Texturing & Asset Creation 101

A guide detailing texturing, LODs & general asset creation.

Introduction

This Tutorial will cover tips and tricks for properly texturing and creating your asset. This guide is more on generalization of texturing and asset creation concepts. For more detailed information on how to actually create models here are 2 guides for 3DS Max or Blender.

3D Studio Max Tutorial Guide

Here's a link to Shroomblazes Original 3DS Max Tutorial that covers a lot of the basics.
Official Tutorial Guide How to Turn a Model Into Game Ready Asset 3DS Max[forum.paradoxplaza.com]

Blender Tutorial Guide

Here's a link to a video tutorial series for Blender users created by kalimashookdeday on reddit aka Templeofdoom on the workshop. Blender to Cities Tutorial for Blender 2.74

Map Sizes

Which ever size you end up choosing for your Diffuse, you must make every texture mask/map that size as well. Mismatching sizes will result in issues.



If you use these half size texture maps it will actually distort your UVW map lines in 3DS Max and I have to select all 3 buttons at the top (Make Reference Image in future). Then I either scale my UVW map lines 5 clicks horizontally or vertically to make their ratio correct again.

Use the following mods to get up close to your model to see if you could reduce individual texture sizes on your diffuse. Not everything needs to be ultra high resolution.
I personally have been using Enhanced Zoom by hyperdrive_engage.
Alternatively you an use First Person Camera Mod by nlight.

Scale of Model & Textures

This Cim was extracted using mod tools. He's 186 Tris and 1.68 meters or 5.5 foot tall. If you are modeling something that would be small enough for them to be holding you can compare it to his hand size. You can also use this to see how large your doors should be and will give you a better sense of scale.

Here's the link to the .rar file. Comes with cim.max, cim.obj, cim.mtl, cim_d.png
Cim Download[s000.tinyupload.com]

The file should automatically have the correct scale settings. If you need to set your scene to scale in 3DS Max just click & view or save the screenshot below.

Do Not Rely on the Asset Editor

Do not adjust the scale and rotation using the options in the asset editor. It will give you less control over your model. Properly set the scale in your 3D application because if you need to re-upload and fix your model later it will be correct and will not have to remember what number you entered in the asset editor. Rotate your object in your application as well, it will give you more control.

Identifying Inaccurate scale

The best way to avoid Inaccurate scale is to model in real world measurements. Make sure you understand how your 3D app handles measurements and how to set them. Also if there's any scaling going on when you export.

Optimal workflow would be to think of 1 meter as 1 meter or 1 ft as 1 ft. That makes it heaps easier to fully model correct scale, including height of doors, windows, stairs, even space between floors. Make a cube to show the expected scale of the object (i.e. a species of tree needs to be 15 m) or make a 2 meter tall cube to visualize the height of a person. Also making grid cells to match the in game scale (8mx8m= 1 cell, Growables are 4cellsx4cells) really helps to visualize.

Need Examples Of Over Sized Bricks & Undersized Textures.

Texture Selection & Resources

Before learning more about the various textures types I think it's important to discuss proper texture selection first. Selecting the right texture can make or break your models appeal on the Steam Workshop. From what I've seen, I think some people think it's ok to pick the first thing they see and go with it. This is normally not a good idea because you have not compared and contrasted much.When you keep looking you can find something that better fits the model and is most likely higher quality over all. Gathering a large collection of reference material before you begin will help you see that final vision.

Texture Resolution

I've seen many assets on the Steam Workshop with very low resolution textures and it shows. Just because something looks good as a small image doesn't mean it will up close. People use First Person Camera Mods, It's a major part of the game. This is why Higher Resolution images are better, because even those can degrade once you are up close to a building. If your going to use photographs for your textures, make sure they are high quality and have minimal compression.

Color Choice

View a quick color theory guide and more on Colormatters![www.colormatters.com]

When picking textures, look for colors that work well together to give your asset a better flow. Sometimes using a color that is very contrasting to the rest of your asset is good for things you wish to stand out and other times it's better to tone it down so that it blends in.

