Basically what you'll be doing... (See Example 1)

Example 1

D3D Users:

(See Example 2)

Example 2

This is a fairly easy task to do. Go to your Textures folder in your SO2 directory. Anything named "r_(insert name here).tga" is a character texture. The "r" denotes ranger. For example, "r_face.tga", "r_arm.tga", "r_leg.tga", you get the idea. Pull any "r_face.tga" textures into PhotoShop (or your paint program). You should make backup copies, just in case.

Now that you've got your ranger's face in there, let’s change it. (Important note: do NOT RESIZE any textures, you could exceed the texture budget for any given level) The existing ranger faces will serve as a template to work with. Basically, you want your new face to line up with the old one. Working in layers in PhotoShop will make this easy. You want the eyes, nose, and mouth to line up (even if you're doing a Cyclops).

(How the current face texture was done... Two photos were taken: side and front shots. The side shot and front shot are basically blended together in PhotoShop using your clone tool. If you can imagine something from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it's like someone's face is removed by cutting down the back of their head. It looks like a flattened version of their face. This is somewhat similar to a cylindrical map. Half of the face was blended/cloned with a side of the face, when that's done, half was copied and pasted and flipped horizontally. This basically mirrored the side just finished.)

Take a photograph of someone facing straight towards the camera and drop that in as a new layer. Scale (Cntrl T) the new face to match up with the original. (See Example 3)

Example 3

This is easy if you drop down the new face's opacity down a bit. Basically, just line up the eyes, nose, and mouth. You get the idea. Now that it's basically scaled/proportioned correctly, time to clean up the sides. (See Example 4)

Example 4

There are many ways you could do this next step; layer mask, clone tool, eraser, etc. I decided to use a layer mask to clean up my texture. (This method probably only applies to PhotoShop users) (See Example 5).

Example 5

I created a layer mask on my new face layer. This layer mask will enable me to "mask" out parts of the layer without actually deleting parts of the layer (make sure it's linked to my layer, so if you move anything, they will stay together and stay aligned). Fill your layer mask black. Make sure you fill the mask and not the layer. So now by filling it black, you're layer should be completely transparent. Now paint with your airbrush with white on the layer mask where you want the layer to be visible or opaque. (See Example 6)

Example 6

Black and white determine what is visible when using a layer mask.

Painting white (on the layer mask) should make your new face visible. Paint black if you want it to be transparent. You may wish to use an airbrush because you get soft edges, which blend smoother. Paint until just enough of the new face shows through. (See Example 7)

Example 7

Now you might want to do a hue adjustment (Cntrl U) on your face and sides to make them match up. (See Example 8)

Example 8

Adjust to your liking. Now flatten that the layers.

When fully satisfied, save back into your SO2/Textures folder as "r_face1.tga" or whichever you were overwriting. (NOTE: Make sure it's a 24 bit, TGA). You're done. Now start up the game and see your masterpiece. Good luck. (See Example 9)

Example 9

VOODOO Users:

You've got your final TGA ready from the steps above. Unzip the WinTex2.zip file. Read the readme.txt file and run the WinTex2.exe. Now that you're up and running, convert that your new TGA to a 3df. 

Carlos Naranjo

3D Artist

Thanx to Rob James for his "WinTex2" 3df converter and permission to use it.
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