Author Topic: AlphaEclipse's Tutorial Encyclopedia  (Read 22972 times)

AlphaEclipse

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AlphaEclipse's Tutorial Encyclopedia
« on: November 20, 2013, 01:49:27 am »
AlphaEclipse's Tutorial Encyclopedia




More Tutorials of Mine
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Presets

Presets

Basic Preset Making

What is a preset?
A preset is a marking pattern or character that you have already colored without going into the character customization option in-game.

What program(s) do I need to make presets with?
I personally like Photoshop Elements 11, but a free alternative to PS is Gimp, which can be found here: Gimp.org If you'd like to see the prices of Photoshop, look here: Adobe.com

(Finally) How do I make presets?
Presets seem extremely difficult to make at first, but once you get use to it, you're pro.

1. Open a program like Gimp or Photoshop. (I'll be using Photoshop Elements 11 for this tutorial. GIMP uses the same methods.)


Congrats, you've completed the first step. *Puts music on*

2.
Open up the 4 files you need, which are UVBody, UVHead, UVTail, and UVeye.
Go into C: >>> Feralheart >> my-presets > reference and open the files you need.

Quick Tip! When they have a 'c' or a 'f' at the end, that stands for canine and feline.

3. Color in your preset. Design it! Make it gorgeous. <3
Here you can just freely color in your preset, ya' know, make it colorful and exciting.


4. Export/Save it! (IN GIMP, EXPORT, DON'T SAVE.)
To do this, go to save as if you're in photoshop and export if you're in Gimp, and save/export the file to C: >>> Feralheart >> my_presets > (Whatever preset you want to save it as. Examples would be preset_3 would be preset_3body, or preset_5 would be preset_5eye.  You MUST save it as a .JPG file format unless you know how to code the preset! (Will be coming soon.)



5. Go into Feralheart and go into the preset maker
Click on the number corresponding with the preset you've just made's number.
(Ignore dramatic preset change...)


6. Congrats! Have fun with your preset.

Troubleshooting:
Your preset comes up white like a marshmallow. (Untextured.)  That you just want to eat..
-You must have either not saved/exported the preset's part as a .jpg file format.
-You must have not saved it as preset_(PRESET'S NUMBER)body, etc, etc.
-You might have disturbed the .material file, which controls how presets work. (Which will be in my "soon-to-come" complicated presets tutorial.)




Complex Presets, and Coding.

Things to know before you begin:
- All presets have a .material file or the file that controls how the preset runs. All .mesh file have this.
- The .material file should either look like a piece of paper or a notepad. If it doesn't look like a notepad, click it and modify it so they open as notepads. This way, you can code/script the .material file so you can make in to whatever you want.
- You don't always make presets the way I showed ya'll above.
- They aren't always saved as .jpg files. Most of them after you modify the .material file must be saved as .pngs, or picture files, in order for them to work.

*Puts on new playlist* Now. It's time to make an amazing preset.
[/font]

How do I use Fur textures?

1. Open Photoshop or Gimp or whatever.



2. Open the files you need, like UVBody, UVHead, etc, etc.

Noaw is wear it gets tricky. Just follow along. x]

3. Go into C: >>> Feralheart >> media > textures and look for (c or f) body shade, like so:


Open it.

4.  Select all and copy the fur texture.

 
5. After you've selected the fur texture you want to use, paste it onto the original body part and go to the layers bar (which is usually on the side) and go to multiply.


After that, it should come up looking like this:


If it isn't, review all the steps you've did and make sure you did them correctly.




How do I make a mane for my preset?

How, I warn you. These drive me insane so lets hop I don't loose my sanity here.

1. Go into GIMPPPPP. (I can only do these in Gimp because you know... I'm that awesome.)


2. Open C: >>>> Feralheart >>> media >> textures > fmanemask
Now, don't be fooled by the f. This is for both canine and feline.

3. Now, before you can do anything, you must lock the alpha channel, which in fancy terms means lock the transparency. It's just a way of saying: "Nu coloring on the transparent parttttssss."


4. If you did step 3 correctly and without any issues, you may go insane ag- Color your preset's mane. C:

Again if you did step 3 correctly, none of the colors should appear on the transparent parts of the fmanemask because the alpha channel is locked.

