Universal Dye Kit - a call to authors of custom items

[nezroy]

Hello fellow modders!

 

I have just released a Universal Dye Kit which allows players to select custom dyes to tint their items. In conjunction with my online tint creator, this means the end-user now has complete control over the appearance of their gear. This kit works on ANY item that uses default materials (tier 1 thru 9) and provides a tint map.

 

This post is to encourage authors of custom items to consider using default materials and tint maps for their works in the future so that their items can be dyed by the UDK. I know I have been hesitant to do this in the past on my own items because it means giving up some control over the final appearance. It has also meant that my items had goofy hues based on material scaling and no one could control that. However, now that this tool exists for players to control the tinting, I hope that mod authors will consider taking this route. I know that I will be updating both of my item mods (Warden Shields and Leliana Item Set) to use default materials and tint maps so that they can be tinted by the UDK.

 

Just think, never again will you have to field a request for a darker, lighter, or different color version of your item. Never again will you have to compete with color retexture mods of your items that end up being more popular than your own! :)

 

In support of mod authors I plan to update my online tint creator to allow "saved" tints to be linked (by query string parameters). This way you can design the perfect tint for your item and link to it from your mod page for users to use with the UDK. Or even provide several! The UDK also has an option already to set a "neutral" tint, so that even if you provide a tint map for compatibility, you don't have to provide a custom tint. You can simply encourage users to choose the built-in neutral option to see your texture without any of the scaled material tinting being added in, while still leaving it open to user customization. I'm also open to adding custom materials to the UDK's material table if you have a desire to provide a tint map/allow user tinting, but have a compelling reason that requires your item to use a custom material instead of one of the default materials. And I'd love to hear ideas and feedback from custom mod authors about anything else that might encourage them to support default mats/tint maps in their custom item mods (or even to hear about why you'll never build in support for this mod, as the case may be).

[luddemann]

Yep, please do this :ninja:

[Tonkiesama]

Could you Make it to where the undies could be tinted?

[Aranox]

The undies arent tint mapped :p you cant change their color unless someone gives them tint maps...

[nezroy]

The undies arent tint mapped :p you cant change their color unless someone gives them tint maps...

 

Luckily that's part of what I'm doing with the UDK; adding tint maps to all the vanilla items that don't have them. Slowly.

 

As long as the undies use the standard MAO system so I can add a tint map to it, we'll be rocking in our skivvies soon enough...

[Aranox]

hahaha ... am curious to see that :p

[nezroy]

Could you Make it to where the undies could be tinted?

 

Sorry Tonkiesama, but it's not looking promising. The underwear do actually have tint maps, but there doesn't appear to be any way to SET the tint being used on a creature via scripting (it can be forced to a value in the toolset when setting up a creature, but that doesn't allow for any kind of dynamic use, and doesn't help when it comes to the PC and party members).

 

You could at least get barbarian/leather undies through a simple retexture/override of the nude model skins (which contain the underwear texture). It wouldn't be dynamic but if you are looking for something specific it would work just fine. I'm positive there used to be a mod that added pretty (but not revealing) underwear somewhere around here which is basically doing the same kind of thing, though for the life of me I can't seem to find it again.

 

EDIT: Ah, here it is. Pretty in Pink. Obviously not the barbarian look you are going for, but if you wanted to try your hand at doing textures then that mod would show you exactly which textures need to be changed to update the look of your underwear :)