Help to replace the propelers

[chrysanthos]

i want to replace the propelers from the IJN Kongo wich are black and not realistic at all:/ please how can i do that?

[chrysanthos]

no one? :/

[CapnScurvy]

Chrysanthos, you should realize that a simple color change to the Kongo prop.....really isn't so simple. That's why I've taken the time to explain it step for step. I know you've got some S3D knowledge, so I hope my explaination isn't too off base.

The Kongo ship model can be found in its .dat file. The four propellers are found here (Nodes 127-137):



These node's all point to the "Material Id" of "0xd9b1a091ccfcb28f". This texture "material" makes a black color to anything its associated with.

This particular "Material" node is found here:



Since there are other ship features that use this same material for coloring (black), you'll need to make a new material node just for the four props.

For me, the easiest way is to "copy" the original material nodes (nodes 3 and 4), and paste them into the .dat file, just below the original......then making a "new" Id number for the new material, eventually having the specific four prop model's associated with the new material Id.

Here's what to do, copy the material's node "Label" line: (that's the line I've got highlighted starting with the "A" letter)



And paste it just under the original:



It should look like this:




Then copy and paste the original parent materials line (that's node "3: <empty>") just below the same "node 4" again (highlighting with your mouse node #4). This will keep the proper structure of the parent node, over top of the child "label" node.....giving you a true copy of the original:




With the copy, you'll need to make a new random Id for it. As in the image below, mouse click "New" to have a new ID number assigned to your cloned node 5 (the child "node 6" will automaticly follow).




My computer made the new material Id "0x0d081fa8549af972":




Mouse down to the "Texture" section....and place a checkmark in the "Enable explicit texture" box. You'll need to make an image of the color you plan to use for the prop......I decided to color them red..... so I made a .bmp image using PhotoShop of the color I wanted to use. I'm not sure what the size needed to be for the actual sized prop, so I made it 1024x1024 and have already added the image to the "Data/Textures/TNormal/tex" folder (the game will automaticly look for the color image there). I then put the texture image name (RedProp.bmp) into the "Texture name:" slot. Also, make a checkmark in the "Two-sided (cull none)" slot so the color will show on both sides of the prop.




Change the "Specular strength: to zero"; change the "Glossiness: to 25".





Once you have the new materials data as shown above, go to each of the propeller specific nodes (on my Kongo.dat file they start at "node: 127") and "Remove" the old "Materials ID". Once clear, "Add" the new Materials Id found in the options box by clicking on it.





Your new "Materials Id" should look like below:




Do this for all four propellers, and save your work.

Your Kongo propellers will have whatever color you used for the .bmp image:

[chrysanthos]

thank you for your time

[Tempest555]

Great tutorial -thanks. Only difference I did was change the format of the image from bmp. to dds. FWIW I snagged a bronze texture image using GOOGLE and pasted it in the dds per the size recommend 1024x1024. Never can learn enough about S3d. Thanks again!

[CapnScurvy]

That's great Tempest!! Changing the image file to whatever you like is the whole point.

What's important is to have a good image....that's as small as possible in size. The larger in size, the more game memory is used to reproduce the effect. I didn't even look to see what the .bmp memory size was (I just wanted to explain the process) but, in real modding you need to balance the need for change with the amount of memory that will be used to put the modification into effect.

One thing to look out for with a .dds image is the Mip Maps that may be produced needlessly in the image. Interior images do not need extra Mip Maps made since the need to see them at a distance just doesn't come into play. I'm suspecting the propellers are about the same. You'll not see them underwater except for being very close. So, not having the Mip Maps added to the image will conserve the overall size of the image, creating better game performance. Many modders have not followed this idea, and have had players wondering why their game has slowed to a crawl when a mod is activated.

Of course, object model's that are seen from a distance....like planes, ship parts above water, shore buildings etc.... will still need to have Mip Maps included.