Talk:Guide to modifying in-game graphics/Archive 1

GW:HULK
Omg, you broke the Guild Wars... they're all green now! Hulk style GW? ;) -- (CoRrRan / talk) 23:27, 26 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Hehe, i was trying to make a new skin for the UI i also have blue and red ;)~ Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 00:33, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Nice :) Can you write a tutorial how this works? ;) poke | talk 00:44, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Good idea maybe the community can make better mods :) ~ Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 00:45, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Tutorial
How is that for a tutorial :), feel free to correct my broken english ;) ~ Kurd 10:45, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Sounds great, thanks! I will try it later on :) poke | talk 11:25, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
 * When I try to save images with transparent background (as png) it is saved with black background. In game it is shown with transparent background. How can I get images with real transparency? poke | talk 13:00, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm having this problem as well - I'm going to try it with the translucency option on, and see if that helps AT (talk | contribs) 13:30, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Same thing for me, i open then in Photoshop and use magic eraser to make them transperant again, Takes 2 secs. ~ Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 13:40, 28 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Brilliant! Got it working now, just took some effort in photoshop like you said. My first effort is pretty small, but I hate working out where spirit range is, so I added it to the radar.
 * [[Image:User AT Spiritrangemod.jpg]]
 * I'm pretty interested in helping with a reskin of the UI, if I can motivate myself enough to do it :/ AT (talk | contribs) 14:37, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Nice one AT, that kind of information is actually useful too. -- [[Image:User Corrran sig.png|CoRrRan]] (CoRrRan / talk) 14:39, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Nice idea, I'll have to do that one myself once I find the time to try modding the game. (even though I'm on a break from playing, I'm eager to try modding it :P) -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 16:02, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * If you want, I can upload the .tpf file. AT (talk | contribs) 16:15, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * There's no need really as I'm modding just for fun, not for better game play as I don't play currently. :) -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 17:00, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Maybe if you upload it somewhere you can put the link in the article for people to download ~ Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 17:05, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I think we should put up a sub page for mods created by users. (remember a warning tag that the downloaded stuff might be harmfull) -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 17:18, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Good idea, but whats you so long from moving the page :P ~ [[User:Kurd|Kurd ]] 17:21, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Temporary one Here in case anyone wants it. I'm nearly done with a beta-ish UI mod, so I'll post that up asap, and you can all mock my photoshop skills :D -- AT (talk | contribs) 17:41, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * O very nice. The ui is really a pain as a lot of thigs are so small that you can barely edit them. As always, i'll leave it up to you guys :P ~ Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 14:41, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * A lot of stuff is small, but the main problem is a lot of files are being extracted weirdly, or rely on a few different layers. This is how Frenzy came out, for example.
 * [[Image:User_AT_WeirdFrenzy.png]]
 * Another potential problem is reflections; I'm not sure how GW handles these, but a small change to some kurzick armor came out very strangely. The UI stuff seems to be ok though, so I may start work on it next week. It's something to take my mind off dissertation research :( AT (talk | contribs) 14:47, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

I'm guessing you mean this The problem here i think is that the file itself is 8bit, but the textmod exports it as 16bit, i dont have a program to change it back to 8bit >.< ~ Kurd 16:54, June 28, 2007 (UTC)
 * That's exactly what happened to me - strangely, changing a piece of armor reset it. I think I'll steer clear of modding armor/weapon textures :) AT (talk | contribs) 15:30, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * It resets because every time you you change a piece of armor it genarates a new piece of texture

this is the piece i used for the Screenshot above, this thing that caught my eye was that the part that i eddited(the mask) isnt a shiny ~ Kurd 15:41, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Ahh, cheers for that info. It'll take me a bit of time to get to grips with this method of modding, I'm more used to Morrowind and it's lovely construction set :( AT (talk | contribs) 16:15, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I think I've found a solution to the "shiny" effect. Each reflective item has 2 textures: the item texture itself, and then what I assume is an alpha channel. Once I get to grips with it, it'll be possible to edit this, but for now I'm filling the alpha channel black, which makes the item fully matte (i.e. no reflections at all). -- AT (talk | contribs) 20:06, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * So how about telling us how you do it! :P ~ Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 10:18, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

The alpha channel of the textures are more than likely maps for specular information. So if you wanted to add shiny buckles to a texture you'd have to go to the same area in the alpha channel as the colour map and increase the brightness. --Redfeather 07:51, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I still have no idea on how you actually extract the files. Any help please? --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:195.158.84.133.
 * See step 6 in tutorial: select next texture until you find it (+ key), then press "log with" key you set in step 4. - MSorglos (talk|contrib) 14:49, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

SOLVED PROBLEM WITH SHININESS:

http://home.scarlet.be/yanman/gw051.jpg gotta find a texture like this: http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/7620/mapqh0.jpg and make it black ( i suck at wiki ) yanman
 * What do you mean with make it black ~ Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 21:20, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Open in paint..make it all black...(the spotted thingy ). Only needs to happen once I believe, it's not unique. makes are armor non-shiny afaik. yanman
 * O very nice, thanks a lot :) i'l put it in the guide ;) ~ Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 23:38, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
 * why don't we put the shiny fix up for DL?- FireFox [[Image:firefoxav.png]] 23:52, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Because then you would have manually edit the TextMod.txt ~ Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 23:56, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
 * There isn't one fix - although some of the reflection maps (spotted thingies :p) are shared by more than one texture, there's quite a lot of them. So for every armor/weapon you edit, you'll need to black out the corresponding map. The new note on the tutorial is incorrect. -- AT (talk | contribs) 23:58, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

Move to "Guide to modding GuildWars"
am i allowed to move this article to "Guide to modding GuildWars", like Guide to luck titles ~ Kurd 16:16, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Let's wait for some more feedback, but eventually I think we should do it. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 17:39, 27 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I dont think were gonna get any more feedback, this page is so hidden ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 09:00, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Watch this. :P -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 09:19, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * If this page gets moved to the main namespace, I'd really appreciate if we could replace the current download link (http://members.chello.nl/s.ahmed4/kurd/Texmod.exe) with the official one (http://www.tombraiderhub.com/tr7/modding/texmod/download/texmod.zip)? Nothing personal, Kurd, but I'd rather our readers use a version of the program which has been tested by thousands others before, rather than an untested potentially insecure executable hosted on someone's personal webspace. --Dirigible 09:47, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Ok go ahead :) ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 09:56, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Kinda strange that Texmod doesn't have its own webspace either, but that it is a part of Tombraiderhub.com. But I changed your document according to Dirigibles notes. I also changed "Textmod" to "Texmod", as this seems to be the appropriate spelling of the tool's name. -- [[Image:User Corrran sig.png|CoRrRan]] (CoRrRan / talk) 11:31, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Ye i know a, A lot of other games use it too, so its not specifically designed for Tombraiderhub ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 12:27, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * That modding tool sounds fun - so bad I am very poor at graphics... I think that this modding guide is a good thing for main namespace, but there really must be a note on every subpage that hints that all is done at own risk. A subpage for user made mods is a good idea, also I think there should be some "official" testing of mods listed there to reduce abuse with harmful mods. - MSorglos (talk|contrib) 18:19, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I think that the sub page should be open for anyone to put their mods on it. Any testing results etc should be on the talk page, but any harmful (is that really possible with a graphics mod?) mods would ofcourse be removed from the page. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 19:59, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't think it can be harmful - the worst that happens is you get a dodgy looking texture, which can easily be fixed by deselecting the mod. Or you get a bit of slowdown with larger mods. I'd be happy to test any mods posted, though, and I think each one should be uploaded with the log file. This'll help prevent two mods from changing the same file, which is the only thing I can see causing hiccups. AT (talk | contribs) 20:06, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * even that wont happen, if two files replace one texture textmod will automaticly take the one that on top of the list ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 21:35, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

