Light Bars & Graphics

[pyrofreak]

Before I begin I'd like to thank Mikey, and company for answering my questions about .dds files, and lights in my last topic. Apparently I was a bit of a slow learner, but after using some of everyone's advice I was able to convert the files. That of course was the easy part, since then I've ran into a few smaller issues.

For example, this is my engine

for a beginner I suppose it isn't bad, but I can't stand the decals. The decal on the door says "Clark County Fire Dept.", and it looks blurry. I downloaded the decal from the internet, and rescaled it (I use paint.net), unfortunately the text quality deteriorated. To counter this I decided to hand write the text on myself, which is what I did with the words "Paramedic", unfortunately it still turns out blurry.

Which confuses me! How can THIS CAR have such clear, small writing and my looks like crap . I can read crime stoppers on it, and I can barely read my own writing what do I need to do to get my engines writing to look like that cars writing.

Also, Light Bars. In every mod, etc I see people using different light bars on their engine, or patrol car. I've been told I need to use zmodeler, or add the light bars as a child. Of course new lingo -- zmod / child confuses me. So I was hoping someone could clarify how everyone changes their light bars around.

[Texas_DPS]

that car that is used is by Nniko and its texture is a PNG file i think. the PNG is ok in my opinion but there is nothing wrong with the dds files that come from LA Mod.

here is one of my reskins. take a look and you be the judge. its all about the person doing the work.

i used pieces i gathered from many sources for my reskins.

[pyrofreak]

that car that is used is by Nniko and its texture is a PNG file i think. the PNG is ok in my opinion but there is nothing wrong with the dds files that come from LA Mod.

here is one of my reskins. take a look and you be the judge. its all about the person doing the work.

i used pieces i gathered from many sources for my reskins.

True, I suppose. Your work looks fine. I do have one question though. When you save a file, and reopen it do the colors appear to fade, or overlap in certain places? I noticed if I reopen a .dds file the original colors appear to fade, or "bleed" into a section next to it. I was just wondering if that is common or not.

[eggcarton]

When you go to save the file in Paint.net, the Save Configuration dialog box should display the first time.

For the dds file change the FileFormat to DXT3 (Explicit Alpha). This should fix your problem (as long as it is not already bleeding) but it will also double the file size.

[MikeyPI]

The reason for the blotching/blurring is usually compression settings in the DDS converter it's self, other formats can be compressed as well but more compression=smaller file at the cost of quality... The reason Nnico's vic looks different isnt just the format, it is also the size of the texture, a larger texture provides you with a higher resolution in which to work on... Given the fact this game is old and you're usually zoomed out, all the quality in the world doesnt matter since the game automatically compresses everything regardless of what you do... Such is how it works.

IF you have a detail that is very elaborate and it pixelates too much, with zmod you can always remap the part you're putting the writing onto giving it a larger space.. Rather advanced task but a worthwhile one since rarely will a UV map be perfect for what you're doing... Especially if it's one of my cars (I do it on purpose because of how I make em)...

Z-mod 2 is the app which is required to edit the V3O model files, and more importantly Export them... It is a rather important program if you're going to take a mod to appropriate levels, without having zmod you can't change components on a vehicle unless it's a slicktop and you add the lights as a child in the editor... The problem with doing that is that the lights float on the car meaning that when the car moves/stops the lightbars will float around a bit... idk why the dev's made em do that but it's what they do, probrably because that feature was meant for ladders and cranes not for little details.

[pyrofreak]

The reason for the blotching/blurring is usually compression settings in the DDS converter it's self, other formats can be compressed as well but more compression=smaller file at the cost of quality... The reason Nnico's vic looks different isnt just the format, it is also the size of the texture, a larger texture provides you with a higher resolution in which to work on... Given the fact this game is old and you're usually zoomed out, all the quality in the world doesnt matter since the game automatically compresses everything regardless of what you do... Such is how it works.

IF you have a detail that is very elaborate and it pixelates too much, with zmod you can always remap the part you're putting the writing onto giving it a larger space.. Rather advanced task but a worthwhile one since rarely will a UV map be perfect for what you're doing... Especially if it's one of my cars (I do it on purpose because of how I make em)...

