Monthly CC Challenge

[Legacy_Estelindis]

               

Jez_fr wrote...
Only thinking of doing inventory icons for clothing parts really make think of committing suicide XD

Fear not!  It can actually be really easy.  All you need is NWExplorer and Gimp with the PLT plug-in.

1) View the model in NWExplorer, select the "black to white gradient" colour for all materials, and then Print Screen. 



2) Paste this into an image file and select around the clothing.  (Give a little border so it has a proper edge that can be seen even after scaling down.)



3) Scale that down to fit in the top 66 pixel-rows of a 64x128 pixel-sized PLT.  Open up a standard icon for reference in Gimp and you'll see what I mean. 



4) Set that PLT so it's completely pure white in the skin layer, and has no other image data in any other layer.  (Easiest way to do that is to fill the top layer, tattoo 2, with pure white; save, close, and reopen; then select all in the tattoo 2 layer, cut it, and paste it into skin.)  Save, close, and reopen.  Paste your your clothing image into, say, the cloth layer.  Save.  Close.  Open. 



5) Select the sections of your clothing image that you wish to be in the various different layers.  Never use anti-aliasing or fuzzy selection; if in doubt, sharpen your selection.  Cut.  Paste it into the layer where you want it.  Repeat until all areas are in the layers you want.



6) View the icon in NWExplorer and it should look awesome!



This took about ten minutes.  It's a very rough icon that needs to be smoothed out around the edges (due to a certain unavoidable amount of fuzziness when you scale down; PLTs don't handle fuzziness well) but that can be fixed with a bit of tweaking.  Ultimately, this isn't something anyone who can work with PLTs should be afraid of.  And if you need help with PLTs in general, just ask me. 

'>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Jez_fr]

               ooh nice tutorial Este, straight to the point and clear, like I love them. Thanks!

This should be kept somewhere safe and easy to access, maybe as a pdf even.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_TheSpiritedLass]

               This is most likely too specific for the NWN community at large, just incase is isn't... I'd love to see more mythology type things.  For instance there are some nice custom tilesets and placeables for Egypt but nearly nothing for a player to wear so they look like they are from Egypt.  There are a handful of outfits, helms, shields and one-handed spears for Rome, Greece and Vikings.   A couple of monsters (a VERY nice Anubis).  Some wonderful columned buildings.  A very nice viking ship.  You get the idea, bits and pieces here and there.

-- Mistress, who has her fingers crossed but is not holding her breath. '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Jez_fr]

               ok, votes for October are closed, Commoners won!

You can start to vote on November Theme here
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_s e n]

               Weapons, I say! I do plan to make some improvements to kukries, assassin knives and -maybe- other so if we decide to go for it, I think I will join nevermber challenge!
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Fester Pot]

               Clothing ... won? Who are these voters and were do they exist on this forum? :happy:

Well, I expect nothing less than full clothing for male/female and across all races of Human, Gnome, Half-Elf, Halfling, Half-Orc, Dwarf and Elf which does not clip while wearing cloaks or riding horses and offers full variety of neck, torso, belt pelvis, right/left shoulder, right/left bicep, right/left forearm, right/left hand, thights, shins and feet.

Since that's too much to ask for in a month's time, let's just default to a Halloween theme. '>

FP!
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Fester Pot, 01 octobre 2010 - 07:39 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_olivier leroux]

               We'll see if those commoner clothings will be enough to ward off the harmful spirits of Halloween. If not - woe to all of us! In any case I wash my hands of the impending doom...
:innocent:
               
               

               
            

[Legacy__six]

               Well I probably won't be taking part in any active capacity this month. I haven't even finished my pirate outfit yet, and probably won't have by the end of october either (though if I should, I Imagine it'd be suited to the theme anyway).
               
               

               

                     Modifié par _six, 01 octobre 2010 - 08:12 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Estelindis]

               As it happens, my pirate outfits are actually not too unsuitable for commoners.  So I'll probably keep adding bits to them (sleeves, boots, etc.) for October.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Eradrain]

               It seems like many (most?) of the actual participants in the competition (as opposed to just spectators like me) aren't actually all that happy about the choice of October's theme.  As a result we've got people like Six who aren't even going to be taking part this month.



Maybe it would be a better idea to restrict the nominations for themes and subsequent voting to participants only?  I think that'd be a better system than essentially just turning this into a big "Request what you want, we'll make it or else we're out for a whole month" sort of scenario.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy__six]

               

Eradrain wrote...

 As a result we've got people like Six who aren't even going to be taking part this month.

I should point out this isn't entirely the result of the theme choice, in my case at least. Certainly I don't have the will or time to produce any clothing, but I'd probably only be able to make a pretty meagre contribution at best either way as I have much less time on my hands this month than I have for the past three or four.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Estelindis]

               Of course, our free time is our free time, and no one should feel under an obligation to contribute when they have a busy month ahead.  :-)
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Estelindis, 01 octobre 2010 - 11:39 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Builder_Anthony]

               I wanted creepy haloween stuff......
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Jez_fr]

               Please note that I extended the theme to anything commoner's related, NOT just clothing. It could be peasants impalled on a stick if you want it to be creepy as well XD

Please also remember it's a "challenge". Where's the challenge if everyone stick to his/her natural/usual "production"?

Personnally I would just stick to Sci-fi or Modern stuff since I don't ever use anything fantasy or medieval. (and maybe I should because no one here will miss my *cough* skills 8D  (no flattery thanks =) ).

My point is, this a challenge. A creative one: Can I do something on topic I would have not done otherwise?
This is also supposed to be FUN and goodwilled. Nobody should feel it like a chore. Nor taking it too seriously.
It's about sharing a few good moments, laughs sometimes, sharing advices and friendly criticism, helping each other to actually DO something, that everyone can follow, comment on,  or are just entertertained with. It's to liven up the place in a friendly and usefull manner. err... ok i'm ranting now...

So for short, ANYTHING barely commoner's related is cool ( I'm not going to do clothes myself, more likely something like a bloody rolling pin with remains of brains on it!).

IF everyones intenting to actually producing CC don't like the theme, we change it, simple. BUT i'm not going to change the theme every time someone is going to complain about it, right? =)
Let's say if there's 3-4 for "usual" contributors who wants to change it, we'll do that.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Jez_fr, 02 octobre 2010 - 10:34 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Eradrain]

               

Jez_fr wrote...

Please note that I extended the theme to anything commoner's related, NOT just clothing. It could be peasants impalled on a stick if you want it to be creepy as well XD

Please also remember it's a "challenge". Where's the challenge if everyone stick to his/her natural/usual "production"?

Well, fair enough.  But if you look at the Commoner thread right now, you'll note that it has....zero people onboard.  One person is offering some stuff they had already made (And no offense to TheSpiritedLass, but what's the point of the Challenge if the rules allow someone to submit something they've already made and have lying on their harddrive?  I thought it was as much about the process, as the end-result?), and a few people are making suggestions/requests, but nobody is actually participating in this month's competition, as of right now.

Not a single person.

I don't think, at the end of the day, that most people really want a challenge that takes them out of their comfort zone (Well, maybe some do).  I think people want an excuse to make content they find compelling, kind of the same way that NaNoWriMo gets people writing who otherwise wouldn't have been motivated enough to get to work.

If I'm wrong and everybody here is actually in love with the idea of making whatever the faceless mob demands every month, then I'll shut up.  But there are no participants yet, and while the month's just begun, I still think that says something.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Eradrain, 02 octobre 2010 - 11:15 .