request for the skinning guys

[captain1ma]

I could really really really use a American skin for a panther. we don't have a pershing so I have to substitute. if someone could make me an
American skin for a panther Id be forever grateful. thank you

Gary Davis aka jaeger1 aka captain1ma
Co JG54
CO AVA staff

[Devil 505]

This is only for the AvA to bake into a terrain, right?

[lyric1]

I could really really really use a American skin for a panther. we don't have a pershing so I have to substitute. if someone could make me an
American skin for a panther Id be forever grateful. thank you

Gary Davis aka jaeger1 aka captain1ma
Co JG54
CO AVA staff

In this case use the Allied captured Panthers.

[Easyscor]

Wow! Just Wow!
I thank all of those showing an interest in supporting this cause and supporting the ground war especially, in Aces High!

I will inform that Ghostdancer, on behalf of the SEA CM team, has produce a winter terrset visible in the current germanyw terrain and that the AvA team is producing the winter square tile objects as fast as we can. Waffle at htc will be building and inserting the trees and other features to complete the terrset when we are done. A winter terrset is coming and it presents new challenges.

Devil 505 is almost right, the AvA, if not the whole game, needs GV skins, and especially winter skins to be baked into into custom terrains. This requires the volunteer terrain builders to keep faith with the skinners and not disseminate their work. As a terrain builder, I would be a fool to abuse that trust. Here is the reason behind the need.

When the skins are baked into a terrain, such as a winter terrain, no one will benefit by disabling skins. Everyone will see the same default winter GV or aircraft skin that the terrain builder included.

Until recently, if you disabled skins and someone took a Jagdpanzer 38(t), they showed up in a white winter skin to anyone who disabled alternate skins. The skin disabler saw a brilliant white target running around in a green pacific or eto background. As a custom terrain builder for either the SEA or AvA, when necessary, we can include a proper (winter) skin that overrides the default skin.

Currently, a terrain builder is forced to create as many vehicle skins as he can without care for historical accuracy. This is not what we'd like and given a choice, we'll always include a submission from the skinning community.

Okay, to put it crassly, anyone else' work will be better then what I'd through into a terrain to balance this issue. Yes, I'm desperate for winter skins and I'd bet the SEA CM terrain team will be just as receptive to your efforts.

To Jaeger's original post, which is along these same lines, we could really use a Pershing but until then, a Pershing or Allied skin for the Panther will do. It won't be accepted by htc as far as we know, but we need it for balance in the events arena.

Thank you for your interest and your great works!

[Greebo]

I have submitted winter skins for all the German GVs bar the flakpanzers over the years and would be happy for them to be baked into winter terrains. Also I can skin a captured Allied Panther for the AvA. I have still got the base files for various other AvA "specials" like a B-24 dressed up to look like an He-177 or H8K2, a Betty to look like an SM.79 or Il-4, or an I-16 to look like a C.200.

IIRC in AH 2 only the diffuse texture could be baked into a terrain. Doing this in AH 3 though would look rubbish as a lack of a normal map gives a skin a chrome-like appearance. So I'd imagine that for AH 3 at least the normal and specular would be needed as well and if so I would have to update most of my winter GV skins with these extra files. I haven't made winter GVs a priority for updating to AH3 spec so far as they are seldom used in the MA. Can someone confirm which skin files are mandatory or optional for baking into a terrain?

I am starting a new default skin this week so it might be a few weeks before I can do any of this.

[Fencer51]

Give me a day or two.

[Fencer51]

Good enough?  Anything changed?  Who gets a copy?

[captain1ma]

that's frigging awesome fencer!!! wow, just wow!!! now I can incorporate the pershing to even the odds against the panthers!!

Greebo, we'll take anything we can get to use skins to substitute actually aircraft. a long time ago I asked the skinners for a german skin
for the betty to sub for a HE111 but never got a response.

now, how to I "bake in" a skin into a terrain? LOL

[Devil 505]

that's frigging awesome fencer!!! wow, just wow!!! now I can incorporate the pershing to even the odds against the panthers!!

now, how to I "bake in" a skin into a terrain? LOL

Talk to Ghostdancer. He has experimented with baking skins into AH3 terrains. He has told me it is possible.

[captain1ma]

as for HTC not accepting a US skin for the panther, for the game, I don't see why not, its just a skin. if it makes the game more realistic, seems to me it would be better for everyone? just my thoughts.

if you're asking me not to use it for public consumption, then please come out and ask me flat out not to use it for anything but a baked in skin and I will honor any such request.
easyscor just told me how to do it, so I can add them to just the terrains. I promise I or the AVA terrain staff wont give out anything that we are allowed to use. 

[Easyscor]

That's terrific Fencer, THANKS!

Jaeger is lead for the AvA, or to me, either will get it to me.

Thanks for the instant response.

[Easyscor]

So I'd imagine that for AH 3 at least the normal and specular would be needed as well and if so I would have to update most of my winter GV skins with these extra files. I haven't made winter GVs a priority for updating to AH3 spec so far as they are seldom used in the MA. Can someone confirm which skin files are mandatory or optional for baking into a terrain?

I am starting a new default skin this week so it might be a few weeks before I can do any of this.

I think you're right, the normal + specular will also be desirable but if the default matches, you might get away with only the diffuse. For most GVs, I'd expect that to work. You can test this by throwing them into your texsrc folder and watching for them to replace the default skin. I'll do a jeep and get back to you when I can do a test but like you, I'm buried with 56 square miles of winter square tile objects right now.

[lyric1]

Plenty of info several Minutes of this tank on film.

  There is something wrong though with this tank.
It seems to be able to run over twigs? 

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/tanks-2/query/Germans

[Krusty]

as for HTC not accepting a US skin for the panther, for the game, I don't see why not, its just a skin. if it makes the game more realistic, seems to me it would be better for everyone? just my thoughts.

Talking about MA skins here, but there's a very good set of reasons (plural) why this doesn't happen. No captured skins. No post-war skins. No non-combat skins. These rules ensure more realism, not less.

Putting "hack skins" (an IL2 term) on the wrong plane is okay for a "baked in" terrain (wrong term, I think? you just include the skins textures in a sub folder), but that's only in rare cases and HTC doesn't like doing this except in rare situations because it adds to resource requirements whenever you run that map. Same reason they don't like too many custom objects any more like on the original Karelia map. You have to keep it to a minimum. Example: Rangoon had a 110 skinned as a Ki-45 for the default skin, but not every skin in the game was replaced, just the ones to create an illusion for a fixed scenario that only used a fixed planeset.

If you're putting them into an AvA scenario, good on ya. If you're asking in general why they aren't in the MA, there are good reasons and rules to prevent it.

[lyric1]