Worldbuilding: Credit Challenges

[DarkRider]

 

 

Credit Challenge #1: The City Banner

 

 

 

 

Value: 15pts

For this Credit Challenge we are going to set the CS aside for now and move into the world of texturing with emphasis on creating a City Banner. While this may seem more fitting for a texturing class it is important for worldbuilders to acquire some very basic customizing skills. You just will not be able to find someone else to fill this gap every time. Making banners is a skill worldbuilders need for city spaces so we are going to take a tick to walk through how it is done from scratch.

 

Before diving into the challenge if you have NEVER used GIMP or done any retexturing or resource work, you should check out the Retexturing Oblivion Part 01 and Retexturing Oblivion Part 02 tutorials which will show you how to unpack assets and add them to game once you have retextured them.

 

What You Need:

 

 

• BSA Commander- A tool to open Oblivion's resource archives
   
• GIMP- A free photo editing software; comparable to Photoshop
   
• GIMP .dds Plugin- A plugin that allows you to make changes to .dds files (see the readme for install instructions)
   
• GIMP Normal Map Plugin- A plugin that allows you to use the Normal Map utility in GIMP (see the readme for install instructions)
   
• NifSkope- A tool that allows you to alter meshes for Oblivion

 

 

To begin we need to unpack the meshes of the vanilla city banners mesh; there are two a primary banner and an accent banner which is thinner. Use BSA Commander to unpack these two assets from the Meshes BSAs (located in your data folder):

 

 

• meshes\architecture\castle\skingrad\skcastlebannerstatic01.nif
• meshes\architecture\castle\skingrad\skcastlebannerstatic02.nif

 

 

Once you have the assets unpacked set them aside for later and cue up GIMP. First thing we need to do is make a new canvas to work in. When the program is open, click File>New to open the 'Create a New Image' box and select the specifications for the new canvas. For a Banner we want to choose a width of 256 and a Height of 512. Click the + sign next to 'Advanced Options' to open more choices. In the drop down menu next to 'Fill With' select Transparency, this will give us a transparent background to start with and save us a couple extra steps. Then click OK.

 

 

When the new canvas opens, press ctrl+d to duplicate this blank canvas and create a second version. We are going to create our banner in two parts, one half in each canvas and bring them back together into one texture later. The next thing we need to do is select a background color for our banner. In Oblivion style, the background color should be the lighter color for whatever combo you are using for your city space. You may choose whatever colors you like for your banner. The tutorial background color is a light purple (hex code #635665).

 

Once you have your color chosen, you need to use the rectangular select tool (looks like a dotted rectangle) to select the section of the canvas we will color with that color. Line the + cursor so that it is even with the top left corner of the yellow canvas border, then draw to the right for 170 pixels and all the way down to the bottom. You can see the dimensions of your rectangular selection at the bottom of the canvas; it should read Rectangle 170x512 if you have done this correctly.

 

 

With the section selected, click on your paint fill tool (looks like a paint bucket; be sure to check the 'Fill Whole Selection' flag) and click on the center of the selection to fill it with your back ground color. When that is done, use the rectangle select tool on the other blank canvas by lining the + cursor up with the top right corner of the yellow canvas border and dragging to the left 86 pixels and down to the bottom. Again, you can see the dimensions of your rectangular selection at the bottom of the canvas; it should read Rectangle 86x512 if you have done this correctly. Then fill it with the same background color as the last canvas. When you are done you should have two canvases like this:

 

 

Time to choose a border color!

Now there is no right or wrong when it comes to color selections. The advice I will give you is to choose realistic and slightly faded colors as opposed to bright primary colors, and make sure your color palette is complimentary. Remember we are making city banners; we want the colors to look weathered and slightly aged, not fresh off the loom!

 

Smarty Says: Be Careful of Black and White. In Oblivion, black often translates to having no definition and white gets very shiny. Instead, choose dark grey and off-white to represent these polar opposites!

