Creating Hero Textures

[Warchamp7]

How to make Custom Textures
A guide by Warchamp7. Special thanks go out to NinjaPants


In this guide, I'm going to explain the process of creating your very own custom hero texture. I will be explaining the process with Zephyr.

Before continuing, I am assuming you at least know the basics of photoshop or more specifically what an alpha layer is.

Getting Started
The first step is getting the programs you'll need. The texture files in the game are Direct Draw Surface or DDS files. There is a plugin for photoshop (http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html) by NVidia for opening DDS files. GIMP users can use this plugin (http://nifelheim.dyndns.org/%7Ecocidius/dds/) (Thanks NinjaPants). You'll also need some sort of text editing program to open the material file. I recommend Notepad++ (http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm) (Which is also used by S2).

Note: You may also be able to convert the DDS files to TGAs with a third-party program and edit them but I have never tried or looked into this.

The Files
There are two files you will need for making a custom texture. Those two files are the texture and the material file that references it. The material file is so we can create a mod that uses your new texture instead of simply replacing the old one in the texture archive (Replacing game files is always a bad idea).

The Texture
As mentioned earlier, I will be using Zephyr for my examples. The texture file is located in textures.s2z which is located in the Heroes of Newerth game folder. s2z files are just zip files and can be opened with your zip tool of choice. I prefer WinRAR. The specific location of Zephyr's texture in the textures.s2z archive is 00000000/heroes/Zephyr/color.dds. Extract this and rename it to something else. For my example, I would rename it to Snow.dds or SnowZephyr.dds.

Now open the texture and get to editing. This part can be very intimidating especially if you've never seen a texture before. Here's what Zephyr's texture looks like unedited:

http://i33.tinypic.com/250ku45.jpg

And here he is edited to Snow Zephyr.

http://i35.tinypic.com/vidqe.jpg

There is one final step before you save your texture. Since DDS textures are flipped upside down in-game, you will need to flip the texture vertically before saving. Once you flip your texture, save it as a tga.

IMPORTANT! Make sure to flip the alpha channel too!

I personally recommend naming it something related to what the texture is. My Snow Zephyr texture is SnowZephyr.tga. However if you really wish to, you can save it as color.tga.

The Material File
This file is what tells the game where the texture is located. By editing this file and packing it into a mod, we can tell the game to use a different texture file instead of completely replacing the old texture.

Zephyr's material file is located in resources0.s2z. Once again use your zip tool of choice to open the file and navigate to heroes/zephyr/material.material and extract the file.

Open this file in your text editor (Notepad++ for me) and change all instances of color.tga to whatever your edited texture is named. My edited file is SnowZephyr.tga so I'll replace color.tga with SnowZephyr.tga

Packing up the files
The final step is setting up the mod file. Create a new zip file and rename it resourcesX.s2z where X is just text. For example resourcesWarchamp7SnowZephyr.s2z.

Now you need to place the edited material file and texture inside the resourcesX.s2z with the same file structure as resources0.s2z. The location of Zephyr's material is heroes/zephyr so I will create that same folder heirarchy in resourcesX.s2z and place the material file there.

So inside resourcesX.s2z you should now have heroes/zephyr/material.material. Finally, place the texture in the same folder with material.material.

Load up the game and test it out. If everything is working, great work! If it's in a state you're happy with, post a thread and put it up for download.

Here's an installation template for your thread, just copy and paste.


To Install:
Simply download <DOWNLOAD LINK> into the Heroes of Newerth game folder. The default locations for this folder are:

Linux: /home/<username>/HoN/game/
Windows 7: C:\Program Files\Heroes of Newerth\game\
Windows Vista: C:\Program Files\Heroes of Newerth\game\
Windows XP: C:\Program Files\Heroes of Newerth\game\
Mac:
1. Press Finder
2. Press Applications
3. Right click 'Heroes of Newerth', and press Show containing files
4. Open Game folder
5. Move file here

You will now have the <NAME OF YOUR TEXTURE> texture. To disable it, simply delete resourcesXXXX.s2z or remove it from the game folder.

This mod does not overwrite any vital files.

[Warchamp7]

Reserved for some reason

[Yurixy]

Thank you.. while your topic was created I discovered most of the things explained.. haha... but I have sure that this guide will help me and all people to create new textures.
Congratulations for all your effort in textures Warchamp7!

[Sephinator]

Warchamp7 is THA MAN! :D

[Yurixy]

I think this guide deserves a Sticky!

[Keii]

Very nice guide. Thank you.

[frst]

I've written up a few subsections aimed towards beginners. Feel free to add them to your guide or if you prefer I'll make another thread.

A Quick Intro to Textures
Texturing is the process of wrapping a 2-dimensional (flat) image around a 3-dimensional object to visually enhance its surfaces. Below is an image to help communicate how a texture image can be wrapped around a model.

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/4765/wrapping.jpg

Changing/Creating Textures in Photoshop

You'll want to double click the background layer and press 'OK' to make it editable. Making a copy of the default layer is also a good idea in case you want to revert changes.

Hue/Saturation/Curve Changes
By selecting an area with the Lasso Tool (L) and then going to Image>Adjustments you can easily edit many aspects of an area of texture.

Painting
The PS brush panel offers a lot of customization that can come in handy when trying to create your own surface or texture. Varying factors such as size, opacity and hardness will give you different results as you paint. When blending tones it's a good idea to use a low opacity (1-10%) to achieve smooth blends.

Dodging/Burning
The Dodge or Burn Tool (O) allows you to lighten to darken a tone or area based on it's value (highlight, midtone, shadow.) You can often times shade an area that is a solid tone to add shadows and highlights to give it shape.

Copy/Pasting
If you want to use an image in your texture you can open up or copy an image from your desktop or the web and then paste it onto a new layer. This could come in handy if you are having trouble painting the texture of stone or dirt and you want to use real photographs in the piece.

Using Groups in Photoshop

Grouping is an easy way to keep yourself organized while working in Photoshop. Once you start working with 10+ layers things can get confusing. Below you'll find an example of how I've structured my layers for the Infected Wildsoul reskin.

http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/2672/grouping.jpg

Alpha Channels

Alpha channels control areas of transparency on a texture. Items like feathers or edges of clothing which may be modeled with straight edges can be given more depth by using an alpha channel. Below is an example how how applying an alpha channel to a rectangular piece of clothing will give it the appearance of tearing.

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/1097/alphaexample.jpg

Accessing the Channels Panel
Alpha channels only work in black and white though in RGB mode it will appear red on your image.. By selecting the actual alpha channel from the Channels panel we can paint with varying opacities of black or white to add transparency to a piece. Black will give complete transparency and white will give none.

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/7166/alphapanel.jpg


Cheers!

[MaxGhost]

Nice guide frst, good tips!

[Sephinator]

I tested this on my Dark Scout, the only thing i did was rotate 180 degrees and save as tga.

And he had a metallish color. :/

IMAGE:

http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/2247/metallishscout.jpg

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/563/metallishscout2.jpg


EDIT: What quality on the TGA should i have? 16/24/32 bits/pixel?

[frst]

I tested this on my Dark Scout, the only thing i did was rotate 180 degrees and save as tga.

And he had a metallish color. :/

IMAGE:

http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/2247/metallishscout.jpg

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/563/metallishscout2.jpg


EDIT: What quality on the TGA should i have? 16/24/32 bits/pixel?

The rotation completely rearranges the texture areas so nothing will line up with the model.

