Simple Question: where To reference which .dds that it uses for a UVmap/mask/skin/texture, Where do you look?

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Simple Question: where To reference which .dds that it uses for a UVmap/mask/skin/texture, Where do you look?

#1 Post by SqrlNuts » 21 Jan 2022 05:17

For Example, The Vanilla(scs) Cascadia A Pillar Wind Deflectors. (Between the windshield and the door window)
right now it is pointing at the vehicle side uv mask template that is being used for several other things including 2020 bumper..
I am getting repeating images in parts that are all assigned to the same UVmap template which is great for a simple block of color
but terrible for a high detail design.

Where (which file)do i look to find where it is referenced for which dds it uses as a skin/Mask/texture.

Is it within a tobj, the PMG or PMD? Where Is it accessible?

I have the scs extractor, that other extractor that works in powershell.. and a few other exe's.


Once I figure out this workflow, i'll be able to do really neat stuff.

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Re: Simple Question: where To reference which .dds that it uses for a UVmap/mask/skin/texture, Where do you look?

#2 Post by xXCARL1992Xx » 21 Jan 2022 09:09

you wont find a template or texture, just assign a 4x4 image to it that is the base color of your truck (cream color in your case) to overwrite the main texture, the names for it can be found in the .sii files or you wait until someone makes a template for it (maybe one of the many template collection threads has it)
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Re: Simple Question: where To reference which .dds that it uses for a UVmap/mask/skin/texture, Where do you look?

#3 Post by SqrlNuts » 21 Jan 2022 10:47

xXCARL1992Xx wrote: 21 Jan 2022 09:09 you wont find a template or texture, just assign a 4x4 image to it that is the base color of your truck (cream color in your case) to overwrite the main texture, the names for it can be found in the .sii files or you wait until someone makes a template for it (maybe one of the many template collection threads has it)
thats the thing.. I extracted the Cascadia SCS archive along with all the base, def etc.. archives and I am not finding the vanilla .sii's for the trucks, only the pmg & pmd's in the
E:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\American Truck Simulator\vehicle\truck\freightliner_cascadia2019\accessory folder


Found Vanilla .sii
E:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\American Truck Simulator\def\vehicle\truck\freightliner.cascadia2019\cabin

but, I am looking in the wrong place, because I can see within the sii file(...def\vehicle\truck\freightliner.cascadia2019\paint_job) the listings for the different accessories... but where are those coming from?
the designations that they give within the SCS pack for blender?

Because to fix this I need to isolate those pieces using their designation to point it to a tobj to point it to a square 16x16 pixel dds file like harven and smarty use on their tanks/other accessories.

it would be nice to also be able to learn the workflow to split away the mirror caps so you can alter them from chrome to black plastic to painted.... before all the trucks are fitted with cameras & pillar view monitors

The long version answer would be to plug the vanilla Cascadia into blender and redefine a new uvset... but that shouldn't have to happen since these parts are defined to point towards this main uvset that the template designed. so you have overlapping uvsets alot like some other peoples painted accessory mods(mirrors, grilles etc) they just point it to the main uvset dds...

Its not that difficult to map a wire frame to reverse engineer a template using a number grid mask.. but when several parts(portions of the wireframe) point towards the same UVset...
thats what i need to figure out. how to utilize the vanilla truck but separate/redirect portions of the wireframe that already have separate designations to their own unique uvset/masks/dds

(this was so much easier 22 years ago when it was just bmps and all the moving assets utilized the same wireframe)
Last edited by SqrlNuts on 21 Jan 2022 11:34, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Simple Question: where To reference which .dds that it uses for a UVmap/mask/skin/texture, Where do you look?

#4 Post by xXCARL1992Xx » 21 Jan 2022 11:16

the names are from the accessory .sii files

the a pillar deflector is located in the accessory/core_def folder and is called aero.sii, the internal name is

accessory_addon_data : aero.freightliner.cascadia2019.cor_def

now you take the accessory "core_def" and add the name "aero" behind it to get

cor_def.aero

this is what you have to write down in the accessories file of your paintjob so it can use its own texture

acc_list[]: "cor_def.aero"
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Re: Simple Question: where To reference which .dds that it uses for a UVmap/mask/skin/texture, Where do you look?

