Tutorial adressing custom texturing

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so far i have converted about 1000 .tgas files to use in Hammer with this great utility made by Ti133700N.
it took me sec's to do, all worked like a dream.
the Wiz is just that, a Wiz.
i couldn't ask for a better utility, perfect.

more power to you. :) :cheers:
 
This GUI is freakin' amazing. Effective and easy to use.

However I have one problem. Its annoying as hell when you are compiling a load of textures (I download the 120+MB file of textures) and while its compiling it says "texture must be a power of 2". Thats fine but maybe you could code the compiler to ignore the files that aren't because I always have to start compiling from 0% everytime this happens and its annoying as hell. Can you maybe fix this in the next release?

Keep up the good work.
 
Hum, I'd have to look at the Vtex source code, I'll see what I can do. Thanks for the info.
 
No problem. I figured a way around it eventually. Its still sort of trial and error.

Just code it to bypass files that aren't a power of 2.
 
nice program, you just made my life easyer :cheers:
 
Oh my god man, you have no idea how appreciative i am of this tool. VTex was annoying the piss out of me.

Quake Source officially uses VTexGUI for all of its texture conversions
 
Thanks guys for your support.
I've looked at how I could bypass the tga that are not a power of 2 but when I tried to load the tga into memory it always said "Out of memory". I finally found out that Visual Basic .NET doesn't support Tga files!

So if some of you knows a little VB coding, can you help me to find a command to get the size (width and height) of a tga file or a library that can read tga files?

Thanks
 
One question. I'm seeing the textures in Hammer but they're not showing up in the game. Do I have to copy and paste my texture folder some place else?
 
Make sure you select the good game when you make the texture, when you make your map in hammer and when you test the map. Example: If you want to use the textures for HL2, in VtexGUI, select Half-Life 2 in the Game combobox (it should be selected by default). Then, when you'll compile the texture, they will be copied to Half-Life 2/hl2/materials/yourfoldertexture. When you'll launch the SDK, select Half-Life 2 in the combobox at the bottom of the SDK pannel. Make your map, compile it with Hammer. Launch HL2.

Now if you compiled the textures for HL2 and you want to use them in another game (HL2DM for example), you can copy the folder in HalfLife 2/hl2/materials/yourtexturefolder to HalfLife 2 Deathmatch/hl2mp/materials/yourtexturefolder.

Same for CS Source.
 
I have the right games selected in the menues, I have no idea why the textures won't show up in the game, frustrating!
 
Never mind, I was so used to testing my map with Garrys Mod Iforgot to paste my materials in there. When I loaded hL2 my textures were there. Thanks again for the great GUI you made!
 
Ti133700N

All I have to say about your proggy is awsome just what I needed.
I have been tring all kinds of tutorials and no luck with getting them to show up in hammer.
I have how ever got xwad to make all my .vmt and .vtf also the .tga files and it will also resize the textures if they are not a power of 2.
Maybe you can find a way to add xwad to your little proggy.
then any one can just choose there old wad files and your little proggy can do all the hard work for them :)
this will help a ton of people out there.
xwad also works for me to make the textures tranparent or water or what ever else they were in the old wad file.
this is just my 2 cents LOL.
But hey man 2 BIG THUMBS UP FOR YOU.
thanks
 
Thanks alot, I'll see what XWad is capable of and I'll use it in VtexGUI to do those wad->tga->vtf conversions. You can expect an update this week.
 
Hey. I've been trying to get this to work for a while. I've gone through the entire thread, and I'm still having problems :(

First, I downloaded the VTEXGUI program and placed it in my sourcesdk folder: "C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\mit_senf\sourcesdk"

Then, I opened it up, set the location of the sourcesdk_content folder: "c:\program files\valve\steam\steamapps\mit_senf\sourcesdk_content"

I set the location of the TGA: "C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\mit_senf\sourcesdk\cstrike_sample_content\materialsrc\mario\questionblock.tga"

I set the folder to put the texture into: "mario2"

I set the game as CS:S and hit make texture. In the status box it seems to go okay. I get...

Executing VTEX...
c:\program files\valve\steam\steamapps\mit_senf\sourcesdk\bin\vtex.exe -mkdir -shader LightmappedGeneric "c:\program files\valve\steam\steamapps\mit_senf\sourcesdk_content\cstrike\materialsrc\mario2\questionblock.tga"
Operation successful!
Click to expand...

But when the black box pops up, I get...

Can't setup path, set VPROJECT to your game directory (e.g. D:/DEV/TF2) in your environment
Hit a key to continue
Click to expand...

