Reskin Help..

So today i though i should make a skin for BeamNG, i watched a few YT tutorials and eventually got my skin in game. though with one major issue.

the lines on the Covet template still showed up in game and when i replace them with a solid color the covet goes black and is unable to have its color changed

Yes the skin and the template are separate layers

If you know why this may be please let me know!
--- Post updated ---
Oh and i cannot change the color of the Covet with the template showing aswell

 

Did you make the template layer hidden when exporting? Without doing this, the template will still be visible on the Covet in-game.

 

now it just shows no texture

 

Hmm... that's weird. Just to clarify, you have two layers, one has the actual skin design, the other has the template, correct?
--- Post updated ---
Also, are you using Paint.net?

 

I have two layers, one with the skin template and the other with the added stuff

no i am using photoshop to make the skin and then exporting as DDS with paint

 

I will re-make it in paint tonight to see if that fixes it
--- Post updated ---
Now it is black and uncolorable

 

Do you mind sending a screenshot of the dds file in paint, showing the layers? That way it would be clearer to see what the issue is...

 

Here

 

Ah, I think I see the problem...

Assuming you want a skin where the color can be changed with the in-game sliders, here's what you need to do:

- Create a new layer, and put it between your existing layers
-Color the entire layer Red (RGB 255, 0, 0) or (HEX #FF0000), and make sure this layer is above the layer named "covet_skin_UVs", but below the layer named "Background"
- You should just see your design on top of the red
- Now uncheck the box beside the "covet_skin_UVs" layer, and export
- Try the skin out in-game, and try changing the color of the skin using the first color slider

Hope this works!

 

Hey i tried this and now it is just red and uncolorable

 

Alright... I finally figured it out, lol. I've never made a colorable skin, but now I know how!

My previous message was completely wrong, sorry about that.

Here's what you actually need to do:

- On your Photoshop project, you have a layer with the dirt. Take that layer into a new Photoshop project. You should have the same size canvas as the original one. Now that you have the dirt (which has a transparent background), make a new layer behind the dirt, and make it white. So now you should have your dirt design, and a white background. Save this file with the name: "covet_skin_YOURSKINNAME.color.dds" (change YOURSKINNAME to whatever the name of your skin is), and put the file in the folder that contains the materials.json file

- Now, things here might get a bit tricky, but bear with me. Open another new photoshop project, same size canvas, and make a new layer that's pure red (RGB 255, 0, 0). Now what you have to do, is get the dirt layer from your original project again, and copy it into this project onto a layer above the red layer. Then, select the layer with the dirt and use the outline selection to select the dirt itself (there should be flashing dashed lines around the dirt, not a square around the canvas). Then, switch to the red layer, and press delete. Now, you should be able to deselect everything, and delete the layer with the dirt. What's left should be the red layer, with transparent areas where the dirt was. If it looks like that, then export the file as: "covet_skin_YOURSKINNAME_palette.color.dds" (Again, change YOURSKINNAME)

- Now you have to change the materials.json file. In the file, add the 2 top highlighted lines if they aren't already there, and the 2 bottom highlighted lines, while making sure that the file names specified in the bottom 2 are the same as the names on the 2 dds files you made in the steps above (Ignore the van stuff):


Once you're done, save and exit.

Now in the folder, you should have:
-materials.json
-your jbeam file
-"covet_skin_YOURSKINNAME_palette.color.dds"
-"covet_skin_YOURSKINNAME.color.dds"

If that's all there, then clear BeamNG cache, open BeamNG, make sure your mod/skin is enabled and test it out!

Hope this works better than the last instructions I gave, lol

 

There isn't honestly a much better way to put this, not without writing a lot more, you've explained this fairly well.

To add to this - using the 'dirt layer' as a layer mask on the red layer (in Photoshop) should also work and often provide a cleaner result once you export it, using the select tool can leave the edges looking jagged. Having a 'hole' cut into your colour palette renders that area as matte - which is useful in this case since it is dirt.
Another option would be to make a copy of the dirt layer and have it's silhouette coloured entirely green (RGB 0, 255, 0) and placed over the top of the red layer - this would then mean that the colour of the dirt could be altered with the second colour selector in-game.

Also, putting the textures into BeamNG as .png format is a better way to go as the game can convert the textures for you - this negates the need for paint.net.
Obviously the file names in the .materials file would need to be changed accordingly. The converted .dds textures can be found within the /temp folder in your local BeamNG files.

 

Now it is colorable but all the colors have red mixed in with them and the dirt is black

 

Do you mind sending a screenshot of both DDS files?

 

So, to be clear, the red DDS file has palette in the file name, correct?

 

Yes, it says

covet_skin_dirty_palette.color.dds

 

Okay, I put together a template/test skin for you to try. Download the zip, and put it in the "repo" folder in your mods folder, go in-game, spawn a covet, change the paint design to "Testing Skin", and see if you can change the color of the skin without changing the color of the "TEST" text.

 

The Skin doesn't appear on the covet for me

 

You downloaded the zip? And put it in your repo folder?