CS 1.6 | Creating Custom Skins for Models

Learn how to create custom skins for models for Counter-Strike 1.6.

Software - Gimp

Before creating and installing a custom skin, you'll need Gimp, a picture editing software.

• PC[download.cnet.com]
  
• MAC[download.cnet.com]

Once downloaded, follow the steps that appear on the screen to complete the installation.
I'd put a shortcut on your desktop for easy access.

Software - Jed's Half-Life Model Viewer

Before creating a custom skin, you'll need Jed's Half-Life Model Viewer, a model veiwer software.

• PC[www.wunderboy.org]

Once downloaded, follow the steps that appear on the screen to complete the installation.
I'd put a shortcut on your desktop for easy access.

CS Downloads Folder

If you have played Counter-Strike 1.6 long enough, there should be plenty of models to choose from in your Counter-Strike Downloads folder. This is where all the files are stored when you connect to a server, that way you don't have to redownload them every time you connect to a specific server.

The models folder can be found at:
Steam > SteamApps > common > Half-Life > cstrike_downloads > models

Choose a Model

All files ending with .mdl are models.
Each model comes with a few textures which we will be editing in Gimp to create our new model.
Here is where the fun begins.
Launch Jed's Half-Life Model Viewer.

It should look something similar to this:


Click File > Load Model
Locate your models folder.
This is located in Steam > SteamApps > common > Half-Life >cstrike_downloads > models

WOAH. SO MANY .mdl FILES!
For this I am going to choose a parachute model I have created.
Make sure "PC Half-Models (*.mdl)" is selected on the bottom right like this:


Select one of the .mdl files and click "Open"

Opening and Viewing

Once opened, the model should appear as it would in the game.
Here is what mine looks like:


Pretty cool huh?

You can mess around with the camera angle you are viewing the model at by clicking on the model and dragging your mouse. If you right click and drag back and forth, it lets you zoom in and out.

Exporting the Textures to Gimp

Click on the "Textures" tab between "Body Parts" and "Sequences"
The texure of the model should appear on your screen.


If you look to the bottom left you will see "Texture" and beside it the texture dimension size.
THIS CAN NOT CHANGE WHEN YOU EDIT YOUR TEXTURE.
If it does, your texture will not upload.

To the bottom right, you will see "Export Texture"
Click on it and save the .bmp file as whatever file name your heart desires to your Desktop.

Go to your Desktop.
Right click on the file > Open with > Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program)

Should look like this:

Editing the Texture

First thing first.
We need to set the "Mode" of the image to "RGB"
Image > Mode > RGB

This is because not all the colors are "Indexed" in the original file.
Later when we are done editing, the Mode has to be switched back to Indexed.

Anything you see in black will not show up in the final model. You can color all you want in those areas, so don't worry about making this perfect.

One thing I would suggest you do before you edit is figure out what each "piece" of your texture represents. Know which side is the front and which is the back.

So let's say I wanted to add a text to the picture.
I would go to Layer > New Layer and then make sure I don't change the layer size and set the fill type to "Transparency" like this:


The reason we add a layer to our image is incase we mess something up, we can just delete that layer and start fresh with the base image again without having the reupload the same texture file to Gimp. Always use a different layer for seperate objects (inserting a text then a picture) for easy editing, minimal effort, and less struggle. Get familiar with Gimp. It'll be worth it.

Next I would go to my toolbox and find the text tool.


Click and drag where you want your text. Just mess around with the tools. To move your text around use the "Move Tool". It looks like a plus sign with four arrow heads.

This is what mine looks like when I finished:



Notice, the piece of the texture I am editing is the back of the pack. The piece to the right can't be seen in game because it is strapped to the players back.

To add a picture to your model texture file in Gimp, save the picture you would like to paste into your texure to your Desktop. Go to your texture file that is opened in Gimp.
Click File > Open as Layers...

Find the picture you want to use and open it. You can resize the image by clicking on
Layer > Scale Layer...

To move the picture around, use the "Move Tool" I mentioned above that you will use to move your text around.

**DO NOT CONFUSE SCALE LAYER WITH SCALE IMAGE. YOU DO NOT WANT TO RESIZE YOUR IMAGE OR ELSE IT WON'T UPLOAD AND AN ERROR WILL OCCUR."

The last step in editing the texture is saving it properly.
We need to save the texture file back to "Indexed Color" or else it won't upload in Jed's Half-Life Model Viewer.
Go to Image > Mode > Indexed

This should show up:


I don't mess with these default settings because they seem to work perfectly just the way they are. So just press "Convert" without changing anything.

This next part is crucial. Do not messed this up.
Click File > Export As...

Ok pay attention. You can either overwrite your original texture file, which you can always get back by exporting the original texture file from the original model (.mdl) file, or you can save it as something else. I am going to save mine with a new name to my Desktop.
**MAKE SURE THE FILE IS .bmp AT THE END OF THE FILE NAME.


