted into the weapon. Due to their size and weight few can be loaded at a time into the bolt action gun, making every shot count that much more. When a round does hit, it is specially designed to pierce and then explode inside its target. AP or HE rounds can be loaded depending on the targets status, making the M.99 capable of destroying main battle tanks when equipped to do so.

 

The M.99's downfall was in its reliance on human skill, however. The computer controlling bullet flight was only so good as the shooter it interfaced with. Often, inexperienced snipers failed to properly consider all data when firing the weapon, cutting its range short drastically. Those shooters who are capable of attaining a scout sniper 'squad sight' note that the weapon's systems are still prone to error. Endless calibrating and driver updates have not resolved these desperate issues, and sniper that the council hoped could make any shooter into a crack marksman did not live up in the field.

 

That said, it was arguably the best choice the X-COM initiative had, and while laser and later plasma weapons came to dominate in their fields, operatives have fond memories of the M.99.

 

Indeed, many of the internal computer systems used in this weapon were incorporated directly with laser and plasma based weaponry, which required less overall ballistics calculation and environmental consideration, generally improving user-friendliness.

Edited July 30, 2013 by CaesarInvictus

[CaesarInvictus]

Overall status of release one

 

XCOM Tactical Division: Tier One Pack

1: Male body textures: FINISHED (minus tint-mapping)

2: Female body textures: FINISHED (minus tint-mapping)

3: Assault Rifle: FINISHED

4: Shotgun: 99% - I need to fix a text error on the weapon

5: Sniper: 99% - I need to fix a text error on the weapon + maybe add new normal maps, idk.

6: Light Machine Gun: 20% - I found some inspiration but still needs a good days worth of effort.

 

Release date planned: August 10th-August 15th -> only reason for the length is my studies getting in the way

 

I have new pictures of the textures in action, but I wont show them. You have a good enough idea of what this all looks and acts like anyway.

 

Basically I need to make it so the new body armor can be tinted, do some very minor bug fixes on the shotgun/sniper and finish the LMG

 

http://i.imgur.com/KpNjDyL.jpg

 

Things are looking up!

Edited July 31, 2013 by CaesarInvictus