Z-mod 2 is the app which is required to edit the V3O model files, and more importantly Export them... It is a rather important program if you're going to take a mod to appropriate levels, without having zmod you can't change components on a vehicle unless it's a slicktop and you add the lights as a child in the editor... The problem with doing that is that the lights float on the car meaning that when the car moves/stops the lightbars will float around a bit... idk why the dev's made em do that but it's what they do, probrably because that feature was meant for ladders and cranes not for little details.

Thank You again .. I more question, for now anyway. Suppose I decided to try using zmod (which I probably will), how do I open a unit in zmod? Better yet do we have tuts?

PS: I hate to be dumb, but the only way to learn is to ask questions so .. What is UV Mapping?

[MikeyPI]

Import the V3O files into Zmod and you can view/manipulate them.. V3O=model file the game uses... Usually cars are torn into wheel(s) door(s) and main body... Then you can manipulate the vehicle completely.. I do believe there are tutorials/questions asked that cover most "basic" features you'd want to do in reskinning/modding a vehicle already scattered on the forum or under the tutorials section.

Zmod does have a bit of a learning curve but if you know no other modeling software learning on zmod would be no more difficult.

UV mapping is the thing that a model has that tells it what parts of it's model are associated to the texture(s) and how they are oriented on the texture.... Think of it as a 2D representation of the 3D model which the texture is linked to.... No UV mapping=no textures on the car.

[pyrofreak]

Import the V3O files into Zmod and you can view/manipulate them.. V3O=model file the game uses... Usually cars are torn into wheel(s) door(s) and main body... Then you can manipulate the vehicle completely.. I do believe there are tutorials/questions asked that cover most "basic" features you'd want to do in reskinning/modding a vehicle already scattered on the forum or under the tutorials section.

Zmod does have a bit of a learning curve but if you know no other modeling software learning on zmod would be no more difficult.

UV mapping is the thing that a model has that tells it what parts of it's model are associated to the texture(s) and how they are oriented on the texture.... Think of it as a 2D representation of the 3D model which the texture is linked to.... No UV mapping=no textures on the car.

Ah I see. One of my friends has a register version of it so I'll take a shot at it. I can't do any wrong, I'll back up my work. If I mess up oh well, I'll restart and remember not to do what I did to begin with. Best way to learn I suppose.

[MikeyPI]

Pretty much how I learned to use the programs, I use Z1 and Z2 but I just played with them till I figured them out... Then asked specific questions when I got hung up to people who knew the apps better than I did... There are tutorials everywhere for Z1 and Z2 for other games, but the same principles apply regardless of what game it is for that you're using the proggy... Just remember to try to keep the models you create on the lighter side, more complex models cause more lag on slower machines... LA mod=lighter cars so they're a good example of how to build em... Mine are a bit heavier on my mod so they're examples of what the game can take but not necessarilly what you should aim to do if at all possible to avoid it.

[heyjoojoo]

Pretty much how I learned to use the programs, I use Z1 and Z2 but I just played with them till I figured them out... Then asked specific questions when I got hung up to people who knew the apps better than I did... There are tutorials everywhere for Z1 and Z2 for other games, but the same principles apply regardless of what game it is for that you're using the proggy... Just remember to try to keep the models you create on the lighter side, more complex models cause more lag on slower machines... LA mod=lighter cars so they're a good example of how to build em... Mine are a bit heavier on my mod so they're examples of what the game can take but not necessarilly what you should aim to do if at all possible to avoid it.

Great point!!!

I'm trying to reskin people and I notice every time I preview my new skin in the Editor, the skinned person looks very shiny. It's not flat like the original skin. What did I do wrong?

[MikeyPI]

Best guess would be it's an alpha layer setting that is the culprit, attempt removing the alpha layer from the DDS file and see if it looks "normal" again.. Some programs by default put an alpha layer back on that isnt set for the correct settings... Alphas as far as I know can do two things for this game, one is make them glossy/flat, the other is to make them transparent... I only ever use the transparency aspect of the alpha channels so I'm not sure what triggers the shiney aspect of it.