Creating multiple copies of the same component?

[Merrick]

Hey all.

Anyone who's seen my showcase recently will notice I've started to learn reskinning components, starting (and mostly succeeding) with the flippermaker.

However, I can't seem to get more than one flippermaker into the game so that I can have multiple reskins.

Is there a way of doing this? My searches for tutorials have been fruitless.

[090901]

Method number #1 (Quick and messy):
1. Rename your map file to something like steek.bmp
2. Copy flippermaker gmf file you want to reskin, rename it, then open it with Notepad++ and change steel.bmp to steek.bmp (it needs to stay the same length of characters or else it corrupts the gmf file.
3. Copy the flippermaker text file, rename it something else, then change flippermaker.gmf to whatever you renamed your .gmf file.

Method number #2 (Longer and clean)
1. Rename you map file to whatever the hell you want to
2. Decompile the flippermaker.gmf with a decompiler, I personally like to use Dummy's but you can use Serge's which is a bit more up to date.
3. Find steel.bmp in the Decompiled gmf file, rename it to whatever the hell you named it in step one.
4. Recompile the .gmf file, rename it whatever the hell you want and put it back in your Flippermaker folder (if you want you can make a new folder to put your reskins, but make sure to change dir = Flippermaker in to the text file to the name of the new folder)
3. Copy the flippermaker text file, rename it something else, then change the flippermaker.gmf to whatever you renamed your .gmf file.

[Merrick]

Method 1 has worked. Sort of. Only the 90/90 flippermaker has changed to the new skin. Is this what you meant by messy, do I need to make new folders and notepad files for each individual segment, or am I being stupid and missing something?

[090901]

do I need to make new folders and notepad files for each individual segment

Yeah you will need to make a new one for each gmf and text file. An easy way to do so is just copy them all then open them all and do a "Replace in all open documents".

[Merrick]

It's occured to me that somebody as technically inept as me probably shouldn't be trying this. I have no idea what I'm going. Apparently can't follow instructions.

[AlexGRFan97]

I did this when I was making ARC replicas many moons ago. All you have to do is create a new component folder, change all the names for things such as maps and the component preview, and then do the hard part by editing the .gmf in a program like Notepad++ to use a different texture instead of the one it lists. You should be set.

[Naryar]

Copypaste the flippermakers and all the styles of it into something like flippermakerred.txt (they must have different names) if it is red or whatever.

then you need to change the gmf's of the flippermaker txt's (styles and non-styles) in accord to the new gmf's.

which will not be very different apart from the skin. decompile, change the skin file's path in the decompiled gmf, recompile, use it as your new gmf.

it's pretty easy but the issue for skins is that it tends to make a mess out of your component folder.

[Merrick]

09's method definitely worked, but it's such a slog to get all the different flippermakers skinned, rather than just one. Managed to crash the game a couple of times too, somehow. 

I'm just being a bitch about it and not wanting to put the effort in. 

[123savethewhales]

09's method definitely worked, but it's such a slog to get all the different flippermakers skinned, rather than just one. Managed to crash the game a couple of times too, somehow. 

I'm just being a bitch about it and not wanting to put the effort in. 

Dude just open them all up on notepad++, press ctrl+F, click that replace tab, and replace all steel.bmp with steek.bmp on all opened documents.

[Resetti's Replicas]

Whenever you duplicate a component, put the txt in the component/styles folder NOT the Components folder.  That way, they won't show up in the botlab.

I assume that you know how to swap components using BFE, otherwise God help you you're in for hours of fiddling.

[Sage]

Why don't you just watch my skinning tutorial video?

https://gametechmods.com/forums/index.php?topic=2358.0