For Example. Someone suggested to Bennymedia to change the color of the slide on his Aqua Fun Park because it stood out too much. By making it yellow it really made the pool flow better so your eyes weren't constantly drawn to the slide. You can see he also changed the blue on the building so it didn't look like the same color of the water giving room for the pool to stand out a bit more.

Resources for Textures

There are many great sites that offer royalty free textures. Here are some great resources for you to find what you're looking for.

Flickr[www.flickr.com] is a great resource to find textures on. You can do a custom search by selecting the creative commons license only.
CGTextures[www.cgtextures.com]
Mayang[www.mayang.com]
Textureking[www.textureking.com]
Freestocktextures[www.freestocktextures.com]
Texturemate[www.texturemate.com]
Goodtextures[www.goodtextures.com]
Google Images is also a great source for textures.

Diffuse Texture

This texture map is the basic raw color map and is where the color information is stored. It's Important when adding various textures to make things compact by rotating UVW Map lines to fit everything like a puzzle. This will save texture space and allow you to add more textures while keeping your max texture size down. Each assets gets one diffuse texture.

Since each asset gets only one diffuse texture, you will need to combine all of your collected textues into one image file. Program like Photoshop or Gimp are great tools for this and allow you to manage texture layers. Especially good for when you want to quickly move and rotate textures to get more space on the map. You will of course have to move and rotate UVW Map lines as well after making these changes.

Color Satuation / Hue & Levels

Many assets are over saturated with color causing the model to appear very bright, neon like and unrealistic. You can color correct by adjusting the color Saturation, Hue and Levels.

In Photoshop you can go to "Image > Adjustments > Hue\Saturation" or Hit Ctrl-U.



Turning down saturation will make your texture fade and become more grey. It will seem washed out, but the game will re-saturate the color. Bringing the Saturation down -15 to -35 works pretty well across the board but will vary depending on the Image used. It's about looking for that right "grey:color" balance within the texture. Compare C & D in Example Below.

Sometimes color may have a slight tint/hue from another color. For Example, I want these tree leaves yellow but in game they are slightly green. So I bring up the Hue/Saturation panel. Then I turn up saturation to 100 temporarily to get a better look at the color and adjust the hue slider away from the green to make it more yellow and finally adjust the saturation back to 0 and hit ok. You can see this effect below. A has the green tint, B & C show the color change with saturation at 100 & D is the final result. Also note the tiny hand at the bottom left corner of that saturation panel. You can click that icon to color pick certain colors on your texture to adjust the hue or saturation of an isolated color.


Finally with levels you can adjust brightness & contrast of the texture. Sometimes images are under or over exposed to light and cause your texture to fall flat. Find this panel at "Image > Adjustments > Levels" or hitting Ctrl-L. Now play with the sliders to get desired results.



It's currently not possible to have a repeating tiled texture across the face of a polygon because the game uses a single Diffuse texture. You will need to sometimes break up large polygon faces with some edges and UVW map the texture into a seamless tiled form. (Provide Image Later Explaining in Detail)

You can do this by stretching your polygons outside of the UV boundtry. -AJ

Illumination Mask

This texture mask brings an illuminated quality to your model and will give off light. This is Important if you want your asset to light up at night. Great for windows, spot lights, neon signs and more. The values used in each section below will vary the intensity of light used.
0 being Black, 255 being White.

• 0-120 - Diffuse color emissive. 0 being none, 120 Fully Illuminated.
  
• 121-128 - Does Nothing According to CO but I have found that things illuminated in this range.
  
• 129-255 - Will not use the Diffuse color at all but use varying tones of white (they will gradually get stronger or weaker in illumination as the night moves along to appear as if a light is on or off).
  
• 192 is the neutral color & mid-range between 128 and 255. 192 should be used as your Background color now, Black is no longer a viable option as it will cause outlines of illumination around your windows which doesn't look correct.

So if your window Diffuse texture is red and its Illumination mask is 140, the window will be red at day and have a random white-ish/yellow-ish color and intensity at night. However if its Illumination mask was 120, it would emit red at night.

LOD Illumination - I have found that using Jpg's are no longer a good option for saving LOD textures. When you save your illumination mask with a 192 background color it will cause compression artifacts making various colors surrounding the 192 range which will make your whole mesh illuminate. Saving as a png or tga solves this problem as there is less loss of information when saving.