[Yurixy]

Hello... my first texture I was mading was a Frost Accursed turned to a blue theme. Well I managed to change the model texture and the second skill blue shields rounding texture, but stills have a red fire in he, I tried to change flame.material, dust2.dss, flame.dss and others defined on body.effect but didnt work :( (im trying to make a blue fire)

Anyone have some hints etc? thx in advance

EDIT: Nvm, Im making progress :)

[IVaCH]

Hi, great work!

How do you edit the *.effect file for the spells? If spells isn't that, how to edit them? software + plugin or something..Thank you!

[Yuichi]

You can edit *.effect files with notepad
And you could also save the textures to *.dds

[Sephinator]

There is one final step before you save your texture. Since DDS textures are flipped in-game, you will need to flip the texture before saving. Once you flip your texture, save it as a tga.

IMPORTANT! Make sure to flip the alpha layer too!



The rotation completely rearranges the texture areas so nothing will line up with the model.

Warchamp wrote that it was important to flip the texture. :/

[Yurixy]

Warchamp wrote that it was important to flip the texture. :/
I think he means to new textures created from zero.
If you edit the game textures they are already on 180° fliped correct position.

[Warchamp7]

There is a huge difference between flipping an image vertically and rotating it 180 degrees.

http://i37.tinypic.com/339oewn.jpg


EDIT: What quality on the TGA should i have? 16/24/32 bits/pixel?

32


How do you edit the *.effect file for the spells? If spells isn't that, how to edit them? software + plugin or something..Thank you!

Just like the material file. It's just text so use a text editor like Notepad++

[Volt]

Is there any way to open up the 3d models in Photoshop CS4 and be able to edit them?

[MaxGhost]

Is there any way to open up the 3d models in Photoshop CS4 and be able to edit them?

Nope. There's currently no way to import game's 3d models at all. You can export your own models from 3ds max 8 though with the exporter S2 provided.

Edit: Question: where do I change the name for the ability icons? I got a friend to make me some custom ones, but how do I disallow overwriting with it?

[Sephinator]

In the ability.entity. Example: heroes/name*/ability_XX/ability.entity. i'm not completely sure but..

/bow

Thank you SOO much, this has been DRIVING ME CRAZY on how you did it!!!!

Here, have this cookie *hands cookie* and this bag of Reese's Cups *hands bag of Reese's Cups*

I'm hoping that editing Puppet Master and his Puppet Ulti wont be that hard...can anyone say Metallica Themed "Master of Puppets"?

[CreepyReapey]

Edit:
WoooOo!
Finally did it, thanks for the guide man.

[MaxGhost]

In the ability.entity. Example: heroes/name*/ability_XX/ability.entity. i'm not completely sure but..

Yup thanks :D

[Volt]

I followed the guide word for word, and still can't get any result whatsoever. Is this a problem with my resources?

[Warchamp7]

Why don't you upload your resource file and I can take a look

[Sephinator]

I will when i come home.

[ViperThunder]

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh186/ViperThunder/armadinosmall.jpg
Far from professional work, I made armadon into a green dinosaur! Changed his quills to white too

[MaxGhost]

Haha! That's pretty cool ViperThunder!

I do think the green is too dark though. Looks like an infectious blob with spikes...

[ViperThunder]

I followed the guide word for word, and still can't get any result whatsoever. Is this a problem with my resources?
I was having trouble when I had multiple custom resourceXXXX.s2z files. I got rid of my resources999.s2z and put everything from the 999.s2z into resources1001.s2z.

[TrueLolzor]

There is no alpha layer in image when Im opening it. Why?

[Warchamp7]

Some textures don't have one. This isn't a major issue.

[TrueLolzor]

color.dds dont have? Cause when I looking at my texture in-game, it doesnt shows properly.

[Warchamp7]

I said some textures, not all textures. It's apparent that you don't understand what an alpha layer does.

Put up a picture of your texture in-game

[Sephinator]

I said some textures, not all textures. It's apparent that you don't understand what an alpha layer does.

Put up a picture of your texture in-game

It's an Alpha Channel.

[Warchamp7]

It's a Alpha Channel.

Quiet over there, take your jargon somewhere else :P

[frst]

It's an Alpha Channel.

:P .

[Sephinator]

Quiet over there, take your jargon somewhere else :P

Sorry! xD

I'm Having the same problem as Billy Mays, All I did was a simple edit (Inverted the colors, did some color editing to make Corrupt Disciple Teal instead of Red) And I followed WORD for WORD, I'll upload resources that I have now.



<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<material>
<parameters vDiffuseColor="1.0000 1.0000 1.0000" fSpecularLevel="1.0000" fGlossiness="32" fOpacity="1.0000" fReflect="1.0000">
<vec3 name="vTeamColor" value="0 .4 .5" />
</parameters>
<phase name="shadow" vs="mesh_shadow_opacity" ps="mesh_shadow_opacity" srcblend="BLEND_ONE" dstblend="BLEND_ZERO" translucent="false" cull="CULL_BACK" alphatest="true">
<sampler name="opacity" texture="DiscipleEdit.tga" repeat_u="true" repeat_v="true" scale_u="1.0000" scale_v="1.0000" fps="15" mipmaps="true" fullquality="false" nocompress="false" filtering="true" border="false" />
</phase>
<phase name="depth" vs="mesh_depth_opacity" ps="mesh_depth_opacity" srcblend="BLEND_ONE" dstblend="BLEND_ZERO" translucent="false" cull="CULL_BACK" alphatest="true">
<sampler name="opacity" texture="DiscipleEdit.tga" repeat_u="true" repeat_v="true" scale_u="1.0000" scale_v="1.0000" fps="15" mipmaps="true" fullquality="false" nocompress="false" filtering="true" border="false" />
</phase>
<phase name="color" vs="mesh_color_unit" ps="mesh_color_unit_team" srcblend="BLEND_ONE" dstblend="BLEND_ZERO" translucent="false" cull="CULL_BACK" alphatest="true" layer="0">
<sampler name="diffuse" texture="DiscipleEdit.tga" repeat_u="true" repeat_v="true" scale_u="1.0000" scale_v="1.0000" fps="15" mipmaps="true" fullquality="false" nocompress="false" filtering="true" border="false" />
<sampler name="normalmap" texture="normal.tga" repeat_u="true" repeat_v="true" scale_u="1.0000" scale_v="1.0000" fps="15" mipmaps="true" fullquality="false" nocompress="false" filtering="true" border="false" />
<sampler name="team" texture="team.tga" repeat_u="true" repeat_v="true" scale_u="1.0000" scale_v="1.0000" fps="15" mipmaps="true" fullquality="false" nocompress="false" filtering="true" border="false" />
</phase>
<phase name="fade" vs="mesh_depth_opacity" ps="mesh_depth_opacity" srcblend="BLEND_ONE" dstblend="BLEND_ZERO" translucent="true" cull="CULL_BACK" alphatest="true" layer="0" colorwrite="false" alphawrite="false" depthwrite="true">
<sampler name="opacity" texture="DiscipleEdit.tga" repeat_u="true" repeat_v="true" scale_u="1.0000" scale_v="1.0000" fps="15" mipmaps="true" fullquality="false" nocompress="false" filtering="true" border="false" />

