texturing problem

[killing11]

I am following this guide: http://www.emuxhaven.net/forums/showthread.php?6466-PC-Tutorial-How-to-texture-in-The-Elder-Scrolls-IV-Oblivion

 

After saving the dds file over the itself, it looks like this: http://img710.imageshack.us/i/43721042.png/

 

the first time i followed the guide, everything went smoothly, though it's now not working

 

Why isn't it working as expected?

[David Brasher]

You may want to provide the forum with some more information.

 

What are you doing? What stage of the process are you at in doing what you are doing?

 

The image looks like a normal map that has undergone extensive manual editing with the intention of disabling portions of it. But different software renders images differently and I don't know what software you are using. Maybe you are working on a glow map.

[killing11]

The tutorial asks me to save my modified texture over my original texture, after changing some colours around in the master hue/saturation channel and flattening my image (Layer > Flatten image). I then save my image using DXT1 (4 bpp, 1 bit alpha). The output of the whole process is shown in the screenshot I posted. It didn't look like that after the first time I completed the guide. It just looked like a red version of the original (green) texture, not a blue and black image.

 

I don't understand what's wrong. The first time I followed the guide and it worked perfectly.

[David Brasher]

It really looks to me like you accidentally gave the wrong commands and turned it into a glow map or a normal map.

 

I recommend that you try it again, and be sure to save backups of your work at various stages of completion. Then if you have another problem, you will only have to redo a step or two rather than redoing a lot of work.

 

If you were able to do this task once, it seems like you should be able to do it again using the very same steps the tutorial told you to do.

[theuseless]

I personally don't use the dds plugin for saving. I only use this for opening a dds file. When creating a new dds file, I like to save it as jpg or gif (jpg for photo style and gif for large, smooth color fields). I then use the handy program called DDS Converter to make the dds file for me. It saves all the trouble of figuring out how many mipmaps, what format, etc. You just simply use it to convert for you. It will even check to make sure the file is an integer of 8 (124x248, 1024x1024, etc). It is simple to use and quick.

 

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=8698

 

Hope this helps with that part,

theuseless

 

=edit=

 

Save the file exactly as you wish it to appear. If you wish to make a normal or glow map, use the normal map plugin included with the dds plugin for photoshop. Remember to save it as .psd if transparent, otherwise use the jpg or gif formats if not using transparency. The photoshop document file (.psd) is processed only if it contains 1 (one) layer. If it has more layers, it will only process the top one.

 

If you are using Gimp, you will need to manually download and install the normal map plugin separate from the dds plugin. When using the normal map function, I will usually build my own shadowless form. This is a form that has the low points as dark and the high points as light, without three dimensional shadowing. This is rendered better by the programs for textures that are universally positioned (ie could be placed sideways, upside down, etc). For glow maps, I like to remove portions of color or shadow with the color to alpha feature. I could tell you how to do this on gimp, but not on photoshop. I mainly use photoshop for my bulk editing and gimp for the staple creation. I find more use out of the gimp fx foundry.

Edited April 2, 2011 by theuseless

[killing11]

Thanks for your replies. I've managed to change the texture of the claymore by using Photoshop, then using the dds converter, but the guide asks me to save my texture over my normal map. I did, using Photoshop, as the problem didn't persist with that part (only editing then saving over the texture), though in-game it seems as though the glow map doesn't have any effect upon the appearance of my weapon (my weapon doesn't shine in the light). Why is this? Edited April 3, 2011 by killing11

[theuseless]

I don't understand what you mean by "save my texture over my normal map"???? This doesn't make sense. Your texture map (diffuse map) is not the same as your normal map, you won't have the effects you intend. Your normal map is a blue-ish image that should look like an embossed image. Your diffuse texture (base color, texture.dds) will show where your colors should appear. The normal map (texture_n.dds) should make the game render the flat surface as a 3d image, the places that are higher will render with shaders to make them look like they stick out. This is the reason for a normal map. It takes 2 dimensional images and makes them look 3d. Please post a picture of the regular image that you are editing. You might try to copy the original normal map and rename it to the name of the texture you made.

 

As far as a glow map, it will glow only where the texture is white. This will be a gloss effect unless you edit the nif in NifSkope and apply a specular color property. Then the specular color will make the glow map glow in the specified areas.

Edited April 10, 2011 by theuseless