For Vehicles its another story.
Background is 50% Grey (Will not illuminate)
Head & brake lights are 100% White (Lights will function).
Turn signals are 100% Black (Will blink when turning).

Having no Illumination mask will cause each half of the vehicle to blink when turning. Example:


Her'es a guide that overviews Illumination variations.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=524027632

Trees do not support Illumination Masks at this time.

Color Mask / Color Variations

The color mask defines parts of the model that will change colors when selecting color variations in the asset editor. Black will be disregarded and White will be the area that changes color. De-saturate the areas you want to have color variations to grey scale on the Diffuse. This is so you will not get interference from other colors causing a muddied texture. Each asset has 4 color variations max.

Sometimes the model will appear to have white lines at the edges of the color variation. You can fix this a little by extending the UVW map lines past the color variation area slightly. Currently some buildings have broken color variations. You may have to find a working template for which ever building level/zoning type you are working on.

EMERGENCY VEHICLES
Currently it's impossible to have color variations for emergency vehicles because the game uses the _c texture map to define the flashing light areas. So when you are making a vehicle of this type uncheck use color variations and make the areas you want to flash white and everything else black on the _c map.

Alpha Mask

The Alpha mask defines transparency using a greyscale image to either show or hide parts of the Diffuse map. This game does not use full alpha transparency, meaning you can't have opaque parts of the model such as having a semi transparent window.

Visible parts are 100% White.
Invisible parts are 100% Black.

However there is a middle grey area that can be used to correct some issues when you create very small visible portions of texture. When you decide to make a fence for example and have tiny lines they will actually become distorted and turn invisible at a further distance.

Zed68 created a great Alpha Grille Tutorial about this topic which discusses using 52% Grey and Black outlines. You can read more about this problem and how to fix it here.
Tutorial : How to use alphas for grilles or balconies[forum.paradoxplaza.com]

Also I would like to note that this problem also occurs when making a tree asset. Trees are forced to use an auto LOD the game produces.

So an alpha mask for leaves with many invisible spaces in between each leaf will actually be calculated into the LOD and cause your tree to turn completely invisible when zoomed out (Depending on the amount of invisible space). Fix this problem by having less invisible space and more texture so the auto LOD calculates more of the visible texture than the invisible portions and gives you a better overall look when zoomed out.

Hazy White Edges?

One issue that may occur is the appearance of white pixels around the edge of your texture after properly making an alpha mask.

There is a way to fix this problem however using the Flaming Pear plugin for Photoshop. Read a more detailed explanation about what causes this problem at the following link. Messy alpha problem - white around edges[answers.unity3d.com]

To Fix this problem you can do the following steps.

• Download and install the Flaming Pear "Free Plugins[www.flamingpear.com]" pack located at the bottom of that linked page.
  
• Open your Diffuse texture in Photoshop.
  
• Go to Select -> Load Selection and click OK.
  
• Go to Select -> Save Selection and click OK. This will create a new alpha channel.
  
• Now Deselect all (Ctrl-D or Cmd-D)
  
• Select Filter -> Flaming Pear -> Solidify B

This will cause the diffuse texture to fill any transparent areas with color that matches the surrounding pixels that border your texture and also increase the texture size, so delete any excess you don't need with a quick selection, expand 5 pixels, inverse and delete. Compare the 2 below, each Diffuse has the solidify B applied to it but the right one is much smaller in size.

Specular Mask

The Specular Mask defines an implied specular reflectance quality to your model. In essence, this map defines your model's shine. It is most noticeable at glancing angles.

• 100% White is defined as glass.
  
• 100% Black has no specularity.
  
• Consider each pixel of your specular mask as a value between 0-100% where 100% is white, anything between 0-95% will appear as shine on your model. Between 80% and 90% will start to appear as metal, or transparent metal, or as you get closer to 100% -- glass.

It is very easy to make a specularity map that is too bright. Most specularity maps in this game are relatively dark with the majority of the map's information in the 40% gray value range. Every case is different, you may be making a glass building, where your entire building's specularity may be 100% white.

