Textures & Models [IV]

The guide isn't about creating an entirely new model or anything like that.
I'll simply show you how to locate, & replace any texture in the game.
This is a part four of a six-part guide, covers psykskallar aesthetics.

Tools you'll need

VTFEdit[nemstools.github.io]
GCFScape[nemstools.github.io]
VMT editor[gortnar.com].

Replacing a texture

Enable the console in options - keyboard, n mouse.
Now open it, type "sv_cheats 1", type "map ap" hit enter.
No need to finish the sentence, it'll take a wild guess what map you meant.

(You can check the name of the level you're in by typing "status".)

Let's replace this brick wall.



Open the console, type "mat_crosshair".
It will give you the file path to that texture.



It's located inside some pak01_dir, I'll copy-paste an explanation from my prev guide.
"You will find all textures in dir vpk folders (use GCFSCAPE)."

Replacing the texture

We know the texture is called "urban_brickwall_03a".
We also know it's inside "brick" folder, let's grab it.
This particular one is in left4dead2_dlc2 folder.



All textures have a vmt file to them, very handy.
Drag and drop both of those to your desktop.



Let's replace the vanilla brick wall texture with a custom, much better than Valve's, texture.
Open up VTFEdit, click File, Import, and choose your custom texture.

It will ask you some random nonsense.
ignore, and press "yeah u-huh".






Now press save as, overwrite the original brick wall.
Make sure it's got the exact same name as the original.



Now build a file path that leads to the original texture you changed.
Make an empty new folder on your desktop, name it root.
Now make another empty folder in it, name it materials.



Very simple how this works, moving on.
Pack your root folder into a vpk.

You need Left 4 Dead 2 authoring tools installed on steam.
After that, go to Steam\steamapps\common\Left 4 Dead 2\bin
Inside the bin folder, scroll down you'll find the "vpk" application.

Do not copy paste it, create a shortcut to your desktop instead.
And then just drag and drop your folder into it to pack it up.





Now drop it to your addons.

Check it out in game

And that's the gist of it.

Replacing model textures

Let's say you wanna replace this vent texture.
You type mat_crosshair, but it passes through the model and hits a brickwall.



"mat_crosshair" console command can only be applied to surface textures.
This is one of those typical Valve moments, life could've been a lot easier, huh?

Okay, there are three ways to do this.

1. The stupid way

Screenshot the model to memorize it.
Open up L4D2 authoring tools, open up tools mode.
Once it loads up, click file - new (on top left).

Press the 3 dots on string.



Adjust the position of the window to your liking, and have fun.



If it's a model you're looking for, select the models tab.
Try picking a few words to describe the texture you're looking for.
If it's too hard to find, enjoy death scrolling until you're lucky.

2. The average IQ way

Another method is by loading the level through hammer world editor.

First grab the map file.
In my case, it's the apartment level.
Most L4D1 maps are inside dlc2, and dlc3 folders.



Now you need to convert the .BSP map to .VMF
Because hammer is picky for no reason at all.
Go ahead and download BSPSource[github.com]on github.



Click "Add", select your .BSP map and press decompile.
This is one way of getting a .VMF, I guess.



Now open up garbage world editor in authoring tools.



Press file (top left) - load your vmf map.



We are met with this ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.



Press Z so you can float around the map, find that vent model.
You can press the CM icon so it's easier to spot models.
Once you found the model, select the red arrow (top left).
And double click on the model, to see its info.



We can see it's called acunit or something, and it's file path.
Let's head over to materials - models - prop_rooftop and check it.
Ignore the first models folder, we need the models folder that's inside materials.



Inside left4dead2 folder, in pak01_dir - materials - models - props_rooftop.

It's obviously the texture we're looking for, even though it doesn't really match the name.
Let's try something different rather than going over the same steps we did with that brick wall at the start of the guide. Instead of bloating the mod and having duplicate textures, we can edit the vent model's VMT and make it use an already existing texture. This is helpful in many scenarios.

Let's edit the acunit1 vmt and set the same exact diffuse texture as urban_brickwall's.



Now build a new file path for it, throw it in there.
We didn't replace or add a new texture anywhere.
We only made this specific model use an already existing one, through a vmt.



Pack it into a vpk again and let's have a look in game.
See what we did here? This vent model uses the same texture as our brickwall now.



You can also use this tool to find surface textures.

3. ChimneyChamBoob Method

This could prove useful, I haven't tested it much myself however.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3069023716

What method do I prefer

I'm not stupid of course, but I prefer the stupid way.



It's just less convoluted, sit back and relax, doomscroll to the end of times.

Back when I started working on Team Psykskallar Aesthetics, I was way worse at this.
I hadn't discovered the "mat_crosshair" console command until way later after I published the early version, ♥♥♥♥ was painful. I would walk around the map, take screenshots of every texture and model I wanted to replace, then open up tools mode and sit there looking for every texture manually, compare, and try to figure out if it's the texture I'm looking for, models were harder.

Just realized this is how much time I've spent in tools mode looking for a texture.
And that's not even counting offline hours, what a waste of time.



Anyway, I'm sure there's a 4th, much faster and easier way to locate model names.
Alas, I haven't discovered it yet, as of writing this guide.

But hey, these three methods work, which makes them viable, I think.

Some words

In case you'll ever be dead set on retexturing the entire game, hear me out.
You will run into a lot of issues, and if something looks broken - blame valve.

Nah, I'm not even joking.
Have you seen their map design?



This is barely touching the tip of the iceberg, L4D2 is the biggest offender.
I've always thought my retexture mods break something or cause bugs.
But no, it's just a valve moment. Custom textures make those bugs more apparent.

Anyway, there's a lot more I could say, but I think this is enough.
This guide partially covers how I make "Aesthetic" mods.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3260067578
Psykskallar being much more bloated and having a lot of duplicated textures due to my inexperience at the time. If you dig through my winter aesthetics files, you'll notice there's a lot less textures and a lot more VMTs. It took me several months to make and polish Psykskallar Aesthetics. I've learned quite a bit while making it. Winter Aesthetics only took me about 2 weeks to make, would've finished it much earlier if I wasn't procrastinating so much all the time.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3373366023

[idiot 3 alt (1)]

https://youtu.be/DdmNYNkcwKE

[yoru]

verify integrity of game files and remove any custom trash you may have inserted into the game files

[NOTMrDanny]

Mat_crosshair crashes my game? Lol why

[yoru]

I never used gimp, I always just used vtf and vmt edit, so can't say

[Samuels' Chili Shop]

How do you *properly* add alpha masks to textures? My current method works, but Gimp corrupts my textures frequently, and there seem to be certain color limitations.

[leandro.Lima]

top

[yoru]

no you make me

[Kreze]

Make me.

[yoru]

shut up

[Kreze]

Get to work then. DMs open.