quake/articles/1997/art-1080
Path: mantis!not-for-mail
From: "Richard G. Brewer"
Newsgroups: rec.games.computer.quake.announce
Subject: Submitting Skins for QuakeWorld
Date: 19 Feb 1997 18:09:22 -0000
Organization: QuakeWorld Clan Administrator
Lines: 277
Sender: moderate@jobstream.co.uk
Approved: quake@mantis.co.uk
Message-ID: <01bc1bd3$96f7c180$5269e7ce@tron.cyberportal.net>
The New Quakeworld skin pack, pack 3 (QWS_9706.zip) is available at
ftp.idsoftware.com and it's mirrors in the /idsuff/quakeworld directory.
Attached is the readme included in the zip.
* * *
The Official Quakeworld Clan Skins Readme File - 2/8/97
---------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to QuakeWorld.
Contained in this zip are approximately 150 new skins submitted
during the week of 12/24/96 to 2/2/97.
For those of you who haven't picked up the initial skinbase
release, I encourage you to do so. It is available as QW_SKINS.ZIP
at the following locations:
ftp://ftp.idsoftware.com/idstuff/quakeworld/qw_skins.zip
ftp://ftp.stomped.com/pub/idstuff/quakeworld/qw_skins.zip
ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/quake/idstuff/quakeworld/qw_skins.zip
Updates are available at the same locations, in the format:
QWS_YYWW.ZIP (YY= year, WW=week)
Changes in this Release:
-----------------------
I've decided to drop the text files that go with the skins. Most
of the submissions I've been getting have not been formatted
properly as of late, making the decision easier. As most users download
new skins through QuakeWorld directly, there was really little point
in including them, since the text files aren't transferred with the skin.
This should cut down on the amount of space that the skinpacks take
up on the servers using them.
Installation Instructions:
-------------------------
**SERVERS:
1. If you have not done so already, create the following directory
structure in your quake directory :
quake - (main quake directory)
|__qw - (QuakeWorld data directory)
|_skins - (Skin files directory)
2. Unzip the contents of this archive into the skins directory.
3. Spawn your server. Clients will automatically download any skins
used in the current game upon joining (providing they don't have it
already).
**CLIENTS:
1. If you have not done so already, create the following directory
structure in your quake directory:
quake - (main quake directory)
|__qw - (QuakeWorld data directory)
|_skins - (Skin files directory)
2. Unzip the contents of this archive into the skins directory.
3. Run QWFE or QWCL. When you join a game, the skins will be used
automatically.
4. As updates occur, you may want to erase the contents of your
skins directory and allow the servers to refresh them. This will
ensure that you have the latest versions of the skins in the
skinbase.
Skin Editors:
-------------
Several people have asked me "What program should I use to
make QuakeWorld skins?" You can use any of several programs; Adobe
PhotoShop, Fractal Design Painter, Microsoft Windows Paintbrush
(heh...right ;)
Personally? I like JASC Paint Shop Pro (ok, JASC, there's your
plug...where's my Registered copy? ;)
You can get the latest version of Paint Shop Pro from any of the
following places:
http://www.windows95.com
http://www.shareware.com
As of this writing, the latest version is 4.12b
For those of you that do use PSP, I've included a copy of the quake
palette (quake.pal) for use in PSP. Just Drop it in your PSP
directory, then open PSP; go to "colors|load palette...", select
quake.pal, and you're all set.
Also, if you DON'T have QuakeMe yet, get it. It's an invaluable
tool for ensuring that your skin will appear properly when applied
to the player model.
You can pick up QuakeMe at:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~renep/quakeme
As of this writing, the latest version was 3.0b (beta).
HOW TO CREATE AND SUBMIT QUAKEWORLD SKINS
-----------------------------------------
1. Use the base.pcx included in this zip as your guideline.
Remember, just like back in grade school, keep in between the
lines. If you go outside the lines, you fail, and will be
held back another year.
2. There are six main areas of the skin.
a. The ax. Keep within the boundaries of the ax and
change it to your liking.
b. The shirt. In the base.pcx, the shirt is comprised
of 16 colors, #17 through 32.
c. The pants. In the base.pcx, the pants are comprised
of 16 colors, #113 through 128. Please keep in mind that
anywhere you use the shirt and pants colors, you will be
able to change those colors with the 'color # #'
command. Any other colors (not between 17-32 and
113--28) will NOT change. If you make your player's
Shirt a combination of colors 17-32, or even just one
color between 17 and 32, and you put a big dot in
the middle of your player's forehead of the same color,
then the dot and the shirt will both change to the same
color when you use the 'color # #' command.
d. The body, other than the shirt and pants. By default
these colors are static, they stay the same when you use
the 'color' command. But, you can make them change with
your shirt/pants colors also, by using the colors
mentioned above.
e. The weapon. You can change this detail and color,
once again, as long as you stay in the lines.
f. The flame. The flame is located between the players
leg and gun in the .pcx image. This is what appears when
the player shoots. You can change this to your liking if
you wish.
