removing the russian star and Painting the landing gears

[aztechx]

guys..im currently close to completing my Su-30MkM skinning project but im still bugged by some issues..ill post pics for updates later or u can see it at lockonfiles..

http://www.lockonfiles.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=5046&sid=a7bab5cbe8a8470f9dfa5201aeb2d702l

 

Question 1

is it possible to remove the russian star on only one particular skin without affecting the others?replacing the NOMERA file results in all the other russian planes missing the russian star as well..ive received suggestions to form a new country but have no idea how..

 

quesiton 2

how do i paint the landing gear?

 

thanks in advance! :)

Edited September 24, 2008 by aztechx

[Boberro]

1). As far I know there is no possibility to delete red star only for one type of planes :(. All planes won't have red star if u remove file. But maybe I mislead.

 

2). Aren't wheels in the skin file? If not must be in CDDS somewhere :)

[Deadman]

Check this out

http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/38610606/m/750101635/p/1

It may be helpful

[OldCrow]

I suppose if u make a .skins file, u can select wich textures u want to be used in what skin. Although, im not sure if this works with the default aircrafts. But if it does, u just use the black tga file for your skin, and the default one for the rest.

[Alfa]

guys..im currently close to completing my Su-30MkM skinning project but im still bugged by some issues..ill post pics for updates later or u can see it at lockonfiles..

http://www.lockonfiles.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=5046&sid=a7bab5cbe8a8470f9dfa5201aeb2d702l

 

Question 1

is it possible to remove the russian star on only one particular skin without affecting the others?replacing the NOMERA file results in all the other russian planes missing the russian star as well..ive received suggestions to form a new country but have no idea how..

 

Adding a new country works, but this solution is a little over the top(a lot of work) unless you actually want an extra country.

 

If you just want to remove the original national markings from a particular aircraft model for re-texturing purposes, another much simpler way is to edit the text string refering to the nomera texture inside the 3D model - this can be done with a hex editor and is quite easy with models of the old *.cmd format.

 

Procedure:

 

Open the shape file of choice(lets take the Su-30.cmd as example) with a hex editor - scroll down to the very end of the file where the texture references are, find the "nomera.tga" and then change it to something else - e.g if the aircraft model is the Su-30 you could change it to: "nosu30.tga".

 

Note that it is important to retain the exact number of characters in the texture name - otherwise you will corrupt the file.

 

Next open the "nomera.tga" texture with a photo editor application and modify the alpha channel mask to delete the red star - then save the texture as "nosu30.tga".

 

Put the modified Su-30.cmd file in the ..Bazar\World\shapes folder and the modified "nosu30.tga" file in the TempTextures folder. Now the "nosu30.tga" texture will be loaded for the Su-30 - and only that :) .

 

quesiton 2

how do i paint the landing gear?

 

To be honest I cannot remember if there is a texture containing landing gear details for the old Su-27/-30/-33 models - such components often just had a simple small colour texture stretched over them, which in turn made texture improvements(adding fine details) to these parts virtually impossible.

 

Hope this was useful :) .

Edited September 25, 2008 by Alfa

[Azrayen]

I suppose if u make a .skins file, u can select wich textures u want to be used in what skin. Although, im not sure if this works with the default aircrafts. But if it does, u just use the black tga file for your skin, and the default one for the rest.

 

No : .skins files are only for .lom models.

Default Su-30 is a .cmd, so no way to make a working .skins for it.

 

To be honest I cannot remember if there is a texture containing landing gear details for the old Su-27/-30/-33 models - such components often just had a simple small colour texture stretched over them, which in turn made texture improvements(adding fine details) to these parts virtually impossible.

 

Hope this was useful :) .

There is one. Haven't its name in mind, but it exists (I meet it :smartass:)

It's shared for all 27s and perhaps other models (Su-33 ? Su-30 ?) => Check it via the hex editing of the plane's cmd.

 

Cheers

Az'

[Vekkinho]

Aztechx,

 

Change the skin # of Su-30MKM you've created!

 

IIRC, skin files SU-30-SKIN-L-10.bmp and SU-30-SKIN-R-10.bmp are not associated with nomera.tga so you'll see no red stars and numbers if you replace that skin (test pilots #597) with MkM one!

 

So simply rename your MkM skin to SU-30-SKIN-L-10.bmp and SU-30-SKIN-R-10.bmp and try it!

[Alfa]

There is one. Haven't its name in mind, but it exists (I meet it :smartass:)

It's shared for all 27s and perhaps other models (Su-33 ? Su-30 ?)

