Decals

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I'll be using Photoshop 6 for this tutorial, but most image editing software newer than MS Paint should be able to do most everything in this guide. A free image editor called "GIMP" can be found at [http://www.gimp.org/ www.gimp.org]. [[image:warning.png]] Note for Photoshop CS3, CS4 and CS5 users: These versions of Photoshop handle .tga files in a way that is incompatible with MW4:Mercs needs to make transparencies work. To get these versions to work, you will need the Targa.8BI plugin from Photoshop 7. *UPDATE: You can download the necessary plug in [http://www.jadefalconclan.com/downloads/TGA_fix_for_Photoshop.rar [here]]. Put it into your Photoshop's file format folder inside the plugins folder. This has been tested with Photoshop 8, CS3 and CS4. Thanks to AnTi90d. *UPDATE: I've included some separate instructions for people using Paint Shop Pro. The version I am using is Paint Shop Pro X. I am not that familiar with it, but Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop seem to share many of the same functions. == Making Custom Decals == === Find a Picture or Make One === Whether you make a picture or find one, keep in mind that the final image will be 64x64 pixels or smaller, so something with a lot of details will be unsuitable. I'll start with this picture I found on google. [[Image:Crossbones300.jpg|300x300 Crossbones Image]] This is fairly clean with sharp edges and only two colors and it's already a square. *Now I need to resize it to 64x64 pixesls. **In Photoshop 6, I go to image> image size> and change the width and height values to '64' pixels. **In Paint Shop Pro X, I go to image> resize> and change the width and height values to '64' pixels (Choose Pixels in the pixel dimensions area). The image below is what I get. As is, it's already suitable to be used as a decal. <table width="100%"> <tr> <td> [[Image:Crossbones64.jpg|left|300x300 Crossbones Image]] </td> </tr> </table> Next I'll need to convert it to a format the game will recognize. ---- === Converting the Image === There are a couple of rules all decals need to conform to for the game to recognize them. *The file size for the image must be smaller than 5KB. *The format for the images must be .tga (targa) ==== Prepping ==== First I'll prep my image to be as small as possible. Here's a couple of things you can do in Photoshop 6: *Convert the image to index mode. This will limit the number of colors used to 256 **In Photoshop 6, go to Image>Mode>Index **In Paint Shop Pro X, go to Image>Decrease Color Depth>256 Color Depth. Press OK. ***Even though Greyscale would lower the color count even more, the game won't recognize a greyscale decal. Next, save the image as a .tga image. ==== Saving ==== Next I need to save it as a targa. *In either Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, go to File>Save As> *Enter a file name. I chose 'crossbones'. *Chose the 'Targa' (.tga) file type *Press 'Save'. Now I can check to make sure my file size is within tolerance. I'll navigate to where I saved my image, right click it, and choose 'Properties' at the bottom. It says my file size is 4.79KB, so I'm good. Next I'll import the picture to MW4:Mercenaries. === Importing the Image to MechWarrior 4 === Navigate to the root directory of your MW4 installation. For example, mine is located at "C:\Program Files\mektek.net\Mechwarrior Mercenaries - Mektek Mekpak". From there go to "\Content\Textures\customdecals". This is where you should move your .tga file. After you put your image there, you should check to make sure it works in the game. === Check the Decal in the Game === Start your game and go to 'Options' and click the 'Multiplayer' tab. Your custom decal should be the one of the last decals that you can select. Once you select your decal, go back to the main menu and go to the Mech Lab or into the game to see if it works. [[Image:decaltest.jpg|left|thumb|64x64 Decal Ingame]] *Click [[Media:crossbones.tga|[here]]] to download this decal. That's it for making basic decals. === Transparent Decals === Maybe you're not happy with the black box with the crossbones inside or you would rather not have a square decal but want a circle one instead. That's possible if you can edit the alpha channel of an image. The downside to transparent is that though they are still constrained to 5KB, they have more information. So something has to be sacrificed to make these decals work in game. In this case, the decals can only be a quarter of the size of normal decals, 32x32 pixels (or with some more restriction of the decals palette, can be kept at 64x64). That means the picture will be even less detailed. ==== Requirements for Transparent Decals to Work ==== *File