New textures/skins for MACHINES.

bilal

@Pisarz
I don't think it should ever crash when replacing images. I did this a few years ago back when the old forums were up and everything worked fine.

Pisarz

@bilal
Well, it depends on which file you're using, even if it has the same name. Apparently the game requires the original file to be modified and not "replaced". I don't know much about the subject (about file formats), so I can't explain it. Anyway, now I know how to do it :)

I'll upload the guide after next wednessday!

bilal

@Pisarz said:

@bilal
Well, it depends on which file you're using, even if it has the same name. Apparently the game requires the original file to be modified and not "replaced". I don't know much about the subject (about file formats), so I can't explain it. Anyway, now I know how to do it :)

Yeah, exactly. It was so long ago that I just pulled the images into paint and colored them differently.

Byrgius

Did you use the same resolution image as original? Maybe that's the cause and it's defined that way in the very script (although it would be inconvenient).

Pisarz

I opened the original file and then placed the new texture over it. Merged down the new layer. Didn't change its size.
The important thing is to change the mode to RGB to work and then switch it back to the initial mode.

Judas

I believe it also depends on the bitmap depth. 24-bit bmp's crash whilst 256color(8-bit) bmp's do not. It was something like that.

Update
(I'm also wondering. I remember a .bin (or a .strg?) file somewhere which has all the texture names in it. Perhaps that's the file that decides what .bmp files to load, perhaps it's possible to tweak it so that it accepts .pngs and such? or 24bit bmp's? hmm)

update
Just an idea, but where could it say that it only accepts 8bit bmps? In the model data?

update
Could it be possible to increase the bitmaps to 24bit by editing the models itself? Or is it loaded during a centralized point aka at launch?

Update:
I found something in the extracted .x files.

Things like

Material ID_2668 {
 1.000000, 1.000000, 1.000000, 1.000000;;
 0.000000;
0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000;;
0.00, 0.00, 0.00;;
TextureFilename {
"fafA1_b.BMP";
}

which I found in agf2a35.x in \models\administ\boss\level2. What if we change these to PNG? (We didn't have a way to repack the .x files did we? hm)

Update: Isn't the .bin just a packaged file? If we remove the .bin file but copy back the packaged files in the correct place, doesn't that work?

Pisarz

@Judas said:

"...where could it say that it only accepts 8bit bmps?"

Hi! When you switch the file back to its original mode using Photoshop, it enables you to "choose" the amount of bits. The only option available is, effectively, 8 bits.

About the formats and other coding matters, I'm not currently qualified to give any useful suggestions. But I can do some research!

bilal

@Pisarz I think he was talking about where the game would force that. If not in a binary file, it could also be in the source code (which wouldn't be a good idea, and would also make it inaccessible)

Pisarz

@bilal said:

"...and would also make it inaccessible)..."

So the game won't even open? Then, the new version of the original game (apart from O.M.) would be based upon original models but not on original code (or something like that)?

bilal

@Pisarz
No, I just mean that they could have told the game to force a certain type of image explicitly in the code rather than in a file, making it inaccessible to us.

Pisarz

@bilal
@Byrgius
@Encrypted
@Judas
@SinJul
@Gameuser10
@Hayden
@Everyone!

I made the guide earlier than expected! :)

http://wiredforwar.org/topic/53/pisarz-news-status-other-stuff/2

Note: Remember to use the "texture2" folder.

This is the base texture that I made (it doesn't have to be a BMP):

I followed the same steps to change the red reapers' other textures:

M123

I've been playing around a bit with the textures in Machines recently - the game supports 24-bit BMPs at up to 256x256 resolution. Even some of the textures that were originally 16x16 pixels can potentially be replaced with 256x256 versions.

e.g. here's my 256x256 interpretation of misshole.bmp: http://wiredforwar.org/uploads/files/upload-a86399f0-4ca4-45fb-afb3-85610cd5acae.bmp (saved using Paint.NET 4.0.4)

In-game comparison:
Original: https://i.imgur.com/Lts5RGJ.png
256x256: https://i.imgur.com/6lp9Rqw.png

If you want to improve or customise existing textures, I'd suggest using the higher resolution versions from the texture4 directory as the base.
If the texture4 textures aren't being loaded by the game you can copy the contents of the texture4 directory into the texture2 directory (overwriting the lower-res files) - make a backup first if needed.

