QUAKE 3 SKINNING TUTORIAL

Tools Required:

1. Art package - You will need an art package of some kind that supports the editing and saving of TGA images. I use Paintshop Pro.
2. Zip utility - In order to make or open .pk3 files you will need a file compression utility such as WinZip.
3. Text editor - To edit the .skin files you just need a basic editor such as Notepad.
4. Quake 3 Arena or some form of model viewer - In order to see or play your creations you of course need the game itself. However you can still make new skins without Quake 3 if you can find a good model viewer (you obviously can't play them though!). If you can recommend a viewer then please do.
5. Quickview Plus - you don't need this at all but I find it quite helpful for viewing .pk3 files instead of WinZip because it shows directory paths nice and clearly.

• Setting up a directory structure in which to work
  1. Open up Windows Explorer and find your Quake3 game directory on your hard drive.
  2. In the main directory you will find a sub-directory called baseq3. This is where any new .pk3 (explained later) files will be placed.
  3. Create a new directory in baseq3 and call it something like 'steves_models'.
  4. Inside this directory create another directory called 'models'
  5. Finally in this directory create another directory called 'players' and then in there create a directory with the same name as the skin you are going to make. The diagram below should help

• Player files explained

  The diagram below shows the files that you now need to place in your quake3/baseq3/steves_models/models/players/skin name directory: 

These files are:

• animation.cfg - This file controls how your chosen model moves. You will not be touching this but it needs to be in this directory.
• various.MD3 - There will be a number of these .MD3 files. These are the models files, you can think of them as wire mesh skeletons that your new skin is going to wrap around. Like the animation file you will not be touching these. This tutorial does not cover model making.
• various.skin - These files tell Quake 3 which bits of your new skin picture are wrapped around which bits of wire frame model. They are simple .txt files renamed as .skin and are the usual culprits for broken skins. The picture below shows the contents of one of these files. You will notice the presence of a directory path - this points to the skin picture to be used and is the bit that is usually wrong.

• various.txt - This is not important and is usually just a description of the skin and who made it.
• icon_various.tga - This is a picture in TGA format that the game uses as the player icon. (All of the skins can be saved as 24 or 32 bit TGA's, however, the icon has to be saved as a 24 bit icon or it won't work at all - thanks to John Duperon for the tip). Here is an example:

• various.tga - The rest of the TGA pictures are the actual skins themselves. Below is the skin TGA for the Sarge model. This is the thing you have to edit to create a new skin.

• skin_name.pk3 - The final file you have to know about is the .pk3 file. This is just a compressed (ZIP) file of all the files in your working directory just renamed from .zip to .pk3 and placed in the baseq3 directory. An explanation of how to do this is given below.

 

• Creating a .pk3 file

  Once you have all of your files in the directory structure explained above you simply do the following (this assumes you have WinZip installed on your Pc. If not then the basic idea should be the same for whatever compression program you have):

• Right click on your 'steves_models' directory and select 'add to zip'.

• Type in a path for where WinZip places the final .zip file so that it ends up in the baseq3 directory. The level of compression you use is up to you Quake3 doesn't mind. Do ensure that the directory structure is retained in the .zip file and that all files will be included by selecting 'include subfolders'. The file won't work if the directory structure isn't in it.

• Let WinZip create the .zip file and then go to the baseq3 directory and change the name of the .zip file to .pk3. Ignore any warnings that Windows gives you. You should now see something vaguely like the diagram below (but with your file name obviously):

• So where do I get the files needed to do all this?

  Have another look at the diagram above. You will see that my .pk3 file isn't the only one in the baseq3 directory. All of the normal models that come with the game are in pak0.pk3 and so this is where you will get all of your working materials, unless of course you can make your own, but then if you could do that you wouldn't be reading this! Lets say you wanted to make a new skin for the Sarge model:

  1. Make a copy of the pak0.pk3 file.
  2. Double click on it and associate it with WinZip. If you have trouble doing this then just rename it from pak0.pk3 to pak0.zip.
  3. Open the file and extract the files under models\players\sarge to your models\players\skin name working directory.
  4. Delete the additional files for the sarge varients such as red, blue, roderik, krusade etc because you don't need them.
  5. You should now be left with the basic files and should try just editing the band.tga file which should look exactly like the example TGA file above. Actually Sarge is a bad example to use because his TGA file is called such a bazarre name and he needs the little extras like cigar.tga. Usually the main TGA is called default.tga or skin_name.tga. Just experiment by putting glasses or a beard on him or something.
  6. Finally open all the .skin files and change the directory paths from models/players/sarge/band.tga to models/players/your skin name/your skin file name.tga
  7. You should be able to view your model in Quake3 now, however you won't be able to play with it until you create a .pk3 file.

• Additional things to know
  1. Only people with your skin their directory will be able to see you wearing your skin in the game (they don't have to have it selected though). So when you have made one, send them a copy!
  2. Only skins made for a specific model will work with that model.
  3. I know nothing about making new models.
  4. Make sure your icon, skin files and skin TGA files have the right names.
  5. If it doesn't work check your .skin files first then your file names then compare what you have to what is in the pak0.pk3 file for the model you have used.
  6. Avoid adding to the Quake .pk3 files because they will no doubt be replaced whenever you download a new patch.
  7. Make sure you have the latest Quake 3 Patch.
  8. Don't worry if your skin looks dark or rubbish in the art package, it will look much better in the game thanks to shadows.
  9. Some of the models have special effects on their bodies. I have no idea how you get these!

More Models at Polycount

Quake3World