[Solved] Color Any Part By Tinting the Texture File

[VR_Dev]

I was trying to tint the color of a b9 part I had duplicated, without loosing the details of the part. Here I will describe how I did it using the program GIMP on my macbook. Further down this page of the thread Windows programs are discussed.

Now I duplicated the part here because I also turned an intake fan into an engine, but it's not necessary to do so.

1) Find the part you want in the GameData folder. Could be any part you want.

2) Duplicate the stock .tga usually named something like "model000". What I do is rename it to "ForStockName_model000" in case I ever release the craft I'm working on. If you do want to release your craft with it's custom colors, create a GameData folder in your zip. Then create the tree all the way down to the part you have changed.

GameData>squad>Parts>engine>skipper or whatever, then add your tweaked .tga and the renamed stock one into that folder. That way if the person who downloads your craft wants the custom colors, all they have to do is merge the GameData folder with their own. Then they have the custom color and an easy way to change it back. Still include directions in your thread or a README though.

3) So now you've duplicated a backup. Now you can open the .tga with a editing program of your choice. Like I said I use Gimp on my mac, and it works perfect. It has a feature called "colorize" which tints the whole file without eliminating the part details. Like So.

4) Then save the file and the stock model000 will be a different color.

If you just replaced the color of a stock part you're all set, but if you duplicated a b9 part, and moved it somewhere else in your gamedata, you must open the .cfg of the part and change the "model =" to wherever you put your new part.

Then you're all set, you can change the color of any part you want. Remember you don't have to restart the game every time you tweak a color. Menu - F12 - Database menu - reload all.

Feel free to ask any questions.

cb

Edited August 31, 2014 by clown_baby

[VR_Dev]

Why doesn't this work...

[VR_Dev]

Well now I feel dumb. This had to be changed in the .cfg. Have fun homies, change all the colors you want

MODEL

{

model = TurboKat/Engine fan/Intake

}

[KingPhantom]

is it possible to use the existing stock skins and edit them like i want? they are in the asset folder of the game, correct?

i copied some parts to an "own mod" and changed them. but i want to change their skin a bit.... based on the original stock ones...

[VR_Dev]

is it possible to use the existing stock skins and edit them like i want? they are in the asset folder of the game, correct?

i copied some parts to an "own mod" and changed them. but i want to change their skin a bit.... based on the original stock ones...

Yeah that yellow part is the stock skin. All those lines are stock, I don't know how to change those, they were created in unity. But you can change the color.

You find it in the parts folder. Ksp>gamedata>squad then locate the part folder you want. Open the .tga or .mbm in some editing program, I used gimp on my mac, and just change the color.

Sorry if that didn't answer your question, rephrase it and ask again if I didn't

Edited June 17, 2014 by clown_baby

[KingPhantom]

i found some ways to change the color of some parts. that worked well. but with some parts i have serious problems.

the lander can mk1 is one of them. check the texture files of stock. ther is none. only a transparent grey file. nothing of the texture. there have to be a door and the scratches on the surface. in the model file are only the mbm refered from the same folder. nothing extern.

hmmm...

[NathanKell]

Then you're having trouble loading the PNG. If you're using Photoshop, get SuperPNG and set it to load the extra channel as the alpha channel, not as layer transparency.

Also, you might be loading the normal map, not the diffuse map.

[KingPhantom]

is there a plugin to load mbm files directly to PS?

CS2 or CS5...

The SuperPNG Plugin does nothing to me. It could be because i tested it on CS2... but recommended is CS3

[VR_Dev]

is there a plugin to load mbm files directly to PS?

CS2 or CS5...

The SuperPNG Plugin does nothing to me. It could be because i tested it on CS2... but recommended is CS3

Sorry I can't help, I'm the only person on the internet who doesn't know photoshop.

Also I updated the OP to be more of a tutorial . Hopefully it helps out and we see some cool colored b9 creations.

cb

[KingPhantom]

the plugin superpng doesn't work for me. every time i got the same effect. i think the problem is the change from mbm to png or tga. i use mbm2png7 for that... but i think thats not as go as i thought.

[sumghai]

the plugin superpng doesn't work for me. every time i got the same effect. i think the problem is the change from mbm to png or tga. i use mbm2png7 for that... but i think thats not as go as i thought.

If you have Blender, you can use taniwha's Blender .mu import/export addon script to import entire models into Blender, and then extract/save the mbm textures to png.

[VR_Dev]

If you have Blender, you can use taniwha's Blender .mu import/export addon script to import entire models into Blender, and then extract/save the mbm textures to png.

This fact might be outdated but as a mod maybe you know, but wasn't there a request from squad not to reverse .mu files into blender? If we can that would be super huge in helping improve my knowledge of blender design.

[sumghai]

This fact might be outdated but as a mod maybe you know, but wasn't there a request from squad not to reverse .mu files into blender? If we can that would be super huge in helping improve my knowledge of blender design.

I don't think there was anything specifically against .mu files from GameData, although reverse-engineering built-in game assets is generally against the EULA.

[diomedea]

This fact might be outdated but as a mod maybe you know, but wasn't there a request from squad not to reverse .mu files into blender? If we can that would be super huge in helping improve my knowledge of blender design.

I don't think there was anything specifically against .mu files from GameData, although reverse-engineering built-in game assets is generally against the EULA.

To back up sumghai, the new add-on posting rules @ 7. Legal boundaries are specific about allowing content of (only) the GameData folder be decompiled.

Previous rules were not specific, and though Squad developers had given permission in the past, that remained a grey area, in particular with new KSP versions.

[KingPhantom]

thx. that worked for me. i exported a non alpha version. so i can study the stock textures. thx!

the reason is that i would have textures for my little mod that are exaclty like the stock textures.

[VR_Dev]

I don't think there was anything specifically against .mu files from GameData, although reverse-engineering built-in game assets is generally against the EULA.

To back up sumghai, the new add-on posting rules @ 7. Legal boundaries are specific about allowing content of (only) the GameData folder be decompiled.

Previous rules were not specific, and though Squad developers had given permission in the past, that remained a grey area, in particular with new KSP versions.

That's awesome thanks for that clarification. That will be huge to have some references while I try to learn modeling. Also there are soo many stock parts I want to have cargo bays.

thx. that worked for me. i exported a non alpha version. so i can study the stock textures. thx!

the reason is that i would have textures for my little mod that are exaclty like the stock textures.

Glad you got it working. I show the intake example in the op but I applied this whole practice to my zoid, and it really made it look amazing.

Edited August 11, 2014 by clown_baby