3. The colors 241-256 are 'full bright' colors. These
16 colors will ALWAYS be seen, regardless of whether your
player is in a shadow or in a brightly lit area. The red
dot/circle on the gun is a full bright color, just as is
the flashing crosses on the health spread throughout the
levels.
4. **IMPORTANT**: Be absolutely certain that you save your skin in
320X200 .pcx format and, 8 bit, 256 color mode. If you don't
(i.e. you save it in 64k color), your colors will NOT appear as
you drew them, when being viewed in QuakeWorld. Also, use the
default palette available when starting with base.pcx, do not
change palettes since this will cause you skin to display improperly
as well.
5. Be absolutely certain that you, yes you got it, stay within
the boundaries of the ax, body, gun and flame in the base.pcx
image. If you don't, QuakeWorld will NOT recognize any stray
markings outside these limits, and your image will not appear
as you drew it in your skin.
6. We will reject any lewd or otherwise inappropriate skins.
7. When you have completed your skin, save it as the first eight
characters of your clan's name, in accordance with #4 above. If
your clan name starts with the word 'Clan', for instance 'Clan
Dong', then drop the 'clan' part in the file name. Your skin
would be called dong.pcx. Also, if your clan begins with the
word 'the' drop this as well. For instance, if your clan name
was 'The Amish', your skin name would be amish.pcx. If your
clan name was 'The Clan I', your skin name would be i.pcx. If
we get more than one of the same skin name, we will notify one
of you of the new name we give it.
8. Now, do this correctly please. We will not go through and
make sure your skin is done properly. If you want to change your
skin, we will handle this at a later time, so do it right the
first time.
9. The base.pcx skin is copyrighted by id Software, Inc. and
is to be used only as a guide for you to make your own skin.
10. Here is exactly how your email should look coming to us.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Skin for Clan {clan name}
Body of the message follows:
Clan Leader: [Put clan leader's name here]
Full Clan name: [Put full clan name here]
Clan Email Address: [Put official clan email address here]
Clan Web Site: [Put full URL to your clan's web site here]
Name of Skin: [Put the file name of the skin here]
--------------------------------------------------------------
Your email should look exactly like this (obviously replacing the
'[Put ....]'s with the real thing). No signature, no garbage,
nothing, please.
It is IMPERATIVE that you make the subject line 'Skin for Clan
{clan name}', nothing else.
Send your FINISHED, PERFECT, JUST HOW YOU WANT IT FOR THE NEXT
COUPLE WEEKS AT LEAST, skin to:
qwskins@idsoftware.com
Thanks All...See you on QuakeWorld ;)
Richard G. Brewer
aka ^Drag0n^
QW ClanSkin Administrator
dragon@shax.idsoftware.com
---
Thanks to:
John "JohnC" Carmack
For letting me in on the development team, and putting up
with my annoyingly long emails, bug reports, and creative
input...
Barrett "Bear" Alexander
For taking away a better part of my free time ;)
I STILL owe you that beer...actually, I think YOU owe ME
one now ;)
American "tokay" McGee
For being the DARK part of "Dark Requiem." *PoP*
Walter "|2|" Costinak
Walt is simply the best damn CGI artist in North America.
If you havent seen Walt's work, I suggest looking at
http://www.fraservalley.com/2design/dr. It's one of the sharpest
pages on the web. Dark Requiem wears 2design clan apparrel
exclusively.
Dave "Kevorkian" Riller
"Mr. Quake" himself. Don't mess with this guy, he's a serial
killer-- Lord knows my butt hurts after playing a few rounds
with him...
Christian "Disruptor" Antkow
Christian's prowess in the matters of Quake has recently
paid off in spades-- he is now the official id newbie :)
Congradulations, Dis!
Geoff "Tarok" Scully
Always the voice of reason, and a true friend. You've not
only given the QuakeWorld developers an online place to share
ideas, but have made it a "virtual home away from home." Thanks,
Geoff...
Dark Requiem
Leeter than Leet-- "noone holds command over us.." ;)
--
Richard "^Drag0n^" Brewer
Quakeworld Clans Administrator
qwskins@idsoftware.com
dragon@shax.idsoftware.com