Post by Ezzy on Nov 13, 2023 11:20:23 GMT
Making a Default Replacement Texture in Starfield
As of the date of this tutorial, Creation Kit and xEdit have not yet been released so we can only make default replacement textures for now.
Starfield's .dds textures are a new .dds format which is no longer compatible with the Photoshop CS series; they will open as solid black with no texture. Unless you have Photoshop CC, you will need Paint.net to import and export them, which is thankfully free: www.getpaint.net/download.html
ETA: I've now discovered that the new .dds files can be opened with Photoshop Elements 2024 using nVidia's Photoshop Plugin for Photoshop CC. If you have PS Elements 2024, download the Photoshop plugin that I mention a few paragraphs down rather than the Standalone app.
To extract the texture from Starfield that you want to replace, you need the Starfield version of Bethesda Archive Extractor: www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/165 . Use it to browse to your Starfield Data folder, eg, in my case, G:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Starfield\Data, and then, as was also the case with Fallout and Skyrim, you need to hunt through the various 'Textures' .ba2 files to find the texture you want to work with.
In this tutorial, we are using outfit_capesuit (in-game it's called Neocity Formwear) and two of its textures, outfit_capesuit_lowerbody_brown_color.dds and outfit_capesuit_upperbody_brown_color.dds.
If you are familiar with editing textures to your liking in Paint.net, you can use that to work on your texture. Otherwise, use the editor of your choice by saving the texture as a .png file and importing it into your editor. I use my trusty old Photoshop CS4 for the purpose. If using an editor other than Paint.net, edit the texture .png in your editor and when finished, export it as .png and then open it with Paint.net.
I used big gaudy patterns as my test, to get a good idea of how textures map onto the new models. Here, we are working on the outfit's top, outfit_capesuit_upperbody_brown_color.dds. In Paint.net, under Save Configuration/Settings save it as R8G8B8A8 (sRGB, DX 10+).
Paint.Net saves them as about 10 times the size of the original file, which isn't good. So then run them through nVidia's new .dds Texture Tools Exporter (also free), which will reduce them to a correct file size. developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-texture-tools-exporter. You have to create an account with nVidia in order to download the tool.
The Photoshop plugin on that page only works with Photoshop CC (ETA: or Photoshop Elements 2024), so unless you have CC (ETA: or Photoshop Elements 2024), you will need to download the Standalone Application instead. (If you do have Photoshop Elements 2024, download the plugin rather than the Texture Tools Exporter.)
Once your file is loaded into Texture Tools Exporter, click Save As in the lower right corner, and it will re-save as a smaller file.
ETA: If using Photoshop Elements 2024, choose Save As .dds and you will get the same nVidia panel on the screen as in the Texture Tools Exporter pic above. Save your file from there.
A few pics of the finished result. As you see, the pattern for the top, although vertical in my texture, applies horizontally onto the top, so now we know to rotate it 90 degrees if we want a texture to apply upright rather than on its side. There will likely be some trial and error until we get the Creation Kit where we can preview our creations while we work.
To put your creation in your game: First, if you haven't already, edit your Documents\My Games\Starfield\StarfieldCustom.ini file (or create it if you don't already have one) to add the following lines:
[Archive]
bInvalidateOlderFiles=1
sResourceDataDirsFinal=
Then copy your new texture files, preserving their \textures\clothes\[your outfit name] folder structure, into your Documents\My Games\Starfield folder. (In Starfield, instead of mods going into your Data folder like they did in Fallout and Elder Scrolls, they instead go in Documents\My Games for some reason.)
As of the date of this tutorial, Creation Kit and xEdit have not yet been released so we can only make default replacement textures for now.
Starfield's .dds textures are a new .dds format which is no longer compatible with the Photoshop CS series; they will open as solid black with no texture. Unless you have Photoshop CC, you will need Paint.net to import and export them, which is thankfully free: www.getpaint.net/download.html
ETA: I've now discovered that the new .dds files can be opened with Photoshop Elements 2024 using nVidia's Photoshop Plugin for Photoshop CC. If you have PS Elements 2024, download the Photoshop plugin that I mention a few paragraphs down rather than the Standalone app.
To extract the texture from Starfield that you want to replace, you need the Starfield version of Bethesda Archive Extractor: www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/165 . Use it to browse to your Starfield Data folder, eg, in my case, G:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Starfield\Data, and then, as was also the case with Fallout and Skyrim, you need to hunt through the various 'Textures' .ba2 files to find the texture you want to work with.
In this tutorial, we are using outfit_capesuit (in-game it's called Neocity Formwear) and two of its textures, outfit_capesuit_lowerbody_brown_color.dds and outfit_capesuit_upperbody_brown_color.dds.
If you are familiar with editing textures to your liking in Paint.net, you can use that to work on your texture. Otherwise, use the editor of your choice by saving the texture as a .png file and importing it into your editor. I use my trusty old Photoshop CS4 for the purpose. If using an editor other than Paint.net, edit the texture .png in your editor and when finished, export it as .png and then open it with Paint.net.
I used big gaudy patterns as my test, to get a good idea of how textures map onto the new models. Here, we are working on the outfit's top, outfit_capesuit_upperbody_brown_color.dds. In Paint.net, under Save Configuration/Settings save it as R8G8B8A8 (sRGB, DX 10+).
Paint.Net saves them as about 10 times the size of the original file, which isn't good. So then run them through nVidia's new .dds Texture Tools Exporter (also free), which will reduce them to a correct file size. developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-texture-tools-exporter. You have to create an account with nVidia in order to download the tool.
The Photoshop plugin on that page only works with Photoshop CC (ETA: or Photoshop Elements 2024), so unless you have CC (ETA: or Photoshop Elements 2024), you will need to download the Standalone Application instead. (If you do have Photoshop Elements 2024, download the plugin rather than the Texture Tools Exporter.)
Once your file is loaded into Texture Tools Exporter, click Save As in the lower right corner, and it will re-save as a smaller file.
ETA: If using Photoshop Elements 2024, choose Save As .dds and you will get the same nVidia panel on the screen as in the Texture Tools Exporter pic above. Save your file from there.
A few pics of the finished result. As you see, the pattern for the top, although vertical in my texture, applies horizontally onto the top, so now we know to rotate it 90 degrees if we want a texture to apply upright rather than on its side. There will likely be some trial and error until we get the Creation Kit where we can preview our creations while we work.
To put your creation in your game: First, if you haven't already, edit your Documents\My Games\Starfield\StarfieldCustom.ini file (or create it if you don't already have one) to add the following lines:
[Archive]
bInvalidateOlderFiles=1
sResourceDataDirsFinal=
Then copy your new texture files, preserving their \textures\clothes\[your outfit name] folder structure, into your Documents\My Games\Starfield folder. (In Starfield, instead of mods going into your Data folder like they did in Fallout and Elder Scrolls, they instead go in Documents\My Games for some reason.)