<multipass vs="mesh_color_unit" ps="mesh_color_unit_team" srcblend="BLEND_SRC_ALPHA" dstblend="BLEND_ONE_MINUS_SRC_ALPHA" translucent="true" cull="CULL_BACK" alphatest="false" layer="0">
<sampler name="diffuse" texture="DiscipleEdit.tga" repeat_u="true" repeat_v="true" scale_u="1.0000" scale_v="1.0000" fps="15" mipmaps="true" fullquality="false" nocompress="false" filtering="true" border="false" />
<sampler name="normalmap" texture="normal.tga" repeat_u="true" repeat_v="true" scale_u="1.0000" scale_v="1.0000" fps="15" mipmaps="true" fullquality="false" nocompress="false" filtering="true" border="false" />
<sampler name="team" texture="team.tga" repeat_u="true" repeat_v="true" scale_u="1.0000" scale_v="1.0000" fps="15" mipmaps="true" fullquality="false" nocompress="false" filtering="true" border="false" />
</multipass>
</phase>
</material>


NOTE: I did save it as a .tga, I flipped it VERTICALLY, like the guide said, before saving, and I TRIED to make sure everything was edited (I renamed it DiscipleEdit, easy huh?)
Also, I followed to the WORD (set the zip archive as heroes -> corrupted_disciple -> DiscipleEdit.tga and material.material inside the folder)...

And still nothing. I am sad.

Please help yo :<

[SwiftCrimson]

I didn't really care about making a texture, but for fun I editted the nighthound with the smirk face.

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/4986/nightsmirk.jpg

and personally I think their should be a face edit for all heroes for the sake of humor

[AngryN00B]

maybe it is a good idea to add the icon's modification part into the guide too! The trick is that they cant have the same name because textures.s2z comes later and overwrites i guess. Took me flaming slither to find that out :P

[TrueLolzor]

I didn't really care about making a texture, but for fun I editted the nighthound with the smirk face.

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/4986/nightsmirk.jpg

and personally I think their should be a face edit for all heroes for the sake of humorwin

I have the same problem as guys posted before. I did all like instruction says and game dont sees my resources s2z. But it works if it just unpacked in HoN/Game folder.

[Yurixy]

maybe it is a good idea to add the icon's modification part into the guide too! The trick is that they cant have the same name because textures.s2z comes later and overwrites i guess. Took me flaming slither to find that out :P
isnt you that posted a texture with icons without overwite?
how u do this? i will implement on future textures too :)

[Sephinator]

You must simply add a copy of the ability.entity and Hero.entity and some TGA icons named icon.tga.

[Seraphym]

I just tried to make some minor changes to hammer storm saved the texture as a .tga repacked it all fine but when i tested him in a practise match it looks like the texture has shifted or the size has changed. when i saved it photoshop asked me if i wanted to save it as 32bit/pixel, 16 and 8 i was wondering if i had to save it as one of the others i saved as 32 bit.
http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss176/Knautiaskdjd/WTF.jpg

[IVaCH]

I just tried to make some minor changes to hammer storm saved the texture as a .tga repacked it all fine but when i tested him in a practise match it looks like the texture has shifted or the size has changed. when i saved it photoshop asked me if i wanted to save it as 32bit/pixel, 16 and 8 i was wondering if i had to save it as one of the others i saved as 32 bit.


You must rotate the channels (Alpha channel also if it has) vertically and save it.

[Seraphym]

Lmao thanks i cant believe it was that simple

[AngryN00B]

You must simply add a copy of the ability.entity and Hero.entity and some TGA icons named icon.tga.

WRONG, you must copy the .entity (hero/ability) and a new icon named DIFFERENT from icon.tga . it wont work if u keep it icon.tga because textures.s2z overwrites icon.tga later on. If you tell the ability.entity he need iconnew.tga, the game will use iconnew.tga because the ability.entity gets overridden in the resources0.s2z !

[MaxGhost]

*overrides, not overwrites.

[kpobococ]

guys i need your help. I want to make an ice texture that is transparent but i dont know how. Alpha channel just makes them invisible so i was wondering if some1 could help me here.( a slight guide would be much appreciated , i'm using GIMP btw )

[MaxGhost]

I think you need to use an transparent brush (with low opacity) on the alpha channel instead of something opaque. I haven't tested it, so I can't tell you if it works for sure.

[Marowak]

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/2310/problempq.png

I can't seem to figure out why it is doing this. All I did to the texture was add red lines with the air paint brush in GIMP and I did everything else right.

[MaxGhost]

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/2310/problempq.png

I can't seem to figure out why it is doing this. All I did to the texture was add red lines with the air paint brush in GIMP and I did everything else right.

Flip it vertically.

[Marowak]

Flip it vertically.


Gah! I been flipping it horizontally! Thanks!

[AtroCty]

If I try to open the file (ofcourse I downloaded the plug-in) I get this:

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/4392/blao.png

Any solution?

[MaxGhost]

Wrong file. You need to open color.dds.

[Loli]

I downloaded plugins and got this ;-;
halp pl0x

http://i45.tinypic.com/2enwcnn.png

It is indeed the color.dds

Edit: Apparently CS4 64-bit isnt supported by the plug-in.
CURSE YOU 64-BIT!!

[ichi168]

what does glow.dds and normal.dds does? and how can I change other colors like the projectiles and some spell colors?

[MaxGhost]

what does glow.dds and normal.dds does? and how can I change other colors like the projectiles and some spell colors?

About the other files, I don't think you need to worry about it. Glow.dds I think is for the teamcolor glow effect (not entirely sure) and normal.dds I think is a depth map (again, not sure).

Depends on the skill. If it's a skill like slither's plague ward, you can edit the texture for it by finding the skin the same way as the hero's skin, but if you want to edit other particle effects, that's in the resources0.s2z, and you want to change the .effect files. Most of the time you just need to change the color, but since it's XML, you can do just about anything with them to make it look drastically different. I even used effect files from other heroes (pyro and the dragon creeps) for my slither mod.

[ichi168]

About the other files, I don't think you need to worry about it. Glow.dds I think is for the teamcolor glow effect (not entirely sure) and normal.dds I think is a depth map (again, not sure).

Depends on the skill. If it's a skill like slither's plague ward, you can edit the texture for it by finding the skin the same way as the hero's skin, but if you want to edit other particle effects, that's in the resources0.s2z, and you want to change the .effect files. Most of the time you just need to change the color, but since it's XML, you can do just about anything with them to make it look drastically different. I even used effect files from other heroes (pyro and the dragon creeps) for my slither mod.

oh yeah I know your slither mod it was fantastic!! I still wonder how to change some particles like for examples the bats in wretched hag's cage. how can i change its color and its purple glowy effect

[MaxGhost]

That stuff is in the file \heroes\babayaga\effects\body.effect

[ichi168]

That stuff is in the file \heroes\babayaga\effects\body.effect

can you teach me how to edit it??

[MaxGhost]

can you teach me how to edit it??

Not really... just mess around with different values. It's not hard to learn how to do it on your own.

[Yugamic]

can you teach me how to edit it??
Once you open the effect file you want to change, the color="x x x" is the RGB value for each particle effect. The values go from .1 to 1. Since most RGB values are based on a scale of 255, you have to take the RGB and divide it by that number, then enter it into the text document.

There's a ton of color value charts that can be found on Google or Photoshop will also tell you RGB colors. One of these charts can be found here (http://www.tayloredmktg.com/rgb/).

