Running4Cover

Okay, a new, completely new, problem has occured for me :-D This is most likely the result of some newbish lack of knowledge, but I can't figure out what's wrong. Anyway, I was just messing around with my (new!!!) camera and nifSkope, and came up with this basic texture: ...anyways, I thought it looked cool-ish, and wanted to see how it looked on a model before i went about creating a real retex using it. I saved it as a DDS, opened up a random mesh in NifSkope (first I think it was the Ebony Male Cuirass), and selected this as the texture like I always would do, but nothing happened, at all! The file was listed as the texture, but the cuirass was still just white. Anyways, I tried loading up multiple models, restarting nifskope, and even resaving/naming the texture to a different folder, but it still didn't work. I even tried letting it generate MipMaps and not letting it generate them (even though I have no idea what that does :-P). So anyway, if anyone has any idea why this would be working, please tell me! Thanks! CC EDIT: Okay, I just tried opening a Vanilla texture, pasting this over it, and saving as a new file, and now it works, but the old files still don't... I assumet his means I didn't create some necassary "thing" in the file or whatever that lets it be read by NifSkope, but I would LOVE an explanation :-D Thx! P.S. Also... what do MipMaps do? Thx :-D

Merry Christmas backatcha ;-) Have an awesome day yourself ;-) CC

Quote Nice! Merry Chistmas back at you (and to everyone else).My personal favourite Xmas comic.WT Oh my gosh, is that a Far Side strip? I love it :-D A very-merry Christmas to you all ;-) ...I'm about to fall into that sugar-coma now; too many cookies :-P... right now I'm just going to try to make it through gift-giving (and recieving :-) tomorrow. Be praying that I get Guitar Hero: World Tour for the Wii :-D (actually, that seems a little sacreligeous, doesn't it? :-P). ...I think I'm going to go play Oblivion, then watch the old Psych CHristmas special on my iPod to get into the spirit (does Christmas Eve get much better than that?) I love (no homo) you all (except you, in the back; you suck... but otherwise), your awsome :-D Later ;-) CC

Okay, well here goes... This is Uncle Jim (he's been staying at my house the last few days): My mom (we get a lot of comments): My Dad (retired millionaire from a famous advertising campaign): This is my girlfriend (not much of a looker, but it;s what's inside that count... :-): oh, and here's me (need I say more?): ... ... ... CC

Quote This information is in the Block Details of the NiTexturingProperty block. You need to setup NifScope to show the Block Details. Click on View and tick Block Details. THANKYOU! That totally worked! (I should have warned you to use small words when talking to me about NifSkope :-P) It totally looks sweet now :-D Thanks ;-) CC

Quote Change the Apply Mode in the Block Details of the NiTexturingProperty block from APPLY_HIGHLIGHT to APPLY_MODULATE. Err... is that something in here:

Quote Hmmm you want to post the texure somewhere, I'll have a look.WT Well, I can't find a filetype hat both supports transpareny AND is supported by imageshack/ohitibucket, but THIS is what I (sadly) used as the default Normal Map (I know it was cheap, but I came up with it for my first retexture release :-P). Anyways, my version is %90 transparent everywhere except on the dark blue squiggly parts (scientific terminology) on the bottom half. Before and after, it looked like THIS. I'm not really sure why this is, so help would be appreciated :-D Thanks (and I feel inclined to note, I am NOT releasing that armor) CC EDIT: I started making a new Normal Map from scratch, and wasn't sure how THESE OPTIONS might affect it..? EDIT2: ...Is it possible that this is a property of Glass Armor? This problem does not seem to be occuring with daedric... also, if it is from Glass Armor, how would I fix it? Thanks!

