Oh boy, do we have a challenge for you! We're running a skinning contest for our mod. Here are the details:
- Purpose of the contest: we need two skins for Tamiko
- Prizes: Two "Iron Grip: Warlord" serial numbers, turning the demo into the full game.
- An essential archive: in this archive you'll find the initial .TGA files for Tamiko, the folder structure for AvP2 Team Fortress and a .BAT file to view the skins in the game
- Rules of the contest: see below
- Usefull information: for beginners in AvP2 skinning or AvP2TF folder structure and more.
1) Purpose of the contest
Meet Tamiko:
Here at AvP2 Team Fortress we're not quite happy with the skin currently used for the medic class. Just the arm bands on Tamiko are not enough to make the team
distinction, and hesitating to fire on an enemy medic can get you dead. So, in order to get a skin, we thought on organizing a contest. The challenge?
That easy. Still, read also the "Rules of the contest" section.
2) Prizes
A contest is not a contest without prizes. In our case, we'll be offering two serial numbers for the Iron Grip: Warlord game, developed by ISOTX. One serial number goes for the winner, the second one goes to the runner up.
In case you know little about the game, here's some info:
The serial numbers will unlock the demo (available for free at www.igwarlord.com) and turn it into the full game.
3) An essential archive
The following file contains the initial .TGA files for Tamiko, the folder structure for AvP2 Team Fortress and a .BAT file:
Unpack the archive in the same folder where avp2.exe is. The purpose of each item is:
- the .TGA files will help you get started in the skinning process itself.
- the folder structure will guide you where to put the resulting .DTX files: blue skin goes to Skins/Characters/Team1/Marine, red skin to Skins/Characters/Team2/Marine
- the tamiko_test.bat file, if the archive is extracted in your AvP2 game folder, will allow you to fire up the game and load directly a test level; the level itself has two instances of Tamiko, one skinned using the blue team (Team1) skin and the other one using the red team (Team2) skin.
It is a quick way to test your skins: just drop the .DTX files in the proper
Skins/Characters/Team1/Marine respectively Skins/Characters/Team2/Marine folders and double click the BAT file to see your changes in game.
This is what we'll also use to visualize your submissions.
4) Rules of the contest
Now I know that I closed the first point with "That easy". Well, it's not that
easy, I'm afraid. There are some rules and limits that you should be aware of:
- Duration of the contest
Until 1st of September. On 1st of September, we'll no longer accept submissions.A couple of days later we'll announce the winners. - What exactly should you deliver?
A zip file, containing the tree structure set up in the tamiko_test folder.The Skins/Characters/Team1/Marine and Skins/Characters/Team2/Marine should contain the .DTX files for the blue team medic and red team medic respectively. While the file size might differ, the name needs to stay the same.The skins need to resemble closely, except the team colors and perhaps some minor differences (an extra scratch or stain, things small in terms of surface).
- How to deliver it
By e-mail. Mail the zip archive (one zip file per submission) to me, at garone80@yahoo.com - How many submissions are allowed for one person?
As many as you are capable of making in the given timeframe.
- The folder structure for AvP2 Team Fortress (as seen in the tamiko_test folder)
After importing your changed .TGA or .PCX files back as .DTX (using DEdit), in order to be used by AvP2, they need to be copied in the proper folder:- Skins/Characters/Team1/Marine, for the blue team skin of Tamiko
- Skins/Characters/Team2/Marine, for the red team skin of Tamiko
The tamiko_test has the folder structure already in place.
- For the "first time skinning for AvP2" people
If you're on your first attempt to skin for AvP2, we highly recommend you to go through the following tutorials:- RaptorRed's tuturial (available at Planetavp.com)
She focuses more on how to set up a project using DEDit, to make the import from .TGA/.PCX to .DTX easier - some dude's tutorial (he calls himself Herr_Alien, go figure :P) (available at Herralien.110mb.com)
- a similar tutorial, from the PROJAM team (Planetavp.com)
- RaptorRed's tuturial (available at Planetavp.com)
If you have questions regarding the contest, just go to our forums. For some skinning or tools advice, I recommend the forums at lithfaq.com