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Pomi Git

Feature Discussion: Simplified Gear texture management

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Hi guys,

I'm posting this thread to generate a bit of discussion about management and approach to gear textures/camo within the game.

What am I on about?

ARMA 3 has introduced a fantastic feature - Interchangeable gear. With the game now released many people are creating some fantastic re-textures. My own mod includes many variants of default uniforms, hats, vests etc. Most if not all people who do retextures create new playable units which use the retextured gear. I don’t think there is anything wrong with this (i'd be a hypocrite if I did) but it’s the same approach that’s been undertaken since Operation Flashpoint. Of course people could just release the mod with gear only and no units but that then means mission creators need to add everything manually. I can’t help but think that, with the flexibility offered by interchangeable gear, there has to be a better way to manage it.

What’s the concept?

What I would personally love to see is a simple way to manage textures separately to the model. To explain what I mean by this lets use a game like ‘Rainbow Six Vegas’ as an example. Before you launch into multiplayer you have the option to change your gear. Let’s say you want a different uniform, you select the uniform of your choice and once accepted you can then choose the texture. What I have highlighed here is more about UI but id like to see it simplified in the backend too. I.e I think it would be great if getting a new model texture simply required me to have the texture files only (no config compiled into a pbo).

So what’s the solution?

I’m sure there are many different ways of tackling it. A few thoughts I had are;

  1. Having options within the editor to choose model and texture separately from each other for factions or individual units. This would then be set for a mission but customisable in the mission config file.
  2. A new load out customisation menu prior to mission launch.
  3. Being able to place a texture in a set folder which is then picked up in the game as a new model texture
  4. There could well be existing features I’m unaware of within the game that could be cobbled together into a mod that could be used by whoever wants to use the feature.

Where from here?

Initially I just want to see what discussion this thread generates and what ideas people have. I’m happy for people to tell I’m wrong and they’re happy with the way it works now. I can imagine there would be some complexities and exceptions which I haven't thought of. But if there is strong consensuses for change I’d like to see what solution people can agree on. If it requires a feature request to be made on the feedback tracker I’ll take charge in raising this.

Edited by pomigit
Changed thread title

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Could a moderator please change the thread title to "Feature Discussion: Simplified Gear texture management"

I forgot to change this when I posted. Thanks

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  1. Having options within the editor to choose model and texture separately from each other for factions or individual units. This would then be set for a mission but customisable in the mission config file.
  2. A new load out customisation menu prior to mission launch.
  3. Being able to place a texture in a set folder which is then picked up in the game as a new model texture
  4. There could well be existing features I’m unaware of within the game that could be cobbled together into a mod that could be used by whoever wants to use the feature.

I'd go for that. A drop-down menu in every unit that would allow to choose uniform. That or a button that opens a new window with all the unit equipment. Same for the mission.

That way we would have few classes and lots of possibilities ( and people could work only in clothes, without having to made all the classes ).

NOTE: Same could be done with vehicles to choose different colors for cars or camos.

Edited by MistyRonin

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I was under the impression that things were going to be this way from the get-go. But, yeah I think some sort of Gear Select option should be available.

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you can it just takes a little more work to retexture units that are spawned in after the mission has started.

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I just wish I could use re-textured units in multiplayer.

I presume you are talking about a mod free version? This is possible via setobjectexture and by including your textures in the mission, but there are limitations to this.

As a mission player I would just like to be able to select the clothes I want and then choose the texture, maybe at a profile level. As a mission maker I want the same sort of option in the editor. As a mod creator I think having the option to simply create the texture and not having to worry about scripting would save a ton of time.

And MistyRonin is right, this should extend to many other things such as vehicles and weapons.

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Great idea but I foresee an increase in blue on blue if everyone in your side chooses different retextured uniforms at slot selection. People already have enough trouble PID'ing targets while all wearing the same uniform. I do like the idea relating to the mission editor though.

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Great idea but I foresee an increase in blue on blue if everyone in your side chooses different retextured uniforms at slot selection. People already have enough trouble PID'ing targets while all wearing the same uniform. I do like the idea relating to the mission editor though.

Yeah I guess that comes down to the implementation approach. I'm throwing in a range of ideas in this post relating to different aspects to texture handling but ultimately its about making it easier for people to a) create b) implement c) use.

Some of this might be more likely to come in ARMA 4 as it would require some fundamental changes to the way the game handles them. Here's another thought; wouldn't it be great if you could just create or download an image with only a camo pattern on it, pop it in a "texture folder" which then makes the texture available for any in game character, vehicle or equipment. Perhaps models could be set up to allow specific parts of the model to have interchange texture pattern with all the detail overlayed. E.g Pants on a character, main body of a vehicle, etc. Think about it like layers within photoshop. When I do textures for a model I actually manage it this way. I have a texture pattern and overlay it with all the detail i.e creases, fabric, stitching etc. It makes it really easy to swap out the colour or camouflage with something else

Edited by pomigit

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I'm not sure if it will be possible to have an external 'texture' folder but you could very well have custom textures just be stored in individual PBO files or some such.

Most of the work regarding this would be GUI and planning, and working out the best way to 'detect' textures without having have either the developer or players manually add them.

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I'm not sure if it will be possible to have an external 'texture' folder

I dont see any reason why not, you can do that to use a custom face texture for your profile.

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