(reset indent) Is this ready to go into the main namespace, then? Something like Modding the game, with Modding the game/User Mods. (Can you tell I'm itching to get people interested in this? :p ) -- AT (talk | contribs) 22:39, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Imho Guide to modifying Guild Wars graphics. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 22:44, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Sounds good to me. -- AT (talk | contribs) 22:46, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * /signed Do it alrdy! ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 22:56, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Let's wait until tomorrow evening just to be sure. No need to rush decisions. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 23:14, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Just wanted to say that I'm for moving into main space ;) But I would prefer Guide on modding or something like this poke | talk 23:33, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm away for the next 3 days, but I've uploaded two early mods here. If this goes onto the main namespace before monday, can someone please throw them into the user mod section for me? Cheers :D -- AT (talk | contribs) 00:32, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Yeah, of course ;) And btw.: "Things that aren't moddable (as far as I can tell) - Text" - This is obviously because Guild Wars uses a font and not image for image characters ;) But I noticed that TexMod can export to PFM so maybe you can extract the font...? poke | talk 00:58, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * (Last note before I head off to London) Actually, the problem is that it DOES use textures for text; I can quite easily extract the relevant one. It then redraws this every time you type into the chat box, password field, or if the notes on the login page change, for example. It sounds bizzare, and I'm not 100% sure if that's how it works, but after mucking about with the UI most of yesterday, it seems that way. Which is a slight pain for UI modding, as you can't really do anything light and still see the text. It could just be me being rubbish, though :p -- AT (talk | contribs) 07:31, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I agree with poke something like "Guide to modding" would be better ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 10:18, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * The title should accurately explain what the article is about. Although 'modding' is easier to write than 'modifying' I think we should use the correct english words, not abbreviations, in page titles. And the short page title 'Guide to modifying' doesn't reveal anything about the target of the modifying, which are the graphics of GW. Note that it's important to mention graphics as most viewers would otherwise first think that players are able to mod other parts of the game like game mechanics etc. This is why I want it to be Guide to modifying Guild Wars graphics. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 11:00, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * but Guide to modifying Guild Wars graphics sound so nerdy, O well better than the current one ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 11:06, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * And Why would you want to use the words "Guild Wars" in there? It is not like this guide is going to be about how to mod Half-Life graphics, as it is a wiki for GW. Isn't it a bit redundant to mention Guild Wars? Guide to modifying in-game graphics is sufficient IMO. -- [[Image:User Corrran sig.png|CoRrRan]] (CoRrRan / talk) 11:16, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Very Nice, i like ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 11:49, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * You make a point. :) What about Guide to modifying game graphics? ;P edit: I like your suggestion better. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 13:06, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * I would prefer "Guide to modify in-game graphics". - MSorglos (talk|contrib) 16:11, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Shouldn't it be "Guide on modifying..."? It's sounds more correct for me (but I'm German so I don't know it correctly :P) poke | talk 16:20, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I think it's 'guide on', although I'm not 100% sure. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 16:52, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Hm, my Oxford Dictionary sais "guide (to sth)" - but in my opinion it sounds not correct ^^ poke | talk 17:47, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Just checked, it's to. Remember the book series 'Idiots guide to X'? :) -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 17:49, 29 June 2007 (UTC)

Strange things...
... I just found out. I was in Dragon's Lair to test if I can get a good map out of the minimap by exporting the texture. It works of course but in addition to the map of Dragon's Lair I got the map of Sorrow's Furnace and one map with all 4 stages of the Tomb of the Primeval Kings. Could that mean that all 3 "dungeons" are internal connected? poke | talk 22:49, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * nah - FireFox [[Image:firefoxav.png]] 22:58, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * You're so talkative. ;) - anja  [[Image:User Anja Astor sig icon.png|talk]]  (contribs)  22:58, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * Sorry Anja, short responses are kinda a Texan habit >.> - FireFox [[Image:firefoxav.png]] 23:00, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
 * You'll notice that the underground areas in Factions are "connected" too. So are some of the underground parts of Nightfall.  All of the Realm of Torment maps too. Ah. Speaking of which, I need to report a bug with the Nundu Bay mission. ;) — [[Image:User_Kyrasantae_Fin_sig.gif]]  kyrasantae  17:31, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

Texmod doesn't seem to spot textures
I followed the instructions of the tutorial from 1 to 6 but no matter how many times I click + or - it still says "No Texture selected"

How do I fix this? --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:210.213.238.27.


 * Do you use the +/- on the numpad? poke | talk 09:03, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

You have to use the numpads - and +, the one at the end of the numbers on a normal keyboard wont work Omens 14:44, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

And what about the people that dont have numpad i.e people running GW with laptops i.e me :(? Ah just found an ingenius method of getting around this. You can use the virtual keyboard found in the accessibility options in windows :)
 * On my (laptop) keyboard I have a function key to enable a numpad (keys 789uiojklm,.) Perhaps you also have such. - MSorglos (talk|contrib) 17:34, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

Archive
This talkpage is getting waaaay out of hand,am i allowed to archive? ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd 11:44, 5 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Of course, just keep non-resolved issues on the original page. If any other responses to 'old' items come up, people will just have to restart the conversation. -- [[Image:User Corrran sig.png|CoRrRan]] (CoRrRan / talk) 13:45, 5 July 2007 (UTC)

Archive 2
Replaced from "Resolved Issues:" This was moved to "resolved issues," but we feel it is important for people to have the information provided here, so that they can make the proper choice as far as whether they get involved in modding and the use of third party programs. If it should indeed be archived, perhaps a redirect... ? --Gaile  22:24, 5 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Although the conversation IS very interesting, the main part of it has been incorporated into the main article: Guide_to_modifying_in-game_graphics. Personally, I think it can be archived, perhaps with a link in the main article to the Archived-conversation. -- [[Image:User Corrran sig.png|CoRrRan]] (CoRrRan / talk) 22:36, 5 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Gaile's conversation's are interesting, but the common guy asking for help(and being helped) conversation can be archived right? ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 22:38, 5 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes, everything that involves non-Arena.Net response on the modding-issue and is resolved can be archived IMO. -- [[Image:User Corrran sig.png|CoRrRan]] (CoRrRan / talk) 22:40, 5 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Kurd asked me to note this discussion, and I do agree with the archiving choices described here. --Gaile [[Image:User gaile_2.png| ]] 06:00, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

