Mod Help

[wraith]

Hello everyone
After a few years of doing mods, i hit problem with the last mod i release "Lorie Valley" after sometime i was ready to give it in, well the mod was released and i was ready to say bye to making mods 100%...
well i want to return but i can only do this with your help, i know understand about opening the dds file in another programme etc. and can now do the NormalMaps ok but i have hit my head on a wall, since i have never had this problem i feel i am a noob and need help from someone

my problem is making the whiter colors in a mod less brighter with shine, please take a look at the pics to see the problem, please note the darker tiles like the tarmac roads are 100% fine..

if some can write a little tutorial how to do this in photoshop i be very happy
please also in english "sorry"

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pw005t7zs5pvf ... Shot11.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ajl5w7z8x2pgk ... Shot12.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/l3tbcion2yryx ... Shot13.jpg

[meuh21]

I think problem come from you specular maps. If i see well you use Canyon textures, so just use Canyon Specular maps and it should be ok. Some informations about specular maps : http://www.maniapark.com/forum/viewtopi ... 85&t=22289

[wraith]

this mod ^^^ as been scrapped ^^^
due to i do not know what tiles was used and can not find out

[mistAken]

Just a suggestion.... if im way off which is likely.

When your making the mod obviously you want the images to be of hiQ etc cause they look stunning. perhaps maybe toning down to the next level graphically speaking. Not Lofi but nice but not better than real life graphics.

I know i have issues in TM2 multi title and valley when i load the canyon mod for valley, which is similar to the pics you have above. It really is like the desert is coming through and scorching my screen due to the lack of cloud cover etc.

I feel your pain, cause you cant make a block and say ' oh yeah, you can only use this block in the shade or under a tree cause your retinas may freak' - overexaggerated for dont give up sack

[wraith]

^^^ mistAken ^^^

No buddy

i did not make the mod, well i modded it, it belonged to mr dvd which he said yes you can mod it, as i said i would use his name as well, like we all do...the problem as came with the S file tiles, now i was told to use the standard ones which should fix the shiney problem, But i do not know which titles Mr dvd used, and he can not remember also which ones he used for what..so i can not know whats what..

i never worked on the S file title before because. i can tone them down when black/grey but if they whiter color i am knacked i do not know how to use photoshop to fix the problem i am a 100% noob and not scared to say it as well lol
I have read people saying do this do that..but without pics i am also knacked..sorry i just do not understand it..
i have a mod sitting on my pc dirt forest checkout 2 pics, but i will just scrap it...and more than likely not make any more mods for this game, as i am now sick of failing !
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0jlyemirsurwi ... opy%29.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4o6ypcw51h0sc ... opy%29.jpg

also this was to be released for canyon, which also will not be finished !
https://www.dropbox.com/s/a86gdaqqr0dsk ... Shot03.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/df9mgfo7w6ewl ... Shot04.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/e5ruk58y97pcn ... Shot05.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/wski40fdxubba ... 20Copy.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/77ae26yoc9xy2 ... Shot07.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/arsgi84g05o0w ... Shot08.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/knu1wylhyna2z ... Shot09.jpg

Guess thats what i get for not staying at school and leaving before my exams and becoming what we call a black sheep of the family..now at my old age i find somethings hard to understand without pics lol...
so sorry i can not finish my work

Edited
i would glady pay £10.000 planets for a pic step by step guide how to make s and n tile files plus adding the alphas. in english, but please remember it as to be in photoshop and in english, also i need to know the S for the whiter shading..simple screen shot of everything you do, step by step ! with text setting for each step

Something like this i did ! but this is wrong i have been told !
http://tm.mania-exchange.com/threads/24 ... le?page=-1

[mistAken]

ok so on my Tm journey i have book marked several websites and articals to help me understand different parts of the game,
Whilst it is to do with a car skin the lesson in regards with alpha is the same across with textures...if not i also have a lot of work to do.

http://trackmania-carpark.com/forum/vie ... 14&t=11806

[Stephen_yen]

A tutorial I found easy to understand on S and N maps http://www.tm-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=3485

it's outdated there so here is how I make mine.

Normal map

Open the Diffuse file you want to make it out of

go to filter/Nvidia tools/Normal map filter

here is the pic for the Normal map options
http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t39 ... 385883.jpg

the scale sets how textured you want the surface to be, Sometimes I go as high as 30!

after you click ok, It will create the normal map, I recommend then adding some blur.
http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t39 ... c721e5.jpg
Choose a radius around 2.5 (this changes how rough it is)

When you save it as a dds make sure you save it as a normal map!!!!!
http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t39 ... 15aa12.jpg

Specular maps

in the diffuse map, change the brightness to how much you want the texture to Shine. (experiment with the brightness and contrast)
example,
For this road texture, I made it slightly darker than the diffuse file (it still shines LOTS)
http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t39 ... 109a89.jpg)
in the alpha channel, It is not a flat colour! I copied and pasted the RGB layer into the alpha layer.

In the alpha channel, black means no shine, grey means lots of shine, White means your eyes are going to burn off!
basically only use white for very shiny parts.

you can change the brightness of parts of the alpha channel depending on how much you want that certain part of the texture to shine. For example, in the picture, I changed the brightness next to drains to black, so that there is no shine there.

When you save it as a dds file, make sure it is interpolated alpha!!
http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t39 ... 37c27c.jpg

the brightness of the S file, depends on how much you want the texture to shine For example, for a cliff I wanted only a small amount of shine, here is the S file i made for it.http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t39 ... 1f5288.jpg
it's basically black!
in comparison, here is a mud texture i made
http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t39 ... 8de93f.jpg

I rushed this so if anything is hard to understand please say

[wraith]

cool on trying the S files now, get back to you tomorrow or later tonight !
update getting some to work