8 réponses à ce sujet

[Clyordes]

Hi folks,
I'm sure I'm missing the obvious, but I'm struggling with tinting creatures.  I've got a few creatures I'm trying to make - Svarts - using the Batiri model tinted blue skinned, a creature called a Sussurus that I'm using the Earth Elemental model for, Hobgoblins that I've used the Githyanki model for & a beastie called a Spinescale that I've used the Hezrou for (its supposed to be a magically enlarged & nastified frog, but that's the only thing that I've seen that even comes close).

Anyhow - I've sorted the scaling and general characteristics of the creatures as new creature blueprints in the toolset, but so far, the Batiri model is the only one that I've managed to change the colour of the skin of (looks great, by the way). 

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but when I've modified the tints in the creature properties, either of the blueprint, or of an instance of the creature painted into my module, the toolset doesn't change the colour of anything.

Is there a tick box I accidentally ticked for my lil' Svart that allows the displayed colours to change, or something similar?

Go on - point me at the obvious - please! :-)

Cly.

[Lugaid of the Red Stripes]

It can be temperamental, with the colors not changing until the visual model gets updated (like you have to switch between male and female in the armor section to see the changes). Also, there's one set of colors under the basic properties tab, and then another under the armor set. Just make sure they're both the same, I'm sure how one takes precedence over the other.

[MasterChanger]

 Sadly, you may not be missing anything at all. Not all models are tintable. Others have only a minor part tintable that doesn't really change the overall look (for example, you can make wolves sliiightly darker or lighter but it's hardly noticeable). The texture has to be set as tintable.

Not to fear, though! As I understand it, it's possible to take the default textures and make them tintable without too much technical work. I have not done it personally, but I believe that Pain's creatures pack (among others) makes some creatures tintable that weren't before. I don't think you need any advanced tools to do it.

Sorry I can't tell you what you should do, but I can tell you what not to do: bang your head against your desk thinking it's your fault you can't make the tinting work! 

[Dann-J]

Indeed - not all creature models have tint maps. Tint maps are really just masks of red, green and blue areas that determine how the tint colours you set in the toolset change the appearance of the skin. They usually have the same file name as the main texture, but with a _T suffix. Tint maps work best on models with light-coloured skins with little colour saturation though.

For models that currently lack a tint map, you will have to create one from scratch and then modify the MDB file (using MDBCloner) to add in the reference to the new tint map. I've had a lot of experience modifying skins, normal maps and tint maps of late, creating some Darfellan models.

The Githyanki model should be tintable though (at least for the main skin colour). I've used it to create a Harssaf in the past.

Modifié par DannJ, 16 août 2011 - 11:20 .

[Clyordes]

Thanks folks - that's exactly the kind of reassurance & advice I was after, and explains what happened with the Batiri/Svart. Working with the blueprint, I changed all the tint boxes to a nice electric blue shade & nothing happened in the preview box, Then I placed one in my dungeon & it was still the original colours. Can't remember what I did next apart from changing the hair accessory box to a different blue, and suddenly I'd got a nice blue svart, instead of a disgruntled looking batiri staring up at me.

I think something similar's happening with the hobgoblins - suddenly they're orangey & looking pretty good - in a "my grandad was a gith" kinda way, after I put one in the dungeon and tinkered with the colours again.

Still struggling with the hezrou though - but I'll keep tinkering....

I'm just working on a mini-dungeon as a break from my main project after I started looking through an old Best of White Dwarf & thought it looked easy & a lot of fun. Famous last words, eh?
On the good side, I've built almost all the 3 parts of the dungeon, and am just stocking it with creatures & placeables. In theory I might get it finished this weekend (what could possibly go wrong?) & provide part of a 'bridge' between The Reptile God adventure that characters finish at level 3, and Oasis of the White Palm which needs characters around level 5 or 6.

Ah, what grand designs!

Thanks agan folks

Cly.

[Clyordes]

Quick update for anyone who finds it useful - I've just played around with the creature properties & by keeping all the tint options green, I've changed the appearance to various different models.

Good news is I've got nice froggie green versions of loads of different models, but not the Hezrou - so I'm assuming its one of the models mentioned above that aren't tintable by default, so I'll stick with the default colours. Also, I've discovered the Barrow Guardian model, which seems to make a better Sussurus than the earth elemental I was using before, and its tintable too, so is now a nice limestone kinda colour.

Happy days!

Cly.

[Lugaid of the Red Stripes]

I don't know exactly what kind of look you're going for, but you might also want to check out different VFX, especially those that change textures (barkskin, spiderskin, water elemental, etc.).

[Clyordes]

Superb, great ideas folks - many thanks,

Cly.