Opening a .tpf file
Is there anyway to open a .tpf file and see whats inside? I was playing around with this but I haven't figured out how to look whats in a .tpf file. ~Izzy @-&#39; 19:30, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * no there inst. TexMod locks them so no one can edit it and get away with your mod ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 19:57, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Ahh ok thanks! ~Izzy @-&#39; 20:03, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Editing Armor and Weapons without Losing Reflect
By using the output format DDS you can load textures without having to remove the reflect maps letting you create some interesting possibilities if you are experienced with editing reflect maps as well. Also worth noting there is another 3% or so of radar hidden behind the ring that can be shown with a few clever edits 24.19.92.171 10:55, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * when i try to save a DDS file in photoshop is says too many channels >.< ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 11:03, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Did you delete the "Background" layer? If so, right click on the texture's layer and choose Flatten Image, that should fix the problem. EvilNeato 04:03, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * btw. DDS fully supports transparency.
 * To work in Photoshop with DDS, you need these plugins from NVidia poke | talk 11:09, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Any hope for a graphics mod downloads page, have a few edits that would most likely be well received, and probably a few that wouldn't, but i suppose thats up for the user to decide. 24.19.92.171 11:15, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I suggest you get yourself a login and put those mods on your userpage. We're not entirely ready to get the mods listed in the main namespace, due to a rather quick decision to put this article about third party programs involvement with the game into the main namespace. See also this and this. -- [[Image:User Corrran sig.png|CoRrRan]] (CoRrRan / talk) 11:31, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * If you use the photoshop plugin from above the setting which seem to work the best for me is Any with RGBA in them, or in colour with an alpha channel for short Omens 14:46, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

Mod request
I've thought of a mod request already, a little bit stolen from someone over @ gwguru: I want a health bar for myself and for the party window, showing 25%, 50% and 75% Health indicators. I personally suck at graphics, but I know there will be folks who will be able to do this for 'the community'. The only thing that might make this a bit of a problem is all the colorings for the health bar in the party window (condition, hexes, and Deep Wound indicator). -- (CoRrRan / talk) 11:57, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Believe me, Ive tried, as of the moment with the current tool available, it cannot be done. 24.19.92.171 12:02, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * It could be, but it'd be distorted under deep wound. Have you tried adding markers to the health bar borders? -- AT (talk | contribs) 12:04, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Yea, it made markings but due to how small the boarder is it gets stretched to be nearly 1/8th the width of the bar and looked really sloppy, no hope for a clean marking. Ill see if i can come up with something better, got a few good ideas based on what you said 24.19.92.171 12:07, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * UPDATE: Thought of a reasonable method, implementing it now, does require some calibration on the users part to tell it where 25-50-75 are but once done it will stay accurate, should be done with the actual edits in about an hour 24.19.92.171 12:13, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Excellent! I encountered the same problem with the scaling when trying just now :( -- AT (talk | contribs) 12:22, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * If this doesn't impress you, nothing will http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/2389/wipeo9.jpg 24.19.92.171 12:33, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * It looks good already, but I don't need the numbers there, so only indicators would be all I need. And I guess there won't be much that can be done with the party window? -- [[Image:User Corrran sig.png|CoRrRan]] (CoRrRan / talk) 12:37, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I can release it now if you would like 24.19.92.171 12:41, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Brilliant! I'm guessing that you're Ailia on GWGuru - would you mind adding a quick note about DDS to the tutorial? I would, but you seem to know more than me :D -- AT (talk | contribs) 12:50, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I would but I cant edit wiki worth crud, most of the information needed is already floating around in this talk, link for DDS Photoshop plugin was mentioned earlier I believe. If your willing to help me sort out setting up a Userpage ill get some download links going, and mabye some tutorials and tricks I've already come up with such as the markers ^^Ailia 12:54, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't mind helping at all - if you go to User:Ailia/Mods and edit away, we'll hopefully be able to link it from this page soon. This should be enough to get you started, but if you have any questions, shoot me a message on my talk page -- AT (talk | contribs) 13:00, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Kk, got the basics down, just dont know how to get it to draw shapes and such, used to working with HTML and DIVs, not psudocode ^^ Ailia 13:06, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * This might help you -- AT (talk | contribs) 13:53, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

I still get the shiny effect when exporting to DDS, can some1 explain :P ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd 13:37, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * You probably didn't change the alpha. Go to Channels -> Alpha. You edit it black/white colors, you'll notice the transparent parts seem red-ish. Also, make sure when you save the dds that you save it in a format that supports alphas. I generally use the DXT ones due to familiarity, but I haven't tested enough for GW yet to give a good response on what format you should be saving in.EvilNeato 23:59, 5 July 2007 (UTC)

Transparency
Is there any way other than photoshop to make the logo transparent and not black? --Vinria Karok 15:24, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
 * GIMP should be able to do the same thing. It's free, and available here. I don't know if there's a .dds plugin available though, but I assume so. -- AT (talk | contribs) 15:37, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
 * http://www.devmaster.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4025, http://registry.gimp.org/plugin?id=4816 and there a lot other.. poke | talk 15:40, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

Texture of one armor used on others too?
I changed the elite courtly armor for mesmers, but in game every other armor, with one exception, used the same texture. After wearing that one armor, all the textures went back to their unchanged ones, even the elite courtly. Any idea what happened and how to stop that? --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:84.56.217.90.
 * See the tutorial section above ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 11:45, 5 July 2007 (UTC)
 * You mean this:" It resets because every time you you change a piece of armor it genarates a new piece of texture"? SO basically we can do nothing about it. Modding armor is nearly useless.
 * This is my problem: This is the Kurzickarmor-Texture mapped onto the Courtly Elite armor.



Png and Alpha Channel
The article suggests saving the output as .png to conserve alpha channels. This is oddly untrue (from my experience) with these files. I had to manually re-add the alpha channel to get transperancy to work again. I'm going to change the suggested file type to .tga unless someone has a complaint. ~<font color=#FF0000>Harshateja
 * I put PNG and GIF there in the first place because TGA, DSS and all the other require other programs(photoshop, etc) to view. changing it back, discuss here first then change ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 11:41, 5 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I'd support adding a .dds note, as it's much easier to use once you're used to it. It'd need a mention of the plugins and their availability, especially which options to use when saving / loading. I'm not particularly experienced with them, or else I'd write it. -- AT (talk | contribs) 02:29, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * PNG should be removed, simply because IT DOES NOT WORK!

