Colored Skins Mod/Library

McGlaspie · October 2013

Greetings fellow Modders!

During the development of my Marine vs Marine mod, I needed to devise a means to colorize all of the Marine related models. My initial "hack" to get this to work was modifying the shaders to switch which texture is loaded based on a Team Number input. This did the job just fine; however, it bloated the size of MvM to just over 169MB uncompressed. This was not satisfactory nor was it flexible in any way. So, during the Post-Reinforced update of MvM, I decided to come up with a more robust, lighter-weight, and modular way to colorize the models. As a result, my Colored Skins mod was born. I've released the first beta version of it on the Workshop in the hope it will provide some new options for other modders out there.

Here's a poorly made (and soundless) demo video of the system in action:

Steam Workshop: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=177027441

It's not complete just yet, but I'll be adding in support for additional shaders soon. When this is done, it will allow for more models to be colorized. I'm also working on a How-To type guide for using that I'll post here once it's finished.

McGlaspie · October 2013

GitHub Repository: https://github.com/McGlaspie/colorskins

Overview:

Before we dive into the nitty gritty of this system, I want to make sure a precedence is set about what modders should expect out it. Most importantly, this is not a genuine multi-skins per model system that exists in numerous games out there. We're all familiar with them, RPGs, FPSs, and several other types of games have them. Unfortunately, you do not have the ability to set new diffuse(albedo), Glow(Emissive), or Hightlights(Specular) textures with this system. It is not designed to replace any textures. Instead it provides a few color/texture manipulation features that are intended to augment the existing textures of a model for NS2.

This guide will not cover how to make textures, UV mapping, or techniques (in a graphics program) to use in order to create color map textures compatible with this library. It will cover the prerequisites of a color map texture and provide some details for what is needed, in addition to some general tips. This guide also makes the assumption that you have an understanding of how to create mods for NS2 and possess and understanding of the Lua scripting language.

Now that we have that out of the way, we can move on to what the Colored Skins system is and how it works. Onwards!

Components:

The Mixin
The ColoredSkinsMixin is how you link your mod's code to this system. This Mixin Lua class provides your game code with the prerequisites to control the data passed to the ColoredSkins_XYZ pixel shader program(s). It is very important to understand this Mixin is not designed to function in a networked (Client, Predict, and Server VMs) context. It is intended solely to be executed in the Client Lua VM. The ColoredSkinsMixin forces the implementing classes to define several new methods. It will also add some new class properties (members) to your objects. These changes are as follows:

Required Methods:
- GetSkinBaseColor() - Should return a Color object
- GetSkinAccentColor() - Should return a Color object
- GetSkinTrimColor() - Should return a Color object
- InitializeSkin() - Object defined routine to execute when an entity is initialized on the Client
Additional Properties:
- skinBaseColor - Color object
- skinAccentColor - Color object
- skinTrimColor - Color object
- skinAtlasIndex - Unsigned integer
- skinColoringEnabled - Boolean
In addition to the above, it also defines its own OnRenderUpdate() method. This is the function used to feed the color data from an entity to the pixel shaders. In its default state, it can handle almost all conditions meet in the NS2 game. It will attempt to feed the material parameters (skin color values) to the shader each time this method is called. This is done for every frame that the implementing entities are on-screen, and it is called on a per-entity basis. This allows for each implementor of this Mixin to contain its own color values driven by whatever conditons or state-data you see fit.
Shaders
This library contains several surface shaders. These are the meat-n-potato of this mod. There are a number of different surface shader files. These should be set as the shader used in the material file for the models you wish to be colorized. All of the shaders can be found in the "shaders" folder of the mod and the operations they perform will be convered in the next section.
Model Material(s)
Each model that will be colorized by this system must have a new (or modified vanilla) material file. The material file is used to link together the selected shader, the model, and the color map texture. In addition to this, it also defines the properties of a single color map texture. By specifying the properties of the Color Map texture, in the material file, the option to have multiple maps per texture file is made available. The details of what exactly goes into a material file will be covered in the Color Processing and Blending Control section.
Color Map Texture
This is an RGBA DXT5 format file. It defined the behavior of the pixel shader in the context of how it should blend the colors together in addition to defining how much and where specific color layers should be applied to a model's original (default) texture. Much more will be convered on this in the Color Map Texture and Color Processing and Blending Control sections.

