Warhead's Mechwarrior 4 Technical Reference Manual®

- NOTE! -
THIS GUIDE IS FOR SKINNING MECHWARRIOR 4 VENGEANCE:
To skin Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries, click here
Custom TRM4 Skins are available here.

STEP 1: Download... To install custom skins in Mechwarrior 4 Vengeance click Mechwarrior 4 Quick Skin and Skin Patch 2.0 to download, or visit MEKTEK and locate the file in the Downloads/Mechwarrior 4/Utilities section.

Double-click the executable and it will extract both the Quick Skinner and Skin Patch 2.0 to your Start menu. The Skin Patch 2.0 must be applied before custom skins can be imported.

STEP 2: Documentation... The program also extracts 2 text files, Quick Skinner Read Me and Skin Patch Read Me. Read these for instructions and to prevent any conflicts, the skinner and patch are unofficially produced and no support is given nor implied by any parties. "USE AT YOUR OWN RISK"

STEP 3: Description... The program lets you replace the default, existing skins in Mechwarrior 4 Vengeance. Skins # 1-8 are for official operation and cannot be changed, but any skin from #9 - #37 is available for customization, # 37 being the "no camouflage" option. The Skin Patch will check, backup and modify existing textures to allow custom skinning.

STEP 3: Requirements... Graphics files to be used for custom skins must be uncompressed .bmp (Windows Bitmap), .jpg (JPEG File Interchange), or .tga (Targa Bitmap) formats. They MUST be exactly 512 x 512 pixels in size, no other size or file format will work.

A FULL install of Mechwarrior 4 Vengeance is required, as well as 250 MB for backing up existing files and textures from the game. If you cannot spare 250 MB of drive space, do not attempt to run the patch or insert custom skins.

STEP 4: To import custom skins...

1. Click on the thumbnails below to open a new window with the full size 512 x 512 skin displayed.

2. Right click the full size skin, and select "Save Picture As". In the top field of the dialog box, where it says "Save In", select "Desktop" (or wherever you plan to save the new skins). In the bottom field, where it says "Save As Type", select either ".jpg" (the default) or ".bmp".

3. Open the Quick Skinner. Select "File" from the top menu. Then choose "Open".

4. Browse to the directory where the custom skin was saved and find the file, and double click the skin you want to install.

5. The new skin should now be displayed in the Quick Skinner... Important! Go to the menu and select "Skin", this will bring down a menu showing #9 through #37, select the Mech 4 default skin you wish to replace. If you don't select a location, the skin will always install to #9.

6. Go to the Skinner menu and select "Edit", then "Insert Skin". This will replace the default skin with the new one.

You can NOT run Mechwarrior 4 in the background when you install skins. Finish the installation prior to launching the game.

7. Start Mechwarrior 4, and go to the Mechlab... the new skin will now be available.

The TRM4 Skingrid can be valuable when creating custom fitted skins for particular chassis types. The grid is divided into discrete quadrants with numbering that prevents confusion with adjacent areas. By using the Skingrid and taking numerous screenshots while in game, it will be relatively easy to determine exact placement of colors and other graphical elements.

TRM4 SKINMAP GRID

SKINNING MECHWARRIOR 4 MERCENARIES:

STEP 1: Download... To install custom skins in Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries click Mektek HudPatch v3.1 to download, or visit MEKTEK and locate the file in the Downloads/Mechwarrior 4/Utilities section.

STEP 2: Identify... Choose the skin you wish to replace, using the following table to determine skin codes.