Why not just use .bmp? I tried editing using the .png suggestion originally, and the transparency broke. Extracting as .bmp, editing the image, then saving with no additional tweaks works flawless, and doesn't require any additional addons. (But for the record, I'm editing the files with Photoshop CS3, which may save the files differently than using say, MS Paint. If you've had experiences with .bmp otherwise, please feel free to mention it.) losershawn 10:51, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * BMPs do not support transparency, and I haven't started messing around with textures yet, however I believe that the bmp format should work fine as long as the image contains no transparency and it's saved with the correct colour depth. -- Gordon Ecker 02:26, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I have yet to find a texture without transparency ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 02:27, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Sorry, but that's just flatout wrong, as BMPs obviously do support transparency. This is a screenshot of me editing a .bmp, note the extension and the presence of an alpha channel. And here is a cape I made with .bmp, and this is a bmp-made rank emote. And finally, here's the Wikipedia entry for .bmp. Now, would you like any further proof? :p   losershawn 10:51, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * You're correct, I wasn't aware of 32 bit RGBA bitmaps, although I did know that it was possible to decompose an RBGA image into a 24 bit bitmap and an 8 bit grayscale bitmap representing the alpha channel. -- Gordon Ecker 05:17, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Actually, I take back my suggestion to use .bmp after reading this post by Brett Kuntz. Unsure if people are familiar with him, but he's the creator of the first ever GW mods, such as G-stats, and the UT Kill Sounds mod. He's forgotten more about modding than most of us will ever know, therefore I'd strongly endorse his suggestion that if possible, modding with .dds files is the way to go. Perhaps even link to programs and plugins that will support .dds for free, such as the open source editing program The Gimp, and the .dds plugin available for it. losershawn 10:51, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * You're editing it in Photoshop, normal people don't have photoshop. They do all their editing in Paint ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 10:09, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * That's why I suggested we may want a link to The Gimp, as linked above. It can do everything Photoshop can - perhaps even more due to it's extensive plug-in support. And best of all, it's open source and completely free versus having to pay $1000 American for the latest Photoshop. losershawn 10:51, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Help (Party Screen Transparency)
I'm new to modding. I'm trying to make my party screen more transparant. I have a few problems: -It won't get transparant, when I make it transparant (using photoshop 7.0) and save it, the game will load it as full on black. -The transparancy overlaps the players' health, so I can't see any health changes. Can anyone tell me how to fix these two things? Xero 13:03, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Well someone removed my question to you to clarify your problem a bit but here is some more info...


 * To make the background of your party screen more transparent you'll need to edit the alpha channel which is what controls the transparency. In photoshop click on the channels tab and you will see 5 channels. RGB, Red, Green, Blue, Alpha.


 * The alpha channel will look black white and grey. There is a very pale near white grey square in the center of this alpha. To make this segment more transparent you just need to make that grey segment a darker grey. The closer to black you make stuff on an alpha channel the more transparent it will become. The closer to white the less transparent.


 * You can easily mess with this at your login screen so you don't have to log in and out many times. Imaginos 06:52, 6 July 2007 (UTC)


 * [[Image:Modhelp1.jpg]]

Its definitelly fun
And you can do actually someting usefull that cuminity was asking for a long time: Like helping with carto title
 * Very nice, but it works only for inline clouds. For border things it does not work because the complete explored map (which is not possible ingame) is a lot larger. poke | talk 23:00, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Mixed Feelings
I'm not sure how I feel about this at the moment. On one hand it is pretty awesome to be able to moddify textures to your own liking but at the same time I find this could provide some unfair advantages to people with a little more know how when it comes to modding. The ability to be able to moddify the radar or color certain characters colors in PvP could provide a certain level of advantage, a small one in my opinion, but one none the less. I can see this growing into a problem and having Anet reverse their feelings regarding this ability. Hysteria 1:04 p.m EST, 1 July 2007
 * Well, now that it's out inthe public, no one can remove this possibility anymore and there is no way for ANet to prevent people from doing this. The best thing we can do is to put all mods up for downloading so that anyone can use them. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 19:13, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
 * But I don't think that there will be much advantages.. Spirit range can be estimated very good and making other players more visible by modifying their armor is not needed as you can see them always by clicking ALT/CTRL.. poke | talk 19:28, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Can you mod ALL armor of a certain type to appear a certain way to you? If so, the change may seem insignificant, but imagine all monks in PvP sticking out by wearing shimmering silver armor.  All of any profession could be modded to be instantly identifiable, elimination the need to tab through enemies or Ctrl+click them to find the monks, or the various mid-line characters. Kami No Kei 20:14, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
 * More like all monks have a "kill me" sign over their head like the huge green GM tags. No thanks. --Life Infusion &laquo;T&raquo; 20:17, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
 * To do that you would have to go trough all faces, all skin colors, all armor armor combo's, all hair colors and all dye combinations as the game make a new texture for every character(see the texture above) so unless you can guess what armor-combination(dye,mixed sets),skin color, hair, hair color the enemy monk has you cant adjust it ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 21:07, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
 * If you just changed the color of a texture to say bright red or green that would be all you need to do. Just do that with the PvP armors and every monk on your screen would stick out like a sore thumb. No need to alter every detail to take advantage of this. Plus if you didnt really wanna change textures the program its self highlights with bright green all textures on the screen as you sort through them. In about 30 seconds or less you can have at least 1 monk or whatever highlighted and easier to target and follow with your eyes. Just that alone can give SOME people an advantage. Also changing certain skill animations or they're colors can keep you alerted to whats being cast around you without actually having that guy targeted. These are just the tip of the iceberg. Hysteria 21:20, 1 July 2007 (UTC)