Pisarz

@M123
AWESOME! I will attempt to do what you said with the texture4 folder. But, how do I manage to use the higher resolution versions as base textures? By replacing all the lower resolution textures in the texture2 directory? Because so far I only managed to open the original files and then modify them. This restricts the new texture's resolution to that of the old one.

Also, how did you manage to make your screenshots look so nice? The lighting/illumination is better (the ones I make look too dark/obscure).

Byrgius

This would look so amazing with hi def 256x256 textures!

M123

@Pisarz

I think on most current PCs the game will only use the textures in the texture2 folder - I'm guessing this is due to either:
a. the game not detecting the amount of available graphics memory properly and automatically applying the "low" quality textures; or
b. the option to select texture quality being unfinished / missing in the released version of the game (with texture4 being a leftover).

To get the texture4 ones to show in-game they can be copied into the texture2 directory - replacing the original files (as they have the same filenames). Not all of the textures have a high-resolution version, which is why it's necessary to copy the texture4 files into the texture2 directory instead of just changing the folder names.

Here's a before / after comparison:
Default (texture2): https://i.imgur.com/gcP9pD2.png
After texture4 tweak: https://i.imgur.com/8jMZhsN.png

Editing the textures works the same either way - to make a higher resolution version of an existing texture you'll have to resize it to the desired resolution and work from there (use image filters and/or manually improve details), or create a new one from scratch (use the original as a reference).

I don't have Photoshop available to test this, but you should be able to save your edited textures as 24-bit BMPs as long as you have the image mode set to RGB Color before saving. If textures saved this way cause the game to crash, it might be due to Photoshop applying some type of compression or additional image properties that the game doesn't like - to work around this you could try copying the image out of Photoshop into another image editor like Paint.NET, and then save the file using that.

For the screenshots, I think the lighting might just be due to the map and time of day (Oasis with day/night cycle enabled - was late afternoon judging by the position of the sun in-game). My gamma slider in the options menu is set to about 25%.
Image quality-wise I'm running Machines at 1920x1080* with 32xS antialiasing forced through Nvidia Inspector and 16x anisotropic filtering forced through Nvidia Control Panel.

*The first time I ran Machines with my current setup I had it set to run in Windows 98 compatibility mode, and the game would only allow resolutions up to 1280x960. I tried running it without any compatibility mode enabled and the list of available resolutions in the options menu expanded significantly - allowing up to 1920x1080 to be selected.

EDIT: that turned out to be a much larger wall of text than I expected :p

Pisarz

@M123

Thank you!

"...that turned out to be a much larger wall of text than I expected..."

Don't worry, you were specific and organized, and that's fine!

“I have a system: there's a place for everything, everything in its place.”
―Wasabi

AvionAris

@Pisarz @M123
Wah, you guys are doin' some pretty impressive stuff! I like it!
If you release the hi-res texture pack for this game, I guess a lot of people will download it!

Byrgius

I wish I could help you out with textures but I can hardly keep up with my own designs :(

Pisarz

@Byrgius said:

I wish I could help you out with textures but I can hardly keep up with my own designs :(

We could establish a team! 4 people would specialize on a single race each and the design decisions would be made here! This system would enable everyone to contribute regardless of their time constraints!

After that, we would upload our textures and put them on a single folder.
For example:
"New Texture Pack" (its icon could be a nice modified version of this):
machines smile.jpg

Byrgius

@Pisarz I'd love to contribute but I'm really short on time at this moment as I have couple of gigs, work and just starting a new company. But things should settle down after July, so I'll be able to give you a hand then.