 

Ok I couldn't remember :) .

 

Check it via the hex editing of the plane's cmd.

 

Yes good idea - all textures used by a model are listed inside the shape file, so it is also a good way to figure out what can be done in terms of texturing :) .

[Alfa]

Aztechx,

 

Change the skin # of Su-30MKM you've created!

 

IIRC, skin files SU-30-SKIN-L-10.bmp and SU-30-SKIN-R-10.bmp are not associated with nomera.tga so you'll see no red stars and numbers if you replace that skin (test pilots #597) with MkM one!

 

So simply rename your MkM skin to SU-30-SKIN-L-10.bmp and SU-30-SKIN-R-10.bmp and try it!

 

Good point Vekkinho - I forgot about that bit.

 

Thats an even easier way to get around the nomera.tga. But it only works for the one "skin slot", so if the objective is to do a full set of skins of your own creation, the *.cmd editing is the way to go :) .

Edited September 25, 2008 by Alfa

[aztechx]

thanks for the replies guys!that was a lot quicker then expected..

 

anyway,ive tried changing the name of the file to slot -10 and IT WORKS!!thanks alot Vekkinho for the tip!i can finally go back to putting up the final touches for my skin..so that leaves only the landing gear color that i need to sort out..i noticed that the color of the ukrainian su-27s wheels are white..so there must be a way right?

 

despite already being able to fly in my first skin,im still very much interested in creating a new country or learning about the other things i can do if its possible..as u guys must have noticed by now that im very new to modding in lomac and it would be great if u guys can explain to me things such as the terms

 

-cmd

-hex

-lom

-etc.?

 

where to find,and what to do with them..since im planning to build a skin for the MiG-29N and the RMAFs F/A-18D Hornets as well..im very willing to learn.. :)

[Azrayen]

so that leaves only the landing gear color that i need to sort out..i noticed that the color of the ukrainian su-27s wheels are white..so there must be a way right?

Alpha & myself already answered you on this topic. Look for the dedicated wheels textures.

 

And for your last question :

cmd and lom are the 2 files formats used in LOMAC for 3D models.

cmd is the old one.

lom is the new one.

Modders can create new .lom with the plug-in for 3DSMax released by ED. There is no public tool available to create .cmd files.

 

hex stand for hexadecimal. It's a way to encode files (.cmd for instance). If you're a beginner in modding/computer stuff, my advice'll be to try others ways first, as this one is more advanced.

 

++

Az'

[HubMan]

:music_whistling: :D

 

Hub.

[aztechx]

guys..ive tried for days browsing through the files in my lockon folder and still i cant find anything close to being a wheel texture..anyone can give me a hand? :(

[Deadman]

Try Program Files\Ubisoft\Eagle Dynamics\Lock On\Bazar\World\WorldTexturesBMP1.cdds SOPLA-F and a little rep for me then look:smilewink:

Edited October 6, 2008 by Deadman

[aztechx]

Try Program Files\Ubisoft\Eagle Dynamics\Lock On\Bazar\World\WorldTexturesBMP1.cdds SOPLA-F and a little rep for me then look:smilewink:

ok its there!thanks! :)

 

found out that the file is in bmp format and the since all my skinning before this were based on preset layers on the template..i dont have any idea how to turn the green wheel grey.. :p

 

anyway,here are a few pics of the skin..still unfinished..need to do some minor corrections here and there..any comments would be much appreciated! :)

 

Edited October 7, 2008 by aztechx

[Deadman]

What ever program your painting with you should have a replace color feature just use that to change the wheels from green to gray just save a copy of the original

[shaggy]

I really love this skin!

[aztechx]

ok now that im done with the colors of the tyre,i cant seem to export the new file with CDDS explorer to replace the old one..anyone?

[shaggy]

just extract the original file from the cdds file. the place the edited bmp file in the temp textures fodler and you should be good.

[BrumTx]

is that the Parkbox mod you are using ? made by Tomcatz ? for all the airbase hardware ????

[Szelma]

Hi Aztechx. Insert it to your temptextures folder and dont waisting your time.

http://rapidshare.com/files/154783001/White_whells.rar.html

Good work, keep it up.

[aztechx]

@shaggy & Szelma

ok!its finally done!just a few minor touch ups and she'll be ready to go..thanks for all the tips guys! :)

 

@BrumTx

yes it is the parking box mod by tomcatz :)