A mighty admin once said: "The best thing we can do is to put all mods up for downloading so that anyone can use them." - Gem 5 minutes before Searing. I think we should follow this wise solution ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd 21:46, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
 * If you can't tell what a monk looks like you have bigger problems - FireFox [[Image:firefoxav.png]] 21:49, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
 * (edit conflict) I don't think this can be used to create an inbalance in PvP, but there's people way more creative about these sort of things than me. Scrolling through textures to highlight a monk would take a while - even filtering through drawn textures, that's 400 or so until you get the right one. Putting a huge GM title above someone or any marker of that sort is not possible as far as I know - you can only change existing textures. For highlighting PvP armor, as kurd said, armor textures are redrawn for every single change (one of the reasons it may be a pain to mod them) so you'd need literally every possible combination. You really would have to change every detail. Even if someone does manage it, we're not exactly going to keep any possible unbalancing mods up here. -- AT (talk | contribs) 21:55, 1 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Don't get me wrong, I would love to be able to add some of my own stuff in the game and to be able to use others creative content. I would also breathe a sigh of relief if the only mods anyone had access to were ones that were freely available to all. Unfortunately, this isn't going to be the case. The potential for abuse and some sort of cheating is now possible and that is my concern. In my opinion anything that could give someone an unfair advantage, even if immensely minute, should not be allowed in this game. One of the main things that I love about this game and keeps me playing over the years was the fact that GW retained it's integrity and was not prone to hacks or cheats. With the tournaments that GW frequently has and the possibility of winning some valuable cash and merchandise, I believe the motivation exists for some people to take this as far as they can to help them win. I believe it's now just a matter of time, that is if it's not already to late, before this has a negative impact on Guild Wars as we know it. I only hope that I'm wrong. Hysteria 01:10, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Only time will tell, but really, I can't see a way to seriously imbalance the game with this. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 05:33, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
 * A good team in Guild Wars doesn't win by being able to discern professions by colors. I really doubt there will be any way to gain an advantage by modding the game visually. Perhaps when someone figures out a way to make auto-targeting pick targets based on preference, then it might create an imbalance, but for all I know of this mod method, that's not even possible. It only subs a user defined image for an original one.
 * Let's wait and see what happens. I trust A.Net will be quick to take action if there is a report from somewhere in the community regarding people getting a serious advantage over others through an external modification to the game and I am 100% sure that once something like will come out. I seriously doubt that people will be able to keep something like that quiet and to themselves. -- [[Image:User Corrran sig.png|CoRrRan]] (CoRrRan / talk) 07:38, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Wow Hysteria, if you consider this an "unfair advantage" against players who don't use it in PvP, I'd hate to see your reaction when you find out about Vent. Ridiculous. 74.79.5.19 22:44, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
 * TeamSpeak doesn't directly interact with the game, making it unambiguously outside the scope of the ToS, just like a conference call or tape markings on the monitor. -- Gordon Ecker 23:31, 7 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I'd love to hear an explanation on how that's even remotely related to "anything that could give someone an unfair advantage, even if immensely minute, should not be allowed." If you don't think TS gives an advantage against a team without it, then you lack high-level PvP experience.74.79.5.19 01:25, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
 * TeamSpeak doesn't give any advantage you couldn't get with other, generally less practical solutions such as playing in the same room. It doesn't give an unfair advantage, it levels the playing field with those teams who live close enough to eachother to make regular LAN parties practical. -- Gordon Ecker 02:01, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

Armour Transparency
Does anyone know how to create transparency on actual armour? Some parts of the armour get transparent when I modify the alpha channel to black but the main body of the armour only starts to reflect more/less when I edit the alpha channel.--SiDima 16:31, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Read some of the sections above (you can also check the archive), there is alot of questions and answers about transparency and alpha channel :) (And feel free to note again if I'm wrong and the answer isn't there) - anja  [[Image:User Anja Astor sig icon.png|talk]] 17:51, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * As I mentioned, alpha channel does not create transparency on the main body of the armour. You do get some parts transparent. In particular these are the 0 thickness armour parts such as the skirt part of the aeromancer leggings.--SiDima 21:35, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * As has been mentioned before the alpha channel is not just transparency, in most armours its the reflection map, in others its the transparency, even in the same texture, so doing what you want will involve some trial and error, as you might have to find the reflection part of the alpha for that bit etc. --Omens 02:49, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

Is it "Officially" safe now?
Like 100%? --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:210.213.127.48.
 * As save as it can be, read the "official" comments. They cannot give us 100% if you could use it for harmfull things.- MSorglos (talk|contrib) 13:45, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

3D Ripper DX
Another helpful tool for modding might be 3D Ripper DX which can extract full 3D sceneries with textures and everything (at least it claims to do so). Please note: I did not try that program myself and I have no clue whether it works or not and whatever it might do to your game, computer, hard drive, hair cut or beloved cat. Approach with caution... T.T.H. 08:50, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm nit going to try that out. Second if i read the site correctly it exports models to 3DMax... ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 10:28, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * and? that's bad? how else do you want to edit 3D models than with 3DMax, Maya, Cinema4D, etc.? T.T.H. 10:51, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
 * No but for model's your would have to get permission from Anet, as model do give a HUGE advantage above other's ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 10:55, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

Problems extracting textures
Hello everyone...i tried several times and TexMod doesn't seem to spot textures.And yes,i press the + on the numpad,but it just fills the password's place.Plz help me i'm desperate :(

ty in advance --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:62.123.121.125. 2007 July 10


 * Did you activate "Show Texture on the upper left corner"? And do you see anything in the upper left corner? poke | talk 09:53, 10 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Well,i've actived it...but when i hit the + key nothing happens.. --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:62.123.121.125.

Download
So now that the program is gaining more /fame, how about making a Download section with links to mods ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd 01:35, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * As much as I'd like to get mine up there, I think we could do with a couple of days to make sure this is staying in main namespace. -- AT (talk | contribs) 01:57, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Agreed. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 05:31, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Hmmm... My comment was lost when Gaile reverted the page. I was trying to say we need a download section. I Suggest a subpage to list the link and maybe some people to test them. ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 10:11, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, it seems like its staying, what about download section now? Even better, separate page. Zweistein 17:08, 11 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Feel free to create Guide to modifying in-game graphics/Player made modifications or similiar. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 17:43, 11 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I love you man! ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 18:24, 11 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm about to leave my PC, but I have to say I disagree (bit of a turnaround, I know). I'll just repost my reasons from below. "After the response from Gaile saying that, although they won't action accounts, they cannot condone modding, I don't think we can really use an official wiki to collect mods. Not in the main namespace, anyway. That really does send a mixed message - "We can't condone it, but here's a load of mods to use"." -- AT (talk | contribs) 18:28, 11 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Hmm just made the page :S ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 18:32, 11 July 2007 (UTC)
 * You can ask about it from Gaile, but I think there is no reason not to have a page for mods in the main name space. The mods are available in the user name space anyway and moving them to one place in the main name space doesn't make them any more official than they are now. It's true that ANet doesn't support modding, but they don't prevent it either and allow us to have this guide on the main name space. The guide and the mods aren't different kinds of content imho. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 19:23, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Quartz
In case anyone's interested, Ailia and myself have completed version one of a new UI, called Quartz. Details and download link available here. Feedback and suggestions encouraged! -- AT (talk | contribs) 23:05, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Usually theme/skin mods come with screen shots. :) -- [[Image:User Corrran sig.png|CoRrRan]] (CoRrRan / talk) 23:28, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * What do you mean? The images were always there. shh, nobody noticed -- AT (talk | contribs) 23:49, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Is it possible to extract the images from the .tpf file? I would be interested in a few of the updates, but I don't like most of the changes at all. If not, could you guys put the files up for download in addition to the .tpf? -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 23:54, 3 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Apart from the spirit range, you'd have to ask Ailia. If you don't mind me asking, what bits don't you like? It's still a WIP, and I hope to make the UI a bit more polished. -- AT (talk | contribs) 00:06, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't like most of the looks of it, so I would be using small stuff from here and there. The spirit range and the 50% hp bar thing are nice, so are LordBiros icons and the red/yellow/green buttons for exit, minimize and windowed mode. I also like the idea of having the hidden borders of the radarmap reveald, although the radar also has the looks that I don't like. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 00:11, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
 * So - Functionality = good, look+feel = bad? I'm ambiguous on the color scheme myself, so it may get a revamp soon. Something less blue and a little more neutral, I think. -- AT (talk | contribs) 00:14, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Basically that's it, but there are some parts of the functionality too that I don't like or need, for example the fogless map which is totally unnecessary for me at this point. ^^ A large graphic pack like this is a bit unhandy because everyone has their own needs, so I'm going to publish all of my modifications as images only, not complete .tpf files. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 00:18, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
 * It'd be fairly easy to produce a more modular..er..mod, once everything is sorted. It'd just be a case of separating the log files so you can load each module separately. Good idea :) -- AT (talk | contribs) 00:21, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Well yeah, modules are one possibility, but that wont solve everything if someone want's just one specific image replaced. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 00:25, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
 * It just doesn't look very good. It's pretty akward looking.Mehtis 16:23, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
 * The only things I DO like are the spirit range added to the compass, and 50%/80% on HP bar, but then again... I don't really like the compass itself - cause the UI change. EvilNeato 04:11, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Could you explain how you made the 50% + 80% markers on the lifebar (or post the edited .tga file)? It's very strange, I added a 50+80% marker to the frame of the lifebar, but only the 50% marker appears. And, I stretched the frame to about 600pix, otherwise the marker is scaled up to much. The texture I'm working with is GW.EXE_0xD1714A21.tga. --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:80.150.12.163 . 10 July
 * I'm going to be giving the % markers a try myself as well. I started with creating my own spirit range mod which I posted to the download page. I love the spirit range mod idea...but I didn't like how part of the color of the Quartz mod partially covered up some things in the background. My mod is simple but very effective and doesn't cover up more than 1 pixel right at the edge of spirit range.-- Thor79•••Talk 12:37, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I noticed an issue that happens with both of our spirit range mods. Occasionally the alpha channel (at least I think that's what it is) replaces your shadow on the ground and the shadows of everyone around you. Any idea what would cause this? Could is be something with how you save the file after editing it?-- Thor79•••Talk 13:10, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I've noticed that as well, but it doesn't happen often. A quick alt-tab usually fixes it. As for why it happens, I've no idea, sorry :( -- AT (talk | contribs) 13:13, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