Okay, I was just retexturing a glass armor, and changed my Normal Map so that it was %90 transparent (except a few places where I wanted it to shine), and it made no difference (its still practically a mirror). ...I;m not sure what to do now... CC

Yes indeed, thank you all for the info! I think I get it, and I will mess with everything posted here, and if I have any more questions, I'll ask here! Again, thanks for being so helpful! CC

Quote OK let's see.1 The Alpha channel is an extra 8 bit greyscale channel that many image formats support. SInce it's greyscale it can store data from white to black and all the greys inbetween but no colour. Different game engines use the alpha channel for different things. In Oblivion the Alpha channel on your Difuse Map (Texture you see) controls the transparency. White areas are fully visible, black areas are invisible, and greys are translucent (the darker the grey the more you see throug it).3. The Alpha channel in your Normal Map is used in Oblivion as a Specular Map (which controls how shiney the surface is). So for polished meetal portions you would use a very light grey (white is shiny), and for leather you'd use a dard grey. I have read that using pure white or black on your Specular Map gives the Oblivion engine issues, but I've never tested that.2. Those control the material prperties that your textures are applied to. Changing the Ambient colour will make the material (and the applied texture) look like a light of that colour is shining on them. Emisive colour of course controls the glow colour of your model. Haven't played around with the other settings enough to be much help.Let me know if my answers created more questions. (I get that a lot)WT Okay, so yes, it raised a few questions, but I think I get the gyst of this. Questions below :-P 1) In Gimp, how do I change the Alpha on a Difuse Map so as to make parts of it Black and the rest white (like holes)? I'm not exactly sure how to go about changing the alpha 3) Again, how do I change this, and also, does this mean that the actual color/transoparency of the Normal Map doesn't effect it? I know that I frequently past parts of one texture into another, and then, rather than making a new Normal Map, I just paste pieces of the other NM in too, so as to much. When I do this, the parts of the differen't Normal Map are generally different color/transparency, and as a result the meshes wind up looking noticably different in-game because of this (often causing a desirable effect), for example, see THIS picture (notice the difference between the red and the black on the hood). I didn;t knowingly change alpha, yet still there is an obvious difference. This seems to sort of be in accordance with what DaMage said, so I wondered exactly why this was, and how it relates to Alpha. 2) ...I understand this one :-D Than you SO much for the answers, and the fact that inspires more question just shows that you know more than me :-P :-) Thank you both for answering! CC EDIT: Three more questions: WHAT... is your name? Sir Galahad of Camelot! WHAT... is your quest? To seek the Holy Grail! WHAT... is your favorite color? Blue! No wait! I mean yellow!!! No! NO!!! AAAAHHHhhhhhh!!!......

Okay, I have only been texturing for a few months now, but in that time I have tried to scour all of the Gimp/Nifskope tutorials on the CS UESP. In these tutorials, I have learned a lot, but some of them either failed to explain things clearly, or made reference to things I don't fully understand. Anyway, I figured I would make one post here with my questions, and see what you Gurus here could tell me ... ... ... That said, here are my questions (at this time :-P) #1 - Not so much a question as just something a need an explanation or tutorial of; Alpha Channel. How does it work, what does it do, and how do I use it (in Gimp and NifSkope). I realize this must sound noobish, but I have never found a good explanation of how this actually works. #2 - How do the options on THIS SCREEN from NifSkope work? All I've ever done with it is change the Emissive Color to White for Glow Maps #3 - How do I change how "shiny" my Normal Map makes items look? I understand it has something to do with the color of the NM or something, but I seek a better understanding (you guys are like the Tibetan monks sitting on top of mountains with long hair and beard [except the girls... I hope they don't have beards {Ra's Al Ghul-ish?}]). Anyway, this is the stuff I want to learn, so if someone could help me gain a better understanding of these things, I would be most grateful. Thanks all ;-) CC

Quote I believe what is bumped out on the banner is the skulls and the frame, but only slightly, didn't wants a really bumpy texture! Cool, I bet that looks sweet ingame (very, very pretty, err, I mean macho, err... err... nevermind :-D) CC

