Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Terrain Editor => Topic started by: hazed- on October 06, 2002, 01:35:46 PM
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ok this is the help file for editing a skin:
To change the skin on a plane or object, first select a shape from the Available Shapes list, then click the Save Texture button and close the Terrain Editor. All of the textures for that shape will be exported as .bmp files into your ../HTC/ahedit/terrains/myterr/savedtex folder. Before editing any of the .bmp files, be sure to make a copy of the file first.
After the .bmp files are edited to your satisfaction, copy only the edited files into your ../HTC/ahedit/terrains/myterr/texsrc folder. Start the Terrain Editor and locate one of the edited objects to view the new skin.
When editing skins, it’s a good idea to delete your ../HTC/ahedit/terrains/myterr/savedtex folder prior to saving textures of another shape. Some shapes contain many .bmp files, and deleting the savedtex folder before exporting a shape will cut down on confusion when editing the files.
Files that include an “_a” in the name are the alpha textures that overlay the .bmp of the same name and they need to be copied back to the texsrc folder along with the edited file. For example, if you export the FACTDRT shape, two files are written to your ../HTC/ahedit/terrains/myterr/savedtex folder: FCTRYDRT.bmp and FCTRYDRT_a.bmp. If you edit just the FACTRDRT.bmp file, you still must copy both of the FCTRYDRT files to your ../HTC/ahedit/terrains/myterr/texsrc folder to change the look of the FACTDRT shape.
To keep the terrain compact in size, only edited .bmp’s should be copied to your ../HTC/ahedit/terrains/myterr/texsrc folder. The exception is, of course, unedited “_a” files that are paired with edited files.
now this all goes ok up until this help says copy only the edited files into your ../HTC/ahedit/terrains/myterr/texsrc folder
On my computer ther is no texsrc folder. Ive searched the help file to find out how its created but theres nothing that explains it.
I tried manually creating a folder by that name and putting ONLY my edited files in there (i.e. 190A5 bmp. TAIL.bmp and SPIRAL.bmp) and reopened the editor but when it says Start the Terrain Editor and locate one of the edited objects to view the new skin. i go to the 190A5 and click on it then as far as i can tell the only way to look at it is to add it as an object to my terrain? well i tried this and for some reason it puts the old 190A5 skinned aircraft in as an object.
This help file is far too sparse to be of much use! we need a much more in depth one if you want more skins!
anyway heres a jpg of what i had made (Kurt Ruppert 9./JG26,Moorseele, August 1942)
please help as it took a fair while and im unable to see my own work :( ....thnx in advance ....
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You're almost there, Hazed.
You did right by creating the Texsrc folder... it doesn't already exist. Did you put this texsrc folder into the directory of the terrain you are working on? Each terrain needs its own Texsrc folder.
Is your "190A5.bmp" actually the name of the original-exported file? It needs to be exactly the same. Many textures I've seen have a couple of files... i.e., F6F5-1, F6F5-2, etc.
All you need to do in the TE after this is open your custom terrain OBA file (from the same folder that your new Texsrc folder is in) and build. No object placing, nothing. Just build.
Make sure you copy your newly created terrain RES file from the Terrains folder in your editor directory into the Terrains folder in your Aces High directory.
Like I said, you're almost there... don't give up.
[edit: hmmm... one other thing; Don't manually type ".bmp" onto the file. name it "190A5" and if it is in fact a BMP then it will have an invisible extension already on it. You may be accidentally naming it "190A5.bmp.bmp". This would confuse the Editor.]
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Hazed that actually is 'Yellow 4' of Hauptmann Siegfried Schnell, Staffelkapitan of 9./JG 2 Vannes, France, February 1943.
The 'Richthofen' cockerell is the dead give away ;)
Worn on the cowling of Bf 109F's and Fw 190A's of III/JG 2 early war in France.
Old JG 2 skinner from WB. Nice skin :)
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Dux i did what you said :
Ok ive basically done this Ive opened a new terrain named it 'pop'
ive got my blue ocean and havent added any objects etc (left it as is)
ive gone to 190A5 object, highlighted it and saved texture.
then closed TE
Ive then gone to savedtex folder and copied 190a5.bmp tail.bmp spiral.bmp and edited them(into my new skin), then pasted them back over the old files in savedtex
Ive then created a folder called texsrc (inside my folder called 'pop')
pasted in my edited 190.bmp spiral.bmp and tail.bmp
ive then reopened TE, opened 'pop'
ive then hit build
and it crashes :( says:
AHEDIT caused an invalid page fault in
module AHEDIT.EXE at 017f:0044a32c.
