Skin Creation Help

[Uncertain Title]

I have been attempting to create a skin for a model. No matter how closely I follow the wiki tutorial, I can't seem to get it to work.

Here is a pic of the model directory, the skin directory, and the skin file I wrote.

 

 

I even tried to make a standalone copy in the skins folder, in case DR doesn't like digging through folders when pulling up skins.

 

 

Am I missing something? Am I running into problems because skins cannot be made for .ase files?

 

 

Edited April 7, 2024 by Uncertain Title
File Type Correction

[Frost_Salamander]

5 hours ago, Uncertain Title said:

I have been attempting to create a skin for a model. No matter how closely I follow the wiki tutorial, I can't seem to get it to work.

Here is a pic of the model directory, the skin directory, and the skin file I wrote.

 

 

I even tried to make a standalone copy in the skins folder, in case DR doesn't like digging through folders when pulling up skins.

 

 

Am I missing something? Am I running into problems because skins cannot be made for .ase files?

 

 

A couple of things you can try (yes .ase files should work):

• I'm no expert with models, but do you have a field in the .ase file that looks something like this: *MATERIAL_NAME "textures\darkmod\plaster\plaster01" ?  If the material name there isn't exactly as you specify in the skin it won't get replaced
• Check the console log in DarkRadiant to see if you have any errors when loading the skin.  It's there in the 'console' tab.

[OrbWeaver]

I think you need to be more specific. What exactly "does not work"? Does the skin not show up in DR? Does it show up but crash DR? Does it appear but replace the wrong texture, or attach to the wrong model?

From the screenshot of the skin file in Notepad it looks like you have a space in the model name, but I'm not sure if that's the cause of the problem or just a cosmetic artifact of the screenshot.

[Uncertain Title]

17 hours ago, Frost_Salamander said:

A couple of things you can try (yes .ase files should work):

• I'm no expert with models, but do you have a field in the .ase file that looks something like this: *MATERIAL_NAME "textures\darkmod\plaster\plaster01" ?  If the material name there isn't exactly as you specify in the skin it won't get replaced
• Check the console log in DarkRadiant to see if you have any errors when loading the skin.  It's there in the 'console' tab.

There are no console errors when I reload skins.

I did double check and sure enough, one of the texture directories was incorrect. I went ahead and added it.

 

 

11 hours ago, OrbWeaver said:

From the screenshot of the skin file in Notepad it looks like you have a space in the model name, but I'm not sure if that's the cause of the problem or just a cosmetic artifact of the screenshot.

 

 

Ah, of COURSE there would be a blank space somewhere...alright, I went ahead and fixed it.

 

 

While both of your observations were correct, it unfortunately still doesn't load the new skin. I've attempted to reload it with no success.

11 hours ago, OrbWeaver said:

I think you need to be more specific. What exactly "does not work"? Does the skin not show up in DR? Does it show up but crash DR? Does it appear but replace the wrong texture, or attach to the wrong model?

Yeah I suppose that would be important to explain lol.

When I go into the model view, and click "Change Skin", it doesn't display a new skin.

 

The console log confirms this, as before and after me making changes/reloading the skin, it only finds the same amount of skins.

 

[datiswous]

Did you set Windows to show file extensions? Otherwise a file named blabla.skin.txt shows in Windows as blabla.skin

Edit: Nevermind, the screenshot shows it's a SKIN file.

In general I would recomend using Notepad++ as text editor instead.

 

I use these problem cases to (re)learn how to do things, but after copying the file and folder structure from your example with an other model, in my case the skin showed up fine..

Although putting the skin in a subfolder doesn't work for me.

Edited April 8, 2024 by datiswous

[Uncertain Title]

17 hours ago, datiswous said:

I use these problem cases to (re)learn how to do things, but after copying the file and folder structure from your example with an other model, in my case the skin showed up fine..

Although putting the skin in a subfolder doesn't work for me.

That's what I was afraid of.

After making sure the file I had in the base skins directory was correct, I managed to find it in the sea of skins.

 

 

Well at least now it shows up. Thanks for all the help everyone.

Now to figure out how to put skins into folders...

[Uncertain Title]

Alright, new problem with making these skins (or should I make a new thread about this?)

Why are my skinned models coming up black?

Here is my updated code for a simple skin.

 

And here is the model in the skin editor, changed to its creamy, plaster version.

 

Yet for some reason, all of my skins are pure black.

The wiki says this is caused by the editor not finding the skin definition, and that there are spelling errors somewhere. I am not sure what this means, though, since all of my directory paths are spelled right (otherwise, how would the skin editor display them perfectly fine?)

Does the name of the file have to match the declared skin name?

Edited April 9, 2024 by Uncertain Title
Misquoted Wiki

[datiswous]

Do you see an error/warning in the console?

You could upload it so someone could take a look. Just an idea.

Edited April 9, 2024 by datiswous

[Uncertain Title]

5 hours ago, datiswous said:

Do you see an error/warning in the console?

Nothing regarding the skin, though I didn't have much time to look this morning.

5 hours ago, datiswous said:

You could upload it so someone could take a look. Just an idea.

Sure! The map is "talents", and you should be able to find the proper models/skins from the post above.

File size was too big, despite compression.

Here's a file containing the models and skins. You should be able to find the related ones using the directories in previous posts.

 

models and skins.7z

[datiswous]

Your skins don't have a model specified in the skin code. How do you think it works that way?

