A couple of problems with the relased templates

[Tom_Weiss]

 

have have been simplified as much as possible with few, if any, advanced Photoshop features such as masks etc. left on to speed up the skin making process

 

maybe the templates were too simplified ... how about releasing them in x4096 size and giving the skin maker the option of resizing them in x2048 ?

 

and there is no alpha layer included

 

and were do the finished .dds skins go ?

[No601_Prangster]

No alpha layer but there is an alpha channel.

[Tom_Weiss]

OK - I´ve made many alpha and specular templates myself , still a pity that they were not released with the templates.

 

but where do the skins go ?

Edited December 25, 2014 by LOFTom_Weiss

[Yakdriver]

game/data/graphics/skins/nameopfplane

 

 

i am sure in time, completely new templates will be made available.
this is just a (good) Jumpstart.
nothing prevents us from redoing every pixel for every aspect of these Planes.
and since we have an unlimited Time Budget, we will.

Edited December 25, 2014 by Yakdriver

[Tom_Weiss]

 

 

unlimited Time Budget, we will.

 

I wish that was true ...

[Bearcat]

I wish that was true ...

 

Hey can you see if you can find a way to make a polished metal layer? That would be a great help! I was fiddling around with it but I couldn't figure it out.  I am limited in my PS skills.. I can do what I do quite well.. but I have my limitations for sure..

[TG-55Panthercules]

Hey can you see if you can find a way to make a polished metal layer? That would be a great help! I was fiddling around with it but I couldn't figure it out.  I am limited in my PS skills.. I can do what I do quite well.. but I have my limitations for sure..

 

If these work like the RoF templates (they've said that before, but I'm away from my BoS/RoF PC so I can't check) then the alpha channel/layer governs the reflectivity of the surfaces so you should be able to create a polished/shiny metal effect by tweaking the brightness levels on various areas of the alpha channel/layer.  Not sure if the BoS templates include the readme/manual that explains these settings - if not, you can D/L any of the templates from the Useful Materials Page of the RoF Forums as they all have copies of the manual explaining this, IIRC.

[SOLIDKREATE]

They work just like RoF. For those having trouble DO NOT collapse (flatten) the .PSD or Gimp file before saving it as a DDS. If you do you cancel out all of the effects.

Edited December 27, 2014 by SPEKTRE76

[Yakdriver]

what's funny is one of the ROF tutos says you should do just that.
i don't - my alpha matters! :D

[TG-55Panthercules]

They work just like RoF. For those having trouble DO NOT collapse (flatten) the .PSD or Gimp file before saving it as a DDS. If you do you cancel out all of the effects.

 

what's funny is one of the ROF tutos says you should do just that.

i don't - my alpha matters! :D

 

Again, I'm travelling and can't check this, but if the templates in BoS work like RoF then you must flatten image before saving as a .dds file or you will get an error message about there being too many layers or something like that.  That does not cancel out any of the effects from the alpha channel, if your .dds saving parameters are correct (again, at least in RoF).

 

There are some good tutorials/How To guides on the RoF Forums about how to do skins for RoF - they should be pretty useful for BoS skinning as well (they're linked to in the following thread:  http://riseofflight.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=393&t=29300 )

[Lupus]

Ok, so for those ignorant among us, what does an alpha channel/layer do exactly?

[SOLIDKREATE]

Ok, so for those ignorant among us, what does an alpha channel/layer do exactly?

 

It determines what is glossy/chrome and what is matte/dull.  I think full white is glossy and black is full matte.