Material Files:

It is important to understand this system does not add materials to an Entity. It requires that you replace a model's material.

With any materials in this system, the appropriate Surface Shader needs to be chosen. The shader parameter should be set to: shader = "shaders/ColoredSkins[XYZ].surface_shader". The [XYZ] will vary depending on what the model requires to match it's desired look. Look in the 'shaders' directory of the ColoredSkins mod to see the available and compatible shaders.

ColoredSkins Materials Parameters:

modelColorMap - DXT5 format texture file that specifies how much and where to apply the three layer colors. It is possible for this to be a Texture Atlas. An atlas allows for multiple color map textures to be condensed into a single texture file. Each section within the file is denoted by a set of X,Y coordinates to specify where the Top-Left corner of a new color map image begins.
colorizeEnabled - Float boolean to toggle skin colorization via the surface shader(s)
colorMapIndex - (0 to X) Integer. This specifies which texture to read as the color map from the modelColorMap Texture Atlas file. The actual X,Y coordinates within the texture itself are determined by the shader program at run-time.
numColumns - (1 to X) Integer. This describes the Texture Atlas. If this parameter is not set in a material its value will default to: 1. This is used in conjunction with the colorMapIndex and numRows to calculate the X,Y texture coordinates that should be sampled from the modelColorMap texture at run-time.
numRows - (1 to X) Integer. Identical to the numColums paramter, this describes the dimensions of the modelColorMap Texture Atlas. This will default to 1 if it is not specified in the material file.
modelBaseColorR, modelBaseColorG, modelBaseColorB - Float,Float,Float
modelAccentColorR, modelAccentColorG, modelAccentColorB - Float,Float,Float
modelTrimColorR, modelAccentColorG, modelAccentColorB - Float,Float,Float

All of the model color values (modeXYZColorR/G/B parameters) must be a 0 - 1 value. To determine what the float value is for the equivalent 0-255, use the below forumula:

FloatColorValue = ( R/255, G/255, B/255 )
Example:  modelBaseColorR = ( 140 / 255 )
modelBaseColorR == 0.54

Texture Atlas
As mentioned in the description of the modelColorMap material parameter; this system supports usage of a Texture Atlas. This is multiple textures contained in a single texture file. Below is an example texture atlas file:

This example atlas has four color map textures in it. The numColumns and numRows material parameters for this example would be:

numColumns = 1
numRows = 4

The number of rows and columns in a altas color map is dependent upon the entire texture's dimensions in constrast with a model's albedo texture dismensions. So, imagine taking an albedo/diffuse texture that is 512x512 pixels. If you wanted two color maps as an atlas texture with a single coumn, you would have the color map's dimension be 512x1024.

The system support multiple columns and rows, up to a maximum of 4x4; however, it is recommend that a absolute minimum number of rows and columns be used because this will increase the memory usage, and mod filesize.

The Color Map:

Before we get into how the pixel shaders perform the colorization, we need to go over how the colors are specified in the Color Map texture. Below is an example color map of the Green Marine type:

So let's go over just WTH is going on in this texture? As it shows, there are distinctly colored areas of Red, Green, and Blue. These colors denote to the shader program: which color to apply, how much of that color to apply, and where to apply it. The system as whole supports the application of three colors via the color map. These color channels denote where the Base, Accent, and Trim colors get processed and applied to a models original texture. The Color Map texture's Alpha channel is used to specify the intensity of a specific channel's (RGB) color. For example, if a pixel's Alpha channel value is 255, then the R,G, or B color (depending on which color application pass is being performed in the shader program) will be wholely applied to the model's original albedo/diffuse texture. If a pixel's Alpha channel value is 0, then no coloration will occur.