And all I get is a copied .tga file to the destination folder. Any solutions?
 
That's a Steam/SDK error, you have to open the SDK/Hammer at least once. You could also open HL2/CSS/HL2DM once too if you haven't)... Yea I know you probably did that once but when there are updates (like yesterday) Steam reset the configurations so you have to reopen those games and the sdk to resetup the environement variable. Also, very important, you have to reboot, it seems that the environment cannot be used if you don't reboot.

Finally, i'm not sure if you have the latest version of VtexGUI, download the one from my sig. On the main screen in VtexGUI there is a button "use %sourcesdk% path". Press it, and if it tells you an error then that's because the environment variable is not set.

With the new version of VTEX GUi you don't have to put the VtexGUI executable it in the sourcesdk directory, you can if you wish but you can put it anywhere on your disk and it will work.

Sorry for the error in the black box (that's Vtex), once I start Vtex with the good parameters, I don't have control on what is does because that's not my program. That game configuration reset at each update is a pain in the ass but I'm not sure I can do something about that... I'll see what I can do...

Tell me if it worked.
Thanks

Edit: Oh and I also noticed that the path to the source_sdk folder do not have a backslash at the end. I'm not at home to verify but I think it caused problems in the early versions of VtexGUI. The solution is still the same: Download the new VtexGUI, run every games and the SDK/Hammer, Reboot. I just wanted to point it out.
 
I am proud to give you a new version of the ultimate texture creation program: VtexGUI version 0.5 Beta!


This update gives you the possibility to convert the content of WAD files to vtf/vmt files, ready to use into Source's games! There is a new menu ( WAD->Vtf) on the main screen. Click on it to open a new window. The path to the sourcesdk_folder will be automaticly taken from the main window but you can change it if it's not ok. Next, select the wad file to convert. Select the game. Click on convert. Wait a few seconds. A folder named like the wad file will be created (If your file was de_dust.wad, the folder will be called de_dust). You can launch Hammer and use those textures immediatly. It couldn't be more simple!

Oh, and the links to my programs are now in my sig so it's easier to find.

Edit: I forgot to mention that in this process, all the textures in the wad are scaled to the proper size so it can be used in Source's games. So if you have a bunch of files to convert and you know alot of em are not of correct size (a power of 2), use Wally to make a Wad of those textures, then use VtexGUI to convert that wad to vtf.

Thanks and happy modding. :)
 
Last edited:
I guess my sugjestion was a good one :)
man that was quick.
I will be useing this one to thanks.
 
wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks so much for the vtexgui. its a REAL lifesaver. :D :D :D :D :D. i would almost pay money for it
 
Best hassle free way to get custom textures into hammer? Load them as your spray and then search in hammer and they're there. Try it.
 
not really... I did 30 textures in about 5 mins...
 
Having major issues.

First off, I would like to thank you for the great program you have created. I am having problems tho.

Program is not working at all for me, not sure whats going on.

The "Folder to sort texture into" area is where I'm experiencing problems. It initially shows fine but when I click "Make Texture!" it converts my path to this:

"CProgramFilesValveSteamSteamAppsmyusernamesourcesdkcontentcstrikematerialssrctest1skybox"

For some reason it is parsing out all symbols including "\ and _ and :" is this happening to anyone else? Is there anyway to fix this, could it have anything to do with the "save settings" function?

Thx again.
 
First, thanks for the good words.
Second, read the readme file included in the zip, if you have the latest version (in my sig). The answer is there. I will answer it here anyway but I suggest you to read the readme anyway so that if you have any other problems you could fix it by yourself and then be proud :)

The folder to sort texture into is only the name of the folder. That's why it removes any special characters. So the solution is easy, just put srctest1skybox in the textbox and it'll work :)
 
-->dur<-- Wow, figures it would be something that simple! Sry for not checking the read me.

I have another question. My maps have names with "_" in them. The "sort folder" name filed will not allow them. Can you change that or is that the way it has to be?

Now that I was able to get it to work.... So cool THANKYOU AGAIN!!

:D :afro: :D :smoking: :smoking: :D :D
 
I guess I can do that... Wait I just did! You can download the new version of VtexGUI 0.51 at the URL in my sig.

v0.51 Changes Log :

- The folder to sort texture into can now accept the "-" and "_" characters. (Thanks showNOmercy)

Happy Modding :)
 
Damn you rock!!

I have another idea if its possible! This I have been trying to test but may get an answer here before I can figure it out on my own.