TexMod used for cheating ?
How will anet react when ppl start using texmod to change things that aren't supposed to be changed ? like skill animations, condition effects, enchantment effects, HP bars display... Well things that can impact the competitivity of the game and give unfair advantages to others... Remember Bright models in counter-strike ? Remember wallhack ?
 * Its impossible to use TexMod to create bright models or wallhack. Modding skill animations and efect animations helps nothing as only thing it would do is to clutter display and work against modder. HP and Radar mods are easily done with marker on display without amy mods so that is moot point. Zweistein 15:22, 9 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Character animations etc are done with code, not with graphics. TexMod can only be used to change the graphics files, which doesn't open possibilities for cheats that you listed. For example animation changes, wallhacks and stuff like that can't be done. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 15:40, 9 July 2007 (UTC)
 * The possibilites would allow you to make the flag shiny white for example as you can edit it's alpha channels as well. And you can actually remove textures like walls from the game to have a better overview, though the collision borders are still there of course. Furthermore I guess the animations he refers to are not the animations themselves but the textures used on them. Like the visual critical hit-mod, from there on it is possible e.g. to change textures used by important cast animations. Overall many minor changes can be done which could affect gameplay as a whole. could ... 91.96.2.2 06:56, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I still haven't seen any possibilities for big cheating. Some nifty small helps, nothing more. Besides, we aim to release all mods here for everyone to use. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 12:15, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Sorry for slight offtopic, but do we still plan to do that, Gem? After the response from Gaile saying that, although they won't action accounts, they cannot condone modding, I don't think we can really use an official wiki to collect mods.  Not in the main namespace, anyway. That really does send a mixed message - "We can't condone it, but here's a load of mods to use". -- AT (talk | contribs) 12:51, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Am i invisble to you people or something? look Here~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 12:53, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Sorry Kurd, must have missed that, was away most of this weekend. But what I said above applies there as well. -- AT (talk | contribs) 12:57, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Huh? Who said that?? - Tanetris 13:08, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Cartography modding
I'm sure this is an entirely noob question that all of the experienced users of TexMod shall mock, but: I've looked at the two cartography mods (screenshots of them, at least), and neither seems well-suited to identifying patches needed around the edges. Is it possible to change the fog texture so that it blinks between transparent and a noticeable color somehow? Can textures be a simple animation, or only static? - Tanetris 13:08, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Textures are static. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 14:03, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Even if they could be animations you'd still have the same problem with the whole map annoyingly blinking--SiDima 20:05, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Shiny Problem
More people want to know how to fix the shiny problem and editing reflection textures one by one isn't the solution, so HOW DO WE SOLVE IT? ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd 22:39, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * NVM i found it, adding to the article ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 23:39, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Output Filetype annoyances
Can we come to some sort of an agreement on which filetype to extract as when using Texmod? It seems every time I check the guide there are different file types being suggested. Perhaps rather than saying "Extract as ____" we can make a section outlining the pros and cons of the different file types. I loaded GW and extracted my warrior's armor using the common file types to compare. TGA and BMP both clocked in at 1 meg each. These both include alpha channels as well. PNG came out at 325 kbs, however it does not include an alpha channel (like JPG) which tends to people running to that "shiny" problem. (And somewhat offtopic, but the solution to 'the shiny problem' involves completely erasing the texture which gives shininess, rather than using a file with an alpha channel.) Back on track, the filetype battle ends with DDS coming out as the clear winner at 341 kbs, including an alpha channel.

While we may not care about filesizes downloading, for a game you'll want the filetype which outputs at the smallest size, especially if you're running multiple mods. Note that DDS means 'Direct Draw Surface' which means the info in the file is in the same arrangement and format as how it appears in your video memory. Saving/loading is faster, and DDS files are compressed which uses less disk space, but far more importantly, less space in video memory. And plugins/programs to use dds are also easy to get: http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html for Photoshop, and http://registry.gimp.org/plugin?id=4816 for the free open-source image editing program, The Gimp. -- losershawn 06:36, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I use .dds soley now, after experimenting with other formats. But I agree, a small section on the pros and cons of each format would be useful, and answer quite a few frequent questions. -- AT (talk | contribs) 09:39, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