Assuming ColoredSkinsMixin and associated shaders have not changed:
ColoredSkinMixin.skinBaseColor is applied via the Color Map texture's RED channel
ColoredSkinMixin.skinAccentColor is applied via the Color Map texture's GREEN channel
ColoredSkinMixin.skinTrimColor is applied via the Color Map texture's BLUE channel

By segementing out the usage of the R,G, and B channels in the Color Map texture we can have up to three Colors applied to the models vanilla texture. This does not mean the per-pixel RGB values of the Color Map texture must explicity be Red, Green, or Blue. They can be mixed and matched as a Texture Artist sees fit. When using more than one channel (RGB) in a Color Map, it is important to remember the Green channel is considered to be the accented or highlights pass. In its default conditions, the ColoredSkinsMixin will consider the Accent Color (Green channel in Color Map texture) to be the parts of the texture that should glow (Have Emissive qualities). This should be taken into account when creating a Color Map for a model. However, this doesn't not always the case, as some of the Surface Shaders in the Colored Skins mod do not have an emissive layer.

Color Processing and Blending Control

Go grab a serving of your preferred beverage or snack (both?), this section will take some time to get through. This will go over how the entire system goes start to finish in the coloration process, and it will explain how you can control the system to suite your mod's needs.

TODO Explain shader load sequence
TODO Explain albedo process
TODO Explain color channel segregation and blending
TODO Explain color processing
TODO Explain blending control via color map pixels
TODO Explain Emissive layer handling and how it is tied to albedo layer processing
TODO Explain Glow / Dissolve customization sequence
TODO Explain misc variation(s) of all above
TODO Make picture sequence illustrating entire process start to finish

The Game Code:

Adding Colored Skins to a mod is very simple. This working example does assume all of the required files are copied to the appropriate locations. The below examples use NS2's modding framework to add new features to an existing class.

This example will be updating an Extractor, so it is colorized differently based on the which team it is associated with.

Script File: lua/mymod/Extractor.lua

Script.Load("lua/mymod/ColoredSkinsMixin.lua")

local originalExtractorOnCreate = Extractor.OnCreate
function Extractor:OnCreate()

    originalExtractorOnCreate(self)

    if Client then  //This must be performed in the OnCreate method
        InitMixin(self, ColoredSkinsMixin)
        //This adds the new skin system properties to this class
    end

end

This is identical to (mostly) how Mixins are initialized. Since the ColoredSkinsMixin does not (by default) associate or require any network fields, we do not have to externally (to the modified class) add any network fields. The Mixin should only be added to Clients, and never Server, or Predict VMs. It is also required to initialize the Mixin in an entity's OnCreate method in order for the ColoredSkinsMixin specific properties to be available for the initialization routine(s).

local originalExtractorInitialize = Extractor.OnInitialized
function Extractor:OnInitialized()

    originalExtractorInitialize(self)

    if Client then
        self:InitializeSkin()
    end

end

The above excerpt isn't anything special; however, there are a number of important things going that need an explanation. First off, we're calling "InitializeSkin()". This function is required by the Mixin, and you will get script errors if it is not defined. This method effectively primes an entity to be ready to be colorized. The default Base, Accent, and Trim colors defined in the ColoredSkinsMixin itself are always solid black (I.e. Color(0, 0, 0, 1) - RGBA). The purpose of the "InitializeSkin()" function is to allow the colorized entity to prime itself for it's default state.

if Client then    //This should ONLY execute in the Client Lua VM
    
    function Extractor:GetBaseSkinColor()
        if self:GetTeamNumber() == kTeam1Index then
            return kMarineFontColor
        else
            return kAlienFontColor
        end
    end

    function Extractor:GetAccentSkinColor()
        if self:GetTeamNumber() == kTeam1Index then
            return kMarineFontColor
        else
            return kAlienFontColor
        end
    end

    function Extractor:GetTrimSkinColor()
        if self:GetTeamNumber() == kTeam1Index then
            return kMarineFontColor
        else
            return kAlienFontColor
        end
    end