For example the effect file will say something like:

particle
minangle="0"
maxangle="180"
minanglespeed="0"
maxanglespeed="45"
startcolor=".92 .89 .79"
endcolor=".3 .3 .1"
size="25"
minendscale="6"
maxendscale="10"
startalpha=".25"
midalpha=".25"
endalpha="0"
midalphapos="0.1"
endstickiness="1"
/>

The color is what you need to edit. For example, the RGB for Dark Sea Green on that chart is 143 188 143 which roughly comes out to .56 .37 .56. Enter this into the text document and that will give your particle effects the Dark Sea Green color.

[MaxGhost]

actually, the values go from 0 to 1 (including decimals) so you could have stuff like .00001 and still have it work. The formula for converting from regular RGB to HoN's RGB format is [RGBnum]/255, and that decimal number is what you would use for HoN.

[ichi168]

Once you open the effect file you want to change, the color="x x x" is the RGB value for each particle effect. The values go from .1 to 1. Since most RGB values are based on a scale of 255, you have to take the RGB and divide it by that number, then enter it into the text document.

There's a ton of color value charts that can be found on Google or Photoshop will also tell you RGB colors. One of these charts can be found here (http://www.tayloredmktg.com/rgb/).

For example the effect file will say something like:

particle
minangle="0"
maxangle="180"
minanglespeed="0"
maxanglespeed="45"
startcolor=".92 .89 .79"
endcolor=".3 .3 .1"
size="25"
minendscale="6"
maxendscale="10"
startalpha=".25"
midalpha=".25"
endalpha="0"
midalphapos="0.1"
endstickiness="1"
/>

The color is what you need to edit. For example, the RGB for Dark Sea Green on that chart is 143 188 143 which roughly comes out to .56 .37 .56. Enter this into the text document and that will give your particle effects the Dark Sea Green color.

thanks I will try and experiment now :rolleyes:

[Yugamic]

actually, the values go from 0 to 1 (including decimals) so you could have stuff like .00001 and still have it work. The formula for converting from regular RGB to HoN's RGB format is [RGBnum]/255, and that decimal number is what you would use for HoN.
Yop, I just simplified it a bit. I'm guessing there's a minimum brightness threshold to have the effects display correctly since I couldn't get anything too dark (IE black) to show up. Admittedly I didn't play around with it too much.

[Devilsheep]

It doesent work for me!!

resources2000.s2z\heores\witch_slayer\ material.material
slay.tga


well in the material data i changed every "color.tga" to "slay.tga"

anyway there is not even one little change (even if i color everything red :eek:)

EDIT: got the problem
resources2000.s2z.zip\heores\witch_slayer\

[A`nub`is]

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4473/texturesj.th.jpg (http://img7.imageshack.us/i/texturesj.jpg/)

Why does this turn out like this?
I understand it wouldn't be perfect, but why is everything messed up and not only the head?
It is flipped correct (just like the original on the left)... no?

[MaxGhost]

If you're saving them as .tga, they they should be opposite of the original, completely flipped. Make sure you're flipping the alpha channel too though.

[ichi168]

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4473/texturesj.th.jpg (http://img7.imageshack.us/i/texturesj.jpg/)

Why does this turn out like this?
I understand it wouldn't be perfect, but why is everything messed up and not only the head?
It is flipped correct (just like the original on the left)... no?

flip it vertically

[A`nub`is]

...yeah thx. It's this statement on page1, which is to blame ;)


I think he means to new textures created from zero.
If you edit the game textures they are already on 180° fliped correct position.

Which is wrong.

Works now thx.

[StatikWolf]

This happened to me, i followed all the instructions and everything.
http://ultraxs.com/image-B312_4B0D14C3.jpg
heres the file
http://www.mediafire.com/?mjzt3dijiw5

[MaxGhost]

...yeah thx. It's this statement on page1, which is to blame ;)



Which is wrong.

Works now thx.

It's only wrong if you save them as .tga for use in .s2z mod files. If you were going to pack it back into the textures.s2z file (not recommended) you wouldn't need to flip, because you would be saving them as .dds


This happened to me, i followed all the instructions and everything.

heres the file
http://www.mediafire.com/?mjzt3dijiw5

First of all, putting that many 9s in the filename wont help it...

Second of all, I wasn't able to open the .tga file with photoshop, so I think you didn't save it correctly. You need to select the "Targa" filetype to get the right format.

[StatikWolf]

Ok, i resaved it as a targa file so now you should be able to open the ppy.tga file.
and i made it 2225 just for testing purposes.

it lets me open it but i get the same result.

http://www.mediafire.com/?2z2tmwtzzzk

[MaxGhost]

Well, it worked fine for me this time... Make sure you don't still have the 999999982 version still in there, or it'll override your 2225 one.

[H1pster]

You wouldn't happen to know of any DDS plugins for the Mac would you?

[MaxGhost]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=.dds+plugin+photoshop+mac

[H1pster]

That was pretty awesome, but didn't produce any results, the only one I can find is something you have to pay for (something I found before your clever google link).

[MaxGhost]

You really didn't look hard did you. It leads to forum posts that explain that there are no plugins available, but you can use a .dds converter instead.

http://dwj.freeshell.org/celestia/

[H1pster]

I appreciate you linking me to that. For future reference, is there a search feature on these boards? Or do I have to manually look through the threads?

[H1pster]

Realizing how dumb that question was I decided to look myself. Low and behold, a search function!

[Pandor]

I'm trying to reskin legionnaire and making him green and his chest bare ala hulk. While he does go green, the chest texture is still the harness he wears, despite changing it to a bare chest texture in the color file. I figured there might be an additional shader or something interfering so I put the chest in the normal file too, but I'm not sure how to apply it or if that's even the problem. Any ideas? Sorry if I missed something and doing something really obviously wrong but I'm new to this D: thanks in advance!
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yVWqXy_EkJw/Sw5y4phEosI/AAAAAAAAAUY/LeZv_NyVjJ4/s1600/legion.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_yVWqXy_EkJw/Sw5y46QVPnI/AAAAAAAAAUg/UKV-BjogXg4/s1600/hulk_noshirt.jpg

[halloni]

Hi, I hope this is the right place to ask.

I managed to get my own textures working thanks to this guide and a lot of trial and error, but now I have a couple of questions if it's alright...

Is it possible to 'unload' the modded textures so I can make changes to them and not having to restart/quit hon? ( "This file is in use by another program.." )

And also, is there a pause command to make the game pause while looking for texture changes? ( I am guessing the pause button works for this but wondering if there is such a command. )

[Yugamic]

Is it possible to 'unload' the modded textures so I can make changes to them and not having to restart/quit hon? ( "This file is in use by another program.." )

Pretty sure the only way to update a texture is to restart HoN since the game accesses the files upon start up. The resources0000.s2z file tells the program to overwrite any default settings and cannot be changed or removed while HoN is running.

That's my understanding anyway. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. :)

[Jaycoob]

I have a very newb question since I'm new to Gimp, err, how do I install that plug-in to open those files to make my own texture? thanks for any response!

[Jaycoob]

Pls. I really need a response now so I can start making my own textures and dnt have to request, and if ur wondering, I cnt find any in google about how to install Gimp Plug-ins, all find are broken faq links and other useless net sht.... so I hope someone can tell me regarding Installing Gimp plug-ins soon.

[Jaycoob]

Ok, so I've gotten some DDS converter to turn it into tga so I can edit, now the only thing I dnt understand is, How do I flip alpha channel? those things are kinda strange and new for me, so someone tell me how it works? cause maybe its the reason why my textures in game looks ugly and all black and stuff.