#5 Post by SqrlNuts » 21 Jan 2022 11:44

xXCARL1992Xx wrote: 21 Jan 2022 11:16 the names are from the accessory .sii files

the a pillar deflector is located in the accessory/core_def folder and is called aero.sii, the internal name is

accessory_addon_data : aero.freightliner.cascadia2019.cor_def

now you take the accessory "core_def" and add the name "aero" behind it to get

cor_def.aero

this is what you have to write down in the accessories file of your paintjob so it can use its own texture

acc_list[]: "cor_def.aero"
So the proper "workflow" would follow:
-------------------
simple_paint_job_data: .ovr9
{
paint_job_mask: "/vehicle/truck/upgrade/paintjob/Sqrlnuts Ekorrnotter Logistics AB/Freightliner Cascadia/Sun Visor.tobj"
acc_list[]: "sunshield.stock
acc_list[]: "cor_def.aero"
}
-------------------

If i wanted the cor_def.aero to point towards the mask/uvmap/dds to Sun Visor.tobj....

which would mean they would share the color.
should I verify that the mask is large enough?
because it used the uv map and that was 4k.. so its nearly 2/3rds of that wide in the superimposed very small image.
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Re: Simple Question: where To reference which .dds that it uses for a UVmap/mask/skin/texture, Where do you look?

#6 Post by xXCARL1992Xx » 21 Jan 2022 11:45

if it is just a color of 4x4 it will stretch over the whole model, the moment you have a design you need the proper template for it so you know what is where on it
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Re: Simple Question: where To reference which .dds that it uses for a UVmap/mask/skin/texture, Where do you look?

#7 Post by SqrlNuts » 21 Jan 2022 12:08

xXCARL1992Xx wrote: 21 Jan 2022 11:45 if it is just a color of 4x4 it will stretch over the whole model, the moment you have a design you need the proper template for it so you know what is where on it
i really buggered it up now.
I'll try again after some sleep. thanks for the input.
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Re: Simple Question: where To reference which .dds that it uses for a UVmap/mask/skin/texture, Where do you look?

#8 Post by SqrlNuts » 21 Jan 2022 21:15

So i figured out where the transient bracket and missing quotation mark was in the sii..
And i dug around and added the missing lines for the 2020 bumpers and pointed them to the bumper mask/uvmap/dds

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But i am sill having my original issue:

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to get the bumpers to work I used this designation to direct it to the bumper mask/uvmap/dds:

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but when i use the information you provided... nothing happens:

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So i dug around in another mod that "paints" non-painted items and they just use separate PMD & pmg (assuming with diffferent materials but the same reflection values as the surrounding parts so they will match)but utilize they utilize same vanilla tobj redirects...

So... I am still stumped on how a single part that doesn't have an accessory designation can use the enitre mask/uvmap/dds as its material/mask/uv/exterior layer.. because if it was part of the UVmap it would submit to the simple layer/mask that is there.

it looks like i am spending the afternoon downloading blender again, along with SCS attributes.. I had all this a couple months ago but a Mod that i downloaded had a extraneous program in it and I've been trying to reinstall everything since the windows reinstallation.
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Re: Simple Question: where To reference which .dds that it uses for a UVmap/mask/skin/texture, Where do you look?

#9 Post by SqrlNuts » 21 Jan 2022 22:36

rereading the wiki on SCS workflow and methodology.. parts can and are defined to a tobj even if they don't use a specialized/singular tobj they can be pointed to another when the mod is packed in blender.

If i not mistaken this is why the A Pillar wind/rain deflectors have their own individual wireframe & uvmap but are pointed to the cabin xxxxx.tobj.

Next step is to load the cascadia and learn how to extract the Part designation and see if it just has a hidden specific tobj or if i need to make a special extraneous version of the cascadia with individual part uvmasks.. more or less the long way around.... All to clean up the look of this moderately simple tester skin.
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Re: Simple Question: where To reference which .dds that it uses for a UVmap/mask/skin/texture, Where do you look?

#10 Post by xXCARL1992Xx » 21 Jan 2022 22:46

first of all, forget about .tobj, they dont have anything to do with it, they are just an intermediat to point a texture to a model and give it some extra data, what tells the game that a part is skinable is the truckpaint material and this is for every part the same, if it is mapped on the main template like the cabin then it will use it, if it is mapped separat on its own template then you will see the main template stretched over it because you didnt write an override for it

i experimented myself now and for some reason i didnt get any parts colored differently, but i also only have a simple metallic skin that just adds a carbon effect to the model, changing an existing skin that has a special design on the a-pillar deflector, and not just color, gave me the results i wanted, i could change it to a different texture for all 4 cabins (i assume you dont restrict you skin to a specific cab so you only have 1 accessory file)

i myself have to do further investigation because for some reason i cant beliefe it is this hard to do, i got it working in ETS2 every time but also in ATS but now it makes somehow problems on the Cascadia
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