//Last but not least, our initialization function
    function Extractor:InitializeSkin()
        self.skinBaseColor = self:GetBaseSkinColor()
        self.skinAccentColor = self:GetAccentSkinColor()
        self.skinTrimColor = self:GetTrimSkinColor()
        self.skinAtlasIndex = 0
    end

end  //End Client-Only

All of the shown methods, excluding the OnCreate and OnInitialized, are required by any classes implementing the ColoredSkinsMixin. In this example, the specific color values will never change for the life-cycle of an Extractor (extractors cannot change teams). This does not prevent and Entity from changing the color values during its lifetime. If this is needed, the self.XYZColor property can be updated from the Entity's OnUpdate method. The ColoredSkinsMixin uses the implementing Entity's self.skinBaseColor, self.skinAccentColor, and self.skinTrimColor properties to update the Colored Skins shaders, via the material parameters. So, any changes based on other game factors and/or data should be done with these aforementioned properties.

Note: The color values should NEVER be updated in the Entity's OnUpdateRender() method. Doing so can introduce framerate drops that will increase the more colorized entities on-screen.

Last, but not least, reload the Extractor class:

Class_Reload( "Extractor", {} )

All done. It is very important to understand the ColoredSkinMixin uses the self.skinXYZ properties to supply the pixel shaders with parameter values. This mean these properties must be updated in an Entity's appropriate XYZUpdate method if the coloration needs to be more dynamic. Otherwise, the implementing entity will only get its coloration value when it is initialized (I.e. when self:InitializeSkin() runs).

Limitations and Known Issues

Client-Side Only
If an entity should change it's color value based on some game rules. Then those values need to be driven by class properties that are sent across the network, and they should be accessible to all clients. If not, then odd synchronization type problems (not networks related, visually related) issues will come up.
Untested on large set of Hardware
During developing this library, steps were taken to try and improve compatibility with both DX9/11 and OpenGL; however, this mod has not been testing on multiple graphics cards and/or operating systems. So really weird undocumented bugs may occur.

DarkOmen · October 2013

*Clap*

Thanks for lighting the NS2 modding torch.

Soul_Rider · October 2013

When I can fix my respawn bugs, I will be ready to move onto incorporating this in Proving Grounds. I will let you know how it goes

And with the multiple maps per entity, I plan to make my kill streak implementation pretty unique

Thanks a lot for this McGlaspie!!

McGlaspie · October 2013

@Soul_Rider Sweet, I'm glad at least someone is going to use it. I'll take all the feedback I can get. Let me know if something doesn't make sense, or needs a better explanation. I'm still working on finishing up the guide for it. Just keep in mind, you will be adding extra texture files so your mod will grow in size for every entity that implements the ColoredSkinsMixin. Well, that is assuming you have unique color maps per model.

Update: Added section about Materials to the usage-guide-post-thing.

I'll be making an update to the mod in a week or so. The update will fix a few things and add support for more types of shaders.

Soul_Rider · October 2013

@McGlaspie The basic plan is to have for now is to have 1 base color for each team, green and purple. Then I'll add a few custom Materials for streaks. I am only using the various marine models currently, so it won't be a huge number of textures. My mod is also going to be way too big for steam workshop, as it is a Total Conversion, which eventually will have all custom models and textures for the theme.

Soul_Rider · October 2013

I'd like to run a use case scenario past you, as I am having an issue understanding the reason for the color specifications in the SkinColors.lua file. While I understand where I need to put these, I don't understand what they are for.

Here is my use case...

