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Thread: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

  1. #1

    Default Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    As was talked about and previewed in the dragon forum, here is the mod for tinting the teeth, horns, claws and mouth on the dragon models. Just download the file here and extract into your client's \resources_override folder. Launch the game and you should see them. Delete the files to get rid of the mod.

    A few things to keep in mind.

    This mod is unofficial and unsupported by Virtrium.

    The TGA files for the teeth and claws are included so you can make your own modifications if you wish. There is a way you can get the client to create and replace the AGH files, which are the compressed version of the files that the client uses. Since I use a different method to create the files, I'm not sure how well it works or how to use it but there are community members that do.

    Included in an internal zip file are replacement def files that you will need to use AFTER the new khutit heads are patched out to the game. Delete the original 10 def files and replace them with the files inside the zip. Do not do this before the new khutit heads arrive or you will have headless khutit. If you do not replace the files, you will not see the new head designs.

    This mod is intended to be for temporary use only. In the near future, something new is coming up that will make this mod obsolete and you will want to remove it at that time.

  2. #2

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    Thanks Solitaire. I will try it this evening.
    At first sight, it doesn't seem to conflict with the Old Ancient Dragon size MOD, that is nice. I have to try it in game to be sure, though.
    Firebrandcrest Arma: Ancient Helian Dragon | Dragon 100 / Dragon Crafter 100 / Dragon Lairshaper 100 / Dragon Crystalshaper 100 (Order) | My MODs: Zexoin's and Firebrand's Sound Emotes Pack v2.5.4.0, Alternate Dragon Bolt Casting v1.4, Old Istarian Ambiance v1.0.8.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    How strange that the game knows to use such an oddly titled but convenient folder. I sucessfully installed this mod and Shian looks much better with this than with the white horns and teeth mod. Going to try to make a black tounge now

  4. #4

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    The way I got the client to make .agh files was to go into the ClientPrefs_Common file and change bool updateAGHFiles = false, bool convertAGHDDS = false and bool ddsHighQuality = false all to true. You will have to save the file and maybe restart the game a couple of times for it to work, you'll know it kicked in when the launcher has you delete a bunch of old .agh files. Once it's made the new files just log out and set those values back to false.

    Note that once .agh's are made they'll override any .tga's you have so if you want to change or remove the modifications you'll have to delete the new .agh's from your resource_override folder.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    Quote Originally Posted by Shian View Post
    How strange that the game knows to use such an oddly titled but convenient folder.
    I don't think the client cares what folder a file is in and what it is named. It just inventories the files within and uses them if they are required. You should see the \resources_override folder in my dev client. Have about 30 or so folders in there named in all sorts of ways.

  6. #6

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    So... aside from the mappack that uses a very specific folder path, modders can keep individual mods in separate folders to label them better? Wish I had known this before!

  7. #7

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    Except that having all the files in standard folders prevent having conflict between MODs (the new files just replace the old ones), unless you really know what you do. So I really don't advice you to put MODs in separate folders if you don't want to pull your hair after.
    And just an example: Solitaire's files conflict with Soraii's HiRez Dragon Textures.
    Firebrandcrest Arma: Ancient Helian Dragon | Dragon 100 / Dragon Crafter 100 / Dragon Lairshaper 100 / Dragon Crystalshaper 100 (Order) | My MODs: Zexoin's and Firebrand's Sound Emotes Pack v2.5.4.0, Alternate Dragon Bolt Casting v1.4, Old Istarian Ambiance v1.0.8.

  8. #8

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    I think I'd rather have that but it dosen't work

  9. #9

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    Hrm..Headless Khutits...too bad its not Halloween!
    Frith-Rae BridgeSol
    Great Elder of Keir Chet K'Eilerten
    Iea has returned.

  10. #10

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    Just a little feedback about this WIP.

    The origin of the teeth and horns are brown then when going to the tip fade to brown/red before being white. I think it looks good on the teeth, less on the horns (on my character at least). Wouldn't it be possible to have a color on the horns that would automatically match the main color of the character then fade to white?