Registers:
EAX=00000000 CS=017f EIP=0044a32c EFLGS=00010246
EBX=00802588 SS=0187 ESP=00f6fb74 EBP=02a9d6c0
ECX=0047e6b4 DS=0187 ESI=019d4975 FS=70d7
EDX=00f70284 ES=0187 EDI=00f7028d GS=0000
Bytes at CS:EIP:
c6 00 00 52 53 8d 84 24 18 04 00 00 68 48 e6 47
Stack dump:
00f70284 0047e6b4 00f7fa3c bff52d8a bff55a0f 00802588 00000004 00000000 00f6fbb4 019d4958 00f70584 019d4850 00f77d84 00f77e84 00f77f84 00f78084
what have i done wrong?
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Originally posted by hazed-
Dux i did what you said :
what have i done wrong?
You will have to flip the pictuire to get it to sit properly on the AC.............but that is not what is causing your crash...............
check you have the files the correct size and colour depth (256)
its the terrain thats crashing not your skin...........check the files in settings and ensure that they are correct...............eg curterr should just have the word pop.........
Run the object checker.................you may find you have to add some stuff.....................at least a field if you want to see your plane and probably some HQ's and fields for each country
if you have special tiles (now called cells) and a special strat map (pop.bmp) then these also have to go into texsrc
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I'm sorry to say it seems like its out of our hands, hazed. :(
Basically the problem we all had was the TE crashing to desktop when no new terrain was "opened". People would try to do something in the default light-blue screen and crash.
But if you've already opened a new terrain...
I have one suggestion which you might have tried. I seem to remember that there are "minimum requirements" for a terrain - such as at least one spawn point.
1. "Open" a new terrain in 64x64, left click and drag on the screen and it will mark the range of your drag in crosshairs.
2. Choose something like a "grass" or "snow" tile and click "set type" on the TE and it will set the tiles on the marked range.
3. Then, find an airfield in the shape group and place it on the terrain.
Then, try building it. If what I'm guessing is right, you seem to be trying to "build" a terrain which has no way a plane can up and thus, probably causing a crash.
ps) If you might wish, you can send me the BMPs and maybe I can test them. (heh, but I know, it's not polite for someone else to ask for the first honor of new skin :D )
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Good point, Kweassa. I believe you also have to have an HQ for all 3 countries in the map.
Which brings up a really good point, guys. I know everyone is excited about skinning and all, but skinning is really an advanced aspect of terrain creation. Do yourselves (and us) a favor, and spend the 2 hours it takes to learn the basics of the Terrain Editor. The help file really is helpful when you start from the beginning. Trust me, it is NOT rocket science, but you do have to take baby steps.
Start at Step 1, not step 28... it'll get a whole lot easier that way.
Thank you.
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This is for encouragement... :)
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... pretty nice work, Hazed. You will need to vertically flip the exported texture before you add text in order for it to come out right. I had to flip it for you before I loaded it.
See, the skin creation really is pretty easy. You had it the whole time. Now go learn the Terrain Editor. Really, two hours at the most.
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Couple questions I have never used TE before I just wanted to make some plane skins. Do I have to create a terrain to see the skin I created? I have pretty much figured out how to make a skin. Thank much for posting the info on that. The help file in the TE is useless. Allso I cant find all the plane skins in the objects tab on the TE. I wanted to do a p51d and f4ud but they are not in the object list. Any help you can give me would be very much apriciated.
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Ice, go into the Terrains folder in your Editor directory, there is a file called "Shpfilter". Open this file, and you will see a list of all kinds of different shapes. From this list, delete the ones that you want to show up in the Available Objects list in the editor. Not sure what the purpose of this file is.
And yes, you need to create a terrain for your skins to be imported into.
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Thanks for the info. One more question instead of going tru building a terrain can I open one thats allready done rename it and upload new skins into that? Or can someone send me a built terrain I can open and upload sikins into?
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Originally posted by icemaw
Thanks for the info. One more question instead of going tru building a terrain can I open one thats allready done rename it and upload new skins into that? Or can someone send me a built terrain I can open and upload sikins into?