I have created a male_body_colorMap.dds file with 1 row, a straight forward whole texture change:

Here is a jpeg of the .dds file:

Here is the code from my male_body.materials file:

shader = "shaders/ColoredSkins.surface_shader"

albedoMap = "models/marine/male/male_body.dds"
normalMap = "models/marine/male/male_body_normal.dds"
emissiveMap = "models/marine/male/male_body_illum.dds"
specularMap = "models/marine/male/male_body_spec.dds"

modelColorMap = "models/marine/male/male_body_colorMap.dds"
numColumns = 1
numRows = 1
colorizeModel = 1

surface = "metal"

I want to add this skin change just to team 2, I want team 1 to remain as a default marine skin. So I have added the ColorSkinsMixin to the file, and copyed the initializeSkin() function etc, to the file for the specific Avatar I want to edit:

//ColorSkinsMixin Prerequisite functions
if Client then
	
	function PurpleAvatar:InitializeSkin()
		self.skinBaseColor = self:GetBaseSkinColor()
		self.skinBaseColor = self:GetBaseSkinColor()
		self.skinBaseColor = self:GetBaseSkinColor()
		self.skinAtlasIndex = self:GetTeamNumber() - 1 //ColorMap atlas texture is 0 indexed
	end

	function PurpleAvatar:GetBaseSkinColor()
		return kPurple_BaseColor
	end

	function PurpleAvatar:GetAccentSkinColor()
		return kPurple_AccentColor
	end
	
	function PurpleAvatar:GetTrimSkinColor()
		return kPurple_TrimColor
	end

end
//End ColorSkins stuff

My question is now, what do I need to enter as the color values to get the skin to be show up as it has been created?. Do I need to enter the color values of the image, or do i specify 1,1,1, so the image is unchanged?

Also, what is the atlas reference for? I have only 1 colorMap, for team two. Does this affect the Atlasindex in anyway?

I really appreciate any help

Soul_Rider · October 2013

Ignore my post, i have got it working to a degree....

McGlaspie · October 2013

You should modify the InitializeSkin() function to statically set the self.skinAtlasIndex to 0. You only have a single color map in the DDS file, so there will only ever be 1 possible map to read.
In other words, by having only a single color map in the texture file, there is not reason to ever set the skinAtlasIndex to anything but 0.

Second problem I see. You're blending a lot of the Red, Green, and Blue color channels together. You're seeing the Color Map texture as what defines the actual colors to get applied.
The code controls what colors to apply. The Color Map texture control where and how to apply them.

Soul_Rider · October 2013

McGlaspie, I think I have a problem

i have implemented the code, but I seem to have some sort of shader issue:

It looks the same on both teams.. and I'm sure it is not supposed to be doing that...

McGlaspie · October 2013

It looks like the self:InitializeSkin() function isn't being called in your OnInitialized(), or the color values are not being set. If you're using the example code, your need to be sure you have the kMarineFontColor and kAlienFontColor available (i.e. in the Globals.lua on the Client VM)

You can also specify some new Color objects as locals to whatever Player.lua file you have. The ColoredSkinsMixin.lua file has a function ColorAsParam in it, you can use that to Print the values of a color object easily. I'd use it to test and verify the values of the colors are what you need them to be.

From what I see, it is either a call order issue, or the color values are never customized, therefore are black.

Soul_Rider · October 2013

I am still having an issue, so I thought I'd post my code to make sure I am not a complete idiot.. although, I am worried I will prove myself to be...

GreenAvatar.lua (This is the player class that's called at team level)

===================================================================
//
// lua\GreenAvatar.lua
//
// Created by: Andy 'Soul Rider' Wilson for Proving Grounds
//
// ===================================================================

Script.Load("lua/AvatarVariantMixin.lua")
Script.Load("lua/Avatar.lua")

if Client then
Script.Load("lua/ColoredSkinsMixin.lua")
Script.Load("lua/TeamMessageMixin.lua")
end

class 'GreenAvatar' (Avatar)

