Hello All. I have searched the net for AC skins and have come up with a bunch of useful Information, but I need a bit more. First off, using ReadDat I can export the range of UI Elements I want to change, but they go to a .bin file. How do I convert the .bin to something "Graphically Editable"? or is there another way? Second I would need to "Import" the new "elements" back into the client_portal.dat, Which I assume can be done with WriteDat.


Anyone who has any info and cares to share it would be greatly appreciated.


Also, has anyone successfully made skins for AC:ToD?


Thank you for your help in advance.


DarkTorizo

 

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Nobody that I know of has done a skin for Throne of Destiny. You would be the first. That means you get the pleasure of figuring this all out on your own and explaining it to the rest of us.

Thank you for the response Yula, I kind of figured it hasn't been done yet as there is not a whole lot of info on Skins after Tod. Oh well... I'll keep digging...

 

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You might find this ToD dat viewer/exporter utility helpful (sourcefile also available for d/l):


http://ac.ciper.com/acv.html

 

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Thank you for the reply Surge. I have that program and another one like it, now I need a way to edit what is exported, and then import it back into client_portal.dat

 

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Ok, I succeeded in swapping out some images (note the health bar color in the screenshot below):


http://www.strikefast.net/images/Surge/skintest1.jpg


Here's what I did:


1) find location of images using acview

2) extract with ReadDat.exe

3) import as RAW in IrfanView (you need to know the color depth and height,width, shown in acview). It seems most images are 24BPP, BGR, Interleaved, with a file header size of 24. Some newer images are reported as 24BPP by acview, but are actually 32BPP.

4) save the image as a jpg

5) use your favorite graphics program to edit/modify the image

6) load image back into IrfanView, then save as RAW (BGR, Interleaved). Note that you can't write this raw file into the dat file as is, because there is no header.

7) using a hex editor, open the file extracted in step 2, and copy the first 24 bytes.

8) using the hex editor, open the newly created raw file from step 6 and paste the section at the beginning

9) use WriteDat.exe to insert the modified file into the dat file.


I'm sure given these steps, someone can automate some of the tasks/conversions (maybe there's better programs than the ones I used to import/convert/export, etc.)

 

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Surge, I can't say thank you enough!!! You are a genius.

Here is a pic of the first modded graphic I did.


http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4508570


Note the line between the chat box and the viewing window.


Thank You!


Skins will be reborn for AC:ToD.

 

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If anyone does get a ToD skin and wants it hosted let me know and I will reserect the Skins section of my site which is currently a Retired Section;

http://acheaven.buwahaha.com/Skins.htm

 

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Why save it as a JPG? use something lossless instead like png!

sweet! ToD skins in the making!