Sometimes for bright colorful images such as billboards and signs it's good to keep it 100% black and have no spec because when you add a specular to the texture it starts becoming hazy and has an opaque whiteness to it, which can really make texture colors fall flat at times.

• 1-3% Black will give a small reflection while retaining original color.
  
• 3-15% for low shine stuff
  
• 15-35% for heavy looking semi reflective metal.
  
• 65-80% for really high shine stuff.
  
• 80-90% for high shine metals and chrome.
  
• 100% for windows but a lower reflection with a good texture will give you a better results.

Specular Masks do not work on models being imported as trees.

Normal Map

Cities Skylines uses BRDF shading and not PBR.

This texture map defines raised or recessed areas causing your texture to appear as if it has geometry. It will really bring life to your model by adding a detailed 3D surface without having to model geometry and keep the triangle count low. Use normal maps for things like shingles on a roof to give it a sand paper like quality and show definition in the edges of each shingle, raising the rivets on a metal beam or recess the slots in a vent.

Not using a normal map when it's called for is doing your model a disservice. It will really bring your model to the next level in realism. Without a normal map areas will seem plastic and fake. For example going back to the shingles, All you will see is a flat surface with a texture of shingles and if you have applied a specular the reflection will really show that.

The Specular map actually goes hand in hand with the Normal map. By adding a specular map it allows the light to glance the surfaces of the normal map producing light and shadow effects causing the definition to appear. Rotating the light in the asset editor will help you see the effect.

Importance of Inverting the Red Channel

Because the game uses different shading than what is considered standard, you ABSOLUTELY must invert the red channel of your map or the result will look wrong in game. To read a more detailed explanation and how to correct the problem visit this tutorial link here.
An important reminder about normal maps[forum.paradoxplaza.com]

Normal Making Programs

Below are a few free and payed applications that produce normal maps. Shroomblazes personal recommendation is to get NDO2 if you are using Photoshop to texture. NDO2 allows you to create and edit normal maps right inside of Photoshop using its own layers system. No need to save images and import to an external program. This is good for quick normal map generation by isolating layers and editing only that section of your diffuse.

Free Programs

• XNormal[www.xnormal.net] - Video Tutorial - Part 1 - Part 2
  
• Insane Bump[registry.gimp.org] Plugin for Gimp - Video Tutorial
  
• Normal Map Online[cpetry.github.io] - Browser Based Generator

Paid Programs

• MindTex[frozenflamecorp.com] - $15
  
• ShaderMap[shadermap.com] - $50
  
• NDO2[quixel.se] - $50
  
• CrazyBump[www.crazybump.com] - $99 Gulas Normal Guide[imgur.com]
  
• bitmap2material[www.allegorithmic.com] - $99
  
• Knald[www.knaldtech.com] - $100

Links to More Information about Normal Maps

• Creating & Using Normal Maps - A Tutorial[www.bencloward.com]
  
• How NOT To Make Normal Maps From Photos Or Images[www.katsbits.com]

Saving Textures

Why does file size matter? Because a higher file size will result in a longer load time for the player.

When it comes time to save your textures, use the suffixes you see below. You should save them as .PNG to prepare your textures for importing. The game can handle most file type extensions without issue, but here is a breakdown of the associated file types:

• PNG - Best quality, yet higher file size. Near lossless compression on import. The game can handle this, but it will result in slightly higher file size.
  
• TGA - Great quality, great file size. Some lossless compression on import. Also saves the alpha channel associated with the file if saved out as 32 channel and not 24 channel (this is irrelevant information for now, but may be of use in the future).
  
• JPG - Okay quality, best file size. Moderate loss via compression, and if you keep continuously saving jpg edits over jpg edits, artifacting will occur.

The material for Buildings supports up to 6 textures, each needs to use the same filename as the FBX file with a texture type suffix.

• "_d" stands for diffuse texture (RGB) - 3 color channels texture defining the albedo.
  
• "_a" stands for alpha texture (Mask) - 1 color channel mask specifying per pixel transparency.
  