GreenAvatar.kMapName = "greenavatar"

local networkVars =
{
}

AddMixinNetworkVars(AvatarVariantMixin, networkVars)

function GreenAvatar:OnCreate()

InitMixin(self, AvatarVariantMixin)
Avatar.OnCreate(self)

if Client then
InitMixin(self, TeamMessageMixin, { kGUIScriptName = "GUIMarineTeamMessage" })
InitMixin(self, ColoredSkinsMixin) //Client only
end

end

if Client then

function GreenAvatar:InitializeSkin()
self.skinBaseColor = Color(0.078, 0.878, 0.984, 1)
self.skinAccentColor = Color(0.756, 0.982, 1, 1)
self.skinTrimColor = Color(0.725, 0.921, 0.949, 1)
self.skinAtlasIndex = self:GetTeamNumber() - 1 //ColorMap atlas texture is 0 indexed
end
end

function GreenAvatar:OnInitialized()

// SetModel must be called before Player.OnInitialized is called so the attach points in
// the Marine are valid to attach weapons to. This is far too subtle...
// Player.OnInitialised is called in Avatar.OnInitialized - AW Proving Grounds

Avatar.OnInitialized(self)

if Client then
self.gColorOverridesEnabled = true
end
end

Shared.LinkClassToMap("GreenAvatar", GreenAvatar.kMapName)

The other teams base player is:
PurpleAvatar.lua

// ===========================================
//
// lua\PurpleAvatar.lua
//
// Created by: Andy 'Soul Rider' Wilson for Proving Grounds
//
// ============================================

Script.Load("lua/Avatar.lua")
Script.Load("lua/AvatarVariantMixin.lua")

if Client then
Script.Load("lua/ColoredSkinsMixin.lua")
Script.Load("lua/TeamMessageMixin.lua")
end

class 'PurpleAvatar' (Avatar)

PurpleAvatar.kMapName = "purpleavatar"

local networkVars =
{
}
AddMixinNetworkVars(AvatarVariantMixin, networkVars)

function PurpleAvatar:OnCreate()
Avatar.OnCreate(self)
if Client then
InitMixin(self, TeamMessageMixin, { kGUIScriptName = "GUIMarineTeamMessage" })
InitMixin(self, ColoredSkinsMixin) //Client only
end
InitMixin(self, AvatarVariantMixin)
end

if Client then

function PurpleAvatar:InitializeSkin()
self.skinBaseColor = Color(0.61, 0.43, 0.16, 1)
self.skinAccentColor = Color(1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1)
self.skinTrimColor = Color(0.576, 0.194, 0.011, 1)
self.skinAtlasIndex = self:GetTeamNumber() - 1 //ColorMap atlas texture is 0 indexed
end
end

function PurpleAvatar:OnInitialized()

// SetModel must be called before Player.OnInitialized is called so the attach points in
// the Marine are valid to attach weapons to. This is far too subtle...
// Player.OnInitialised is called in Avatar.OnInitialized - AW Proving Grounds

Avatar.OnInitialized(self)

if Client then
self.gColorOverridesEnabled = true
end

end

Shared.LinkClassToMap("PurpleAvatar", PurpleAvatar.kMapName)

I know it is a simple implementation, but it should work as far as I can tell. I still get exactly the same issue with the shader. I have only tested under DX11 so far, i will check with the other renderer's and see what happens.

Edit- - -
It's the same problem with all renderer's.

offtopic - OpenGL doesn't have a third person model for Marine

McGlaspie · October 2013

The ColoredSkinsMixin by default has all three of the layer's Colors set to (0,0,0). You are never calling self:InitializeSkin() in either GreenAvatar or PurpleAvatar classes' OnInitialized(). So, the colors are saying their default values.

You won't be able to call it from the parent class either (Avatar in this case), because the InitializeSkin function must be defined in the implementing class (GreenAvatar & PurpleAvatar).