size must be 5KB or smaller *File type must be .tga (Targa) *Color mode must remain RGB. Index color mode won't retain the alpha channel. ==== How Alpha Channels Work ==== *The Alpha Channel is another channel in addition to the Red, Green, and Blue Channels. *The Alpha Channel uses shades of black and white to determine how much of the image will be visible. **An area of the channel that is black will not be seen in a decal while areas that are white will be visible. **An area covered by 50% grey will be 50% transparent in your decal. ***This is useful to know if you want the decal to blend more seamlessly onto your mech. Usually I will use an 80% shade of grey for my decals. ==== Prepping the Image ==== I'll start with my 300x300 crossbones image. <table> <tr> <td width="600" valign=top>The first thing I will do is delete the black area of the image I don't want to be visible. In photoshop, the magic want set to a tolerance of 5 works well. </td> <td> [[Image:decal1.jpg|left|thumb|Deleting the extra stuff]] </td> </tr> </table> <table> <tr> <td width="600" valign=top>Next, I will select everything and give it a heavy border. I want to do that so the border is easily visible when I shrink it down to 32x32 pixels. *In photoshop, go to Layer>Layer Style>Stroke. Change the stroke color to black and the size to '10'. </td> <td> [[Image:decal2.jpg|left|thumb|Adding a border]] </td> </tr> </table> <table> <tr> <td width="600" valign=top>Now I want to be able to select my image and the new border using the magic wand. *In photoshop, the easiest way for me to do this is to create a new transparent layer below my current one, then merge it down. Go to Layer>Merge Down. *Now I can use my magic want to easily select my image by clicking the empty area, then inverting my selection by going to Select>Inverse. </td> <td> [[Image:decal3.jpg|left|thumb|Making the image easy to select]] </td> </tr> </table> <table> <tr> <td width="600" valign=top>Now that I have my selection, I can easily create my Alpha Channel. *In photoshop, I go to the channels window by going to Window>Show Channels. I now see four channels: RGB, Red, Green, and Blue. *Create a new channel by clicking 'Create New Channel' at the bottom of that window. That gives me a black square with an outline of my crossbones. *I want to fill that area with white so it will be visible in my decal. Go to Edit>Fill and use White. *If you want to blend it to let some of the dirt and paneling of the mech show through, make a color that is 80% grey and fill the crossbones with the paintbucket too. *After you fill it, you can deselect the image. </td> <td> [[Image:decal4.jpg|left|thumb|Adding the Alpha Channel]] </td> </tr> </table> <table> <tr> <td width="600" valign=top>The only step left now is to re-size the image.<br> *In photoshop, go to Window>Show Layers and select your layer. **Resize your image by going to Image>Image Size. Change the width and height fields to 32 and press OK. **After resizing, I would suggest creating a completely black layer under your image layer to ensure there isn't any white spots on the edge of your transparencies. That is completely optional though and usually not necessary. *Save as a .tga and select 32 bits/pixel. Anything less won't retain the alpha channel. *To create a 64x64 decal with transparency, you will need to take an extra step using Gimp [See top of this page for a link]. **First re-size your image to 64x64 instead of 32x32 and save it. **Then open your .tga in Gimp. You should see the transparent area as being a tinted checkered pattern. **Go to Color>Posterize. A slider with a number going from 1 to 255 should appear. The program will probably automatically select the optimum number of colors you need for your image. For my crossbones image, I only needed three. To keep your file size under 5KB, you will have to use 16 colors or less, and possibly even fewer than that. **After you press ok, to to 'Save As' and overwrite your file. A window allowing you to use RLE compression should appear, press Yes and save. Check your file size. If it's under 5KB, transfer it to your 'customdecals' folder and try it out. </td> <td> [[Image:decal5.jpg|left|thumb|32x32 decal with transparency]] </td> <td> [[Image:crossbones64.jpg|left|thumb|64x64 decal with transparency]] </td> </tr> </table> <table> <table> <tr> <td> [[Image:decal6.jpg|left|thumb|32x32 Transparent Decal Ingame]] </td> <td> *Click [[Media:Crossbonestransparent64.tga|[here]]] to download this decal. </td> <td> [[Image:decal7.jpg|left|thumb|64x64 Transparent Decal Ingame]] </td> <td> *Click [[Media:Crossbones64transparency.tga‎ |[here]]] to download this decal. </td> </tr> </table>

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