• "_c" stands for color texture (Mask) - 1 color channel mask specifying per pixel where the color variations can be applied.
  
• "_i" stands for illumination texture (Mask) - 1 color channel mask specifying per pixel if the diffuse color should be considered emissive.
  
• "_n" stands for normal map texture (RGB) - 3 color channels tangent space normal map.
  
• "_s" stands for specular texture (Mask) - 1 color channel mask to specifying per pixel specularity.

EXAMPLE:
If my building's name is Gula_MovieTheater04, then my normal map would have to be saved as "Gula_MovieTheater04_n" and the same goes for all other file types.

LOD Mesh & Texturing

LOD stands for Level of Detail and is a low poly representation of your model.
Most LOD's are around 50-200 polygons.

This describes the process of optimization where your model will toggle over to a low resolution model. This functionality is inherent in all models, with some LOD'ing more aggressive than others (props will use LODs quicker than asset models and actually even disappear). The purpose of the LOD is to reduce the amount of rendering a GPU has to make when viewing your overall city from a distance. The LOD will appear quicker for some people who have lower graphical settings in game.

It is an icon to represent the object from a far. So It doesn't need to look like the asset pixel per pixel. The Major edges should match up perfectly to your main model but you don't need to provide every little detail that your main model has. Making a low poly version of your main model means using smaller texture sizes too! For Example: Main model can have 1024x1024 and LOD texture can be 128x128 (as low as 16x16 for cars). For some very large buildings 512x512 is acceptable. Just as the main model, the LOD must all use the same texture sizes to show up right.

You should ALWAYS create custom geometry and custom UV's for your LOD. Your LOD model does not require custom texture maps by default so if you are un-sure how to create a LOD diffuse you can let the automatic LOD texturing generate the material for you by a process called baking. However, a manually made texture will always be better than what the game generates. You can override what the importer generates for you by placing any LOD maps (diffuse/spec/etc) in the import folder, but your geometry and associated UV's should most definitely be custom. This is a different mesh than your main model. Stacking UV's for the LOD mesh can cause issues with the auto texture generator as well.

After Dark Update: With After Dark released It's more important than ever to bake your lod models textures using your own 3D application and touching up and flaws in Photoshop. The Auto generated textures in After Dark can seriously make your whole asset illuminate with flaws.

LOD textures require special care that the creator stays within the 0-1 UV coordinates of all map types. Failure to stay within those parameters will result in a bad LOD. If you happen to go outside of the boundaries the game will actually pull textures from completely random models and try to use those instead.

All LOD maps have the suffix
"modelname_lod_" Then suffix of map type" such as "d".
Which should look something like this... "modelname_lod_d.jpg"
The textures must have lower case "lod" not "LOD"

Triggering the LOD in the asset editor will allow you to see how big the model will be when the LOD switches on. Based on the size you can get a good idea of how small your textures can be and retain quality without having them be really blurred and noticeable. Using the Isometric Camera mod will forces LODs to show up even at very close distances. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=409359952

The Asset Editor has issues sometimes and your LOD texture might show up with random colors unrelated to your texture. Simply save it and check it out in game and you will notice that everything is actually showing up correctly.

Here's a video tutorial how to make a custom LOD using 3D Studio Max.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiCUosD_o8o

Exporting, Importing & Updating

After creating an optimized model and LOD you can export each individually to the import folder. Before exporting make sure to collapse each object into a single mesh. Now you must rotate the Axis.

Rotating your Model

Adjust your axis pivot point after collapsing your object into a single mesh. Rotate the Y-Axis 90 degrees face up which will correctly orient the model. Moving the axis pivot point around you can also offset the model allowing you to make something hover, go partially into the ground or even position it in the corners of the assets land space.

Here's a quick Image showing how to edit the axis in 3DS Max.

Exporting

Export the main model and LOD as separate single meshes in .fbx format.
They should look like this...

Filename.fbx
Filename_lod.fbx

Place your new files into the Import folder which is located here...
C:\Users\Yourname\AppData\Local\Colossal Order\Cities_Skylines\Addons\Import

Make a shortcut on the desktop so you can easily add or remove files.This is also where textures should be saved.