5. (Do this if you don't want it "cartoony".) Go into C: >>>> Feralheart >>> media >> textures > fmaneshade and OPEN IT AS LAYERS.
It should look like this:


6. Ok, now that that is good, (listen closely) left click the mane thing and there should be a list of differnet options. Go under layer >> transparency > color to alpha. Click it and click ok again. Now it should appear like this:


7. Hurr hurr, we ain't done yet. Now, left click again and go under layer >> transparency > alpha to selection. You probably won't notice much of a difference. Here, also look at the top of the Gimp browser and there will be a button that says select. Click it and click invert.

8. Here's the fun part. :D Rub out, or erase, all the transparent parts of the mane. So pretty much the bottom. Don't worry about touching the mane. It won't change its outcome.

9. Now, we export to C: >>> Feralheart >> my_presets > (The preset number you used) and export it as preset_(NUMBER YOU USED)mane
as a .png file format.

Here's the preset mane fix that just happens with the game:

Code: [Select]
material preset_#_maneMat
{
        technique
        {
                pass
                {
                        cull_hardware none
                        cull_software none
                        alpha_rejection greater_equal 128
                        texture_unit
                        {
                                texture preset_#mane.png
                        }
                }
        }
}

To enter a code in, you must go into the .material file in C: >>> Feralheart >> my_presets > (THE NUMBER OF YOUR PRESET) and change it yourself. It may seem like nonsense at first but it gets easier.

There. You have successfully created a preset mane.



How to I make wings on a preset?

This is quite simple. Just read my basic preset tutorial and do it for the wings, which are located in C: >>> Feralheart >> my_presets > references.[/font]



What different kinds of presets can I make?
Ohohoho. There are many different types of presets you can do. These include:
- Moving or scrolling
- Transparent or invisible
- Metallic
- Glowing
- 'Two-sided'
- Animated textures or .gif presets
- And more~
A list of cool things you can do with presets and their codes Click me.

Here's some great tutorials explaining how to make these effects work of your preset.
Updated 10/11/13 Material Coding for Beginners! Glow, metal, transparent, more!
Scripts! Moving Tex, Transparent, Glowy, Metallic and more!
Transparent Coding
Metallic Coding
Glowing Coding
More coding ideas
« Last Edit: January 12, 2015, 01:41:00 am by AlphaEclipse »

AlphaEclipse

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Re: Alpha's Tutorial Bin~ {MAJOR W.I.P.}
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2013, 01:57:46 am »
« Last Edit: October 30, 2014, 07:42:00 pm by AlphaEclipse »

AlphaEclipse

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Re: Alpha's Tutorial Bin~ {MAJOR W.I.P.}
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2013, 02:01:08 am »
- Remaking in the future.
« Last Edit: January 21, 2019, 07:06:03 pm by AlphaEclipse »

AlphaEclipse

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Re: Alpha's Tutorial Bin~ {MAJOR W.I.P.}
« Reply #3 on: November 20, 2013, 02:03:25 am »
My Help Section (Why won't my game work?)

We all usually experience that time when our game doesn't turn on. Here's some solutions. This is not listing all of them, because every case if different. HELP BOARD: Help board HAVE A QUESTION POST THERE. NEED MY HELP? GO HERE: PM me



Feralheart.exe has stopped working? irrKlang.dll missing?
(Windows)

Don't be scared, this is a common issue for many players... It's not the end of the world, I promise you. For most people, it's usually a problem with the files in Feralheart's folder that is located directly in your C: drive (local disk) on your computer, and not your computer itself. Here I will post some problems, solutions, explanations, and how to fix them!

-Solution 1-
It's best to try an change your game's "rendering system" first. A rendering system is basically how your computer "reads" and "renders" a video game (see below picture). Feralheart has two rendering engines to choose from: OpenGL and DirectX. Many Windows orientated computer games run on DirectX. (If I remember correctly, some computers already come with DirectX already installed, but if you know you don't have it, you can download it here)
Changing the game's rendering system from outside the actual game is quite simple.
First, go into C: > Feralheart. If you look at the FH main folder, you will see a file called:
"orge.cfg"
Click it, and open it with "notepad" or any other program that you can edit text files with. Doesn't ask to change it? Right click the file (make sure you're not clicking the Feralheart folder itself) go to properties > " change..." and search for notepad on your computer,

Look at the first two lines in the orge.cfg file. That is where you change the game's rendering system to either OpenGL or DirectX

If you followed everything that was typed and the instructions in the pictures, you should have successfully switched your rendering system.