    Another thing: with this head shape, the horns keep the same color as the body. Is that intended? I find it's nice this way, but I'm just curious.
    Firebrandcrest Arma: Ancient Helian Dragon | Dragon 100 / Dragon Crafter 100 / Dragon Lairshaper 100 / Dragon Crystalshaper 100 (Order) | My MODs: Zexoin's and Firebrand's Sound Emotes Pack v2.5.4.0, Alternate Dragon Bolt Casting v1.4, Old Istarian Ambiance v1.0.8.

  11. #11

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    The teeth and horns share the same part of the texture currently. I have a fix and tweak pass through all of the dragons head scheduled and I'm going to break them apart and designate a spot on the texture map specifically for horns. Until then, the teeth and the horns will always look the same.

    It appears to me that the head shape you linked was intended to be like that. The horns for that one are using the same part of the texture as the top of the head or possibly is using the spine of the ears. Which leaves me with a problem. I could change them to use the same texture as the rest of the heads but it is going to create a very visible difference in the look of the character. I think I might have a solution to it that will work but I'll have to see if I can squeeze a copy of that part of the texture into the new horn section.

    Interesting idea about the fading of the horn color. It is possible that something like that could be done. Will have to look into it. Noted in my notes.

  12. #12

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    Quote Originally Posted by Firebrand View Post
    Another thing: with this head shape, the horns keep the same color as the body. Is that intended? I find it's nice this way, but I'm just curious.
    I think it looks best that way too... no need to change it.

  13. #13

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    Quote Originally Posted by Firebrand View Post
    Just a little feedback about this WIP.

    Another thing: with this head shape, the horns keep the same color as the body. Is that intended? I find it's nice this way, but I'm just curious.
    Those horns don't really stick out like the horns of other heads, they are actually part of the head. So I think they look best if they have the same color as the head, but that's my opinion.

    And how exactly do you change the color of the horns and teeth?
    Last edited by stephan27; July 13th, 2010 at 08:28 AM.

  14. #14

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    Let me say first, this mod is already beautiful!

    Since I have a green dragon, for a long time I've been stuck looking like I've never heard of dental hygene. This particular teeth/claws mod gets that part of the shading just right; quite realistic for the teeth and mouth, and even the claws.



    There has been another white teeth/claws mod out there, but it never looked right to me for things to be so white. And when you have horns like I do, it's WHITE. Just not natural! I love how this is a huge step in the right direction.

    I definitely second the motion for some horn variety! Especially in my case, as they take up most of my head. If the horns can be split from the teeth and more "personalized," I foresee so many happy dragons! Me included, especially if I can finally get clean teeth and still have my lovely horns! I've always really liked my "candystripe" unmodded horns, which don't appear with every texture of this head shape. It's one of the biggest reasons I never fully went with appearance mods. Even this one, so close but not-quite-yet.



    I can't express how much better this is than blinding white (with a touch of minty green!), but the brown/red base of the horn fading into yellow/white at the end just doesn't quite look right to me with the colors of my dragon. Is there a way to get the horn color/pattern to interact with the different body textures as they currently do, while still looking like horns should? In my case, I'd love to be able to keep some of the character of the markings, while shading more to the realistic. Firebrand's idea above has my vote, as well as perhaps an option to just change the teeth and claws, and leave the horns as they are.

    I say again, Awesome! I am in awe and anticipation!

  15. #15

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    I won't have a lot of time to experiment with this for a while, trying to settle in a new home is absorbing all my time then I have to finish polishing the new khutit heads and get them in. But if someone wants to take on the job of playing with it, the process would not be all that hard. In the zip file, there are the "raw" tga files of the modification. What you would need to do is modify the alpha layer over top of the teeth. The alpha determines the level of transparency of the coinciding color texture. Use a select tool to get the outline of the teeth then use a gradient to go from black at the base to white at the tip or use a brush to paint them black at the base then save. When you get the game to convert the file into the compressed agh, it should result in a fade from the dragon's base color to the whitish color of the mod. Since teeth and horns are sharing the same area of the texture it will affect all of them. Until I get to working on splitting the teeth and horns apart it will just have to remain that way unfortunately.