Sweet, I don't need to make a banner! (lol, banner's are usually boring :-P). Anyways, I thought as a little resource-like thing you may want to consider using a script that was created by myself in collaboration with the people on the BGS forums who actually knwo what they were doing. If that was confusing, look at THIS thread. When I was trying to make my own assassin guild a few months ago (don't ask about the result), I had the idea for a suit of armor that looked all white and good-guy-ish during the day, but at night it was dark and evil looking (glowing red part maybe :-P). Anyway, by the end of this thread, the entire script had been figured out, and it worked to the T, I just never actually made the suit(s) of armor for with it... or really did much else with my assassin guild thing. Anyway, I would love to see it used, and I think it would be a sweet gimick (in a good way), so I would recomend you read through that and see if you can implement it, assuming you want to (plus the thread is still techinically "active", so it could be revived). Good luck with your lore-diving, btw ;-) CC EDIT @ DarkRider Yes, by NM I meant normal map. What I was asking was essentially what is "bumped out" on your normal map? Is it essentially flat, or are the skulls "bumped out" or what? It don't actually matter though, I'm just stating this for clarity :-P

Quote I play Guild Wars.:DI gots a level 20 ranger/monk in GW, named 'Berk Avci'I've been playing GW since christmas of 2005, so I really only come on to get patches or assist someone who I know. >_ Sweet! I only picked it up 'bout a month ago (Prophecies and EotN). I got a lvl 20 Ranger-Mesmer, but he's pure ranger with the exception of a Norn and Ebon skill. I almost done EotN, and I'm half done Proph (character's name is William Thorig). By the way, I'm not breaking a forum rule by talkin about a non-TES game, am I? There HAS been discussion of manga/anime stuff in the "shout box" :-P (AND I had a Nord named Thorig in Morrowind, so this all pertains to TES, eh?) I'll be dodging TES security devices now :-P (Droideka's! err... Charr! ...err, I mean Dremora!!! [phew!]), CC

Ooh, very pretty! Dunno if its what Darkom wants, but I like it! Out of curiosity, how'd you do the border? Is there a flag somewhere in vanilla with that border? Is it a part of a different texture around the edges (looks sorta stone/gem-likeP? Or did you make it from scratch? Also, is the NM a generic-ish flag map, or is there any sort of embossment? (and more importantly, is that a word?) Anyways, its very cool, and I'll wait to see what DarKom thinks ;-) CC

Quote ok, yes RelicKylias i am in need of some new books. i can write them and email the word document to you, if that sounds good. Darkrider, thanks, i might do that. the whole point was that i hated how the brotherhood worshipped sithis, so i wanted to do something where sithis was actually in existance giving orders, the dark god. he is to be like sheogorath was in shivering isles, he is a god, but he was there like a king, a ruler of his own world with godly powers. sheogorath is the king of the shivering isles and sithis is the king of tamriell/ cyrodil. mwuahahaha. in the end, you become sithis' right hand man, talking to him like you talked to the night mother in the dark brotherhood. the night mother was only a single disciple of sithis that warped his ideals and created the offshoot of the dark brotherhood. one mission could be to kill the night mother^^. Ok, I'm going to not keep a PM conversation going on the BGSForums, and instead just post here (its best to have everything together anyway, right?). Anyway, concerning the Sithis thing, if you are trying to make this work in continuation of Lore, Sithis isn't really a person or god, he was more of an element or something (he didn't actually think or anything, he just existed, sort of like a virus). On the other hand, if your throwing out the lore (I couldn't care less either way), then you can either do what you're saying, OR something different (for example, I tried to make a group of rival assassins to the Dark Brotherhood, more honorable and less occult). Anyways, it makes no difference, I'm here for texturing :-P Speaking of texturing, I will try to make a banner like you described, and book covers (although I probably won't be able to work on them today). You may wish to keep a running list of things you would like me (and anyone else who joins this... Hiya RelicKylias!) to create, that can be viewed here and checked off as stuff is made (which will also help you forumulate "percentage complete" numbers if you ever feel inclined to do so. Anyway, good luck on yur end ;-) CC

