How to compile a skin

Tools you'll need

• Notepad
• Pakscape
• ModView
• Image editing software, such as GIMP

This tutorial is meant to explain how to compile multiplayer skins. This tutorial is not meant to be a tutorial on how to make actual skin textures. Please use more creativity than this tutorial shows when making your own multiplayer skins!

The first thing you want to do is have an idea of what kind of skin you want to make. For this tutorial we'll make a recolor, however I strongly recommend against making simple recolors, unless just for practice. For this tutorial we will use the Jedi model.

Create the following directory in your hard drive:

base/models/players

Open assets1.pk3 from your Jedi Academy base folder using Pakscape and extract the Jedi folder and the _humanoid folder (see image below).

Open the model.glm in ModView. It should look like this:

What we want to do is recolor the shirt. In your own works you'll want to do more than this, but as an example it'll work. In the jedi folder you extracted, open "model_default.skin" with notepad. Inside you'll see the following:

hipsa,models/players/jedi/legs.tga

hipsa_torso,models/players/jedi/torso.tga

l_lega,models/players/jedi/boots_hips.tga

l_lega_cap_hips_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

r_lega,models/players/jedi/boots_hips.tga

r_lega_cap_hips_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

hipsa_cap_r_leg_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

hipsa_cap_l_leg_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

hips_cap_torso_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

torso,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

torsoa,models/players/jedi/torso.tga

torsoa_l_shoulder,models/players/jedi/torso.tga

torsoa_r_shoulder,models/players/jedi/torso.tga

r_arma,models/players/jedi/torso.tga

r_handa,models/players/jedi/basic_hand.tga

r_handa_wrist,models/players/jedi/torso.tga

r_handa_cap_r_arm_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

r_arma_cap_r_hand_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

r_arma_cap_torso_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

l_arma,models/players/jedi/torso.tga

l_handa,models/players/jedi/basic_hand.tga

l_handa_wrist,models/players/jedi/torso.tga

l_handa_cap_l_arm_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

l_arma_cap_l_hand_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

l_arma_cap_torso_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

torsoa_cap_l_arm_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

torsoa_cap_r_arm_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

head,models/players/jedi/torso.tga

heada,models/players/jedi/head_01.tga

heada_face,models/players/jedi/face_01.tga

heada_eyes_mouth,models/players/jedi/mouth_eyes.tga

headb,*off

headb_face,*off

headb_eyes_mouth,*off

head_cap_torso_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

torso_cap_head_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

torso_cap_hips_off,models/players/stormtrooper/caps.tga

I have bolded the lines of interest. They indicate the torso and both arms, which we want to recolor. As you can see, they point to torso.jpg. Open this jpeg in your graphics program (preferably something that supports layers, like GIMP or photoshop -- do not use MS Paint!)

Once you have the jpeg open, make a new layer and, for our purposes, we'll choose a green color. Use paintbucket to fill the layer with green, then set the layer to overlay, then save it.

Re-open the jedi model in ModView, or refresh the textures (see image below).

Now you don't want to overwrite the jedi model, so now we're going to make this an independent skin. The first thing we need to do is open up model_default.skin again. Now press control + H and you should get a text replace window. For our purposes we're going to name our skin bobs_jedi, so in "Find what:" put jedi, and in "Replace with:" put bobs_jedi. Note that you can't always use the replacer, as sometimes the folder name will also be present in the texture name. Be careful when replacing text in the .skin file.

Once your .skin file is finished, rename the entire jedi folder bobs_jedi, then open up the model.glm and make sure your model still has textures. If it doesn't then you've done something wrong.

Open PakScape and create the following directory structure:

Save the PK3 with a unique name in your base folder. Do not overwrite any assets PK3s or any pre-existing PK3s. To make sure your mod is as compatible as possible, make the name as unique as possible. An easy way to do this would be to put your name or initials in the PK3 name. This also goes for your character's folder. Our folder is named bobs_jedi. However if we simply named it "bob" or "jedi" it would be more likely to conflict with another mod. Think of how many Anakin skins are out there, and how many problems we would have if they all used the same folder name!

Write a read-me text file for your mod, take some screenshots, and zip everything up, then share it with your friends!