Heretic Hides: Skinning Tutorial, part 4

Skinning Tutorial

The Damaged Skin

Once you have completed your basic skin, it's time to make the damaged version. The damage skin includes the wounds you can suffer, as well as the gold version of your armor and staff, and the phoenix bow (the first skin only had the plain staff, silver armor and storm bow).

The C_damage.bmp file (above) includes only those details that are different from the first skin. There are several mask images included that make copying and pasting a lot easier. Most graphics programs will allow you to load and save masks. The following is the C_damage.bmp file with the C_dmg_blood_mask.gif image loaded as a mask.

If your graphics program supports objects, then copy and paste onto your skin image as an object (a selection that is not bound to the main image) and combine it with the image when you are happy it is in the right place. If you can make it 50% transparent then this will make it easier (just remember to make it totally opaque again before combining it with the image).
In Corel Photo-Paint (which I use) I add a small additional selection area in one of the corners of the damage image before copying (usually the upper left corner). Then I paste it as an object onto my skin, then select object -> arrange -> align and choose top and left. This pastes it exactly where it should be, and I don't need to move the object around manually. Then I combine the object with the image.

Repeat this for the other weapons. The C_dmg_noarmor_mask.gif file is the mask for the gold staff, pheonix bow, and the side parts of the gold armor. Open your original skin image (a full-colour version if you have it), as well as the C_damage.bmp image. Select the damage image and load c_dmg_noarmor_mask.gif as a mask. Then copy it, and paste it onto your skin image. Move the pasted parts around until they are where they should be.
If you want to use Corvus's standard gold armor, then use the C_dmg_armor_mask.gif image in the same way. If you have created your own silver armor, you can load this file as a mask in your skin image, then alter the colour to gold (by adding red and yellow).
If you want to use Corvus's standard wounds, gold armor, and gold staff, then you can use the C_dmg_all_mask.gif image to do this just once. The other mask images are there in case you want to customise your model even further, using different coloured blood, different armor, and even a different style of staff.
You're Finished

When you are happy with your damaged skin, convert it to 256 colours (See Page 4), convert that image into an M8, and name it skinnameDmg.M8, where 'skinname' is the name of your skin. For a character called 'spreader', this would be
spreader.M8
spreaderDmg.M8

Spreader_i.M8 Here is an example of one of my skins, converted from the spreader monster in the game. The one on the left is 'spreader.M8', the one on the right is 'spreaderDmg.M8' Note that I used different wounds, different armor, and a different staff from the usual Corvus model.
If you want to be able to select a skin from the multiplayer setup menu in Heretic II (under 'player config'), you have to make a 128x256 pixel preview image with the filename of skinname_i.M8. This is usually a screen capture of the fully skinned model (see image at right).

The Damaged Skin
Once you have completed your basic skin, it's time to make the damaged version. The damage skin includes the wounds you can suffer, as well as the gold version of your armor and staff, and the phoenix bow (the first skin only had the plain staff, silver armor and storm bow).

The C_damage.bmp file (above) includes only those details that are different from the first skin. There are several mask images included that make copying and pasting a lot easier. Most graphics programs will allow you to load and save masks. The following is the C_damage.bmp file with the C_dmg_blood_mask.gif image loaded as a mask.

If your graphics program supports objects, then copy and paste onto your skin image as an object (a selection that is not bound to the main image) and combine it with the image when you are happy it is in the right place. If you can make it 50% transparent then this will make it easier (just remember to make it totally opaque again before combining it with the image). In Corel Photo-Paint (which I use) I add a small additional selection area in one of the corners of the damage image before copying (usually the upper left corner). Then I paste it as an object onto my skin, then select object -> arrange -> align and choose top and left. This pastes it exactly where it should be, and I don't need to move the object around manually. Then I combine the object with the image.

Repeat this for the other weapons. The C_dmg_noarmor_mask.gif file is the mask for the gold staff, pheonix bow, and the side parts of the gold armor. Open your original skin image (a full-colour version if you have it), as well as the C_damage.bmp image. Select the damage image and load c_dmg_noarmor_mask.gif as a mask. Then copy it, and paste it onto your skin image. Move the pasted parts around until they are where they should be. If you want to use Corvus's standard gold armor, then use the C_dmg_armor_mask.gif image in the same way. If you have created your own silver armor, you can load this file as a mask in your skin image, then alter the colour to gold (by adding red and yellow). If you want to use Corvus's standard wounds, gold armor, and gold staff, then you can use the C_dmg_all_mask.gif image to do this just once. The other mask images are there in case you want to customise your model even further, using different coloured blood, different armor, and even a different style of staff. You're Finished When you are happy with your damaged skin, convert it to 256 colours (See Page 4), convert that image into an M8, and name it skinnameDmg.M8, where 'skinname' is the name of your skin. For a character called 'spreader', this would be spreader.M8 spreaderDmg.M8 Here is an example of one of my skins, converted from the spreader monster in the game. The one on the left is 'spreader.M8', the one on the right is 'spreaderDmg.M8' Note that I used different wounds, different armor, and a different staff from the usual Corvus model. If you want to be able to select a skin from the multiplayer setup menu in Heretic II (under 'player config'), you have to make a 128x256 pixel preview image with the filename of skinname_i.M8. This is usually a screen capture of the fully skinned model (see image at right).