Change each of those player classes to:

function GreenAvatar:OnInitialized()

// SetModel must be called before Player.OnInitialized is called so the attach points in
// the Marine are valid to attach weapons to. This is far too subtle...
// Player.OnInitialised is called in Avatar.OnInitialized - AW Proving Grounds

     Avatar.OnInitialized(self)

     if Client then
         self:InitializeSkin()
     end
    
end

Also, you need to remove the

if Client then
     self.gColorOverridesEnabled = true
end

There is no "gColorOverridesEnabled" class property defined by the ColoredSkinsMixin. The Global "gColorOverridesEnabled" is used solely for the console command to determine what state the system is in, and if each entiy's color values should be overriden.

Also, you are not defining the GetBaseSkinColor(), GetAccentSkinColor(), and GetTrimSkinColor() functions in either of those player classes. Those functions are not optional. I'm assuming you are loading Mixins the same way NS2 does. You should be getting a console error.

One final note, if you only have a single Color Map in the ColorMap texture file, then you should not be setting the skinAtlasIndex propert via the team numbers. It should be statically set to Zero. Otherwise, the shaders will think the ColorMap texture is larger that it actually is, and you'll get weird texture wrapping visual bugs.

Soul_Rider · October 2013

@McGlaspie - Thanks a lot for your help over the last few hours. It has been really insightful and informative.

Katzenfleisch · April 2014

Hi,

I am using your mixin and it work like a charm, thanks !
Also, i think you should tell where the "Class_Reload( "Extractor", {} )" should be written.

An other things, do we need to add the 'self' in parameter ? (just wondering)

InitMixin(ColoredSkinsMixin)

InitMixin(self, ColoredSkinsMixin)

Soul_Rider · April 2014

Yes, the self parameter is needed.

Edit ---

Although I implemented this a long time ago, I never posted in here what I did with the code...

Katzenfleisch · April 2014

Note: did you have an idea on how to reduce mod size using this mixin ? (color does not work with NS2 default .dds, and the custom one are quite heavy)

McGlaspie · April 2014

I don't quite follow what you mean @Katzenfleisch‌. This mod (coloredskins) was created to reduce the total filesize of my Marine vs Marine mod. And it did a wonderful job at it. The first-draft skins used by the old version of MvM had a compressed (zipped) filesize of about 98.6MB. The new version, using ColoredSkinsMixin mod, now is only about 19.7MB compressed.

This system does not work, at all as intended, without a ColorMap texture. You can make the texture whatever size you want. The ColorMap will be scaled according to the original Albedo Map (diffuse texture) and Emissive Map sizes. However, if you create a small ColorMap texture, the shader will lose accuracy in applied the colorization where you want it. The result is what basically looks like a very poorly applied water down, water color painting. It really looks bad.

Katzenfleisch · April 2014

I just miss-read one word, my bad (forgot to read the compressed word, and thought this was 19mb uncompressed), but I try to keep the mod file under 15Mo uncompressed. However it is working great, easy to use and well documented, hope the NS2 lua file were documented as yours.

Next week, If i can get ride of an issue I have when creating a new weapon (Flame gaz grenade) I will use your mixin to colorize the gaz and use your MvM mod as an example. i think the ColorMap texture should be light for that one.

McGlaspie · April 2014

The ColoredSkinsMixin will only work for the textured non-effect entities. If you're wanting to colorize the gas effects (see MvM, I did this with the Gas hand grenades and a boat load of other things), then you'll have to modify the cinemtatic file associated with the game effect. Basically, anything that is a particle effect cannot be changed by this library. In fact, all particle effects handled by the Spark engine cannot be changed at run-time. They all use the cinematic editor to achieve the look/style/etc.

Katzenfleisch · April 2014

I will have a look to the Gas hand grenades of your mod, thanks for the tips.

RadimaX · April 2014

i forgot how long ago and most importantly why i did this golden skin, but maby someone can try it out?

I have full HD .dds file if it turns out to look legit haha, here is a little bit grittyer version if it turns out to look to pee-like

Colored Skins Mod/Library

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