Editing m3d _s.dds to _r.dds

[65olschool]

Hi All, could somebody point me in the right direction to where I would find how to change a model using a XV132 from a _s.dds to a _r.dds as outlined in the readme for the Spitfires Mk.I and MK.II, I am familiar with hex editing for texture changes but not this specific change, Im guessing its not as easy as just hexediting the _s to a _r

Below is a section from the readme
Some aircraft have parts painted with Airframe Silver; these aircraft do not have a _s.dds file, but a _r.dds file.
The procedure for installing them is the same, but advanced users will need to hack the reflectivity of the aircraft using techniques described at SOH.

I am using Ankor's latest package if that matters.

Thanks in advance

Mick

[Frosty]

You have to open the aircraft's .m3d file with a hexeditor (there are some decent freeware ones - I use XVI32 or Hex Editor Neo), search for .dds entries (they usually have a search function) and locate the one you wish to alter. Make your change, save the file and see the result ingame. Best to make a backup copy first, in case you screw up...

[65olschool]

So it is just a matter of substituting the r for the s ?

I seem to remember that you had to find a certain sequence of numbers and change 2 entries to make it work, hmm I will give it a go.

Thanks Frosty

Mick

[Frosty]

So it is just a matter of substituting the r for the s ? I seem to remember that you had to find a certain sequence of numbers and change 2 entries to make it work, hmm I will give it a go. Thanks Frosty Mick

Yes, just substitute the letter. There are two windows in the editors, one with hexcode, one with more or less readable characters. I search in the second window for the .dds files' name I wish to alter (the search function makes this a lot faster) and make the required change(s) to the file name. If I am not mistaken, the number of characters should remain the same, meaning you can substitute characters but not add or remove them (although some editors offer that possibility, I don't know what the result would be).

[greycap.raf]

No, you actually do need to change the two entries. Changing just the _s to _r doesn't change anything else than the texture file the model is looking for, the actual reflectivity remains the same.

In the m3d file, before the section that has the texture file names, there's a section with a lot of ÿÿÿÿÿÿ in it. Near the beginning of that section, in the actual hex code panel, you'll find a sequence that says

00 00 01 00 | ff ff ff ff

and there's the key to success. You'll want to change it to

00 00 ff ff | 01 00 ff ff

which tells the game that reflectivity is needed instead of specularity. In both cases file 00 00 is called as the main texture but file 01 00 is moved from the specular slot to the reflective slot. The numbers come from the order they're defined in the next section, _t comes first so it's 00, _s (or _r after the change) comes second so it's 01.

It would actually work even without changing the file names to be honest. The model doesn't care a bit what you call the reflectivity file as long as it's set to the correct type in the first section and named in the second one so that there's a file with that name. We just tend to use _s and _r for clarity and uniformity across all aircraft.

[Frosty]

I stand corrected.

[65olschool]

I tried Frosty's way but it didnt work, I was just coming back to let him know and I find greycap.raf's explanation which is what I needed.

Thanks to both of you, Frosty for trying and greycap.raf or hitting it out of the park once again.

Mick

[greycap.raf]

Well I thought it might be better that I explain it myself as I'm the one who was involved with it in the first place. We haven't used SOH usernames in the readme files for a while now but Rene Leppä indeed equals me.

[65olschool]

Hey Rene, its nice to put a name to the name, thanks for all the hard work and sharing

Mick