Terrain in 5 mins:
Make a copy of the "blank" directory, rename it to whatever, then rename the files in it to whatever, leaving thier extensions the same.
Open that in the terrain editor, create a large square block of land, and put three airfields down.
instant terrain.
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k i got 1 question. I got the texture with 3 fields on the TE. I placed my "texsrc" file where the terrain i am working on.
I edited a BMP and flipped it and i copied that flipped bmp into my texsrc folder.
Now where i am stuck is i go back into TE and i go to File ... Open... and i open my terrain application, (name of my map).
Now i see my piece of land and i see the 3 fields that are on that field. Now how do i place the edited version of the part im working on, on my TE screen? Because if i try to open the BMP file, my terrain needs to close, which causes TE to Close. So the final question is how do i put the BMP picture onto my TE Map?
Thanks.
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Nope, you're done. If you put the edited BMP in the Texsrc folder, it automatically imported when you opened your terrain OBA with the Editor.
All you have to do now is "Build" your terrain. This puts a RES file in your editor's terrains folder... copy this RES file to your Aces High terrains folder.
ps. make sure you have an HQ for all three countries in your terrain.
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Originally posted by icemaw
Thanks for the info. One more question instead of going tru building a terrain can I open one thats allready done rename it and upload new skins into that? Or can someone send me a built terrain I can open and upload sikins into?
http://accesswave.ca/~tscott/AH-stuff/AH-Editor&Stuff/Skins.exe
Here you go, it meets the minimum requirement for a terrain
1 field and headquarter for each country.
Pokie
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Okay i think i am very close to finnaly get this.
This is what i have done in details. It might help a few other people if u guys see any mistakes i might have made.
1. I downloaded Pokies map into my terrain folder names "Skins" It has 3 HQ's and 3 fields.
2. Then i opened TE and Clicked P51D "Save Texture", I closed down TE and went to the savedtex folder. There in that folder i found BMP's of the P51. I clicked the P51DSide BMP. Right Clicked that file and Opened it with Photo Shop 7.0. I flipped that image and added a shape on the wing. I clicked File in Photoshop..to.. Save As. Then i saved that BMP into my "texsrc" folder which is located in my "Skin" (#1).
3. I opened my TE and went to File... Build. Closed down TE.
4. Went back to the terrain folder where i found my "Skin.res" file.
I didnt do anything with that Skin.res folder but left it in the terrain folder.
5. I then opened TE once again. Went to Open. I found my "Skin.OBA" file and clicked it.
6. Pokies terrain came up. But no image of a plane.
Tried going back to File... Open... and tried opening my BMP that is located in the "texsrc" folder, under the "Skin" folder.
Went to Open on the bottom of the opening screen where it says.
Open file as. (.oba Files) and which there was no BMP picture because it is not an .oba File.
Went to "ALL" files and seen the BMP file. Clicked that file and the white screen comes up in TE and after that i get the.
"TE has encountered a problem and needs to close"
Have i missed anything?
Thank you.
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Once you have put your edited skin in the Texsrc folder and you have opened your terrain, you don't do anything else... your skin has automatically loaded into the terrain.
you don't do anything else with the skin. All you need to do is build the terrain. the editor will compile your skin into the new terrain automatically.
Just make sure you drag the RES file from the TE directory into your Aces High/Terrains directory.
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Don't waste all the extra sets!
1) Open up the Editor
It places you at the center of the map ( grid 10.24 / 10.24 ... you'll see this if grib box is checked )
2) Click on Objects tab
3) With your "snap" box check, click the mouse in the center of the 10.24 /10.24 grid
4) Find your P51D from your "available shapes" list and click "add shape/group"
5) You'll see a Object Properties Box pops up
6) enter 100 in the Y section ( this is so your plane will be 100ft off the ground and you'll be able to move and look under the plane.
7) Click ok
8) Close editor, clicking yes to "Do you wish to save"
9) Restart editor and look at your plane
You will see the changes that you did, if not then something is wrong with what you did to the .bmp file.
http://accesswave.ca/~tscott/AH-stuff/P51SIDE.bmp
Place this file in your texsrc folder and go into the editor and look at your P51D plane.
Pokie
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Ahh k... I thought i could look at the actual plane on the TE screen. So i need to make a terrain that i can use the H2H with my new plane?