[MaxGhost]

Stop posting over and over. Just edit your post next time.

[Jaycoob]

ok.... so.... thanks for the very very helpfull response then. >_>

[gmao]

all the time i put to open the texture comes in totally low resolution!

why ???

[gmao]

now i get it! i was opening the wrong file ;D

[Sephinator]

all the time i put to open the texture comes in totally low resolution!

why ???

The texture isn't so high resolution.

[Tiens]

Anyone been so nasty yet as to turn Slither's poison spray white?

How do i save it as a .tga file? It only give me the options of .exr , .dds , .psd , and more.

[Keshoon]

I assume you're using Photoshop, for an odd reason, it won't display .TGA, pick anything else other than .PSD and it'll appear in the list.

[MaxGhost]

.tga is the Targa file-type. Look for that if it doesn't show .tga.

I still can't change it into a .tga, im using adobe photoshop cs3.

[Tsumie]

i'm completely lost, this is the first time ive ever done anything like this, and its breaking my balls. So far ive managed to do this in photoshop http://i46.tinypic.com/29l1wg3.png just to try it out and see if i could get any result at all, after i have painted the texture i save it as TGA and move on to the notepad++ part, i downloaded the program but i cant see any installer or anything in the notepad++ folder? all i see is powereditor & scintilla. I read the readme but heck i didint understand any of it.

ok so after breaking my balls several times and ripping hair out of my skull i ended up with this http://i50.tinypic.com/2v35wfd.jpg wher did i **** up lol

[Warchamp7]

i'm completely lost, this is the first time ive ever done anything like this, and its breaking my balls. So far ive managed to do this in photoshop http://i46.tinypic.com/29l1wg3.png just to try it out and see if i could get any result at all, after i have painted the texture i save it as TGA and move on to the notepad++ part, i downloaded the program but i cant see any installer or anything in the notepad++ folder? all i see is powereditor & scintilla. I read the readme but heck i didint understand any of it.

ok so after breaking my balls several times and ripping hair out of my skull i ended up with this http://i50.tinypic.com/2v35wfd.jpg wher did i **** up lol

You probably didn't type the name properly in the material file. That, or you don't have the files in the proper locations.

[Yurixy]

trying to make a model, since have only one here in the repository ^^'

[kadeve]

@warchamp7 : you could at least give credits..

http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?t=13535

remember ?? i was the one who put this thing up

[Tsumie]

You probably didn't type the name properly in the material file. That, or you don't have the files in the proper locations.

re-checked the whole thing and i still mess up somewher, guess i just fail.

[MaxGhost]

re-checked the whole thing and i still mess up somewher, guess i just fail.

notepad++ is just a superpowered notepad. It's not required, but it's recommended for modding. You could try editing the material.material file with notepad instead, to see if it gives you better results.

[Tsumie]

notepad++ is just a superpowered notepad. It's not required, but it's recommended for modding. You could try editing the material.material file with notepad instead, to see if it gives you better results.

i never figured how i even started the notepad++ :D ive just ben using regular notepad. I did download the notepad++ but i cant see any installer or anything. /target wrist /cut

[Doccool]

I can't get the plug-in for GIMP. As found in many tutorials "the 'plug-ins'- folder" doesn't exist on my computer, could someone help me?

And I tried putting it in the Scripts folder (extracted and un-extracted). And when I try to open the DDS file, it says "Unknown file type"

So, i have a slight problem here :(

[MaxGhost]

I can't get the plug-in for GIMP. As found in many tutorials "the 'plug-ins'- folder" doesn't exist on my computer, could someone help me?

And I tried putting it in the Scripts folder (extracted and un-extracted). And when I try to open the DDS file, it says "Unknown file type"

So, i have a slight problem here :(

If it doesn't exist, then make a plugins folder.

[Doccool]

Ok, gonna try! Thanks!

Edit: No worky worky!

[Warchamp7]

@warchamp7 : you could at least give credits..

http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?t=13535

remember ?? i was the one who put this thing up

So because you wrote a texture guide before, I obviously stole from you right?

I've done texture editing since way before HoN.

[Doccool]

Still need help :/

[MaxGhost]

Still need help :/

... oh... kay.......... Mabye you should tell us what you need help with...

[Doccool]

I can't get the plug-in for GIMP. As found in many tutorials "the 'plug-ins'- folder" doesn't exist on my computer, could someone help me?

And I tried putting it in the Scripts folder (extracted and un-extracted). And when I try to open the DDS file, it says "Unknown file type"

So, i have a slight problem here :(



If it doesn't exist, then make a plugins folder.



Ok, gonna try! Thanks!

Edit: No worky worky!

So, enough info or do you need more? i
I have gimp 2.6.

[MaxGhost]

Umm... Use Paint.NET? It can open .dds files natively I think. Edit: Yeah I just doublechecked, it has it natively.

[Nitrokinetic]

Hey, I've followed the steps exactly and I was wondering what I've done wrong?
the file is here http://www.mediafire.com/?ywmzjyzyo2q
I even used Zephyr. Thanks for any help,
-mccarthy

[MaxGhost]

Hey, I've followed the steps exactly and I was wondering what I've done wrong?
the file is here http://www.mediafire.com/?ywmzjyzyo2q
I even used Zephyr. Thanks for any help,
-mccarthy

Hmm... that's a good question. I tried it out myself, and I don't know why it's not working.

One thing you should make sure you do next time though is that you remove the weird .ds_store files and _macosx folder from there. It just makes your .s2z bigger for no reason.

[Doccool]

Umm... Use Paint.NET? It can open .dds files natively I think. Edit: Yeah I just doublechecked, it has it natively.

Sure I could, but....I want to use gimp, cause it's a program I know. So, any help?

[MaxGhost]

C:\Program Files\GIMP-2.0\lib\gimp\2.0\plug-ins maybe?

Paint.NET is just like regular paint, but more awesome. Just try it out atleast.

[Nitrokinetic]

Hmm... that's a good question. I tried it out myself, and I don't know why it's not working.

One thing you should make sure you do next time though is that you remove the weird .ds_store files and _macosx folder from there. It just makes your .s2z bigger for no reason.

I found the problem! The built in mac-compressor compresses the folder all weird. I needed to use a different compressor to make it a zip and that got it working. You should probably include this on the front page because this really limits mac users.
-mccarthy :)

EDIT: Another thing is why can't I create a thread? Any help is appreciated.

[MaxGhost]

I found the problem! The built in mac-compressor compresses the folder all weird. I needed to use a different compressor to make it a zip and that got it working. You should probably include this on the front page because this really limits mac users.
-mccarthy :)

EDIT: Another thing is why can't I create a thread? Any help is appreciated.

Make your thread in the modifications section, and request a number from the sticky in that forum. Your thread will be moved to the customizations section afterwards.

[Spankle]

I downloaded plugins and got this ;-;
halp pl0x

http://i45.tinypic.com/2enwcnn.png

It is indeed the color.dds

Edit: Apparently CS4 64-bit isnt supported by the plug-in.
CURSE YOU 64-BIT!!

I have this same problem but Everytime i try and open up the 32 bit version of photoshop it immediately says the program stopped working and wont even start it up...what the heck do i do

[MaxGhost]

I have this same problem but Everytime i try and open up the 32 bit version of photoshop it immediately says the program stopped working and wont even start it up...what the heck do i do

You can use Paint.NET instead for now until you resolve your problems with Photoshop. It's free.