When I create a new map and original materials and compile my map do I have to manually create the .res file with the contents list so people who download the map will get the materials from dedicated servers? If so I have been working on a small tut that explains how to setup .res file that you could include in the help contents.

Let me know. Great app! Saves much time.

I will have to make a special decal for ya to be placed in the map I made for my clan as a 1st map project! I will post some pics later to see wht you all think. It needs lots of detail now that I have figured out how to seal properly. Wow the resources and tools out here is vast and amazing.

I cant wait to be able to contribute more.
 
I personnaly prefer to embed custom files in the bsp itself this way you can even send the bsp to a friend or zip it and put it on the net without having to bother about the directories. This is why I made BspZipGUI.

I don't know much about them, maybe they are more usefull than I think, you can always post the tut on the forums so I could have a look and see if I could do a GUI for creating them.
 
Again I am flaberghasted at the coolness! This stuff makes mapping like the difference between driving a pinto (no offense to pinto owners!) or driving a Lambo! Thanks for your very helpful programs!

All this is very new to me so plz excuse my praises if they are sappy!! :dork:
 
I have two very simple and most likely foolish questions, I did a few searches but didn't come up with much, and I'm sure that the answers are kind of staring me in the face, but still...here goes.

One, how do I save textures with transparency? I've tried doing it the way of Alpha Layers and I've tried just saving with blank space in Photoshop. I've tried using both 24bit and 32bit, but so far, no luck with that.

Two, is there a way to compile my custom textures into the .bsp file so that I don't have to send a little texture pack along with my map? I know this seems lazy of me, but I need to try and be practical about it and make it less troublesome for people who might not be...erm...techincally inclined?

And I just wanted to say thank you, so much, for the VTXGUI and the tutorials, this is great help for me and the community, I couldn't have asked for anyone to make it any easier than this.Thank you.
 
Insomnia said:
I have two very simple and most likely foolish questions, I did a few searches but didn't come up with much, and I'm sure that the answers are kind of staring me in the face, but still...here goes.

One, how do I save textures with transparency? I've tried doing it the way of Alpha Layers and I've tried just saving with blank space in Photoshop. I've tried using both 24bit and 32bit, but so far, no luck with that.

Two, is there a way to compile my custom textures into the .bsp file so that I don't have to send a little texture pack along with my map? I know this seems lazy of me, but I need to try and be practical about it and make it less troublesome for people who might not be...erm...techincally inclined?

And I just wanted to say thank you, so much, for the VTXGUI and the tutorials, this is great help for me and the community, I couldn't have asked for anyone to make it any easier than this.Thank you.
Click to expand...


I'm not expert on alpha transparency, having not made a transparent texture, but I believe you must manually make a new channel with a transparency mask, and name it Alpha. Photoshop won't do it automatically.

Second, yes, that is what bspzip does. It takes the extra files (sounds, textures, models) and encapsulates them in the bsp.

I've only used the command line version, and it was tedious. Look around, Ti133700N has probably explained his gui version's functionality in a thread somewhere (very possibly this one... :p). I've not used it yet.

Gl.
 
Insomnia said:
One, how do I save textures with transparency? I've tried doing it the way of Alpha Layers and I've tried just saving with blank space in Photoshop. I've tried using both 24bit and 32bit, but so far, no luck with that.
Click to expand...

First, create your diffuse texture. When you are done, merge all the layers together. Then click on the channels tab. Click on create new channel. This will make a new channel named Alpha 1. Click on that channel and paint the transparency you want. Then, select save as. Select tga format. Make sure save a copy and save alpha channel is checked. Click on save. Select 32 bits. Don't use RLE compression. There you go.

The next step is to compile that texture with VtexGUI (just like any other textures). Then go into the destination folder (like hl2/materials/mytexture/) and open the vmt. Add the line : "$translucent" 1. There you go!


Insomnia said:
Two, is there a way to compile my custom textures into the .bsp file so that I don't have to send a little texture pack along with my map? I know this seems lazy of me, but I need to try and be practical about it and make it less troublesome for people who might not be...erm...techincally inclined?
Click to expand...

Phisionary is right, you can use bspzip for that. I made a GUI for it so that should help (the link is in my sig). It doesn't have any help file included so I will give you a link on a page that will explain everything about bspzip. This way you will know what to put into the relative path textbox.

Link: http://www.valve-erc.com/srcsdk/Levels/bspzip.html
 
Ti133700N said:
Phisionary is right, you can use bspzip for that. I made a GUI for it so that should help (the link is in my sig). It doesn't have any help file included so I will give you a link on a page that will explain everything about bspzip. This way you will know what to put into the relative path textbox.