Ok lets try to make a filetable: If someone could fill in all the missing info i would happily put it on the page for you ;P ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd 12:06, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm working on a comparison page - 3 textures extracted with each file type, comparing size etc. I'm thinking stick it on a subpage, perhaps Guide to modifying in-game graphics/Choosing a file format --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:AT.
 * Nah its a small table, we will just put in under the Creating a mod section ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 13:13, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Results here - feel free to reformat it if needed. -- AT (talk | contribs) 13:37, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Added it to the article, it still needs some tweaking though~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 15:49, July 13, 2007 (UTC)
 * Agreed, it's a little subjective still, I'll try and tweak when I get time. -- AT (talk | contribs) 13:54, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Excellent stuff. I can only think of a few minor tweaks offhand. It's somewhat redundant to have both a 'shiny' and a 'transparency' row, because they're just inverted. A note clarifying that the shininess is caused by the lack of alpha channel would probably be better. I may do it myself in a bit, but I've only been wiking for less than a week, so I want to make sure I'm not going to completely break something when I go to change it. :p The only other thing was to add an additional note about .dds being faster not only due to smaller filesize, but from not having to do on-the-fly conversions to display the texture. I just have to figure out how to word these things so I don't confuse 90% of the people reading, and maybe reword the bit on the shiny texture problem for clarity while I'm at it.. -- losershawn 21:59, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
 * (gah 3x edit conflicts)It'd be great if you could add something along those lines! My point with the transparency is that it's possible to use .pngs to have transparency in UI elements without touching alpha channels - just erase the areas you want as transparent. This doesn't give shiny effects either, obviously. Whether or not this actually *does* use an alpha channel, just not in an obvious way, I don't know. As for being scared of breaking stuff, don't be! But you can always use the sandbox to test, or create your own. :) I can see this small section becoming quite large, which is why I suggested a subpage. -- AT (talk | contribs) 22:11, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Yea, PNGs can be weird with their transparency, though. When I extracted my rank emote texture, I originally extracted in PNG, and tried coloring it blue. When I went back in the game to test, it had turned the whole wolf solid, along with the sparkling effects having an awful distortion. So then I figured, well that's pretty cool, I'll try it in black. And that's when it went transparent on me. :p So if I figure it correctly, rather than extracting PNGs with an alpha channel, it's acting as both in one, and using black as the color which 'represents' transparency. I'm going to do a few tests to make sure I have all that info 100% correct though (using some other textures), then I'll go ahead and toss that info up on the guide well, if I find that the black=transparent clause is consistent. -- losershawn 22:36, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Alright, I went in and reorganized, and added a bunch of info. I figured moving 'Output Filetypes' up a bit was needed, as people new to modding will be wanting to know what filetype to extract as before they'll need to see the notes on fixing the shiny issue and such. Then under the second table, we came to the conclusion that PNGs may be the best to use, however most people won't know if the file they're extracting uses an alpha channel or not.. So, if it does and you don't realize it, you'll wind up with shiny texture syndrome. If it doesn't, then all the black turns into transparency, and is the biggest pain in the ass to work with, ever. So I said the difference was negligible.. 'cause hey, if you can stand working without the alpha, go for it. Rest of the changes should be pretty straightforward, but if you see something that makes you go 'o_O' feel free to yell at me. :p -- losershawn 12:12, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

Trojan Alert?
McAfee tells me the .exe is infected with an unknown trojan oO --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:77.179.27.232. 00:01, July 14, 2007
 * We know, McAfee doesn't like the idea of a .exe editing another .exe, but its been proven its a false alert. Otherwise some many people wouldn't be using it ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 22:10, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
 * That's BS logic. I've heard it was a trojan from people that don't use McAfee. And saying that because so many people use it (regardless of how inexperienced at catching trojans they are) has no weight whatsoever. -70.95.73.60 22:14, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Norton and AVG say it's clean, if that's any use. Every person I've talked to who's said it came up as a trojan has been using McAfee, so far. It's also been discussed here. -- AT (talk | contribs) 22:16, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
 * And saying that because so many people use it (regardless of how inexperienced at catching trojans they are) has no weight whatsoever. The fact that so many people use it, and not a single one of them has experienced problems with trojans, suggests that via statistical evidence it is highly unlikely that the program contains a trojan. Sure, most of them aren't experienced at finding trojans, but due to the sheer number of users, chances are some of the users are - and thus if there were one, someone would have found it, no? [[Image:User Aiiane-a.gif|Go to Aiiane's Talk page]] (Aiiane - talk - contribs) 22:24, 13 July 2007 (UTC)


 * None the less, it's important for us to state that, in general, such programs MAY contain trojans and the like. I added that in the arning at the top. --Karlos 22:48, 13 July 2007 (UTC)


 * try http://virusscan.jotti.org/ or http://www.virustotal.com/vt/ - online scaners where you upload files to be scanned, well, result freaked me out (it also shows that some antivirus software has holes and only 1/2 of scaners noticed anything), anyway, just as running any "bad" software, have firewall instaled. Some that will alert you on each outgoing connection and ask you whether to allow it or not. It can save behinds. Zweistein 07:55, 15 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Problem is, most 14-18 year olds, don't run firewalls on their PCs. --Karlos 08:38, 15 July 2007 (UTC)

It has to be said...
Where are the texture mods for nekkid instead of underwear when you aren't wearing armor? :-P 72.145.76.137 22:23, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Lol :D. It would be nice for someone I guess, but it would require modifying hundreds or thousands of textures as every single combination of hair/faces/etc has their own texture. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 22:28, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * There is no texture for whatever is under the underwear, the best shot you have is changing the underwear to what suppose to be under it ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 22:31, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Exactly. -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 22:36, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Umm wait a sec. Is the underwer in a different texture from armor and skin? -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 22:36, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Yes ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 22:42, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Omg, please delete this discussion before someone gets a bad idea... :P -- [[Image:User Gem sig.png|Gem]] (gem / talk) 22:53, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * So will GW be changed to 18+, because innocent young minds could possibly be corrupted by some bad pixel job? ... --Xeeron 22:55, 14 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I wish it got changed to 18+, at least then we would be able get get some decent debates ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 22:59, 14 July 2007 (UTC)


 * You'd change it for your UI only. So it will not affect other users. That being said... Please grow up. :( --Karlos 08:39, 15 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Aww, come on Karlos, it's just some lighthearted joking around. I'm not interested in the mod, but let's face it, a vast number of "normal" GW players would love the idea of one handed playing. 68.155.178.102 07:27, 16 July 2007 (UTC)
 * These days moddability + media circus = automatic 18+ rating. Honestly, I'd prefer an 18+ rating for future releases, the rating is only a suggestion, and the ToS already requires you to be 18 or have a parent's permission. -- Gordon Ecker 07:35, 16 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Can we drop this topic please, tnx ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 11:23, 16 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Arf - I know what I'd put under my female Ranger's skirt to scare the wammos with :D -- Snog  rat [[Image:User Snograt signature.png]] 08:57, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Barbed Trap, Spike Trap, Flame Trap :)

Problem Loading mod
Trying to load some of the mods to try them out and I can not seem to get them to work, I follow the steps at the end of the article but nothing is changed :( 68.104.205.160 05:56, 16 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Did not realize there were 3 different files, one for each campaign, idiot user error 68.104.205.160 07:10, 16 July 2007 (UTC)

