INDEPTH: MAT FILES
Previously we had to rely on older programs written to mod games like Jedi Knight (which used the same 3D file formats). MatMaster 2 and Mat16 were of some use, but they've since been eclipsed by Nitrus's tool, so use that.
Download it here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/399 ... Deluxe.rar
WHAT WE'RE AIMING FOR
You can read a little more about what we're aiming for here:
http://grimfandangodeluxe.blogspot.co.u ... angos.html
But essentially the textures are designed to look a little "hand painted", and we wish to maintain that style. There's no need to add a ton of detail that wasn't there in the original. Here's a visual reference:
From this:
To this:
WORKING WITH MAT/CMP FILES
Extracting and conversion is super easy thanks to Nitrus's tool, but you will need to find the corresponding CMP file for each MAT file so you can extract the image with the correct colours.
Once you've extracted the image as a BMP, change the colour to RGB and increase the size to FOUR times what it was previously.
Then get to work!
Note: (As previously mentioned) if you begin editing the textures for a 3D object, you must convert ALL the textures used by that 3do file to 4x their original size. This is because (if I'm explaining this correctly) the coordinates are absolute in each 3DO. So either the all the textures on the model are 1x or they're 4x.
HOW DO I FIND THE RIGHT CMP FOR MY MAT?
This is an arduous process, but it goes like this:
1. Find the object you wish to edit the textures for (aka the 3DO file).
e.g. glottis.3do
2. Do a search in the contents of all the .COS files until you find where your 3DO file appears.
e.g. glottis.cos and gl_akimbo_idles.cos
3. Look in one (or possibly all) of the found COS files until you find the reference to the 3DO file.
e.g.
Code:
ID TagID Hash ParentID Name
0 0 0 -1 glottis.3do
4. Find the CMP reference with a ParentID of the 3DO
e.g.
Code:
11 3 0 0 glottis.cmp
5. Now you know the name of the CMP file that goes with all the textures in the 3DO you chose, so open the 3DO file and look for all the references to MAT files.
e.g.
gl_tummy.mat
gl_butt.mat
gl_j_chest.mat
gl_j_back.mat
gl_j_skin.mat
gl_jaw.mat
gl_eye.mat
ear.mat
gl_shldr.mat
gl_arm.mat
gl_thigh.mat
gl_shin.mat
gl_heel.mat
gl_toe.mat
6. You now have all the MAT files and the correct CMP file to go with them. Use Nitros's tool to extract them all and you're ready to play!
OK! MY NEW TEXTURES LOOK AWESOME. NOW WHAT?
When it comes to saving your work for use in the game, you will need to save them back down to 256 colours using the original Colour Map palette. You can do this by converting the CMP file, to an ACT file. (Nitrus's tool will do that for you, too.)
Then you need to convert your document to an INDEXED colour format in Photoshop using a CUSTOM PALETTE -- the ACT file.
Yes, this will result in an 8-bit texture... the limitation of the GF engine.
Note: Make sure you keep your original RGB layered file, though! There is some talk about using 24-bit textures in Residual and it may still happen.
KNOWN ISSUES
There's no known issues with this yet. It's important to note that sometimes the same 3DO can have several different CMP files associated with it. So the MAT files themselves may be identical, but a different colour is used to change the look of the texture.