Link: http://www.valve-erc.com/srcsdk/Levels/bspzip.html
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot, I'll give this a try right now!

Edit: See below
 
I'm having some slight trouble with this at the moment, adding a single file worked fine, but when I realized I couldn't keep adding a single file one after another, I tried making a list. I typed it out like so:

materials/custom/tex01.vmt
D:/Program Files/Steam/SteamApps/youloveinsomnia/counter-strike source/cstrike/materials/custom/tex01.vmt
materials/custom/tex01.vtf
D:/Program Files/Steam/SteamApps/youloveinsomnia/counter-strike source/cstrike/materials/custom/tex01.vtf
materials/custom/tex02.vmt
D:/Program Files/Steam/SteamApps/youloveinsomnia/counter-strike source/cstrike/materials/custom/tex02.vmt
materials/custom/tex02.vtf
D:/Program Files/Steam/SteamApps/youloveinsomnia/counter-strike source/cstrike/materials/custom/tex02.vtf
etc

I clicked Go! and the output read:

Executing BSPZIP...
"d:\program files\steam\steamapps\youloveinsomnia\sourcesdk\bin\bspzip.exe" -addlist "D:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\youloveinsomnia\counter-strike source\cstrike\materials\custom\cs_beta.bsp" "D:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\youloveinsomnia\counter-strike source\cstrike\materials\custom\list2.txt" "D:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\youloveinsomnia\counter-strike source\cstrike\materials\custom\asdf.bsp"
Operation successful!

No BSP file appeared. I tried modifying the path files like so: D:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\youloveinsomnia\counter-strike source\cstrike\materials\custom\, yet that didn't help either. I followed the instructions as closely as I can tell. I can't think of what I'm doing wrong.
 
dunno. looks like it should work. try this, if you'd like:

blah_bspzip.bat
Code: 
"%sourcesdk%\bin\bspzip" -addlist blah_old.bsp blah_list.txt blah_new.bsp
pause
copy this into a new text file, change the file names, and give it a .bat extension. The one time I used bspzip this is what I used and it worked fine.....
Just make sure your old bsp and your list file are in the directory with the batch file.
 
It doesn't create another bsp file, the custom content is added into the same bsp that you defined in the bsp path textbox.
 
Ti133700N said:
It doesn't create another bsp file, the custom content is added into the same bsp that you defined in the bsp path textbox.
Click to expand...

Ah, I was trying to open from one file and save to another, although doing it the way you said isn't seeming to work either.

Phisionary said:
dunno. looks like it should work. try this, if you'd like:

blah_bspzip.bat
Code: 
"%sourcesdk%\bin\bspzip" -addlist blah_old.bsp blah_list.txt blah_new.bsp
pause
copy this into a new text file, change the file names, and give it a .bat extension. The one time I used bspzip this is what I used and it worked fine.....
Just make sure your old bsp and your list file are in the directory with the batch file.
Click to expand...

Alright, I just tried this, and I assumed by blah_list.txt you meant blah_list.bat, I ran it, and for a split second I thought it worked, but, my hopes were crushed. I completely wrote a new list to try that out and still, it's not working.

Output:

Code: 
The file D:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\youloveinsomnia\counter-strike source\cstrike\materials\custom\cs_beta.bsp has been copied succesfully

Executing BSPZIP...
"d:\program files\steam\steamapps\youloveinsomnia\sourcesdk\bin\bspzip.exe" -addlist "D:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\youloveinsomnia\counter-strike source\cstrike\materials\custom\cs_beta.bsp" "D:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\youloveinsomnia\counter-strike source\cstrike\materials\custom\list.bat" "D:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\youloveinsomnia\counter-strike source\cstrike\materials\custom\cs_beta.bsp"
Operation successful!

This is really nervewrecking because I know I can't possibly be so stupid that I can't get this to work, but, here I am.

help.jpg
 
Ok the file path should be pointing at the actual list file, txt, not a bat file.
 
Ti133700N said:
Ok the file path should be pointing at the actual list file, txt, not a bat file.
Click to expand...

I tried that as well, nada. I'm kind of thinking to myself it wasn't meant to be. I can't see what I'm doing wrong and I've started from scratch so many times it's beginning to tole at my very sanity. I guess, I'll just thank you for putting in the time to make this applications and answer my questions, it's really awesome to see the community thriving like this.
 
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