Edit:

The reason this happens (I think) is that the skin name cannot start with a number.

skin one_brick_teal_blue
{

model models/title_models/walls/wooden_frame/straight_frame/straight_frame_wall_128_x_128.ase

textures/darkmod/plaster/plaster_01 textures/darkmod/stone/brick/blocks_tealblue_dark
}

Edited April 9, 2024 by datiswous

[Uncertain Title]

 

13 hours ago, datiswous said:

Edit:

The reason this happens (I think) is that the skin name cannot start with a number.

skin one_brick_teal_blue
{

model models/title_models/walls/wooden_frame/straight_frame/straight_frame_wall_128_x_128.ase

textures/darkmod/plaster/plaster_01 textures/darkmod/stone/brick/blocks_tealblue_dark
}

 

AHA, you're indeed correct! Changing the skin names so they start with "a1"' did the trick! 

 

13 hours ago, datiswous said:

Your skins don't have a model specified in the skin code. How do you think it works that way?

 

This was actually a successful experiment I was trying out!

The wiki goes into some detail about making "general skins" that can affect all models.

 

My hope was that, if I made two models using the same skins, then I could just write a single skin file that would change all of them!

 

For example, since "Straight Frame" and "V-Frame" models both use plaster_01 as their main background...

...all I have to do is make a general skin to change that specific plaster texture...

...and then any of the "V-Frame" and "Straight Frame" models can have different backgrounds!

 

It's not a perfect system, as some skins just don't contrast well with the wooden beams, but I should still be able to get a LOT more out of my models now!

[SeriousToni]

2 hours ago, Uncertain Title said:

 

AHA, you're indeed correct! Changing the skin names so they start with "a1"' did the trick! 

 

 

This was actually a successful experiment I was trying out!

The wiki goes into some detail about making "general skins" that can affect all models.

 

My hope was that, if I made two models using the same skins, then I could just write a single skin file that would change all of them!

 

For example, since "Straight Frame" and "V-Frame" models both use plaster_01 as their main background...

...all I have to do is make a general skin to change that specific plaster texture...

...and then any of the "V-Frame" and "Straight Frame" models can have different backgrounds!

 

It's not a perfect system, as some skins just don't contrast well with the wooden beams, but I should still be able to get a LOT more out of my models now!

If you have suggestions to make it more clear and easy on the wiki please let us know!

[datiswous]

It's strange this is not mentioned on the wiki page.. I do find it logical in program logic.

 

 

5 hours ago, Uncertain Title said:

This was actually a successful experiment I was trying out!

The wiki goes into some detail about making "general skins" that can affect all models.

 

My hope was that, if I made two models using the same skins, then I could just write a single skin file that would change all of them!

Cool, didn't think of that. I wonder if it's possible to do something like this:

skin one_brick_teal_blue
{

model models/title_models/walls/wooden_frame/straight_frame/*

textures/darkmod/plaster/plaster_01 textures/darkmod/stone/brick/blocks_tealblue_dark
}

So you can make folders of specific models that you can skin in the same way.

Edited April 10, 2024 by datiswous

[datiswous]

Btw. if you are looking into how skins work, I thought it's good to also mention x-rays.

Edited April 10, 2024 by datiswous

[Uncertain Title]

21 hours ago, SeriousToni said:

If you have suggestions to make it more clear and easy on the wiki please let us know!

I would like to recommend adding "Warning: Skin names cannot start with numbers, as it will cause models to appear black in-game."

[Uncertain Title]

18 hours ago, datiswous said:

It's strange this is not mentioned on the wiki page.. I do find it logical in program logic.

 

 

Cool, didn't think of that. I wonder if it's possible to do something like this:

skin one_brick_teal_blue
{

model models/title_models/walls/wooden_frame/straight_frame/*

textures/darkmod/plaster/plaster_01 textures/darkmod/stone/brick/blocks_tealblue_dark
}

So you can make folders of specific models that you can skin in the same way.

I'm sure it's possible! I couldn't get it working on my end (typical at this point lol). I'll have to try some other time; I've spent a LONG time trying to get this to work rather than actually building.

 

18 hours ago, datiswous said:

Btw. if you are looking into how skins work, I thought it's good to also mention x-rays.

AH THANK YOU!!! I was actually hoping to implement some X-Ray stuff into my map!

[OrbWeaver]

I don't think any declaration names can start with numbers; I doubt this is something specific to skins. This is similar to the rule in most programming languages where you can have a variable called "a1" but not "1a".

However you can organise skins into virtual folders using forward slashes, and individual folder elements can start with numbers. The example in the D3 documentation is "skins/models/weapons/3rox".

[SeriousToni]

13 hours ago, OrbWeaver said:

I don't think any declaration names can start with numbers; I doubt this is something specific to skins. This is similar to the rule in most programming languages where you can have a variable called "a1" but not "1a".

However you can organise skins into virtual folders using forward slashes, and individual folder elements can start with numbers. The example in the D3 documentation is "skins/models/weapons/3rox".

Are you supposed to know that rule beforehand as an artist?

[Uncertain Title]

19 hours ago, OrbWeaver said:

However you can organise skins into virtual folders using forward slashes, and individual folder elements can start with numbers. The example in the D3 documentation is "skins/models/weapons/3rox".

I had tried that before, but couldn't seem to get DR to recognize the skins. I may have just been missing something.

 

19 hours ago, OrbWeaver said:

I don't think any declaration names can start with numbers; I doubt this is something specific to skins. This is similar to the rule in most programming languages where you can have a variable called "a1" but not "1a".

Even as a programmer, I tend to forget a lot of stuff when I'm tired 

[datiswous]

On 4/11/2024 at 5:53 AM, Uncertain Title said:

I would like to recommend adding "Warning: Skin names cannot start with numbers, as it will cause models to appear black in-game."

Ok I added info about this in on the wiki page:

https://wiki.thedarkmod.com/index.php?title=Creating_Multiple_Skins_For_A_Model