.utx and .uax

Rajada, what programs do you use to create/modify NAB texture and sound files?

Well, you use Nerfed to import, export, and save those files. As for making them, Photoshop, Audacity... Gimp is better for masked pcx textures. Ask me something more specific, or let me know what you're doing and I can give you a better idea.

I want to convert .mp3 files to .uax, and I want to convert .bmp, .jpg, etc. to .utx, for a NAB level I am planning to make. I need to create at least 45 textures and 12 sounds for the level, as an object in the level requires many simple but specific textures, and I don't want to make them with brushes because it would take too long and most of the textures will be on a mover. There will also be a couple of weapon skins, for HyperStrike and SecretShot meshes.

There is also an element of the level that may not be possible to make (cannot reveal what); if this is the case, I will make an alternate version that requires 0 new textures and only a handful of sounds.

Also, you could be more specific as well, I have no idea how to import/export textures with NerfEd (and I probably would have figured it out by now if I did)

Okay, perfect. Here's my quick and dirty tutorial:


NerfEd overview:

On the right hand side of the screen is the browser. By selecting the type of file from the top drop-down menu we can view the assets that are currently loaded. Since you are concerned with sounds and textures, I'll focus on those.

The texture browser is comprised of a texture pack selector (with arrows to click through the texture packs as well), a texture groups selector (think of them as folders inside the texture packs to aid in organization), the texture display window (buttons above it change the size of the textures shown), and the various options at the bottom. These bottom buttons are the main focus of our concern.

• Edit: shows the menu for editing in-game properties of the selected texture. When making changes, you must save them in editor afterwards.
• New: creates a new blank texture. Only used for making in-editor special effect textures.
• Apply: Applies the currently selected texture to the currently selected surface(s).
• Delete: Deletes the currently selected texture. Be careful, deleting a texture used in a map will render it unplayable.
• Load: Loads a utx texture pack file. You should always load a texture pack fully before importing, exporting, saving or deleting any textures inside it. Loading the texture pack indirectly by opening a map that contains only some of the textures will cause unused textured to be culled if you save the texture pack without loading it here first!
• Save: Saves the currently selected texture pack. Do not use this on the special (All) display texture mode, select a specific pack first.
• Import: Loads in an image file into the selected texture pack. A window will appear asking for the details of the import.
• Export: Exports the currently selected texture as a .pcx image file. A window will ask you where you want to export the file to. Useful if you want to grab a weapon skin and modify it.

The SoundFX browser is roughly the same. There is a sound pack selector, group selector, sound browser, and some more buttons below.

• Play: Plays the currently selected sound.
• Stop: Stops playing any sounds.
• Delete: Deletes the currently selected sound, once again, be careful.
• Load: Loads a sound pack into the browser. Always do this before editing a sound pack.
• Save: Saves the currently selected sound pack.
• Import: Load in a sound into the currently selected sound pack. A window will pop up asking for details.
• Export: Export the currently selected sound as a .wav file. Note that there is a bug that may cause the export to insert an extra period into the filename.

Creating a texture outside of NerfEd:

Let's start with your program. If you want maximum flexibility and the ability to make masked textures, I highly recommend the free editor Gimp . Now let's make a texture.

There are a few restrictions to keep in mind when creating custom textures. You must keep the dimensions limited to even numbers, preferably powers of two such as 16,32,64,128,256,512,768, or 1024 pixels. You should not go higher than 2048, or you risk crashes and texture errors. The dimensions need not be square however, your texture can be rectangular (such as 256 by 32)

I'm not going to go into making a texture. There's far better resources on the internet for that. Especially if you need help making a seamless, repeatable texture, I will skip to the next step.

Your texture must be saved in a specific format in order to import and mask correctly. It must be a .pcx file. .bmp may also be imported, but will have issues with masking. I recommend sticking to .pcx.

You will also need to index your color pallete to be able to use .pcx format. In Gimp, you can do so via Image -> Mode -> Indexed... Make sure Generate optimum pallete is selected and hit Convert. In theory, if you have a texture you want masked, the first color in the pallete should be your background color.

To save as a .pcx in Gimp, you will need to do a File -> Export As. In the bottom selector, select ZSoft pcx image. Also change the file extension to pcx. Set the name as desired, keeping in mind to not include any special characters or spaces in the name. Also save any files you wish to import to your desktop. Other directories are not guaranteed to work. If all has been done correctly, you can now move back to NerfEd for import!


Importing textures in NerfEd:

Now comes the easy part. Select your texture pack if it exists or just select Import if it does not yet exist. Select your texture and then hit Open. A window pops up, and here is where you can Rename the texture, name the texture group and package (if you selected a pre-existing group and package, it starts with those selections filled out already), and the special FX to apply. Masked will attempt to automatically mask out the background of a texture, making that part invisible. You should not have to fiddle with any of the other checkboxes. Hit okay (or okay to all for multiple pre-named textures). If the texture imported correctly, you should save your texture pack now (assuming you loaded it properly first if it was a pre-existing pack).

A more concise but technical explanation here .


Sound format overview:

Importing sounds is not that much different from importing textures, and as such, there is a specific sound format you need to adhere to. The sound must be mono (not stereo), uncompressed PCM (A.K.A. a .wav file), and be at a sample rate of 22 kHz.

For conversion, you just have to find a good program. Audacity will suffice. You can drag sounds in, edit them, then export them as uncompressed pcms (or .wav files) in the specified format above.

A more concise but technical explanation here .

more to come...