When you click "Export" this should show up:


Click the "+" by "Compatibility Options" and then check the box that appears.
Then hit "Export" when you are finished.
**MAKE SURE YOU CHECK THAT BOX OR ELSE IT WILL RESULT IN AN ERROR WHEN YOU TRY IMPORTING YOUR TEXTURE.**

Importing the Texutures to Model Viewer

Go back to Jed's Half-Life Model Viewer.

Make sure the correct model (.mdl) file is opened.
Go to the "Textures" tab.

Make sure you are viewing the same texture file you just edited.

Click "Import Texture" on the right side.

Go to your Desktop where you saved your .bmp file and open it.
If it doesn't open, go to the "Troubleshooting" section of this guide.

Now that you have successfully imported your texture, go to the "Model Display" tab and see what it looks like.

I still have difficulty moving my model around trying to get a better view of what it looks like. Again, just like Gimp, this Model Viewer takes some getting used to. Here is what mine looks like when I am just viewing the pack without the chute:




This took me a total of five minutes to make this model. As you can see it's not perfect as I just made it for example purposes.
It's really not that difficult to make your own models once you understand the process.
Just follow the steps exactly the way I listed above and nothing should go wrong.

Saving the Model

So now that we have finished editing the model, it's time to save it.

Click File > Save As...

When naming your model (.mdl) file, make sure it's a name that you can easily identify and recall what the model is.
Don't name it something too generic either (i.e. parachute).
When people connect to your server, you want them to know it's yours and not overwrite any of their other models in their cstrike_downloads folder.

If you are running a server, the place to save the model would be your server folder > cstrike > models folder and, depending on the model you would like to upload into your server, it requires a certain plugin and adding (if it is a weapon) the name of the model to the "Weapons Replacement" file.

It should look something like this:


If you do not run your own server or would like to send the file to someone who does, save it to your Desktop or create a folder just for custom models you will create.

Click "Save" when you are finished.

Any of the .bmp files on your Desktop can be deleted if you are done editing.
All the texture files are saved with your .mdl file.
If you ever want to go back and edit something on your custom skin for a model, open it in Jed's Half-Life Model Viewer and export the texture files again.

Congrats! You did it. That was easy.

My FAQ

When learning how to make a model, I didn't have a guide like this one.
Aren't you just so lucky?
The following are questions I found myself stumped on when I edited my texture files.

Why when I try to paint with a color or when I import a picture, it appears in a different color than what I have selected?

• One of the very first steps in editing a texture, well actually, literally the very first step is to set your image mode to RGB
  
• Now try painting or inserting a picture

When I insert an image and click out of it, I can't move it around anymore

• This is because you anchored the image to the layer
  
• This is why you need to open images as new layers in File > Open as Layers...

When I do insert a new layer from Layer > New Layer, there is a white background.

• This is because "Transparency" isn't selected
  
• There should be a pop-up window when you click "New Layer" prompting you to choose between either the Foreground Color, the Background Color, White, or Transparency
  
• Make sure Transparency is selected and DO NOT change the layer size.

Troubleshooting

If you are reading this, this means your texture file didn't import properly and resulted in an error.
As my dear friend would now ask me, "What did you break?"

Go through this list and make sure you did the following.
Go in order.
They are from most susceptible mistakes to least:

Did the file size of your texture file change?

• To check this, go to your Desktop where the original texture file is and your edited version
  
• Right click on each file and go to Properties
  
• See if the file size changed. Even the smallest number off from the original file will cause an error
  
• To fix this, open the edited texture file you were working on in Gimp
  
• Go to Image > Mode and then make sure "Indexed..." is selected
  
• Whether it was or wasn't selected, continue to proceed to File > Export As... > nameofyourfile.bmp
  
• Make sure it is .bmp!!
  
• A pop-up screen will show up asking you to "Export Image as BMP"
  
• Make sure the box is checked under "Compatibility Options"
  
• Click Export and see if it uploads now.

Are you on the correct texture file in Jed's Half-Life Model Viewer?

• Make sure you are viewing the correct texture when importing your edited texture
  
• You wouldn't want to upload the face of a player model to the back of its shirt

[lighty]

hey so it does a eroro like replacement texture must be the same size as the orignal how do i fix

[Stone]

Nice, don’t forget to drop a Like and Fav mine, have a nice day.

[GeTMoNsT3R Since 2007✔️ ✌]

easy with photoshop :D

[postmodern postmodernism]

not hard.

[SeNfOuR !! Vs LuCifeR !!]

so hard :)

[pATWIST d[-_-]b]

hehe

[mocne fredzlicho]

k

[loloe2]

its hard

[loloe2]

haha

[N O L A N]

thank u