Reskinning… the .s and .sd files?

I am about to start doing a couple of trial reskins and have run into a small question that puzzles me. If I wanted to reskin a boxcar for example....I am using tgatools2 to pull up the .ace file to start....
but after i get my new .ace file, what or where does the .s file come from? or what creates it? I can make a new .sd file for the railcar. But the shape file puzzles me. help?

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RE: reskinning.....the .s and .sd files?, kevarc, Aug-28-02, 09:48 PM, (1) RE: reskinning.....the .s and .sd files?, v1perfan, Aug-29-02, 08:53 AM, (2) RE: reskinning.....the .s and .sd files?, kevarc, Aug-29-02, 09:06 AM, (3) RE: reskinning.....the .s and .sd files?, yellowdog, Aug-29-02, 12:22 PM, (6) RE: reskinning.....the .s and .sd files?, kevarc, Aug-29-02, 12:39 PM, (7) RE: reskinning.....the .s and .sd files?, yellowdog, Aug-29-02, 12:48 PM, (8) RE: reskinning.....the .s and .sd files?, Coonskin, Aug-29-02, 11:15 AM, (4) RE: reskinning.....the .s and .sd files?, kevarc, Aug-29-02, 11:30 AM, (5) RE: reskinning.....the .s and .sd files?, Coonskin, Aug-29-02, 12:53 PM, (9) RE: reskinning.....the .s and .sd files?, kevarc, Aug-29-02, 02:09 PM, (10)

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Page Enocell, he has an excellent system for this.Kevin Arceneaux
gdapia

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I'm not sure I follow you exactly, but the .S (shape) file is compiled from the 3d model. So in order to make any changes to that file, you'd need the original model. There isn't any way to decompile the .S back to a model (and if there is, I don't want to know about it - there's already been a big enough flame-war on that subject).In any event, if you wanted to create a new boxcar texture based on the shape and texture of an old one, you can. You can change the name of all files EXCEPT the names of the .ACE files. If you change the name of these files, the shape file will no longer be able to load the textures because it wouldn't find the file.Let's take an example. We have a directory with a boxcar in it (say CPR_BOX). In this directory we have these files:BOXCAR.ACE
CPR_BOX.SD
CPR_BOX.WAG
CPR_BOX.SNow let's say you wanted to create a CN boxcar. The first thing you would probably do is create a new directory for the boxcar under the TRAINSET directory and copy all of these files into it. The next thing you would want to do is rename all of the CPR_BOX.xxx files into the new boxcar. So in the new directory, you might have this:BOXCAR.ACE
CNR_BOX.SD
CNR_BOX.WAG
CNR_BOX.SYour next step would be to use the TGATOOL2 to extract the texture files from the BOXCAR.ACE file. Once that was done, you would change the texture, then resave it. Then you'd use TGATOOL2 to recompile the .ACE file.Finally, you'd have to edit the .WAG and .SD files to update the references to the new files. So anywhere in these files where it was CPR_BOX, you would have to change the reference to CNR_BOX. Once that was done, you'd make a consist with your new boxcar, and you're ready to rock and roll!Did I make this confusing enough for you? Once you do it a few times, you'll get the hang of it.Brian.

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You can decompress the s file and change the ace file listings in it. This does not change a thing with the model. Then you recompress it. Enocell has an excellant method for this. This allows him to put multiple cars in the same directory, see his 40' boxcars for example, because each has an unique name and the files also have unique names. No generic usfreight7.***. I think this is what he is looking for. Just wish steve Spivey, the mystery skinner would do this.Kevin Arceneaux
gdapia

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Kevin, I believe you are talking about FFEDIT, a decompression utility that came with MSTS. If so, there are lots of topics in the message area on how to use it effectively. The original poster can do a search on FFEDIT and should be able to find them.Clayton

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Route Riter can do it also and is a whole lot easier to use.Kevin Arceneaux
gdapia

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Hey, that's good news. I don't use route riter (I don't even think I've downloaded it), so thanks for the info.Clayton

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Hi Brian...Good info, thanks for the post.Doing the above, will AE interpret the first image and use it for other equipment with the same basic .s file? I have several cars that were reskinned by some simmers, and only the first one I open shows its specific skin in the consist editor, the rest of the images look the same for that consist editing session. However, once I've loaded the sim... all the cars using the same .s file are properly skinned. I guess that's just a quirk with AE's consist editor? Andre Ming

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Andrew, it depends on how the eng file is named. That is why I add a name line to all of the cars that I download, keeps the confusion down.Kevin Arceneaux
gdapia

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"That is why I add a name line to all of the cars that I download, keeps the confusion down."Mind expanding on that Kev so I can get a better grip on what you're saying? I would like to create a second Frisco F unit using this basic skin BUT with a modified paint scheme. So, it would come in handy if I can learn how to keep the consist editor confusion down.Andre

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Andre, there are four places in an eng file that need to be changed to reflect the new unit. I have the list at home and will post it here later today.For wag files that do not have a name I add one at the end. At the end of the file you have the sms line and then the next line has a ) all by itself. I add a new line between them so it looks like this: Sound ( "GenFreightWag3.sms" )
Name ( " RR Type ####" }
)This keeps all those usfreight7 file from getting confusing.
Kevin Arceneaux
gdapia

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