[PotentPotables]

First off, I'm going to reiterate;

BACKUP YOUR FILES BEFORE YOU START! Make 2 folders on your work area, one "New" and one "Old". Your fault if you screw this one up...

Next, lemme vent, please. I just spent 9 HOURS of time I could've spent with my kids, trying to figure this out. NINE LONG, BORING, EXCTRUCIATING HOURS. "Why", you ask?! "That's just insane/stupid", you might be saying. I'll tell you why.

To prove it could be done, NOT by someone with computer experience... and of course cuz I wanted wicked cool backgrounds.

I have NO background in programming, save for text games from 20 years ago on my Dad's Apple IIc.

I never touched any kind of mod program more advanced than GameShark before FFXI. I taught myself how to use Meta and wrote the guide for dummies on VRS.

I know absolutely NO JAPANESE, except for what little succesfully translates on Babelfish.

You wanna know how I did it? Perseverance and common sense... and a little thing called "SEARCH". For all you people new to modding, THIS is how it starts.

Did you notice the 9 HOURS it took me to find out how to change a 256x256 Texture and some letters? THIS is why people don't like answering the same question repeatedly. THIS is why your "teh helpz plz!" threads go unanswered for weeks at a time or are met with sarcasm. AND, this is why, in about a month or two, we're all going to see a "How do you change your background picturez?!" thread at the top of the list.

And, now that I'm slightly less tense and stressed, on with the knowledge.

***************************TUTORIAL*************** ***************

Materials you will need to make my tutorial work for you :
» MSPaint, or desired Graphics Program.
» ChangeTex v0.03
» Graphics Converter 3, or GP with .dds plug-in. See Phabin for more info.

Recommended materials to make your job easier :
» POLUtil, compliments of Pebbles.
» Character Map

***Font and Menu .dats are located within the following folders:
ROM/0/1.dat
ROM/118/111.dat
ROM/119/51.dat
ROM/91/15.dat
Do you need to change them all?! Sure, why not. Ain't gonna kill ya'...

1 > Using Changetex, navigate to one of the folders above.


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2 > Don't know what all those FileNames mean? That's where Pebbles saves ur arse. Use POLUtils to look up the .dat name and see what's inside each .dat so you don't have to export every file. ALSO, pay attention to the areas I have hi-lited because both are about the only important thing here.


*************************************
3 > Choose the portion of the .dat you wish to edit and hit the DDS button.


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4> Using all of the graphic editing ability you can muster, either convert the .DDS file into a .BMP, edit it using a Graphic App with a .DDS Plugin, or completely recreate a new .BMP with THE SAME DIMENSIONS [hilited in RED on pic 2]. With GC3, you can change a >DDS file to .BMP by opening it and selecting Format > DIB Format > DIB24bit and then saving it.


*************************************
5 > Convert that space wasting .BMP back into a space wasting .DDS File! If you're going to use GC3, I found that it works for both formats. I messed around with Photoshop7.0 and got results also, but not worth mentioning. PAY ATTENTION TO THE GREEN HI-LITED AREA ON PIC 2! That will tell you what file format it needs to be saved in.

For DXT1 Format use this option!


For DXT3 Format use this option!

*************************************
6 > Finally, we are ready to incorporate this into the game files! Back to ChangeTex and ensure you have hi-lited the file that you want to import back into the .dat. Then, it's just a matter of hitting the hi-lited "????" button and finding the file you just finished customizing. Hit enter, weed past all the "Noodle Success" boxes, and you're set!


*************************************

That's it. 9 Hours of work for that. Now you too can log into your game and enjoy pieces of marvel like such. Hope you enjoyed my tutorial and found it useful.






....and now, I'm going to go change my annoying font and mess around with more BG Combinations.

[Shep]

i had a site saved in my favorites on my old pc that said how to do this.......

its too bad i forgot to write the url down....

[PotentPotables]

Thanks for the memories, Shep...

You're more than welcome to save this thread in your favorites...

It's okay, noone will hate you...

[Hearshot]

Great Tutorial. I actually started doing this last night before i saw this thread.

I'm specifically trying to edit my Chatlog Font using Rom/119/51.dat

I used this guy's site http://dan-rouse.com/customfantasy/font.php
So i wanted to try it out and get Trebuchet MS 12 just like his screenshot:



But mine comes out scratchy and poor after i use his process.

I use Photoshop, ChangeTex, and FFXIFontMaker.

FFXIFontMaker is a jp program that initially loads up the default Font Sheet, then lets you format to whatever font you want... but it comes out like crap in-game compared to that guy's screenshot.

I noticed you don't use FFXIFontMaker. So i'm curious about your process, if you have any specific tips on what fonts will look best or how to get them to look better.

[PotentPotables]

I TRIED Font Maker, and the only thing it does better for me is speed up the process.

I honestly spent the time in MSPaint manually typing and overwriting the characters I needed. This comes out alot clearer than FontMaker, due to some language barrier.

To make a new Alpha Channel for your new font, its as easy as saving as monochromatic BMP, which will convert all the "shady" grey areas to white.

[Hearshot]

thx for the tips
I'll try monochrome then. I'll have to mess with that when i get home. If i'm happy with what it comes out to i'll try to share. This is a great way to personalize ffxi.

[Hearshot]

Well i made my first one, it came out fairly clear.








If you want to try mine out, here it is.
This is an original 51.dat with injected Monotype Corsiva font, nothing else is tweaked except that.

Don't forget to back up your original dat files.

ftp://ffxionline.com/incoming/dat/Chatlog Font1 - Monotype Corsiva.zip

[syranus]

hello,

sorry that i warm up old pots...but i want to change the backround on my FF-XI game...and i found this great (working) guide. but i cant find the file, where the backgrounds are saved...could someone say me, where they are located?



Hope you understand, because i'm german and my english is very bad ._.



Syranus

[PotentPotables]

Heilige Scheiße! Verfluchte Deutsche! =P

gerade scherzend...

Download POLUtils von der Web site des Pebbles. Genau herausfinden dann können Sie, wo die Hintergrundakten an sind sowie, welche Akten Sie ändern möchten. Es gibt eine direkte Wahl für Menü-Hintergründe.

[English] Download POLUtils from Pebble's Website. Then you can find out exactly where the Background files are at as well as which files you want to change. There is a direct option for Menu Backgrounds. [/English]

[Shep]

i'm starting to think you aren't such a crabby potato man after all.....

[PotentPotables]

Nah...

I'm most definately an asshole...

I'm only seemingly amiable when someone has a real problem. When the repetitive laziness/stupidity card get played, though, my true colors show. And I try to do it ina funny way, but sometimes I let my fingers run away with my brain. That, and some people are too thin-skinned imo...

[syranus]

*outch* hard words potent! Thats not nice...


well i found that out now. but the game takes the "newtex" texture wrong. it's much darker then the original one and it doesn't stretch it. i mean as a chatBG it looks nice, but as a bg for the "mainmenu" (where you select [status],[magic]...) it looks shit. it only repeat the square and dont stratch it like the bg n°5 it does...could someone help me again? and pleas in a politely way =P


Syranus

[PotentPotables]

Damn, I thought my answer was pretty nice. I even used babelfish to translate it...

Doesn't "gerade scherzend" mean "just joking" ? If not then Babelfish is messed up.

Anyway, all the background and menu textures repeat. I don't believe that it stretches any of them.

[Revitozu]

Awesome tutorial. ^^ If I was wanting to change the background or text, I would. But I kinda like them both. ^^

I've learend to never trust babelfish. o_o