MECHLAB CAMOUFLAGE DESIGNATOR
0	01. Ops Blue	d	14. Low Light Urban	#	27. Spanish Sahara	y	40. Plasma Grid Red
1	02. Ops Red	e	15. Giraffe	S	28. S. African Snow	z	41. Tiger Stripes
2	03. Ops Olive Drab	f	16. Treeline	%	29. German Fleck	~	42. Desert Fox
3	04. Ops Yellow	g	17. Savanna	o	30. Police Tiger	-	43. Woodlands
4	05. Ops Purple	h	18. Pakistan Brush	p	31. Power Pink	&	44. Dark Panzer
5	06. Ops Cyan	i	19. Steiner Desert	q	32. South Africa	+	45. Jungle
6	07. Ops Orange	j	20. Winter Ridge	r	33. Portugal	,	46. Vietnam Tiger
7	08. Ops Charcoal	k	21. Norway	s	34. Cuban Lizard	{	47. Viet. Tiger Gold
8	09. USMC Marpat	l	22. Mist	t	35. Blue Line	'	48. Desert Tiger
9	10. USMC Urban	m	23. Merkava	u	36. Desert Sabre	}	49. Rhodesia
a	11. US Army Desert	n	24. Russian Reed	v	37. Saudi Blue	]	50. Snowblind
b	12. Snowball	!	25. Polish Desert	w	38. Desert	[	51. Winter War
c	13. Panzer	^	26. Swamp	x	39.Deep Woods
OPERATIONS CAMOUFLAGE (PATTERNS 1-8) CANNOT BE MODIFIED.

STEP 3: Organize... Create a folder to hold the replacement skins named "Skin_a" (or whatever skin you plan to replace). It is recommended that all replacement skins be kept in a special directory, with individual folders for each skin replaced.

STEP 4: Create... A total of 6 files will be needed for each skin in the following sizes, saved in an uncompressed 24 bit Targa (.tga) format. Create a unique skin, or download a custom TRM4 skin below by clicking on the skin, right-clicking the full sized (512x512) image and saving as a .bmp (Windows Bitmap) file. The downloaded skin will need to be sized as indicated below, and saved in the proper format for skinning (24 bit, uncompressed Targa file).

1. Create an original image at 512 x 512 pixels. Save the file as: "skin_a1.tga"
2. Resize the image to 256 x 256 pixels. Save the file as: "skin_a2.tga"
3. Resize the image to 128 x 128 pixels. Save the file as: "skin_a3.tga"
4. Resize the image to 64 x 64 pixels. Save the file as: "skin_a4.tga"
5. Resize the image to 32 x 32 pixels. Save the file as: "skin_a5.tga"
6. Resize the image to 16 x 16 pixels. Save the file as: "skin_a6.tga"

STEP 5: Open Hudpatch 3.1...

1. Select "Uninstalled" from the MW4 Mercenaries drop down box and hit "Apply".
2. Select "Create Custom TEK File" and navigate to the skin files folder.
3. Press "OK" and save the TEK file to the same folder where the skin files are located.
4. Select "Custom Append", navigate to the new TEK file and hit "Apply".
5. Start Mercenaries, enter the Mechlab and navigate to the new skin.

STEP 6: To revert to the original skins, open Hudpatch 3.1 and select "Uninstall".

TRM4 skins have been developed using computer software that produces the illusion of inconsistent surfaces. Their patterns of light and dark, muted color tones and lack of consistently straight angles has been scientifically shown to render objects less detectable to the human eye. The hex shape seen on the patterns is one which prevents the long, straight lines that mark objects as artificially created. The hex pattern itself disappears with distance and is only apparent at close range. The 3-D illusion created by shadow patterns helps obscure flat-plane and outline surfaces, minimizing reflections and identifiable shapes.

Despite it's inherent advantages, no painted camouflage is completely effective. Only by incorporating materials gathered in the area and attaching them to the camouflaged unit can objects be completely obscured. While an suitable option for snipers or infantry, it does not easily lend itself to the cover of battlemechs, which are far too large and mobile. Movement is easily detectable to alert observers and eliminates any advantage given such devices. However, by carefully selecting patterns that closely match operational areas, stationary or scout units can greatly minimize the threat of detection and all operational units will benefit from coloring which blends in with surroundings and patterns which break up outlines.


FROST	SPECTRE	TUNDRA	GLACIER	ICEPACK


SILICATE	DRYCREEK	CANYON	GECKO	ALKALINE


COMMERCIAL	INDUSTRIAL	CONCRETE	NIGHTHAWK	CINDERBLOCK


SWAMP	NORDICA	BLACK FOREST	HIGHLANDS	SIERRA