BOMB - Skinning tutorial - BOMB: Who let the dogfight ?

Notice: This tutorial is not made from an artistic point of view, but solely a technical how-to.

The list below links all the planes from the game to its a template containing a full texture set. The second name, the one with the link is the internal (in engine) name of the plane.

VB-42 Calamari : AI_PLANE_10
MM.3803 Bilby: AI_PLANE_11
CK50 Kani: AI_PLANE_12
KGP XVII Puffin: AI_PLANE_FB
VB-37 Astore: AI_PLANE_HF
S.N.A.F Rorqual: P_PLANE_B
King KAC-B: P_PLANE_F

Their respective folders are found in game_installation_directory/BOMB/Media/objets/aircrafts

Download and extract the P_PLANE_F.7z archive anywhere you choose. It contains several TGA files, always organized as:

• mask.tga : a general mask showing the plane's parts (for editing help purpose only, it's not used in game)
• lines.tga : structure lines (the separations between parts)
• rivets.tga : plane's rivets (you know... lots of them)
• structlines.tga: Not used directly for skin creation. We'll speak more about that file later.
• internals.tga (optional): radiators, glass and landing gear parts.

Open the mask.tga file and save it as a GIMP workspace file (.xcf extension).

In this workspace, open lines.tga and rivets.tga as new layers (file > open as layer). For better display, set them in multiply mode:

Duplicate the mask layer, put the new one on top of the stack and set it in multiply mode.

Just above the first layer, create a new one labeled as "camo".

As I said, this tutorial is not for artistic purpose, so assume that I choose a few colors and paint my skin with them, leading to:

We can achieve quickly an used look.

• duplicate the rivets layer
• on the original one, apply a 2 pixels gaussian blur: filters > blur > gaussian blur

• set the duplicate one in divide mode with a 75% opacity:

• duplicate the structure lines layer
• apply a 10 pixels gaussian blur on
• set the original one with a 20% opacity:

• Open internals.tga as a new layer if it exists and move it on top of the stack:

Voilà ! Our first skin is done.

Now we need to export the image as a TGA file named P_PLANE_F_MySkin.tga, in 32 bit mode. It's very important that the skin has an alpha layer because it contains a specular mask (i.e. light reflection mask). By default, setting this alpha layer to white or gray is sufficient, but to provide the best example, here's what a worked out specular mask looks like:

Convert the TGA file in DDS file format with DXT5 compression using one of the many existing tools (e.g. a GIMP export plugin).

Even an online converter exists. In this one, choose DXT5 mode and click on generate mip maps.

Copy the dds file in BOMB/Media/objects/aircrafts/[MODEL]/skins, in our example it is: BOMB/Media/objects/aircrafts/P_PLANE_F/skins

Finally, launch viewer.exe, which is a minimal BOMB build to quickly start a skirmish. This program is located next to the BOMB main executable, in BOMB/bin/release.

You can switch between available skins by pressing the up and down keyboard keys.

Used when the plane is damaged.

• The R channel contains the minor damages.
• The G channel contains minor + major damages.
• The B and A channels are currently unused.

NOTE: The [MODEL]_StructLines.dds is unique for all the skins of one plane. However it's possible to override it for a particular skin by creating a new one named as the skin with the _StructLines suffix.

For example, Bilby's skin:

AI_PLANE_11_racer_metal.dds

has its own StructLines map:

AI_PLANE_11_racer_metal_StructLines.dds