Glad you could join us, Darkom! Have a nice stay (room service will be around at 10am :-P)! CC

I feel I have to say, I LOOOOVE this idea, this would be an AMAZING addition to the Oblivion modding world! I would ABSOLUTELY download this! ENCOURAGEMENT FROM ME!!! ...yeah, that's about all I have to say :-D oh, and I think you had Armamentariu on your "awaiting approval" list, and I felt inclined to note that at least two of the Armamentarium mods are Modder's resources. Anyway, good luck with that! CC Edit: You know what would be really cool with this (and I dont know if this is possible or if you would want to do this)? If you made it sort of like Vacuity's Item Interchange mod, in that it had a bajillion mods that it would work with, but you didnt need to have them all, you just download the ones you want, and download your mod with it, and they all magically work in a magical way (minus the magic). This would save you the problem of uploading millions of meshes and textures, and save people like Rowan from having lore-unfriendly stuff in their game. Just throwin it out there :-D

Quote guild wars eh? Yeah, a recent thing of mine (something between a passtime and an obsession, which would I guess be a hobby, except that sounds stupid in reference to a computer game :-P [and Oblivion definately trumps as my obsession :-D])... anyway, I like MMO's, but could never bring myself to pay monthly fees, and most of the freeware ones are crap, so this is perfect-ish for me :-) ...I should probably stop going on about a non-TES game on a TES site, although I do have to ask if anyone else here plays :-D later, all ;-) CC

Ooh, pritty :-D Are you making these from scratch? I'm very impressed (especially the Celtic border-things). Keep up the awesome-ness ;-) CC

Okay, nevermind, I'm an impatient idiot, and commenced to install Oblivion, Shivering Isles, Knights of the Nine, Wrye Bash, Wrye Python, The Gimp (with DDS and NM plugins), mifSkope, OBMM, and OBSE before this had a reply (however, all things specifically Oblivion are installed to my User profile in a sub-directory). Having said that, this all worked beautifully, and I'm going to have a hard time not downloading 20 Million mods in the next 10 minutes (must... resist... ). I am now going to go play Guild Wars, because I need to actually play something now, and I'm not up for Vanilla Oblivion (and I DO own other RPG's :-P), but soon I shall return with a rocking retexture or something :-P Later ;-) CC

Okay, my PC recently died, or at least my hard drive, and I lost everything on my (only) computer. Anyway, that was a week ago, and I'm just now reinstalling Oblivion (woot!). I'm finally going to install in a non-default directory, install all mods as OMODS, and other stuff. That said, is there anything else special I should do when installing? The only time I installed Oblivion before was when I first got it, with no intentions of modding, so I wasn;t sure if there was anything worthwhile or recomended to do before installing (I assume I would have heard if there was, but on the offshot, I'm posting this while I hunt down links for OBMM, Wrye Bash, all things FCOM, and other such things. This is potentially a stupid topic, but as I didnt know anything about Vista security and stuff last time I installed, I figure its probably worthwhile to check now (as I know for a fact that I don't know everything :-P). Anyhoo, yeah, thanks guys ;-) CC Moderator action: Renaming this thread - if you run into probs with your Oblivion/Vista installation, R4C, please start a new thread, or post in the HELP Thread in the Tavern.

Ysne! Great to see you here ;-) I ? The Alliance, and I hope you will too :-D

Quote Well firstly Rowan, I need to know what's inside it, living or not.I scanned over the article, so I guess its in a dwemeri style, where is it situated and and what is the scale and general shape you want? Out fo curiosity (and for future referance), if I were to ask you to come up with a design for a retexture of a suit of armor that already exists, and give you the basic concept of what I want, would you be able to make that up in color and everything? Either way, I'm always happy to see more people offering their services on here :-D CC

Quote Remove the double-quote mark from around the http address and it should work fine on this website. Thank you!!! (and thank you Microsoft Works for the "Search and Replace" feature... over 600 corrections in under 5 secoinds :-D)