Guide on making custom coat presets. (Allows for better quality custom coats)
Okay, I decided to throw this together. There's some things I can't figure out still, but oh well, we're just getting through this as we go.
To clarify what I mean - this is not a stencil or a brush.
To preface this guide though, I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to make it appear as an individual option in-game, so, these are considered SWATCHES of the original coats.
Okay, with that out of the way.
Probably Notepad, but it's optional on how easy it is for you to track things.
These are the tools we'll be using in S4S.
Start by creating your empty package, once you're done, open up Game File Cruiser:
before you do ANYTHING, make absolutely sure that the search bar below the file list has "EP14" in it, otherwise you will 100% end up editing a cat or a dog coat pattern and that's now what we want, at all.
Add the first horse file to your package
In our case, it's the Lusitano Dapple coat, don't worry, if you're making a breed-specific coat, you can change this later.
Now that it's been added to our package file, it should look like this:
We now have two options, I'll explain this to those who don't care about creating a game-generated thumbnail and want to find it easier.
To make your "test" thumbnail, you'll want to copy the instance ID of the file we just added to our package:
It should look like this, the instance ID should be in 2nd from the top search bar, then, select all and click filter (it just makes life easier than finding the specific file type).
These are the current, in-game CAS thumbnails. We'll add both of them to the package, they're for ponies and adult horses.
Now you can export these two pictures (They need to be saved as .png's), edit them as you'd like and then import them back into the package.
Now, you CAN add up to 5 different pelt layers that can be easily recoloured in-game, however, we'll only be working with two pelt layers in this tutorial, because it's a tutorial and you'll learn how to make more of them anyway.
Click on "Pet Coat Pattern" and then look over the data:
From there, Click on "PetPeltLayers":
The first pelt layer is ALWAYS a solid colour, we'll begin by copying the LayerID (Instance ID) and going back to game file cruiser.
Just like previously, you should keep EP14 in the search bar and just use the instance ID bar to find things, as that's all we'll be doing.
Add the Pet Pelt Layer to your package file, then, copy the "texture key" from the Pet Pelt Layer:
Then find the Texture Key:
This is the solid colour layer, it HAS to be there as this is what will help you edit your base colour. Add this to your package file.
Now, our package file will look like this:
Unfortunately, we're not done, just yet, we'll want to grab at least the second PetPeltLayer:
Just like before, we're going to copy the ID and find the Pet Pelt Layer + the Texture for this layer:
Now, our package file will look like this:
You can now go ahead and close the Game File Cruiser, we won't be using it anymore.
Right now, this is our package file and we need to do some cleanup first.
We'll be opening up the PetPeltLayers once more and we'll remove the last 3 entries:
You should be left with only two entries, as that is what we'll be editing (leaving the other 3 will break the preset).
Now, we'll start generating new hash codes for everything:
As in my previous guides, be descriptive with what you're typing there and then just change the last number.
The process is annoying and slow, so bear with the images, and follow along.
The TextureKey coloured in red is the 3rd ID you'll generate, it's what links the texture to the Pet Pelt Layer, which links it to the Pattern we're creating. (Sorry for the squished thumbnail, open it in your browser, I was running out of picture space for the rest of the tutorial lol).
And now we repeat this for the second Pet Pelt Layer.
Now, if you want the game to just generate the thumbnail for you, you can skip this step, if you want to make a custom thumbnail, then copy the Pet Coat Pattern Instance ID into the two Thumbnails we've added to our package file:
This is what the package file has to look like at this point.
Now is the relatively easy part, editing the second RLE 2 Image. We won't touch the base, because it's not necessary.
I recommend using the Horse Diffuse Map as a base when you're drawing your pattern. It'll be easier to see what you're doing. You can download it here: Horse Diffuse Map.
Remember, that your pattern HAS to be white, black space is IGNORED by the game and considered a "transparent" layer, so that you can see the layer beneath the you're working on.
This is my quick, and lazy test one I've made, I use a PNG of the Diffuse Map as a base and on a separate layer I draw with white coloured brushes:
You may notice the very straight lines on the diffuse map - make sure to colour OVER them as if you do not, it will appear in-game because those are the seams where the mesh "meets"
Once you're satisfied with your pattern, you can go to export, just make sure that the white pattern is on a separate layer to the diffuse map. At this point you can add a black background underneath the white and export.
All you have to do is export the RLE2 Image you've edited as a DDS image in the L8 format:
Then, we're going to import it into our package and save our package:
Remember to not touch the completely white base coat!
Now that this is over, we'll go back to Pet Coat Pattern and edit some settings.
The first three settings is what I recommend changing around. The first setting changes the breed, the second setting changes how the coat pattern is labeled and the third setting changes the colour it's tagged under.
Only change "TagValue" - it will give you a dropdown menu, don't change anything else. The TagValueNumber changes automatically, so don't worry about it.
Additionally, don't forget to go into "PetPeltLayer" and change the colours, this is what will show up as "base" colour that you can change in-game. You can change them for every PeltLayerData file you have.
Now, save and go test it out in game:
Bada bing, bada boom we've got our "custom" coat preset.
If I've forgotten anything, let me know. This took me 2 hours to write, so forgive my typos. If anything is unclear, let me know. I ran into a struggle with the picture limit on Tumblr (found out that it's 30, I should move my guides somewhere else, but where?)