Didn't work? Keep reading.

-Solution 2-
The next (hopefully) solution is also simple. Simply search for FearlHeart's folder in your computer and open it. You'll see a bunch of folders and some files. Look for the folder named "media" an then click it. Once you see all of those new folders, click the "particles" folder. (Simplified: C:/Feralheart/media/particles) You'll see some random files in there with exotic names such as star aura, etc. Those particles are those moving animations in game, like the smoke in Sky's Rim. Sometimes when the game crashes or you accidentally install a map incorrectly, those particle files duplicate, and you do not want that to happen. If you see any particle files that end with a _0, _1, and so on, delete them. That's a possible reason why Feralheart crashes once it turns on. Computers aren't very good at distinguishing differences in files with the same names, unless they are different file extensions. Sometimes particles can also find their way into the my_objects folder which is in C:/Feralheart/media/objects/my_objects. If you still don't see any, you can also search in computer "particle."

Didn't work? Keep Reading.

-Solution 3-
Just as particle files can duplicate, so can those pesky mesh files in the my_objects in C:/Feralheart/media/objects/my_objects. If you see any files in there (if you have any in there) that end in _0, _1, and so on, delete them.

Didn't work? Keep reading.

-Solution 4-
Next, your best option would be to reinstall Feralheart via a new installer. What I mean by that is when you downloaded FH off the site, you didn't automatically get FH onto your computer; you go an installer. Go to here and download the setup ONLY. Do not download the patch or the torrent. Wait until that setup has been downloaded from the internet, and then run it. Install Feralheart, and see if it works!

Another problem quite a few players get is something similar to this:

___.DLL is missing from your computer.

A .dll file is just a file extension that is necessary for Feral Heart to run. Without these, you'll get an error.

The most common one I have seen missing would be the IRRKLANG.DLL. The irrkalng.dll is necessary to play songs correctly in Feralheart, and if this is missing you will get an error.
Here's a screenshot of the error:


How do I fix it, you may ask? Well, the first thing you want to see if where you turn Feralheart on. I'm sure most people have a little desktop icon that looks like this.

Yes? Well, do you see that little box with the blue arrow in the bottom corner of the icon? That means it's a shortcut to a file called Feralheart.exe. That Feralheart.exe file is what people use to turn Feralheart on, however, some people drag the actual Feralheart.exe file onto their desktop unknowingly and try to turn on FH. And guess what error you'll get?! Look at the picture of IrrKlang.dll above. It's easy to fix this. Simply right click that Feralheart.exe file click "cut," and then you to Feralheart's folder located directly in your C: drive. Open that folder, and right click again, and this time, click "paste." You'll see that file pop up! Now right click that new file, click "copy" then go to your desktop, right click, and click "paste as shortcut." Now click it like nothing ever happened! It should work!

Didn't work? Keep reading.

Your best option would be to reinstall Feralheart via a new installer. What I mean by that is when you downloaded FH off the site, you didn't automatically get FH onto your computer; you go an installer. Go to here and download the setup ONLY. Do not download the patch or the torrent. Wait until that setup has been downloaded from the internet, and then run it. Install Feralheart, and see if it works!

Have another .dll error that is not listed here? Go here for all your needs.



Want an explanation on why something happens and how it's fixed? PM me or ask here, and I'll make a tutorial on it.
« Last Edit: October 30, 2014, 07:47:08 pm by AlphaEclipse »

AlphaEclipse

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Re: Alpha's Tutorial Bin~ {MAJOR W.I.P.}
« Reply #4 on: November 20, 2013, 02:03:46 am »
How to Recover lost Feral Heart Files


Accidentally deleted Feralheart and lost your important files? Here's how to get 'em back. ^^ ( WINDOWS 7 AND 8 )

Go to computer via start button:

Then go to the C: drive.

When you see the FeralHeart folder, right click it and you will see, "restore previous versions."


A window like this should pop up. There, you can see past versions of your Feralheart here to a certain point. Click on a past version, and you can look through its files with ease.


This method has always worked well for me, so if you have any problems with it, please do tell me!

Want the Original FeralHeart Files?


