Skinning help!

[anelious phyros]

I'm tyring to edit skins by using GIMP 2.4.3 (2.4) a but I can only edit a select few because the DDS files. I've downloaded the DDS Plug-in and put it in the plug-ing folder and yet I can't edit them? What am I doing wrong? I'll probably find it out if somebody told me step by step what to do.

Thanks,
AP -

[Thor the Bassist]

So you have Gimp 2.4 on your computer and you have downloaded the plug-in and extracted it so it is a .exe file (not the zip it is downloaded in).

Move the .exe file to ...\GIMP-2.4\lib\gimp\2.4\plug-ins

Mine says 2.0 wherever 2.4 is but thats because I upgraded and it didn't seem to change folder names. Yours could do this too.

Now startup Gimp. Go to File - Open and you should be able to open .dds files.

[anelious phyros]

So you have Gimp 2.4 on your computer and you have downloaded the plug-in and extracted it so it is a .exe file (not the zip it is downloaded in).

um.... Let me go try that...

[anelious phyros]

Hold on, which is the .exe file? I've got a lot of file now that I extracted it.

[Thor the Bassist]

The one i've got is from here. It unpacks to a simple exe which you place in the plugin folder.

[anelious phyros]

My Gimp works now. It can edit DDS files from the Paks which I got from V's Pak extractor. But I just need to know how to get those skins into the game. AKA - the paks. Does anyone know how to do that?

[Thor the Bassist]

I dont know if you have to pak up the skins for them to work. The one problem with RTW is depending on what version you're using (1.0 1.2 1.5 etc BI or A) can depend on how much the game uses an open or closed format.

I would try to get it working without packing it away. It does work because even I've done it.

[anelious phyros]

I have 1.5
How do you Pak it away?
and if not that what else?

[Thor the Bassist]

I dont know how to pack it but I've never needed to. Does putting it in the data/models_units/textures folder not work.

[anelious phyros]

I'll try that real quick.

[anelious phyros]

No when I go to Models_Unit textures isn't there.
I think i'm going to have to Pak it if nobody else knows.

[Thor the Bassist]

Create that folder.

[anelious phyros]

Then what?

btw, thanks for the help so far.

[Thor the Bassist]

Your texture goes into the models_units/textures/ folder.

You then tell the game to find that texture by looking in the descr_model_battle.txt and changing the texture entry for a particular unit and faction.

[anelious phyros]

I tried that but even when I change the address the skins are still the same!
What's wrong? -

here's exactly what I did -
-made TEXTURES folder in models_units
-changed the address for the texture on one of the skins I changed.
-Tried RTw.

And the skins aren't change.

[Thor the Bassist]

What unit is it? Also does your texture have an original name (so not a vanilla RTW one)? If not re-name it because it could be being over-written by one in the pak.

[anelious phyros]

It was the Seleucid Indian Elephant.
And I think it is a RTW vanilla.

Edit - I just tried the samething with the Seleucid legionaries and it didn't work

[Thor the Bassist]

Re-name the texture and change the path which points to it in the descr_model_battle.txt to the new texture.

[anelious phyros]

No-good. I changed the name UNIT_SPARTAN_PHYLOS_HOPLITE to UNIT_SPARTAN_HOPLITELLL.
But it was still the same skin. But i'm going to try something real-quick.

[anelious phyros]

Okay, i'm stummped.
What am I doing wrong?

[Thor the Bassist]

To be honest I dont know.

[anelious phyros]

Oh, well atleast I made my MEP. link here - https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=104545
But thanks for your help Thor -