Adding Custom Textures - Revision history

MoP: Tutorials category too, why not?

2007-12-04T15:13:42Z

Tutorials category too, why not?

MoP: bumped the spacing

2007-12-04T11:57:04Z

bumped the spacing

Ducks: couple headings reworded

2007-12-04T10:06:42Z

couple headings reworded

Ducks: /* Tips when creating textures */

2007-12-03T15:56:09Z

‎Tips when creating textures

MoP: more info on commands and troubleshooting

2007-12-03T15:51:18Z

more info on commands and troubleshooting

MoP: updated

2007-12-03T15:38:44Z

updated

MoP: initial page for material tutorial

2007-12-03T14:06:40Z

initial page for material tutorial

New page

So you're creating your own level, and want to add your own custom textures to use on the geometry?

== Introduction ==
'''For this tutorial you must know:'''
* How to create your own textures using an image editing program (if you don't know how, [http://www.gfxartist.com/features/tutorials/740 this tutorial on GFXArtist] may help).
* How to create brushwork inside a working map (if you don't know this, see the tutorial for [[A Simple First Map]]).

'''This tutorial covers:'''
* How to create a new material file from scratch.
* How to edit and reload your materials while running the game

== Key words ==
These are the terms that will be used throughout the tutorial, so make sure you know which is which!

'''"Material file"'''
* These are the high-level "containers" for materials. They can store any number of material declarations. They are simply text files with the file type of ''.mtr'' (for example {{filename|C:\ETQW\SDK\base\materials\mapobjects.mtr}}), and can be edited in any text-editing application like Notepad.

'''"Material declaration"'''
* Also known just as a "material". This is the text description of a single material. It contains the paths to any textures you want to show up in the game.

'''"Textures"'''

== Tips when creating textures ==
To make sure that your materials will work properly, your texture images need to be the right size, and the right format.

'''All textures should be ''.tga'' (Targa) format.'''
* Always use uncompressed Targa files (don't use RLE compression when saving textures).
* Use 32-bit Targa files for anything which needs an alpha channel for effects (eg. transparency).
* Use 24-bit Targa files for everything else.

'''All textures should be sized in pixels to a power of 2.'''
* Textures do not have to be square, but the length of the sides must be powers of 2.
* This means that the width and height of your images could be sized like 64x64, 256x128, 512x1024, etc.
* But they could ''not'' be sized like 57x57, 257x120, 600x1020, etc.

== Creating a material file ==

You could start by just putting extra material declarations into an existing ''.mtr'' file, but this can become messy and hard to keep track of. It's best to create your own ''.mtr'' file to store all your custom materials.

If your new textures are part of a set for a specific map, it is sensible make a new material file in the {{filename|/materials/}} folder called {{filename|<mapname>.mtr}}. The easiest way is to create a new, empty ''.txt'' file and just rename the extension to ''.mtr'' .

== That's it! ==
You should now be able to use your new textures as part of your custom level.

== See Also ==
* [[Materials]] - complete material reference.
* [[Texturesheets]] - learn to optimise your textures onto sheets for better performance.

[[Category:Art]]

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:13, 4 December 2007
Line 154:		Line 154:

	[[Category:Art]]		[[Category:Art]]
		+	[[Category:Tutorials]]

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
-== Key words ==
+== Terms ==
 These are the terms that will be used throughout the tutorial, so make sure you know which is which!
@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
-== Tips when creating textures ==
+== Requirements ==
 To make sure that your materials will work properly, your texture images need to be the right size, and the right format.
@@ Line 89: / Line 89: @@
 Here's an example:
-  <font color="green">// This is a comment which will be ignored by the game</font>
+  <span style="color: green;">// This is a comment which will be ignored by the game</span>
   material textures/mapname/my_wall_01
@@ Line 109: / Line 109: @@
+  }
-  <font color="green">/* This is a block comment, which
+  <span style="color: green;">/* This is a block comment, which
   can contain as much information
-  as you want until it closes like this */</font>
+  as you want until it closes like this */</span>
   material models/mapname/my_mapobject
@@ Line 124: / Line 124: @@
-== Updating from inside the game ==
+== Testing ==
 There are several commands which can help us to preview and update our materials and textures to get a real-time result of any changes we're making.

@@ Line 124: / Line 124: @@
+  }
@@ Line 131: / Line 140: @@
 * Make sure your material declarations have all the braces in the correct places.
 * Make sure the texture paths referenced by the material declaration actually exist!

@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 * This means that the width and height of your images could be sized like 64x64, 256x128, 512x1024, etc.
 * But they could '''not''' be sized like 57x57, 257x120, 600x1020, etc.
 == Creating a material file ==

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 '''"Material file"'''
-* These are the high-level "containers" for materials. They can store any number of material declarations. They are simply text files with the file type of ''.mtr'' (for example {{filename|C:\ETQW\SDK\base\materials\mapobjects.mtr}}), and can be edited in any text-editing application like Notepad.
+* These are the high-level "containers" for materials. They can store any number of material declarations. They are simply text files with the file type of ''.mtr'' (for example {{filename|C:\ETQW\SDK\base\materials\mapobjects.mtr}}), and can be edited in any text-editing application, like Notepad.
 '''"Material declaration"'''
@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 '''"Textures"'''
@@ Line 42: / Line 43: @@
 If your new textures are part of a set for a specific map, it is sensible make a new material file in the {{filename|/materials/}} folder called {{filename|<mapname>.mtr}}. The easiest way is to create a new, empty ''.txt'' file and just rename the extension to ''.mtr'' .
@@ Line 50: / Line 139: @@
 == See Also ==
 * [[Materials]] - complete material reference.
 * [[Texturesheets]] - learn to optimise your textures onto sheets for better performance.
 [[Category:Art]]