[Tutorial] S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - How to make your own golden textures

A tutorial for making your own golden textures in the three original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games (SoC, CS, CoP and mods based on all of these).

=== TOOLS REQUIRED: ===

Paint.NET (it's free): Getpaint.net

Your chosen texture in the .dds format (optional, as common formats like .png can be altered, too; will only work in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. when saved in the .dds format).

**.dds stands for DirectDraw Surface; a texture file format.

***The steps shown below are most likely possible in other programs with features equivalent to Paint.NET, though this tutorial only focuses on using Paint.NET.

****Can be done with any .dds texture file, though results may differ and some tweaking on the part of the user (with their settings in Paint.NET) may be required.

*****Make sure to back up all of your textures prior to editing.

=== EDITING TEXTURES GUIDE: ===

1) First off, you'll need to locate your desired .dds file that you'd like to edit. For this tutorial, we'll be editing the texture of the mighty Desert Eagle in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (known as the Black Kite across the three original games). Most weapon textures can be found via gamedata/textures/wpn.

2) Open your texture via Paint.NET.

3) Once opened, click the button on the bottom-left corner of the small window on the bottom-right of your screen. This will create an extra layer for your texture.

4) Click the second layer that you've just created (named Layer 2 by default).

5) Click the Fill tool in the toolbar on the left side of your screen (can also be found via the dropdown tab on the top-left side of your texture workspace marked "Tool").

6) Click the following; Layers > Layer Properties. After this, set your layer opacity to your desired setting. Under "Blend Mode", select the "Reflect" option for the best results (from my experience).

7) Make sure to replicate a yellow/beige colour via the Colours window on the bottom-left corner of your screen, then use this new colour to fill in Layer 2 using the Fill tool. I've left a formula below as well as my final results.

8) Save your texture (make sure it's a .dds file in the same location you had originally opened it from), open your game and take a look at your new golden texture for your weapon!

End of tutorial.