How to make a custom ALLIED scope
Tools required:
1. Image editor like paint shop pro or Adobe photoshop (I will be using paint shop pro)
2. Zipping program (I prefer winzip)
3. Pakscape
(for packing into pk3 file extension)
Time required varies depending on user’s
ability and the depth of detail you are wanting.
Ok let’s start
We are going to make a scope
from scratch I mean not using the game file for the basis. The first thing I do
is open a new file in my paint shop (witch from now on I will simply call psp).We want it to be 256 x 256 with a transparent
background.
New Image
We want to fill our blank image with black so we will use the flood fill tool that is represented with an icon that looks like a tilted pain can. Then move your mouse over the image and click it should turn it black….notice in the pic that I have my color palette selected to black.
Click on the icon for preset shapes on mine it is on the left
hand side at bottom it is represented by a blue square and a red circle
After selecting that you need
to got to your tool
options drop down menu …..
And select the ellipse circle
with the options antialias
and create as vector selected. Then
look on the right side of your screen at your color pallet you want it to be black with only the top selection
selected
The first thing we need to do is to make the scope
ring (outer edge of scope so it looks like you are really looking through a
scope).
Start by placing your mouse
at the very bottom right hand corner of the new image and click the mouse now
while holding the mouse you will drag the
Circle till all 4 edges meet
the edges of your image. (You want to try to get all sides the same)
Now when you release the
mouse button it will look like your circle has disappeared but it didn’t; now
you will see like a four sided square image with a little
Box in the center ……….
now place your mouse in the
center most little box you will see your mouse change into 4 arrows then click
and hold now drag your circle back to the bottom right
Hand corner and release
Now we have the circle
centered but we need to make it larger. When making an allied scope like we are
doing here the game uses the zoomoverlay file
witch is a quarter of a full
circle so that means the game will take this one file and make four from it
therefore making a full circle, but all we need to do is make a quarter so now
I will grab with my mouse the top left little square box and drag it to the top
left hand corner. Once I get it there then I will release it then go back to
the center square and drag it again to the lower right hand corner to center it
again. I will repeat these steps till I get the circle big enough.
THIS IS THE SIZE WE WANT!!!!!!!!
OK now listen up and stay
with me because now we have to do some steps that are a little repetative, but must be followed once you get your circle
looking like
The one above we will go to
the top of your toolbar and under selections we will select, select none
Now your image will look just
plain black like it did when we started don’t worry your circle is still there,
after you have selected the select none
we want to select
the magic wand
tool and it is represented by a magic
wand, then look at your tool palette
and make sure the settings are the same as mine.
Settings
We want to move our mouse
over to the outside of were our circle was at and click it on the black you
will then see the out side shape of your circle
Here is where we click
This is what you will see
Now go to the top again and
find the layer palette when you move
your mouse over it, it will drop down you will see that you have 2 layers, layer2 will be highlighted
We want to change that to layer1 do so simply by clicking on layer 1
THE LAYER SELECTION
After you have selected the
correct layer we will go to the top toolbar
and select Edit, then from the
dropdown we will select Clear.
Pull down menu
Your Image should now look like
this if it was done correctly………
Image after selecting clear
Great now as you can see we
now have the outer edge of our circle completed….
After
we have cleared out the outer edge you will see your line still flashing so now
go back to selection and once again select none the line will then be gone.
What we need to do now is
make a inner circle, doing that we will repeat the
above steps by selecting our preset shapes. When we draw this circle what we
want to do is make it to where it is the same shape as the outer circle but
just a little smaller. Make the circle by following the same steps as above it
should look like this when completed
Inner circle
Again after completing this
step go to selection, and select
none. Then go to layer palette and select layer 3 (now there is 3) now go back to
your magic wand and then we will click on our image but this time on the inside
of our circle. When you have done that now the inside of the circle will begin
to flash.
Where to click
Flash
OK now go to your layer palette and select layer 1 ,once
again .Then back up to Edit and from
pull down we select clear, and then
back to selection and once again
Choose select none. Your image will now look like this
Very good now
we have a scope ring made. What we
will do here is try to make the ring look somewhat like a real scope ring would
look like. I prefer to use advanced plug-ins for this option but since I am
assuming this tutorial is for beginners we will use what is available in the
standard psp version.
Go over to your layer palette and make sure that layer 1 is selected after that choose
magic wand and place your mouse directly over the black circle and click,
When doing that the entire
black section will be highlighted and look like this
Highlighted selection
Now go to the top and choose Effects from that we want to choose Enhance Photo, and then manual color correction. The color I
will be selecting is of personal
Taste and also it will show
up better for visual purpose. I chose to use metals and then pewter.
