Calgacus
Game Owner
 NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Joined: 27 Feb 2002
From: Caledonia |
 Posted: Sunday, 20 September 2009 09:28AM |
I am trying to make some new custom cloaks and am having some trouble - the guide Click Here is not detailed enough for a graphics newbie like me. So I'll post my problems here as I progress and hopefully at the end this thread will be a more detailed version of the guide.
I am trying to make a bunch of new cloaks - one for each card in a regular deck. I need them for a mod I'm slowly building that will have some Wonderland type stuff in it.
The first minor problem I had was that the "cloakmodel.2da" took a little longer to find than the plt. I eventually found it under "NWN:HotU Patch Data-data\xp2patch.bif-Game Data", the search feature in my copy of NWN Explorer did not help (seems it wasn't implemented yet, as no search dialog appears), I was using version 1.6. Once I updated to 1.63 I found a functioning search facility. Apparently the tool's website no longer is available, I hope this awesome tool is still getting updated.
Next problem is that the guide says to export the plt as a psd from gimp. So i installed the plugin and loaded the file but now I'm not sure how to export it as a psd except by saving it and just giving it a psd extension when naming it. I doubt that's right though, so can someone tell if there is a better way to export it?
Second, if possible I'd rather do all the image work in Gimp rather than using Photoshop (and skip the export step above), so can someone give some details on how to do that. I'm a total Gimp newb.
Thirdly, I need to make the Logo images to put on the cloak but the Make Logo section of the guide is rather thin, can someone tell how to do that? What file format, what layers do the images need, etc?
I'll keep working away and if I find answers on my own I'll post them in this thread, and of course any help you give will be immortalized here forever.
Thanks in advance. |
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eleazzaar
Game Owner
 NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
NWN 2
Joined: 03 Feb 2009 |
Posted: Monday, 21 September 2009 05:52AM |
Quote: Posted 09/20/09 09:28 (GMT) by Calgacus
Next problem is that the guide says to export the plt as a psd from gimp.
Can gimp even save PSDs? My information is a few years old, but I didn't think the gimp was able to save out PSD files. You should check the gimp's documentation to see if it is even possible, and if so how to do it. |
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Calgacus
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Joined: 27 Feb 2002
From: Caledonia |
Posted: Monday, 21 September 2009 08:34AM |
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The PLT plugin from Joco, lets you save it out as a psd, but I'm not sure how. Anyway I'd rather just do it all in Gimp rather than photoshop if that's not too complex. The guide implies its easier in photoshop. |
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B_Harrison
Game Owner
 NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Joined: 06 Mar 2004
From: England |
Posted: Monday, 21 September 2009 10:26AM |
The GIMP PLT Plugin allows you to open/save plt files, so there's no need to save as psd at any point if you only want to use the GIMP. It can save as psd in recent versions though (it's listed in the Select File Type rollout in the Save dialog).
Just make sure your texture is greyscale-alpha with dimensions that are powers of 2, and has all 10 layers:
Tattoo2
Tattoo1
Leather2
Leather1
Cloth2
Cloth1
Metal2
Metal1
Hair
Skin
BioWare use Photoshop in their tutorial, and I get the impression Photoshop's layer modes (as used on the logo) are more powerful, but in the GIMP they can be found in the Mode drop-down at the top of the Layers dialog (Ctrl + L).
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Estelindis
Game Owner
 NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Jade Empire:SE
NWN 2
NWN 2: MotB
NWN 2: SoZ
Mass Effect PC
Joined: 17 Mar 2002
From: Dublin, Ireland (but currently in Paris) |
Posted: Monday, 21 September 2009 04:30PM |
GIMP won't let you save a PLT if it doesn't have ten layers, so no worries there. I'd suggest starting off with PLT Editor (search the Vault) and use it to paint a section of a cloak in the shape you want with a layer brush (i.e. if a cloak doesn't use Leather 2, make your symbol in Leather 2). Move up to GIMP when you feel comfortable enough. Don't have much time to explain right now, but I have posted some info here if you're interested: Click Here
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Calgacus
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Joined: 27 Feb 2002
From: Caledonia |
Posted: Monday, 21 September 2009 07:01PM |
Thanks,
I'll be taking another run at the cloaks tonight and will read up then.
On the wiki page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suit_%28cards%29 for Suits in cards there is a nice graphic of the suit symbols I will try to use, for the rest I'll be content with a number or letter.
I'm thinking the back of the cloak will have a letter on the top half and a big suit symbol on the bottom.
I hope I can make the inner lining different so it won't give away what is on the back. I want to have a puzzle or mini-game based on cards. I was thinking maybe I'll put the cloaks on some NPC's and use invisible necks, torsos, hips and thighs so the player just sees the card with arms and a head and feet, then when the NPC's are laying down the player won't know which card its which. |
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Calgacus
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Joined: 27 Feb 2002
From: Caledonia |
Posted: Tuesday, 22 September 2009 04:29PM |
I'm not getting to far with this, the Make Logo and Fill in the Gaps steps of the guide are not detailed enough for me.