Need certain Feralheart files but don't want to reinstall? Go here: http://www.feral-heart.com/index.php?option=com_jfusion&Itemid=2&jfile=index.php&topic=44252.0


Want a second Feralheart installed so you can just copy files from there? Download the setup here:
http://www.feral-heart.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23&Itemid=40

Then, when you run it and get to this part of the setup, put FH2 or whatever you want.

Do the same for this:

After that, you can replace your bad FH files or what ever you want to replace with this newer version.
NOTE: I do NOT know if running two FHs along each other will work correctly! If you do, do it at your own risk! There's a possibility that both could become corrupted because of similar file name, but I am not 100% sure.
« Last Edit: October 30, 2014, 07:48:08 pm by AlphaEclipse »

AlphaEclipse

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Re: Alpha's Tutorial Bin~ {MAJOR W.I.P.}
« Reply #5 on: November 20, 2013, 02:05:12 am »
Photoshop Tutorials


Saving .GIFs in Photoshop


Finished products:
(Note that you should always have a colored background to prevent transparency and "bad quality" problems with .gifs. My first example has a transparent background.




More coming soon!
« Last Edit: May 11, 2015, 11:59:50 pm by AlphaEclipse »

Offline OreoHeroz

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Re: Alpha's Tutorial Bin~ {MAJOR W.I.P.}
« Reply #6 on: November 20, 2013, 03:14:12 am »
Ohgosh, this is really going to help me make presets and dig deeper into roleplayer o.0 Thanks for posting this, Alpha!<3 I had trouble on making the mane, but when I looked at this, my whole life changed I understood what to do ;3 +floof for making this tutorial and guide...

Must have taken a while uploading the pictures onto here? o.e

AlphaEclipse

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Re: Alpha's Tutorial Bin~ {MAJOR W.I.P.}
« Reply #7 on: November 20, 2013, 03:19:04 am »
Helpful Computer-Related Terms
  • Bandwidth: Data transfer rate. The lower your bandwidth, the slower your internet is.
  • Booting: Basically turning on your computer.
  • Browser: What you use to access the internet. Common internet browsers are Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Firefox.
  • CPU: CPU stands for "central processing unit." Where calculations and problems are solved in a computer.
  • File: A collection of data which does a certain job.
  • File extension: There are many file extensions. Some of the common ones (on Windows) are .exes, .pngs, .dlls, .jpgs, .bats, and more. Each one of these is made for a certain task. For example, .pngs are picture-related files.
  • Graphic: A computer-generated image.
  • Hard Disk: A system that records data using magnetic disks that turn at very high speeds.
  • Hardware: A computer's physical equipment - Wires, etc. Mechanical, electric, etc.
  • IP Address: Basically the equivalent to your house address; shows where you are.
  • Program: A set of instructions that a computer can execute and run.
  • RAM: Random access memory. RAM is a form of computer data storage;
  • Server: A computer that shares data with other remote users/computers.
  • User: A computer user who is connected to the internet.
  • Virus: A malicious program that copies itself with the computer user unaware. Used to steal information, destroy your computers, or just cause havoc.

File Extensions


Probably my all-time favorite site -click click-

I thought this would be an interesting little guide for those of you who ever saw an interesting file and wanted to know what is does or just wanted something to read sometime. Well, do I have the perfect little guide for you, curious reader! I'll be adding more and more onto this, whether someone wanted me to add one or I just found one that I thought would be interesting. I will not be adding files exclusive to Macs (like .APP files) due to my lack of knowledge surrounding them. Anyways, let us begin!

I'll add more on to this. :3
  • .PNG  --  Also known as a "Portable Network Graphic" file uses transparency. A common file used to store graphics.
  • .JPG (or) .JPNG  --  Also know as a "Joint Photographic Experts Group" file, it is another way to store graphical data. Unlike the .PNG file, it does not support transparency; it turns any transparency in the graphic 255,255,255, or white.
  • .GIF  -- Also know as a "Graphics Interchange Format" file, it is basically a animated image that uses frames.
  • .TIFF -- Also known as a "Tagged Image File," it is basically a graphic storing extension that is commonly used by graphics artists.
  • .BMP -- Also known as a "Bitmap Image File." A raster graphic images file used to store bitmap graphic images
  • .PSD, .PSS -- A file exclusive to Photoshop. Also known as a "Adobe Photoshop Drawing"
  • .DSS -- Also known as a "DirectX Texture File."
  • .EXE -- Program executable file.
  • .DLL -- Also known as a "dynamic-link library."
  • .OCX -- ActiveX control file.
  • .HTML -- HyperText Markup Language source.
  • .CPP, C, CXX -- C++ source.
  • .JS -- JavaScript File.
  • .PHP -- PHP Source.
  • .RUBY -- Ruby source
  • .PY -- Python source.
  • .Zip -- WinZIP Compressed ZIP archive file.
  • .Rar -- WinRAR RAR compressed archive.
  • .7Z -- 7-ZIP compressed 7z archive file.
  • .XML -- File extension that is comonnly used for files written in Extensible Markup Language. (Human readable; machine understandable.)
  • .BAT -- Batch file (executable)