 

For border colors pick something darker than your background color. Use the rectangle select tool to select a swatch of the banner to be the border and fill it with the dark color. Do this to both sides of both banners,

 

 

Next we are going to add a bit of detailing to the center of the banner. This can be done in any number of designs and style, but for this we are going to do a basic Oblivion racing stripe. The center stripe is going to be 3/4 the length of the banner, from the bottom up. Use your border color to make a central border and a new lighter version of your background color to fill the core.

 

 

Using narrower bands, add the same central striping to the narrow banner, except you will want the stripe to go top to bottom of this one:

 

 

Now it is time to turn our focus to the primary (wide) banner and the city logo. For this you will need a symbol of some kind. There are lots of royalty free images on the web, search around and find one for your banner. The best images are those that are simple and can be colored to match the banner colors.

 

Using the Ellipse Select Tool (looks like a dotted oval) draw a circle in the center of the banner so that it touches the border on both side and covers part of the central stripe. Once your circle is drawn, use the bucket fill tool to fill the circle with the darker border color.

 

Before you set the circle, press ctrl+c to copy the circle then click ctrl+v to paste an identical circle overtop. Use bucket fill to fill this second circle with the core color from our central stripe.

 

 

With the new lighter circle still selected, use the scale tool to scale the circle anywhere from 10-12 pixels smaller and then position it in the center of the dark circle.

 

 

Now that your banner is prepped for the city emblem, go ahead and add it. Be sure to remove any background from your emblem and color it before pasting it onto the banner. Then scale it and place it in the center of the circle.

 

We are almost finished with our city banners you have already created a really nice foundation. We are going to add a filter to both our banners to make them appear more cloth like. Click Filters>Artistic>Apply Canvas to open the 'Apply Canvas' box and change direction to bottom-left and depth to 1, then click okay to apply the canvas. Repeat this for the other banner.

 

 

With the canvas applied it is time to add the final details to the banner. On the primary (wide) banner, click Layer>New Layer and name the new layer Banner Detail. Click OK to create the new layer. Click Dockable Dialogs> Layers to open the layer box and see what layers are in the image, you should see your Banner Detail layer in the list.

 

 

Whichever layer is highlighted in your layer list is the active layer. We want the Banner Detail layer to be active so we can add details without mussing up our background banner. With these banner details, opacity is your friend; do not paint anything without lowering opacity so you can make the details a little at a time. To start select a new color that is a bit lighter than the lightest color on your banner. Then choose the paintbrush tool and adjust your setting to 15% Opacity, Galaxy Big brush, and scale 3.00

 

 

Using one click dabs, use the edge of your galaxy brush to paint some water spots on your entire banner. You can adjust the scale to make a variety of patterns on the banner but do not overdo it.

 

Change your brush to the Fuzzy Brush (11), Opacity 20%, Scale 1.00

 

We are going to draw some banner folds at the top of the banner, then change your paint color to a dark grey and shadow the folds to give them some depth. Do not be discouraged if you have to undo and redo this step a few times to make it look right, it is freehand drawing, the fuzzy brush and opacity will hide some of the imperfections.

 

 

Once that is done, click Select>All to select the Banner Detail layer we have been working on, then ctrl+c to copy the layer. In the canvas with our narrow banner, press ctrl+v to paste the details layer and position it so that part of the folds are clear at the top of the narrow banner. Back on the primary (wide) banner, click Layer>Merge Down to set the Banner Detail into the background. Once this is done you can not adjust the details separately so make sure you do not want to make more changes.

Then using rectangle select, select the narrow banner and click ctrl+c to copy it, and ctrl+v to paste it into the wide banner where the gap in the canvas is. When finished it should look like this:

 

 

Save as a .dds file with DXT1 compression and Generate Mipmaps checked.

 

All that is left is to create a normal map, add both the texture and normal to the Data folder, add the texture to the model in NifSkope, and add the banners to the CS. For instructions on how to complete these steps, see Retexturing Oblivion Part II.

 

 

Post pics of your city banner on your city wall to earn credit for this challenge!

 

[DarkRider]

Credit Challenge #2: The Sewer Dungeon

Value: 15pts

For this Credit Challenge

[DarkRider]

Reserved for Additional Material

[DarkRider]

Reserved for Additional Material