Texture introduction

This section was written by @muuyo


This is the basic layer of all modding in Arcsys games - recolors! You may wish to expand to mesh modding later, but this is usually what people go to first - and so will be a bit more comprehensive.

First, the basic overview;

  • Extract the game assets to somewhere on your computer using Fmodel; I usually just export all textures from my desired character's Content/Chara/CHR/Costume01/Material folder. This should be in TGA; you need information saved in the alpha channel. In Fmodel, you can set the export format to TGA under Settings.

  • Open the textures for your color slot in Photoshop or Photopea (you almost always need separate alpha editing support)

    • These will usually be in:
      • Content
        • Chara
          • Character ID (e.g. SOL)
            • Costume01
              • Material
                • Base
                  • CHR_ILM, which is used for material properties - reflectiveness, drawn-on outlines, etc
                  • CHR_detail, which is used for little scrapes or folds drawn onto the character
                • ColorXX
                  • CHR_base, which is the main color
                  • CHR_Sss, which is the texture used for shadows - the game has no builtin "shadows" beyond this image
                  • CHR_Decal, which is used for "transparent" overlays onto the mesh that require transparency, per-color variance or color
                  • An assortment of other textures; CHRW_Base is the base for the Weapon, others are usually self explanatory.

  • Now that you have your character's textures in Photoshop, you can begin editing them. I would recommend viewing the section for previewing textures in Blender. As well, you may want to view the images page for a more detailed view on the operations of each texture.

  • Once you have your textures edited to a desired goal, you can export them as PSD or TGA with 32-bit color and Compression On for the latter. Take care as to the alpha layers, in the images section.

  • Then, simply pack them for Strive (or other Arcsys games) by following the Exporting section.