Reskinning

[bigal1905]

Hello all,
I am new to the Trainz Forum so I haven't navigated every possible angle of the site yet. What I would like to know is how to properly reskin engines. Now I know what you're thinking, "oh god, another guy who doesn't get it." or "There were already a million threads about this." I am well aware of the potential criticism I am about to receive. However, I have looked through several tutorials and none of which can seem to help me with my problem. So here it goes.

I open content manager
I clone an engine/asset (I have attempted two different ones, ATSF sd40-2, and a NS Dash 9)
I Edit in Explorer
I find the .texture file (sd_40.texture OR d9main1.texture)
Convert it to TGA and save.
Edit the paint how I want it and save again.

Here's where I get stuck. Do I save it as a TGA? What do I do after that? Do I rename the file extension? Do I have to edit the config.txt a different way? I just don't know I am stuck at this point.

I thought I almost had it and then I went into Railyard and it didn't show up; went back into CM and saw that there were like 3 warnings and a trillion error messages. Ugh

Can Someone help me please?????

 

[captainkman]

I think you've found out why you should not edit built-in content.

Try downloading something from the DLS or a third-party site and reskin that instead. Built-in stuff has a lot of hidden errors and warnings that aren't found until the item is edited. Also, most non-built-in assets will have proper .tga or .bmp files that you just reskin and save.

Kieran.

 

[bigal1905]

Wow. I feel like an idiot. That kind of makes more sense now. Thank you so much.

 

[captainkman]

Wow. I feel like an idiot. That kind of makes more sense now. Thank you so much.

You are welcome, and welcome to Trainz.

Another thing, go to your Planet Auran profile and register your Trainz copy. Then you'll be able to download from the DLS and access more parts of the Forums too.

 

[BuilderBob]

Look at the asset build version number. I can't tell which version is most suitable for you to use because you haven't registerd your Trainz yet, but the more recent the version the more likely it is to have a .TGA file instead of a .Texture file. While there are ways to convert an asset from using .Texture to using TGA directly, it's a different topic, and not necessary considering the availability of more recent assets for reskinning.

For asset build numbers and Trainz versions see:
http://online.ts2009.com/mediaWiki/index.php5/%22Trainz-build%22_tag