    Post pics so I can see the result because I might want to use this as an option eventually if it works good.

  16. #16

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    Talitha and Modding!

    Step 1: Learn to mod textures in an afternoon. Barely. O_o Whew.

    Step 2: Learn to get them somehow into the game. With lots of help. x_x (They call them "AGH!!!" files for a reason.)

    Step 3: Fail to get the files right; get really strange results.

    Whut.

    Step 3: Headdesk. Learn better. Set correct file dimensions.

    Version 1.0, tinted horn/teeth! This was really quick and dirty, just slapped a gradient on the alpha level, no real detail, to see if I could get it to work in the first place. (Finally did! O_O) First results look...promising. I can work some more to see if it'll look better with something more thoughtful than a 5-second gradient fill.


    Also tested the appearance on my other hatchie. It seems, the darker the color, the more the tint shows up, so apparently your mileage will vary depending on skin colors. But it does help to mitigate the current blending problem!


    Looks good on the hatchling. I think it needs more work for my big draggie, though. (Also, may look at a "tinty" feature for the claws too, to help look more like they are individual to each dragon.) I'll continue to poke at this and see what happens!

    Big thanks to Menkure for his technical guidance, as well as the rest of Istaria's modders who have left their knowledge for me to find in the forums!

  17. #17

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    Thanks for the pictures. That does look good on the hatchie. The transparency on the green dragon might also be because the spiral horns start much higher up on the "tooth" of the part of the texture they are using and not using as much of the darker base. If you start the gradient about 1/4 of the way up the tooth, I'd expect that the base color will show through better.

    This certainly does show some promise.

  18. #18

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    More experimentation.

    My next attempt was to make the gradient longer, angled correctly, and even try to carry through a little tint all the way to the end of the horn. (Looking at horned animals in real life, not all are white, and the tint--white, black, brown, gray, striped, etc--is usually based on the color of the skin under the fur.) On the big green dragon with the difficult horns, this actually looks rather interesting to me. Still have to work on horn-base blending, but it's a good start.



    However, on another dragon, this interesting horn gradient sort of stops working so well. Certainly true about the different head types using different locations on the teeth--I'm not even sure which "tooth" the horns use! But the "long gradient" tint mostly flopped on the hatchling.


    The next one, I tried to cut back on the amount of shading to the end of the horn to balance it out, and the spiral horn fell back to stage one. This is a tricky business! It goes back to looking good on the hatchling, dark tinted at the base with only the faintest shading carrying through.


    There's a stubborn spot on the hatchling's horns that keeps staying "untinted" through both versions (both were re-edited from scratch), but probably means I need to swing wider when covering tooth selection.

    I guess if/when the horns and teeth get unlinked, the horns from all the different heads should probably be standardized on the section of texture they start on, to make sure the gradients and shading works well on all the heads at the same time.

    Still, I can't resist poking at this some more!

  19. #19

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    Looking good. When I do unlink them, I'm going to try to preserve as much of the original look of the horns as I can so there might be some variations in how the tint affects the texture.

    I think an ideal solution would be to create 3 options for each of the horn colors that will be created: full horn color with just a bit of base tint at the root for transition, fade from base to full horn and base tint darker to lighter full length of the horn. Full base color will be the default (done this way to preserve the look of existing dragons). So as an example, if 5 new horn colors are created then there will be 15 choices plus default. That should be a nice selection to choose among.

    As a note, I believe that the 2 "teeth" on the bottom left are the ones most used for the horns. However, there is at least one head design that uses 4 of them, I think. Been a while since I've looked at the texture maps.
    Last edited by Solitaire; July 25th, 2010 at 10:26 PM.

  20. #20

    Default Re: Dragon teeth, claw and mouth texture modification.

    What's intersting is that until these new claw/horn textures came in - I had no idea that the Spiral Horn, Check Frill Head (i.e. Talitha's green's head) had horns out back over the eyes!

    So much difference that white makes - those heads have backfacing horns!
    Frith-Rae BridgeSol
    Great Elder of Keir Chet K'Eilerten
    Iea has returned.

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