I'm just using Gimp.
When I paste my Logo (a black club symbol from a gif with a transparent background) into my plt it gets set into the metal2 layer when I anchor it- why metal2? i don't know as I'm not given the choice, and do i want it there? I don't know. Next I have to cut out the logo from cloth1 and cloth2 layers but the cloth1 layer is blank where the logo goes so why cut anything? and how do i cut it out and inverse the selection from cloth2 when the logo is in layer metal2?
I have another crack at this tonight. |
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Calgacus
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Joined: 27 Feb 2002
From: Caledonia |
Posted: Wednesday, 23 September 2009 05:24PM |
Yipeee!! I made some progress but I still haven't done things quite as the guide has it. Check out this image
see image, in which for reasons unknown to me, the new cloak appears bright on the dwarf but gray on my pc.
I skipped the step whose intent was to maintain wrinkles on the logo. Seems to look ok anyway. What I did was I copied a club (a logo) on layer metal2 and then cut out the digit 2 from that club. I also cut out the club image from the cloth2 layer but I did not copy the cutout back onto layer 2 like the guide indicated. Since the club image had the 2 cut out before I cut out the cloth2 layer logo the, the 2 remained on the cloth2 layer - only the club image around the 2 was removed.
The latest cloak2da had 16 entries in it so I labeled my new cloak plt as 17.
I would like to make a quick video tutorial of what I did, what software will I need to take the video?Edited By Calgacus on 09/23/09 17:29 |
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Calgacus
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Joined: 27 Feb 2002
From: Caledonia |
Posted: Wednesday, 23 September 2009 07:47PM |
Here are 4 new cloaks and one Card facing forward wearing one of the new cloaks. These are my basic suit cards from which I'll make the cards by just cutting out the letter or number from the logo and cloth layers.
Click Here |
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Calgacus
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Joined: 27 Feb 2002
From: Caledonia |
Posted: Sunday, 27 September 2009 05:13PM |
What do you think looks better, the large symbol with the single character or an actual card face. The latter is easier to produce but for royal face cards might be tricky if i try to maintain all the colors.
Here is a screen of the two types.
Click Here
The large symbols are not as sharp and have lots of fuzz but they are really easy to see, I like the way they jump out at the viewer. The face cards are nice and sharp and might be better for immersion since everyone will understand their meaning quicker.Edited By Calgacus on 09/27/09 17:18 |
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Inayity
Game Owner
 NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Joined: 27 Jun 2002 |
Posted: Sunday, 27 September 2009 10:20PM |
FWIW, I like the actual card face more than the stylized one (the big A in the heart). I like the simple suit designation the best, but it sounds like you're going to make them all.
Although they aren't as recognizable to a modern audience, you might want to check out some of the various pages on "Master of the Playing Cards". He was "the first major master in the history of printmaking" and most of his surviving work is playing card engravings, hence the name. The timeframe is 1430-1450 which is pretty a decent-enough match for D&D.
Here's his Wiki page:
Click Here
Some good ideas there about how the earliest European playing cards were laid out. If you plan on doing something which is maybe less-recognizable but has a more authentic feel, you should check into his work.
Cool idea, btw.
And of course, tarot cloaks. That's another idea screaming to be realized.Edited By Inayity on 09/27/09 22:21 |
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Calgacus
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Joined: 27 Feb 2002
From: Caledonia |
Posted: Sunday, 27 September 2009 11:49PM |
Thanks, that Master of the Cards is an interesting idea.
Here is a gif of a 2 of club cloak with the face in the inner lining and the back of the cloak with the card back.
Click Here
I like the look of the back but the inner lining will be hard for a player to see and there is the issue of the way inner cloak lining is rendered with a mirror image of what is on the right side of the layer. So i would need a symmetrical symbol for Kings etc to put on top of the big suit symbol. I don't want the player to have to count the suit symbols to see what the face value is. |
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B_Harrison
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Joined: 06 Mar 2004
From: England |
Posted: Monday, 28 September 2009 01:30PM |
Nice work! I much prefer the cloaks with the entire card face, rather than the single large symbol.
Quote: Posted 09/27/09 22:20 (GMT) by Inayity
And of course, tarot cloaks. That's another idea screaming to be realized.
I thought of this too. Great idea, especially if you can find a nice understated deck to use as textures.
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Mods | BlogEdited By B_Harrison on 09/28/09 13:33 |
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Calgacus
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Joined: 27 Feb 2002
From: Caledonia |
Posted: Monday, 28 September 2009 07:16PM |
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I'll be glad to do a tarot deck if someone can link me to a good image of the faces. |
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Calgacus
Game Owner
NWN
NWN: SoU
NWN: HotU
Joined: 27 Feb 2002
From: Caledonia |
Posted: Monday, 05 October 2009 04:11AM |
some new cloaks,
Click Here
This time I put the card face in side and the card back on the back. Not as nice this way perhaps but more useful formy purposes as when the cards lay face down you can't see the values, but can I make the cards talk to people when face down? |
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