[Spankle]

I got photoshop and the plugin for dds working but im having trouble with the "Repacking" part. I'm not sure if i have the proper folder set up or where to put it once created

The way i have it now is

resources2000.s2z > heroes > sand_wraith > material.material and the sand.tga file in the last folder.
I have this whole archive in the programfiles>heroesofnewerth>game folder i made sure my material file was correct but i still get no results upon starting the game. any ideas?

EDIT: NVM i finally figured it out i just didnt make the zip file correctly. Now just to get semi decent results lol

[Doccool]

Thank you know it works :D

[Barakna]

Is it possible to change/remove where the player colors are displayed on the character?

Edit: Nevermind. Figured it out.

[Shieldheart]

Help! I tried making my own texture with Succubus. I think I followed the instructions correctly but 2 issues arrise:
1. She gets a purple glow around her whole body making my changes very hard to see
2. Her icons become black and white checkered squares.

Anyone have some insight as to what is going on?

[kuropon]

anybody wants to create a new model for moon queen? face is good but the body is... ughhh... sorry if i'm in the wrong thread though.

but please please, create a new hero model for moon queen...

[Active`]

Hello!

I was going to try and reskin polywog priest so i installed all the **** and so on and when i opened the file the whole picture was bright pink:

http://img687.imageshack.us/i/polywogrosa.jpg/

What should i do ? what did i do wrong?

[MaxGhost]

Hello!

I was going to try and reskin polywog priest so i installed all the **** and so on and when i opened the file the whole picture was bright pink:

http://img687.imageshack.us/i/polywogrosa.jpg/

What should i do ? what did i do wrong?

That's the specular map I think. You need to open color.dds, not the other ones.

[PogS]

No this is the normal map. It has to be like this.

[MaxGhost]

No this is the normal map. It has to be like this.

K, but he's not editing the right file if he wants to edit the texture itself.

[rawwrrr]

So i'm having trouble actually finding the file, i search in the Heroes of Newerth file, and i cant find any section for heroes. I found textures.s2z but i cant open it when i click it. I also copied and pasted your zephyr location into my files box and nothing came up. so uhhm help me if you can :].

EDIT: I ended up opening it with WinRAR and getting the files, thanks for the tutorial

[Helkor]

Ok, i didnt make it very long before something didnt work out, i cant find textures.s2z Anywhere, tryed everything. Anybody who can help me find it?


EDIT: Have found it

Another problem. I cannot save the picture as a TGA-file. Anybody who can help? Iam using Photoshop CS2 Trial.

EDIT: Fixed it.

Riiiight, sorry for spamming, but another problem have just show up.
My Magmus gets all white and black when i open the game with my resource.

Anybody who can tell me whats wrong?

http://www.mediafire.com/?ekam4ulaogt

[BlacRyu]

Riiiight, sorry for spamming, but another problem have just show up.
My Magmus gets all white and black when i open the game with my resource.

Anybody who can tell me whats wrong?

http://www.mediafire.com/?ekam4ulaogt
Your material file says Random Magmus.tga, but your picture is named PinkMagmus.tga

[Helkor]

It does? kk, ill try and change it then :)

Still doesnt work? Now hes just normal again :o

[IamKongor]

WOW i dont know what was wrong i tried it just as you described it....
then i started HoN
and there were no graphics and nothing the whole game and everything was just black and white and it looked like a chess field or something :D
i deinstalled HoN and redownload it now
haha
^.^

[Killamonjaro]

I can't even find the color.dds file, it's not even in the heroes/zephyr/ direcory. its just not there

[MaxGhost]

I can't even find the color.dds file, it's not even in the heroes/zephyr/ direcory. its just not there

You need to look in textures.s2z/00000000/heroes/zephyr, not in resources0.s2z

[Killamonjaro]

speedy response and it was my problem.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p89/super_scene_kid/rage7copy.jpg

[MaxGhost]

btw, Control Panel -> Folder Options -> View tab -> Uncheck "Hide files with known file extensions"

[Killamonjaro]

Okay i've encountered a new problem, i can't save it as a .tga file, but when i rename it the file image says TARGA on it, but I can't open it with photo shop (probably because i just changed the file extension because it wasn't an option to save as targa in photoshop)

[IamKongor]

ah btw
you can use paint.net and dont need any add ons or stuff
it opens dds and can save your textures as tga

[Jozone]

Hi!

Thanks for this guide! It did help me alot, but just as many others in this thread im in need of assitance.

Ive reworked Magmus into "Icemus" and everything about him is now chilly. :)

Exept one part, the glow on his hammer. Ive honestly tried everything i can think of, i even in pure desperation deleted the whole glow.dds but it was still there.

I have no experience in this area from before, and I would very much appreciate some help.

TL;DR -> I want the glow on magmus hammer to completely dissapear, how should i proceede?

[MaxGhost]

You need to work with the effect files. It should be called body.effect or something similar. Those files are in the resources0.s2z.

[Jozone]

Ok cool, but how do I edit *.effect files?
They wont open in PS CS4.

"Could not complete your request becouse it is not the right kind of document".

I have downloaded the plug-in.

[MaxGhost]

.effect files are text files.

[Jozone]

Oh.

Well, thanks. The glow is now blue, and i tried to change his "Lava Surge" from being red lava into "blue lava". Ive succeded in some ways, but there are still three types of files that i cant get my head around.
It seems that i have to change something in the *.mdf, *.model and *.clip files?
I dont even know what theese files do, but they are the only files left that ive not experimented with.

If you could explain these file types to me, or just tell me if im trying to modify the wrong files it would be very much appreciated.

[AnG3r]

Nice guide!

Though I have to ask someone here for a tiny bit of help:

I want to change the Hellbourne Creep skin with the skeleton one - is it possible at all?
Because I've read this guide 6 or 7 times very carefully and tried around a lot but there is absolutly nothing changed when I start HoN for checkin :(.

Any advice what I am doing wrong?

I used the files from textures.s2z\00000005\npcs\bad_melee [which should be the creep textures]
and the resources0.s2z\npcs\bad_melee\material.material.
Tried file replacing with and without saving vertically changed as .tga (yes, I took care of the alpha channel, too).

I am not really skilled yet but I am willing to learn if somebody can give me a hint.
And maybe I am not the only one who would enjoy different Hellbourne Creeps :p

[MaxGhost]

Skins/textures and models are not the same. You need to bring over the model too, or the texture will look messed up.


Oh.

Well, thanks. The glow is now blue, and i tried to change his "Lava Surge" from being red lava into "blue lava". Ive succeded in some ways, but there are still three types of files that i cant get my head around.
It seems that i have to change something in the *.mdf, *.model and *.clip files?
I dont even know what theese files do, but they are the only files left that ive not experimented with.

If you could explain these file types to me, or just tell me if im trying to modify the wrong files it would be very much appreciated.

.clip files are animation files, which are the instructions given to the model to give it movement. These are un-editable right now.
.mdf files are the ones that control which animations the model uses, and when. The only time you would edit these is if you were to swap out a hero's animations for another hero's.
.model files are the files that store the model information itself. This is also un-editable.

You'll probably need to edit a bunch of other .effect files, not just the body.effect one. Make sure to check in all the ability folders.

[machado]

Guys playing in HON how can camera rotate, down, up and view 3D etc. I now zooming (mouse mid button)

[Jozone]

Skins/textures and models are not the same. You need to bring over the model too, or the texture will look messed up.