Keeping Your Computer Safe

I'm sure most of us have heard the term computer virus before, yes? Well did you know that there's different types of viruses that each have special attributes with special titles? I'm sure we all know that viruses are bad, malicious programs/files that are downloaded off the internet without your permission or your acknowledgement. Some are just to cause a scare, such as a popup, but some are very dangerous, and can be used to steal passwords, hack your computer, steal personal information such as addresses, and more. Sounds pretty bad, huh? Here's a guide on how to stay safe on the internet and avoid getting the "banes of computers."

Tips and tricks:
- Never, EVER download programs from sites that are not legit. For example, you want to download Feralheart and you type in "Feralheart download." Ten results appear and you click on other than Feral-heart.com. Then, POOF. You will moat likely have a virus. NEVER download programs that are not from the maker! Don't download games that are labeled "free" when you really need to pay for them, such as Minecraft.
- Don't click on ads. You see those ads on sites, such as Yahoo? Some of those are dangerous, and can install things such as toolbars such as Conduit and steal information.Some forum uses will see a site called "adfly" when clicking on links for d a download, and will accidentally download the bad file.  Here's a picture:
such a lovely edited screenshot lolbasically you want to click "skip ad." NOTHING ELSE ON ADFLY.

- Always have a working antivirus. Never go unprotected on the internet. Here's some wonderful antiviruses you can choose from.
- Don't open emails from unknown people. A LOT of these can carry infected files, and a lot of major viruses have been moved via email.- Always keep your computer and antivirus updated; some viruses target older versions/aren't detected by some antiviruses.- Keep your firewall ON.

Types of Viruses
When we think of a bad computer program, we usually dart to the term virus, however people usually don't get into specifics.
Virus: A computer virus is a program that attaches itself to a program and spreads; hence the term computer virus. These programs carry out tasks without administrative permission, such as downloading more viruses off of the internet, allowing other people (hackers) to gain access into your computer, and much more.

Worm: A worm is similar to a computer virus in how it works and its build however it can travel in your computer without you, the user, doing anything, from opening a file, etc. These worms usually replicate and spread to more computers.

Trojan Horse: If you do not know this already, the Trojan Horse is from Greek mythology. Just like that Trojan Horse, a computer trojan horse is disguised as a helpful program, but really it carries out dangerous activity, just like any other virus. Unlike other virus types, these trojan's open what is known as a "backdoor" on a computer, which basically allows hackers to access your computer and steal information.

Spyware: Spyware usually "spies" on you. This software is programmed to steal information. These also can download more viruses/spyware of the internet without the PC's owner's consent.

Boot viruses: These are nasty viruses that infect your computer's hard drive's boot sector, which makes it unable to actually start/turn on correctly.

Rootkit: Rootkits are viruses that bury themselves deep into a program and can eventually gain access to your computer. They are extremely difficult to detect at times.
« Last Edit: July 21, 2014, 12:18:43 am by AlphaEclipse »

Offline ~Stargazer~

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Re: Alpha's Tutorial Bin~ {MAJOR W.I.P.}
« Reply #8 on: December 25, 2013, 03:54:43 am »
Awesome tutorial Alphy! I'm sure this 'll help lots o' floofs :3

Preset Download
Will be less active until October 7th.

Offline Vespian

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Re: Alpha's Tutorial Bin~ {MAJOR W.I.P.}
« Reply #9 on: December 25, 2013, 06:29:32 am »
This tutorial is very intricate yet amazing Ms. Eclipse. No doubt it'll come in handy for many, many floofs. If you already have this much, the final project will be, needless to say, stunning. +floof.
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