Pilot skinning

[Adam_Riding]

I know that I should know this, but I am verry new and would just like to put my face on the pilot. Whenever I do and save it to the right file it never comes up in the game, It is not even on the list so I can select it.

 

It must be something simple but it is frustrating me at the moment.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Adam

[Rudi_Jaeger]

Hi Adam; I was just passing through and saw your post. Could be a few things, so I'll just describe my method and maybe it'll tip you off to where the problem lies.

 

1. Open the pilot skin file in your editing program and increase the color value to true color. This isn't really necessary, but you'll get better end-results IMO. Also the size (pixel dimensions) of the original file must remain same, so don't resize it. I usually grab one of the original game skins, with the uniform I'm looking for, and make a copy for this purpose.

 

2. Once you've pasted your face and fine tuned to your liking, save the file with a new name, i.e; US_myface_01. Also, you'll want to reduce the color value back to original, otherwise the game won't recognize it..just like with a/c skins. You can likely reduce the color value within your editing program, but the best way is through use of a program called "Brite"..or maybe it's "Bright"?? Anyway, this great little proggie will reduce colors without the pixalation that you would get otherwise. "Brite" is hosted in the D/L section of most popular sites, usually under "Utilities". And BE SURE you've saved the file in BMP format.

 

3. Now, go to your main IL2 folder, and drill down to (and don't quote me on this, 'cause I can't look at my game folder right now)..drill down to your "Paint Schemes">"Pilots" folder, and you should see a bunch of sub-folders with "country-codes" on them for each faction the sim supports..these folders are where you'll place your new pilot skin, whichever faction it happens to be. Now, start the sim, and you should have the option of selecting your new pilot skin.

 

So, I hope that helps to get you started. As, I'm not a "regular" here, I hope someone can chime-in if you have any additional questions. Good luck and best regards ~RJ

 

Edit: I may be wrong about the sub-folders with country codes, so if you expand the "Pilots" folder and don't see them, then you should be seeing a whole bunch of pilot skin files with the "country-codes" as part of the filenames. You could actually name your file "Bozo_the_Clown.bmp" if you wanted to, and it would still display in the game's selection menu (alphabetically), but usually best to indicate what faction they go with as part of the filename.

Edited June 14, 2007 by Rudi_Jaeger

[Adam_Riding]

Chears mate, I'll follow it step by step and tell you what happens.

 

Thank you,

Adam

[Adam_Riding]

Yey. I look a real tit on it but it works all the same! It was the 256 color that was doing it.

 

Chears mate, Adam.