.clip files are animation files, which are the instructions given to the model to give it movement. These are un-editable right now.
.mdf files are the ones that control which animations the model uses, and when. The only time you would edit these is if you were to swap out a hero's animations for another hero's.
.model files are the files that store the model information itself. This is also un-editable.

You'll probably need to edit a bunch of other .effect files, not just the body.effect one. Make sure to check in all the ability folders.

Nice! Thanks for all the help man!

But, some problem still remains. I left out some things in my previous post. I have not only edited the bidy.effect file. When i did that it gave me the result i was looking for (making his glow blue).

The spell on the other hand has given me some problems. I have succeded in turning some of the "gunk" ,that erupts from the ground when Lava Surge is used, blue.
Two problems still remain tough.

1. I edited the lavatrail.effect and the lavatrail2.effect files to try and make the lava blue instead of orange and red. Instead of giving me the wanted result the lava trail has more or less disappeared. There is now just some black details.

2. The steam/smoke that rises above the lava trail. I just want it to go away, fully. I ahve not succeded with this either.

Trust me when I say that ive experimented alot and made changes in all the *.effect files in the "Ability 1" directory.
More help would, as always, be appreciated.

[MaxGhost]

Hold the \ key, shift is |, then move the mouse around. It's the key above your Enter button.

Note that it only works in practice games.

@Jozone, You could just remove all the smoke code instead of changing it. That works just fine too if you want to get rid of it all.

[Penance]

Hold the \ key, shift is |, then move the mouse around. It's the key above your Enter button.

[MaxGhost]

Uh... Binary... >.>

[IMaTRUCK1]

Can anybody give me link to download that Nvidia plugin for Photoshop? That page freezes up when I click on DLoad,and which Notepad++ should I download? There are lots of options there,Binary,Source,Replace blablabla? Total noob here :p

[Snigel]

Awesome, can we get a sticky on this now?
admins?

[MaxGhost]

Awesome, can we get a sticky on this now?
admins?

This is already stickied.

[drk7mv]

it doesn't work for me. i edit the color.dds file and when im done, i flip it vertically and flipped the Alpha Channel too.

And I have 7zip.
I don't really understand the placement section.
Do i create a Compressed Zip Folder, place the Zephyr folder from Resources0 together with my .tga file and then i rename it???
Or do i need WinRar for this?

If possible, please put down the path files of the folders/files im putting into the resourcesXXXX.s2z file. Thank you <3

:madm:

[MaxGhost]

Make a heroes folder, make another folder inside of it with the name of the hero (same name as in resources0). Drop the .tga inside of the folder with the hero name. Rename the .tga to anything other than color, color2 works even. Then you need to get the material.material file from resources0, open it with notepad, change all the "color.tga" instances to "color2.tga" (or whatever you called it), then place material.material in the same place as your tga. Once you're done all that, rightclick on the heroes folder itself (first folder you made) and Send To -> Compressed (zipped) file, then rename the .zip it makes to resourcesXXXX.s2z

Paths:
heroes/<heroname>/<tganame>.tga
heroes/<heroname>/material.material

Basically, you need to keep the same file structure as in resources0.s2z.

[drk7mv]

Make a heroes folder, make another folder inside of it with the name of the hero (same name as in resources0). Drop the .tga inside of the folder with the hero name. Rename the .tga to anything other than color, color2 works even. Then you need to get the material.material file from resources0, open it with notepad, change all the "color.tga" instances to "color2.tga" (or whatever you called it), then place material.material in the same place as your tga. Once you're done all that, rightclick on the heroes folder itself (first folder you made) and Send To -> Compressed (zipped) file, then rename the .zip it makes to resourcesXXXX.s2z

Paths:
heroes/<heroname>/<tganame>.tga
heroes/<heroname>/material.material

Basically, you need to keep the same file structure as in resources0.s2z.

THANKS ALOT! <3 :cool:

[iHazard]

I gotta try this sometime! xD

[TheJoo]

have i done anything wrong here?
http://www.sendspace.com/file/qhf8qr

[MaxGhost]

have i done anything wrong here?
http://www.sendspace.com/file/qhf8qr

Did you try it? Did it work?

Try it yourself first before asking us if you did anything wrong. If you did try it, tell us that you tried it, and tell us what wasn't working.

[TheJoo]

Yeah, i did try it. sorry i didn't say that.
The texture didn't change.

EDIT: Just got it to change. No idea what i did wrong, i just remade the zip file and it worked.

[MajuiF]

Awkwardly enough, I can't seem to get mine working.
I follow your steps and I even compared what I did to one of my friend's mods and I've done exactly the same..
I'll try re-installing HoN anyways, since my floor textures (the regular ones) aren't showing (only black all over the map).

>.<

[Dumakush]

how do i know whats what? like wheres the arm leg body weapon ect..

[MidasPL]

Sorry, but how can I edit (what programme) "00000000/heroes/Zephyr/color.dds" or other .dds files? I use PhotoFiltre.

[MaxGhost]

I don't think .dds is supported by that program. You should use either Gimp, Paint.NET or Photoshop. The first two are free.

[MidasPL]

I got photoshop but still I got the message "Could not complete your request because it is not the right kind of document."

[MaxGhost]

Read the thread again. You need to install the .dds plugin from nVidia.

[MidasPL]

Ahhhh.... Thank you very much! I cannot read X_X.

[Herlgar]

My skins only works if there is the resourceX.s2z file in the "game" folder, but only if there is ALSO the not-packed folder with the skin in it.
I don't get why.

[Herlgar]

Sorry, but how can I edit (what programme) "00000000/heroes/Zephyr/color.dds" or other .dds files? I use PhotoFiltre.
I use Photofiltre, but it works only if you change the .dds file with a DDS converter program.

[slocik]

wow i detailed up the snootter texture , and it works, cool ;D

[haschisch]

Read the thread again. You need to install the .dds plugin from nVidia.the plugin seems to be badly coded and does not work with ps 6.0.
you know any neat converter for dds >> tga?

[MaxGhost]

Photoshop 6? Wow. I think you need to update it.

[Sexy_Warden]

I can't seem to find the color.dds archive T.T

[MaxGhost]

color.dds isn't an archive. It's an image file. Those files are inside the textures.s2z archive.

[Murie]

Thought I'd give this a whirl, so looks meh >_> but here's Night Hound looking a tad more..night-ish. Threw in some flavour for his beard and hairy spots, hard to see but there's some blood on his weapons. http://img245.imageshack.us/i/muriehound.jpg/ Thanks for your guide, your lightning zephyr was inspiring.

[Herlgar]

Anyone has an idea why it looks like the game only read the texture if there is also the extracted "heroes" folder in the game folder, and its always black and white even like that?

[YoshiP1]

Someone pls make vindi read playboy, haha :D

[KorokFanNr1]

Is there any way to know where exactly the face ends without 200 trial and error attempts?

Or is there a way to test it "live"? So I don't have to close->open hon every time I do a small change.

[Yuichi]

Is there any way to know where exactly the face ends without 200 trial and error attempts?

Or is there a way to test it "live"? So I don't have to close->open hon every time I do a small change.
You would need some blender knowledge to be able to do both of them easily.
Or you could read Poqs HoN Skinning guide (http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?t=59189)
He explains how to update the skins so that they show up in HoN and no need to close it between.

[AdolfSlither]

Nice and easy!