Importing

Open the Asset Editor. Click a category you want, select a template then hit continue. Your file name should show up as an .fbx. Select the file and hit continue. Be sure to edit the stats on the properties panels and add some props. Once finished click the top right hand Icon, add a snapshot, tooltip image, custom thumbnail, and save your asset. You're done!

If you are having trouble Importing, take a look at this thread linked below.
If all else fails you can search the forums for any specific related problems.

Some Issues With Importing Models[forum.paradoxplaza.com]

Blender Import Tutorial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ShfdBv-mF4

How Do You Update an Already Published Asset?

Thanks to TPB, he has created a great guide on how to update anything you've already published on the workshop without having to re-upload a new workshop page losing all your subscribers.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=424748932

Properties Panel & Props

Floor height settings allow you to set floor spacing to show evenly spaced floor heights. Zed68 created a great tutorial on how to properly set your floor heights. Check it out at the link below.

Tutorial - Floors For Relective Buildings and Others Too[forum.paradoxplaza.com]

Prop Advice

If using your own custom prop in an asset then you must first upload that prop to the workshop, subscribe to it and use that version in your asset for people to see. By not doing the mentioned then people will not see those props.

If you use props from the workshop then please add the requirements on the right hand side of the page so people know to subscribe to them. Otherwise no one will see those props if they subscribe solely to your asset. If you like, please remind people of this if you notice they haven't done it. Thanks

You can use your asset as a template to have props show up again in the same place by checking the circle at the bottom left corner of the Asset Importer panel which says "Load existing props & decorations".

Details, Screenshots & Thumbnails

It's Important to give people information about your asset. Uploading a boring screenshot with no info will limit your chances of people subscribing. Users want to know statistics of a building to see if it's balanced for gameplay. Including the models Tri count and texture sizes as well for the Main Model & LOD is important. Plenty of people will not subscribe until they know this information to keep their game optimized.

Taking screenshots in game produces nicer results than using the default asset editor which can be seen as "low effort asset". Using graphical mods such as dynamic resolution ambient occlusion and of course a nice LUT will help stylize and produce a higher quality screenshot.

Show various angles of your asset. You took the time to model the object, texture it, import it and place some props. So take the 5-10 mins to place it in game and take some quality shots both zoomed in and out. People want to see detail. The more close ups showing high quality detail will result in a higher subscriber count.

When you've found a nice angle, take it to a photo editor such as Photoshop/Gimp. You can add a bit of blur to the background, crop it, adjust the colors, add some text and just give it your own flair and recognizability. It's Important that the asset is presented nicely, big and that people can actually see which model you are trying to display. (Sometimes it's not obvious which asset the creator actually made.)

Next to the title, your thumbnails determines wether someone is going to click on your asset or even download it straight away. So it's really worth it to go the extra mile and make a nice thumbnail.

In the end just scale the image down to 644x362 but you can also use and 1:1 aspect ratio (644x644) which gives you a bit more room for stuff. Save it as a png and replace the default one when uploading the asset and you're good to go. :)

A bad and a good thumbnail. Can you guess which one is which ?

Resources & Common Issues

3D Studio Max Tutorial Guide

Here's a link to Shroomblazes Original 3DS Max Tutorial that covers a lot of the basics.
Official Tutorial Guide How to Turn a Model Into Game Ready Asset 3DS Max[forum.paradoxplaza.com]

Blender Tutorial Guide

Here's a link to a video tutorial series for Blender users created by kalimashookdeday on reddit aka Templeofdoom on the workshop. Blender to Cities Tutorial for Blender 2.74

Here are a few places you can go to for invaluable information or are needing help with a specific issue not listed in this guide.

Skylines Wiki[www.skylineswiki.com]
Official Forums Modding Section[forum.paradoxplaza.com]
Simtropolis Modding Forum[community.simtropolis.com]
Cities Skylines Modding Reddit
CG Society Forums[forums.cgsociety.org]

Alternatively there is a IRC Channel where modders and asset creators can communicate. You will need an IRC client to enter the channel address. I suggest using Hex Chat (Download Here)[hexchat.github.io]. You can not just enter the channel address in your browser.