Notice I have the 2 check boxes unchecked.
Once you have selected the color you want click Ok.
Effects, Enhance Photo, Manual
Manual color selection window
You will then return back to
your image with the ring still flashing but now it is the color that you have
chose previous. Now we are moving along……
New color
What we will
now do is make it look like it is beveled or more rounded like a real scope ring would appear.
Ok your new colored ring
should still be flashing so now we go to the tool bar and select Effects, then 3D Effects, and Inner bevel.
Here you can do some experminting with the bevel
types and light color to get the look that you like or you can use my settings
that you can see in the pic. After getting the bevel
you like click ok Now your image will still be flashing
but it will now have the beveled look. Then go back to selections and select none.
Effects, then 3D
Effects, and Inner bevel
The bevel selection
Finished bevel selection
Well as you
can see we are moving along nicely…… Now what we
want to do is to fill the out side of our circle black .
To do this go to
layer palette and select Layer 1 then
over to your magic wand after
selecting it move your mouse back over to the outside of your circle and click.
The out side of the image and
your circle will start to flash….Then we want to select the Flood fill tool and move the mouse
somewhere inside the flashing selection and click once. This will fill the
outer circle with black. Once you have that done go back to selections and select none.
Flashing selection
Filled selection
Wow look at
that will ya almost there. We now need a center dot
and some lines to help us line the shot up. This is where you can be very
creative depending on your taste and such. I will make some basic lines with a
green center dot.
First let start by selecting
the paint brush tool, it is
represented with a paint brush. Now we want to set the size and color of the brush. To do this we will first select
the size. Go to your tool options and from the drop down you want to select the
following: shape = round, size = 1, hardness = 100, opacity
= 100, step = 25, and
Density =
100. Now we want to change the color of the brush to a bright green we do this
by putting the mouse over the black box in our color palette then clicking once, this will bring up a color
selection wheel click on the ring for green and then click inside the box for
the desired shade of green, then click ok. You should notice that the black box
now turned green that is what we want.
Paint brush tool
Size and shape
Were to click to change color
Changing the color
Green is now selected
Ok now we must find were the center is…….it is at 255 x
255 to find this there is a ruler at bottom that tells you were you are at.. look at pic………….Now put your mouse over the image and move it around you
will notice the numbers will be changing we want the to be
255 x 255 once you have
reached those click once now we have a green center dot…(FOR THIS YOU MIGHT
WANT TO GO TO VIEW AND THEN ZOOM BY 1
THIS WILL MAKE THE IMAGE LARGER AND EASIER TO SEE THE DOT)
This is the ruler look at cursor at
bottom left
ZOOM BY 1
Ok we now have
a center dot!!!!!! Now for the vertical and horizontal lines………
Change your color now back to
black or any color you like and, start drawing a line from out side in on
bottom making sure that one number on the ruler stays at 255
I went from 39 x 255 to 239 x
255 then repeat that same step going from top to bottom …….(UNLESS YOU HAVE A
REAL SMOOTH MOUSE YOU WILL WANT TO DO THAT IN LITTLE INCEMENTS SO IF YOU GO OUT
OF LINE YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO START OVER, THAT GETS TO BE A REAL PAIN IN THE
BUTT!!!!)
39 X 255 239 X 255 BOTTOM
39 X 255 239 X 255 TOP
Well
hell yes !!!!!!!! look there
you now have a scope, but were still
not done. Now we have to make a mask
of the center so the game can see through it otherwise it will show up white in
game and you won’t get to kill no one…….
To create masks simply go to
the top toolbar and select mask, then
from the pulldown select new, and then from image. A
new box will appear and select only
source opacity then click ok…..now go back to top and under mask click view
mask you will now notice the inside of the circle turned red! That means that
the red will now be transparent in game!!!!! Now go back to top and under mask now click save to alpha channel a new box will appear click
ok then click ok once again..
Now it is
saved as an alpha image.
Mask selection
SOURCE OPACITY
View mask
Mask view
Save to alpha
Click ok
Click ok again
WELL OK, NOW YOU GO TO TOP AND UNDER FILE CLICK SAVE
AS WE WANT TO SAVE IT AS
ZOOMOVERLAY.TGA
The location is up to you because you will need to
make it into a pk3 file , but I save mine in the game
directory as
I have a file structure set up there so I can go in
game and view my skin before packing it up so I will save it to ea games\mohaa\main\textures\hud\
HERE IS OUR NEW CUSTOM SCOPE
Written by Capt. Kick your ass…
Contact
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CAPTKICKYOURAS@MSN.COM