[DJDavyDave]

this is cool...but is there a different way/tuturial to insert a totally different texture/ i.e. one from a different game?

[DJDavyDave]

i love you for this thread, but i cannot find the "color.dds" file

[DJDavyDave]

plugin does absolutely nothing...looks so fun but this is bull...its just a document that doesnt change anything

[DJDavyDave]

Anyone been so nasty yet as to turn Slither's poison spray white?
i totally will but what is his file named in game...its not slither..can anyone help me?

[DJDavyDave]

ARG!!! nothing works....fml...no matter what forums or converters or plugins or anything i get/read/download still says photoshop cannot read file EVERY F***ing TIME

[Squelched]

I downloaded plugins and got this ;-;
halp pl0x

http://i45.tinypic.com/2enwcnn.png

It is indeed the color.dds

Edit: Apparently CS4 64-bit isnt supported by the plug-in.
CURSE YOU 64-BIT!!

I have the same damn problem :( I had to open them with gimp first then save-as tga and open with CS4 Photoshop 64bit. There must be an easier way. :(

[C00LBeans]

"Now you need to place the edited material file and texture inside resources2000.s2z with the same file structure as resources0.s2z. The location of Zephyr's material is heroes/zephyr so I will create those same folders in resources2000.s2z and place the material file there."

You lost me there, what do you mean by "with the same file structure as resources0.s2z"?

How do i make the same file structure?

And i dont understand this either

"So inside resources2000.s2z you should now have heroes/zephyr/material.material. Finally, place the texture in the same folder with material.material."

I did that but what do i do after that? Do i extract the folder somewhere? Do i extract it into game? Where do i extract it now?

[Oloko]

"Now you need to place the edited material file and texture inside resources2000.s2z with the same file structure as resources0.s2z. The location of Zephyr's material is heroes/zephyr so I will create those same folders in resources2000.s2z and place the material file there."

You lost me there, what do you mean by "with the same file structure as resources0.s2z"?

How do i make the same file structure?

And i dont understand this either

"So inside resources2000.s2z you should now have heroes/zephyr/material.material. Finally, place the texture in the same folder with material.material."

I did that but what do i do after that? Do i extract the folder somewhere? Do i extract it into game? Where do i extract it now?

Same file structure mean you have to put in your resources2000.s2z the same folder you had your hero in resources0.s2z.
So you would create the folder "heroes", then inside "heroes" you create the "zephyr" folder to get the same file structure for zephyr.
It means you can't put Zephyr's files into "/mycustomheroes/Zephyrrockz" cause the game will try to load the ones in "/heroes/zephyr".
I don't know if it makes more sense now. It should look like this in your resources2000.s2z:

-heroes (folder)
-zephyr (folder)


material.material
myawesometexture.tga
etc...

You only need to put your resources2000.s2z in the same folder has the resources0.s2z to make it work.

[C00LBeans]

Ok thanks oloko, another question now that i got it working ingame.

How do i rotate alpha cannel in photoshop?

I'm not really experienced with photoshop at all so yeah i have no idea what alpha channel even is.

EDIT: Nvm i got it looking great without rotating any alpha channels.

Anyways it looks awesome i made a party time zephyr it was rly easy, it doesn't look amazing but looks kinda cool but needs alot of improvements.

Thanks for this awesome guide and now i'm gona try and make some other awesome looking textures and improve my skills and maybe eventually put them up for download :D

[Asgarh]

guys i got a problem cause i'm very very bad with this things, so i would like if you can make a step by step guide for first timers thx :D

[ShammySham]

The plugin for gimp won't dl for me. Any help?

[Oloko]

The plugin for gimp won't dl for me. Any help?

You can try Paint .NET if your on windows, its free and can open DDS files.

Maybe if you search on google you can find another plugin, I found this one, but I haven't tried it myself: http://code.google.com/p/gimp-dds/

[flagoon]

I downloaded plugins and got this ;-;
halp pl0x

http://i45.tinypic.com/2enwcnn.png

It is indeed the color.dds

Edit: Apparently CS4 64-bit isnt supported by the plug-in.
CURSE YOU 64-BIT!!

Just in case anyone else has this problem. When you are installing this plugin, it is placed in: /path_to_adobe/Photoshop_Something/Plug-Ins/File Format BUT if you have other version than English, Photoshop will take plug-ins from localised folder. For Polish it was Plug-Iny. I had the same problem until I copied /Plug-Ins/File Format to Plug-Iny/Formaty Plikow. It's stupid, I know, but it works.

[IamKongor]

I want to make my custom texture, but i really dont know how to do it and this guide doesn't really help me..
I've never used photoshop and i dont have it
I could only try it with Paint.net or Gimp
The first problem i have is that i just want to keep the "texture" itself and just recolor it....
but if i just start coloring it looks ugly and not like a hero anymore...
It starts looking like a paint picture of a 5 year old kid...
I tried to use different "levels" if its the right translation and played a bit with the trancparency but it didnt help me...
Could you maybe explain how to RECOLOR it without losing the skin??

[Mazinkaiser]

Hey Warchamp, this is really handy, but I have a question. Does the method described in this guide work for other models, like from those of effects? I'm thinking :fors: skeles and :myrm: ult specifically. :)

[Oloko]

I want to make my custom texture, but i really dont know how to do it and this guide doesn't really help me..
I've never used photoshop and i dont have it
I could only try it with Paint.net or Gimp
The first problem i have is that i just want to keep the "texture" itself and just recolor it....
but if i just start coloring it looks ugly and not like a hero anymore...
It starts looking like a paint picture of a 5 year old kid...
I tried to use different "levels" if its the right translation and played a bit with the trancparency but it didnt help me...
Could you maybe explain how to RECOLOR it without losing the skin??


Hey Warchamp, this is really handy, but I have a question. Does the method described in this guide work for other models, like from those of effects? I'm thinking :fors: skeles and :myrm: ult specifically. :)

I can't really help you guys since I don't know much about this, but maybe you can take a look at this thread (http://forums.heroesofnewerth.com/showthread.php?t=59189) too.

[Mazinkaiser]

Well I did figure it out, and yes this works for effect models too :D

[Lijern]

alright so mines not working :(, i made a resources file, called resourcesRedBombardier.s2z
then i put it in my heroesofnewerth/game folder,
then i set it up so in the .s2z file i have the heroes folder and in that, the "bomb" folder and in that, material.material and color.tga
but its not working... :(

[ReDsKiN]

alright so mines not working :(, i made a resources file, called resourcesRedBombardier.s2z
then i put it in my heroesofnewerth/game folder,
then i set it up so in the .s2z file i have the heroes folder and in that, the "bomb" folder and in that, material.material and color.tga
but its not working... :(
name the .tga something not as the s2 standard, then see if you still have problems.
example: texture="color_redbomb.tga"

[Lijern]

i tried your suggestion but it still doesnt work :/

[ReDsKiN]

well i did a little mod of the texture and it works fine for me, uploaded the s2z i created:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7244165/HoN/resourcesSexBomb.s2z
Its dodgy work but is just an example

[Pineapple]

this thread should be sticky..
its really helpful and im gonna use it a lot!

[Dazius]

thanks a lot for the post :) with this I can get started on the texture I'll need for my hero. Also looking at warchamp's avatar made me wanna make some anime style textures for some of the heroes xD, I wonder if something like anime fight is possible in the k2 engine, that'd be cool to see. anyway thx a lot.

add: where do you save the tga's?? :S