The Channel Address:
#skylines-modders @ irc.esper.net

Places to Post Your Asset

If you are a looking to get some more exposure you can consider posting information about your new assets at any of these sites.

The Official Forums and Simtropolis Listed Above
Cities Skylines Reddit
SkylinesCity.com Submit[www.skylinescity.com]
Google Circle Skylines Mods[plus.google.com]
Simtropolis Exchange[community.simtropolis.com]
Cities Skylines Nation Resources Sumbit[citiesskylines-nation.com]

More about Ground Clipping Issues. My Thread on forums.
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/game-renders-extra-faces-with-random-texture-from-diffuse-when-using-ground-conforming-template.859380/

Useful Mods

Mod Tools is a handy mod to have in your tool kit. You can adjust properties of assets and also extract .obj files / textures from default and workshop assets. It can be very intimidating at first, but once you know your way around the menus it becomes much easier.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=450877484
Mesh Info mod is helpful in terms of checking out asset details. You can refine your game and optimize it better by seeing size details of subscribed assets.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=453956891
Vehicle Asset Editor is great for being able to adjust various vehicle settings. It allows you to create assets using multiple .crp files, meaning you could have a train with different type of trailers. Without it, the train would be limited to 1 trailer with a max of 4 color variations.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=478839602
To find other great modding tools visit the collection below.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=416467094
Also if you're interested in Map Making Check out this Great Guide!
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=482232215

All About Trees

Trees are very enjoyable to create. It's important to keep the triangle count down because there will be many of them on the screen at once. CO has stated that some of the default trees are upwards of 2,000 triangles. This is a good limit to set for yourself when making a tree asset and I do mean limit, this does not mean shoot for that goal and just disregard the possibility of a lower count mesh. Having said that I feel like if the asset calls for it you can go slightly higher than 2,000 but anything more than 2,500-3,000 is just getting out of hand.

Smaller bushes and plant life can easily be made for hundreds of triangles.

One of the fun parts about making trees is trying to figure out a way to make it as low count as possible while still achieving the look you are going for. Look at it as a puzzle.

One of the downsides of making a tree asset is that there is no control over the LOD. The game will automatically create one for your and make a camera facing billboard based on your mesh. There is no way to override it and we have asked them to possibly change it.

Because there is no control over the LOD you may face invisible asset issues. You may have a wonderful looking tree but have many empty spaces between the leaves of the texture from your alpha mask. The game will then make a LOD that will turn invisible when zoomed out because for some reason it considered the alpha transparent areas as more important.

The process of how the LODs are created for trees is unclear at the moment.

Contributor Credits

Shroomblaze
Drosovila
AJ3D
MrMaison
tony_r_68 (Zed68)
TPB
Gula
OlaHaldor
Nitehawk39
GC_Vos
Templeofdoom

[Sir Sheikhs Pears]

NP @Erke. Enjoy your creative way!

[Erke]

Hey Sir Sheikhs Pears,
That is a great resource link, thank you so much for sharing!
Have a great day!

[Sir Sheikhs Pears]

@Erke @PineScentX I use Citizens templates (#Gigi #Gigi sitting) made by Comrade Intense and they can be downloaded in FBX file format from Comrade Intense website [intense.ws]

[Erke]

Also looking for the Cim reference download link... Or someone who already have it.
Started this guide, literally first obsticle in the first step.

[Aarón D’Lars [Zot-Lar]]

Finally! someone who talks about colored lighting. Thank you!

[Fun Noober]

I am using Blender. You said to scale something to 2 meters to get citizen size but Blender is weird.

[GordonQuick]

The link to the Cim for scale is a dead link. Anyone have a good one?

[Captain Toof]

@Shannanigan Hi, same problem, but _c map. No any non-white/black areas, but anyway entire prop I've created chooses the color from variation list. What also might be wrong?

[macluk]

@rwmorey71 - you probably know that by now - FBX file , that's to be moved or copied to the import folder together with any maps created (and defo with a diffuse map).
once you get everything done in asset editor - a crp file is created out of all of those files.

that's how i see it.

[rwmorey71]

What format does the final product need to be in to import into CS?