First Time Modder - How to texture?

[Forsaker85]

I imagine anyone good with Photoshop could pick up texturing. I'd like to try my hand at a couple objects in the game but don't know where to begin. Can anyone break down the process?

[ShinraStrife]

If you know what object you want to re-texture you can extract the ba2 archive it's textures are in, copy the textures, edit them, and put them in folders in the same structure they were in the ba2 archive. If you don't know what textures go with the object you need to lookup the object in FO4Edit and check what textures it references. For texture compression settings, basic texturing tutorials and other stuff, skyrim tutorials should help you get a rough understanding. If you need me to elaborate on the steps for finding the textures you wanna edit let me know.

[jeriam]

I definitely would let you know. First thing first, how do you extract anything from the .ba2 file?

[ArekkusuStorm]

I definitely would let you know. First thing first, how do you extract anything from the .ba2 file?

Bethesda Archive Extractor

After downloading the rar,

- Extract the contents to a new folder

- Make another new folder to place anything you want to extract (from the .Ba2)

- Run the .Exe

- Open the... many texture .Ba2s (File>Open>Locate the Fallout 4 data folder) and extract away to the folder you created earlier.

 

Haven't gotten around to modding F4 yet (modded NV previously) so hopefully the texturing process is the same.

Edited November 30, 2015 by ArekkusuStorm

[ShinraStrife]

 

Haven't gotten around to modding F4 yet (modded NV previously) so hopefully the texturing process is the same.

 

 

An interesting change is material swaps are used a lot. I was adding a magazine and found that most magazines used grognak the barbarian comic nif files and just swap the textures with a BGSM record. It's innovative and makes it so I don't have to pack the nif file with my mod, instead I can just pack the textures I'm changing and reference them with a mat swap.

[ArekkusuStorm]

 

An interesting change is material swaps are used a lot. I was adding a magazine and found that most magazines used grognak the barbarian comic nif files and just swap the textures with a BGSM record. It's innovative and makes it so I don't have to pack the nif file with my mod, instead I can just pack the textures I'm changing and reference them with a mat swap.

 

 

Huh, sounds like the same as before then. Geck had a thing called texture sets where you can put in your diffuse, normal, etc then create a new form for what whatever you're applying a texture to (a 10mm for example) and while you're selecting the model, you can just drag in the texture set onto the model and it'd apply it.

Edited December 1, 2015 by ArekkusuStorm

[ShinraStrife]

 

 

An interesting change is material swaps are used a lot. I was adding a magazine and found that most magazines used grognak the barbarian comic nif files and just swap the textures with a BGSM record. It's innovative and makes it so I don't have to pack the nif file with my mod, instead I can just pack the textures I'm changing and reference them with a mat swap.

 

 

Huh, sounds like the same as before then. Geck had a thing called texture sets where you can put in your diffuse, normal, etc and create a new form for what whatever you're applying a texture to (a 10mm for example) and while you're selecting the model, you can just drag in the texture set onto the model and it'd apply it.

 

 

In FO4Edit I see texture sets and material swaps. Why use both? XD Such confusion.