When i make all my desired fields etc... How do i send that terrain to the H2H arena?
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Save the terrain and copy the file into your maps folder under ah. You should the be able to select the terrain by using the clipboard: Settings-->Load Terrain.
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K.. but shouldnt be that be under the terrain folder in the AH dir ... Not maps?
Well i can at least load the maps up offline... I think there might be something wrong with the BMP's.. I paint on the plane and stuff... That might be it im thinking, cause i dont think i was actually suppostu paint on the plane, like using airbrush and stuff..
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all you need is the .res file in your ah terrains folder.
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its in there but i guess i did something wrong in the process.
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????
just copy the .res file from from the htc/aheditor/terrain folder and put it in htc/aces high/ terrains folder.
The go into clipboard/setup/load terrain/ and select you terrain.
Just a suggestion here but there really is no sense and going through all the hassel of making skins unless you first understand the terrain editor.
Read the help file, it takes a couple of hours messing around in the te to get a handle on it.
The hardest thing about making terrains for me is getting custom tiles to look really good (Nuttz is the master at this). But creating small "test" terrains for use in h2h are much easier.
Getting good looiking skins is far more of a hassel then getting a basic understanding of how the terrain editor works.
just my .2cents
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Originally posted by WldThing
its in there but i guess i did something wrong in the process.
As you can see its IN THERE.
I got my .res file in the terrain fille in the AH directory.
Well i can at least load the maps up offline... I think there might be something wrong with the BMP's..
Read before you post.
Just MY .2 Cents.
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Wildthing, attach your skin to your next thread... we'll tell you if there's anything wrong with it.
And before you get any snippier with Wotan, remember that he has been trying to guide you through some advanced techniques before you've even bothered to learn the simplest BASICS of the TE. We're trying to be as helpful as possible, but you HAVE to put in some effort of your own.
His suggestion about taking a couple of hours to REALLY LEARN the TE first is the best skinning advice you've gotten so far. I seem to remember someone else giving that advice...
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Not trying to be cocky or anything but Wotan only posted that 1 post ... And i already went thru that.
And i spent not only a couple of hours on this bout about 8 or 9 hours. Been banging my head on the wall. But here is what i have the same thing that was posted.
This is the only thing i have in my texsrc folder.
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Originally posted by WldThing
Not trying to be cocky or anything but Wotan only posted that 1 post ... And i already went thru that.
And i spent not only a couple of hours on this bout about 8 or 9 hours. Been banging my head on the wall. But here is what i have the same thing that was posted.
This is the only thing i have in my texsrc folder.
So if you are using the Skins terrain, then is P51D bmp shown here is in your C:\Program Files\HTC\aheditor\terrains\Skins\texsrc folder, correct ?
So now if you open the Editor and select the P51D from the available shapes list and click on the Add shape/group button and click ok on the pop up box you say that you don't see changes when you look at your plane in the editor?
Pokie
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correct
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K guys here i am sure this will be alot more help, for anyone out there.
I will post Screenshots of what i see, and you can point out mistakes. (Sorry i dont know how to do all the files in 1 post)
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Inside terrains folder.
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And inside my terrain folder.
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And inside my texsrc folder.
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I hope that helps.
Thanks
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Check the spelling of your TEXSRC folder.
Lol... it's always something simple :)
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it is texscr... but its case sensitive?
And everything else looks good?
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Was the P51SIDE.bmp saved as 256 color?
Pokie
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All i did was right Click your pic, and flipped it in the photo shop. That is the only thing i did to it.
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Your path is wrong. from what i noticed you have NO MAP!
Lets say I am Using a map called "Newtown"
Your path should be
c:/programfiles/htc/aheditor/terrains/newtown/texsrc. and no it's not case sensitive.
BTW Uh as stated before Check your spelling It's tex S! R! C! NOT tex S! C! R!
NUTTZ
Originally posted by WldThing
it is texscr... but its case sensitive?
And everything else looks good?
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hehe SRC is right
And yes i do have a map.... its called "Skins"
And yes the picture was saved as 256 .
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Originally posted by NUTTZ
Your path is wrong. from what i noticed you have NO MAP!
Lets say I am Using a map called "Newtown"
Your path should be
c:/programfiles/htc/aheditor/terrains/newtown/texsrc. and no it's not case sensitive.
BTW Uh as stated before Check your spelling It's tex S! R! C! NOT tex S! C! R!