Cheating?
It's exist some other mods that allows to view the use of frenzy from far away, to see the range of spirits, colored life bars when life is <20%, 50%, this is not cheating? - Lina 07:33, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
 * So, mods allowing you to do things anyone with a little experience can see anyway is cheating(not like people didn't use markers or tape to mark 50%, etc before texmod became popular)? The spirit range isn't even that useful. Wow, I can see the range of spirits... oh wait, I could do that just by walking beforehand! Oh no! It basically will help NR/Tranq trappers with spirit placement a bit, but no one else, really. I've seen the mod to make frenzy more visible. It's about as noticeable as the default enchant icons(not very). --Edru viransu 07:49, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Well, then ppl have to use this mods for fair play - Lina 09:05, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Mods only affect your own computer, not anyone elses.-- §  Eloc   §  11:00, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
 * This mods affects directly to you're gameplay, so if ppl are using it and you're not, it makes the PvP unfair play. - Lina 12:02, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
 * They don't actually do anything that people haven't been doing already, though. So far, no mods have been made that give unfair advantages, because the ones that even might just show things that anyone could tell anyways. --Edru viransu 19:17, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Lina, please explain to me how it can give an unfair advantage? Just so you can see who uses Frenzy from far away? To see how far the range of spirits is when some people have it memorized? Just to see who is almost dead when you can already see that when everyone has HP bars above their head?-- §  Eloc   §  21:38, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
 * It's not unfair. I've had top 10 gvg experience, and I wouldn't care if everyone on the other team had mods on, even if I wasn't using it. For good players, it's a matter of convenience, not cheating. The only place this provides real benefits are low to mid level gvg, and even then.. if you don't learn the nuances of pvp, no mod is going to save you. Mods don't tell you when you use a skill on who, mods don't teach kiting, mods don't create tactics for you.. and so forth. If they're enough to lessen the frustration of new players, and get more people playing PvP and becoming better at the game, then great, we need more people who don't suck. -- losershawn 23:02, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I think that it's unfair, because, for example you can see clearly what is the range of spirits. That is not what arena.net tried to show us. So taking this mods makes the game unfair, at least is what I think. Take a look at what Loserswan said: "The only place this provides real benefits are low to mid level gvg", so he know that is unfair. - Lina 08:43, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Well obviously people know the range of spirits off by heart if they could make a mod for it.-- §  Eloc   §  08:52, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Do you think that if this doesn't make any benefit it would stay on this wiki? I can understand using it for tunning pets, armors or whatever, but not for that kind of use Lina 09:00, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Well it is used for armor and pets right now. The only other thing really is the spirit range and in PvP, such as HA, you aren't moving far so why does it matter?-- §  Eloc   §  09:47, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
 * People will just use markers on their screen if this wasn't here. Even so, Texmod has become so popular now, the best thing we can do is put it up for everyone to download ~ <font color=#FF0000>Kurd [[Image:Kurdsig.png]] 11:10, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
 * And the ArenaNet developers/workers know about it. On the main page I think Emily and Gaile both posted their opinions about it.-- §  Eloc   §  18:23, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Wow, that was my whole point, it's only beneficial to low or mid level gvg, in other words - Who cares? If you don't learn how to play properly, you'll still get killed by good teams, even if the bad team is all running mods, and the good team isn't. And the higher up you get from there, the better people are and the difference that mods make get more and more negligible to non-existent around rank 200 or higher. All it does is helps people with some basic aspects of the game which any good player should know anyway, and it still does not help your player skill. So big deal, you know where spirits are. You can see them brighter. But you still have to hold down Control and find out what kind of spirit they are, and then you have to go take them down, and it's not going to tell you if that spirit is Smoke Trapped or not. Seriously. Using mods have absolutely no bearing on the actual outcome of any match that matters. It's not an opinion. It's fact, which anyone in the top 100 community would tell you. -- losershawn 21:08, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
 * And...if it does help you win low lvl GvG, once you win enough times, you'll be facing higher teams in which they'll just drop you back down so in the end, you'll only be staying at one spot.-- §  Eloc   §  21:57, 18 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Well, so it's unfair for guilds rank more than 200, the majority of the guilds on GW - Lina 08:20, 19 July 2007 (UTC)
 * not.. really.. - FireFox [[Image:firefoxav.png]] 08:21, 19 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Sorry, my english is too bad. I tried to say It's unfair for guilds with rank lower 200 - Lina 11:20, 19 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Okay, but no one cares. It's PvP, if they want to get better, they will. And if they still suck, they'll just get killed by teams who are better than them, bumping them back down where they should be. The problem fixes itself. -- [[Image:User_losershawn_sig.jpg|shawn]] (shawn - talk) 11:58, 19 July 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, best thing anet could do is to incorporate health bar and spirit range mods to official game. Here, problem solved. 85.160.87.141 12:34, 19 July 2007 (UTC)


 * I see your point and I at least partially agree. Modifications can give an advantage, that is a fact. It may have been done before, with markers and sticky notes and what not, but that doesn't make it right. Shooting someone with a gun is still murder, even if people have been killing each other with sticks and stones since the stone age (sorry for the crude analogy :p ). This kind of advantage may not matter in so called "high end" PvP, but that doesn't make it right either. Winning unjustified is still unjustified, even if you don't actually gain anything from the win (e.g. prize money). But Anet has the ultimate say in this matter. They have undoubtly considered the consequences and have endorsed modding nonethess. As long as Anet doesn't say it is cheating, it isn't cheating, which makes this whole discussion kinda moot. :) --<font color="midnightblue">84-175 (talk) 14:41, 19 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Yeaahh... That was a really bad analogy. I'll try to liken it to driving, or racing. Imagine if you had a line on the track that told you where your car should be to get the fastest speed around the track.. that'd be a decent advantage right? But there's the thing, it doesn't teach you when to steer, when to brake, or the techniques to avoid any obstacles that might be in your way. Same with GW, it'll show you spirits, but doesn't help you know if you're even going to run into spirits beforehand, doesn't tell you what the spirit does (without you pressing Control), doesn't help you deal with the traps that may have been laid around it, or the effect it's having on your team. In both cases, it gives you a very very negligible advantage, which you can't take advantage of if you don't have skill. And if you do have skill, they no longer become advantages as you'd know how to do it anyway - they're just convenience. After looking at what Tiyuri's PvP mod does, I was actually quite wrong saying it'd be advantageous for sub rank 200 guilds, it's closer to the truth to say it adds to the convenience of rank 1000+ guilds. Any lower than that, and you run into the extremely casual mostly-PvE types, where a mod won't save their team as their monks are running Meteor Shower and the like. -- [[Image:User_losershawn_sig.jpg|shawn]] (shawn - talk) 15:08, 19 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Well, Gaile and Emily have given their thoughts about it and it seems somewhat ok by them if they just didn't get the article removed right away.-- §  Eloc   §  00:29, 20 July 2007 (UTC)