Texturing: Image Colormaps

[Desertfox]

Irontaxi said I should do this tutorial so I could become known throughout the project reality kingdom! So here is how to set up a image as your colormap so you can realistic layouts etc.

1 - First, back up your level just in case something goes wrong and then download TPaint from

http://tpaint.alffx.nl/

2 - Download and extract TPaint into your main level folder.



3 - Make a new folder inside bf2_tpaint and named it "colormaps" without the quotes.



4 - For my image I will be using a unicorn.



It helps to have a high quality image so when you make it bigger it is still good quality. Use the chart below to resize your image to fit your map.

256x2 = 1024x1024
512x2 = 2048x2048
1024x2 = 4096x4096
1024x4 = 4096x4096 [4KM]

5 - After its re-sized save it with the name 'colorbig' and as a .tga with 24 bits/pixels




6 - Now drop colorbig.tga into your level > MAP NAME > bf2_tpaint folder



7 - Go to Start > Run > and type in CMD and you should see something like this.



8 - Now type this in the cmd window

"CD C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\mods\pr_edit\levels\MAP NAME\bf2_tpaint

Make sure you use "\" instead of "/" and change pr_edit to the mod you are using and change MAP NAME to the name of your map

9 - now type "bf2_tsplit null colorbig.tga" and it will do all the work for you.

10 - Close the cmd window and browse to "levels > your map > bf2_tpaint > colormaps"

11 - Copy the files inside that folder and drop them into "levels > your map > editor > colormaps" and overwrite.

12 - Load up your map in the editor!

Voila! Now you can have a perfect unicorn layout for your next insurgent map!

AD adds: Keep in mind the resulting image is mirrored, so if you want it to look normal, mirror it yourself first (vertically), so it looks normal in-game.



Thanks for rhino and irontaxi :P

[Guerra norte]

VERY NICE! But how do you view your entire terrain? I can't do that in the editor, it just fades away.

[Desertfox]

Originally Posted by Guerra norte

VERY NICE! But how do you view your entire terrain? I can't do that in the editor, it just fades away.

Its a 512 so its small so you can zoom out farther.

[Outlawz7]

You'll be my hero, Fox, if you give me a link for TPaint, that isnt broken or gives 404 error...

[Desertfox]

Originally Posted by Outlawz

You'll be my hero, Fox, if you give me a link for TPaint, that isnt broken or gives 404 error...

The site I linked works perfectly. There is another one rocketf20 or something like that that doesn't but work but here is a direct link.

http://tpaint.alffx.nl/bf2_tpaint_v0.33.rar

[Outlawz7]

My hero !! *gives a hug to Desertfox*

Thanks

[Desertfox]

Sticky? =(

[Outlawz7]

I'm using this again and stuck at number 8. What do you have to type exactly in there, because it constantly b*tches, how it can't find the path to neither >CD C:\Program Files, or C:\ or whatever the heck.

[Rhino]

if you dont want to do a colour map or detail map, then replace its filename with "null" and it wont split it.

[ZZEZ]

CD C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\mods\pr_edit\levels\MAP NAME\bf2_tpaint

Lets say my BF is on E and the map I'm working on is called Golan_Heights - it should be like:
CD E:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\mods\pr_edit\levels\Golan_Heights\bf2_tpaint