NUTTZ
HeHe I better get my eyes and brain checked becauses they are not working together :D
You know I was looking at the snap shots WldThing posted after Dux posted this Originally posted by Dux
Check the spelling of your TEXSRC folder.
Lol... it's always something simple :)
and I tell you something was lying to me big time :D and right now I don't know if it was the eyes or the brain.
Neither one is taking responsibility :D
Pokie
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lol wildthing thanks for completely taking over the thread ;)
btw im new but i aslo noticed your p51bmp is 256x128 is that right?
the bmp im editing at the moment for 190s is 256x256x256 when i edited it first time it saved as a 256x256x16million :D which is why TE crashed.
well ive also used pokies map and without adding my edited bmps i built is in TE and the res file was created fine.
when i then added my texsrc folder with my 3 edited files(190a5.bmp, tail.bmp, spiral.bmp) and then tried to open skin and build it it crashed(performed illegal operation) o this imediately points to a problem with my bmps even though ive tried my damndest to fin out what i cant find it.
they are exactly the same size as the old originals etc and they look ok but i cant get it to work.
Pokie or dux could you do another picture for me or even better send me the completed res file for AH so i can fly it? heres my edited bmps
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You could have tried pokies skin Hazed. He has one posted here of the P51.
You can try using that skin just to see if it will work, or if it was just your edited BMP's.
LOL Pokie!!!
Which one is right?!?!:D
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thanks guys heres a pic of a quick test i did tto see if build works with a SIMPLE edit of 190a5 bmp
as you can see i put it backwards!! but hey !! it worked right? :D
so there you have it a complete novice can follow the instructions fine.
(only problem was the mouse and joystick didnt work so i took pic using keys, any idea why this happened?)
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Thanks for all the help guys =S= I seem to have done something wrong. I did not flip the bmp's when I did skin but they come out wierd.
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?
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You forgot to "vertical flip" the body texture. Or you did a 180degree rotation instead of vertical flip.
There is a pretty big bug, where the texture bitmaps are written upside-down.
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Btw sorry about the inverted textures, they come out the correct way in the next TE patch.
WildThing: Your texture source folder should be texsrc not texscr
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TY all for help, i make my first AH skin in a 2 hour after i start AH editor first time.
Pokie "skins" map help me best
(http://www.raf303.org/ramzey/strony/h1.jpg)
ramzey
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So what was your final BMP size hazed? And do my screenshots look the same way ure do?
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Ok finally got the skin pointed in the right direction. It seems I was working on the wrong part of the tail. Its really hard to picture how the skin wraps around plane. Any tips on skin making. I did lots of them in AW but the skins are not as complex puzzle pieces as they are in AH.
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fm2
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(http://bellsouthpwp.net/w/o/wotans/Images/110b.jpg)
takes all of 2 min just color changes, it can take considerably more trying to redo panel / rivet lines as well as historical skins.
My 110 is a bit too dark, but its easy enough to fix.
Hazed make sure the image you have in your texsrc folder is 8 bit 256 colors. Thats the number reason for the te crashing when you click build.
If you need help email me the file and I will take a look.
However, recreational skinning (without building a terrain or making real quality skins) seems to me a waste of time for most folks.
Good luck....
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Still needs work gonna move lettering up so it clears wing.
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f4u
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MUAHAHA I FINNALY GOT THIS THING!!!! THaNKS GUYS FOR REPLYING TO ALL THOSE POSTS!!!
THIS PICTURE SUCKS BUT MY 1st ONE AND TOOK ABOUT 2 MINUTES!!!!
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wtg wildthing
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What the heck is the P-51D object supposed to be?
I just downloaded and installed the TE, but the only Mustang in my list is P51B. Seems all the other A/C are there as well.
BTW.. Wildthing.. you should be ashamed to have posted such an abomination to the Mustang.
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A Pimp AC Midnight... Plus it was my 1st one :p
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Originally posted by Midnight
What the heck is the P-51D object supposed to be?
I just downloaded and installed the TE, but the only Mustang in my list is P51B. Seems all the other A/C are there as well.
BTW.. Wildthing.. you should be ashamed to have posted such an abomination to the Mustang.
Goto your C:\Program Files\HTC\aheditor\terrains folder and delete the shpfilter file.
Everything listed in the shpfilter file will not show up in the editor.
Pokie