Doing custom cloths will be interesting.
The biggest questions I have are.
How many items can a shop have.
Example: Leather and Lace has X amount of items currently, how many more can be carried at that store before a game crash or error.
How wide a range is the name variation and number variation in the game.
Example: When I worked on the stocking mod for SRTT using the hot boots as a base, I noticed that each item has is own name str2_pc (for pc and probably str2_xbox for xbox/str2_PS3 for the PS3).
Inside each str2_pc is a set of files: @stream.xml, *.ccmesh_pc, *.cpeg_pc, *.gcmesh_pc, *.gpeg_pc, and *.cmorph_pc
The steam.xml file just lists each of the other files in the str2_pc
The ccmesh and the gcmesh do the mesh for the item on the character.
The cmorph probably handles morphing for the character (IE if you change the character in Image as Designed the morph allows the item to fit the changes to the character).
The cpeg is like a header for the gpeg. And the gpeg contains the actual *.DDS images that are used to make the item.
There are also render sections/or anti render sections listed for each item in the customize_item.asm_pc
What I found when working on the stocking for SRTT was that in the customize_item.asm_pc, the ankles and feet were set to not render.
So when I made a see through section in the primary .dds file for the shoe/boot and recrunched back into a str2_pc and dropped the item into the main folder and started the game, the ankles and feet were not there when I wore the shoe/boot on my character.
After help from NopeD on the forum I found the customize_item.asm_pc listing and removed the <Obscured_VID> settings for the item in question, then recrunched, and tested.
The ankles and feet where now rendering. But it seems there is a mech/morph issue where parts of the ankle/foot stick through the boot.
Once the new tools become available I'm hoping to fix the clipping issues and then working on coming up with a new name for the items and then figuring out how to go about adding them to the game without replacing the hot boots.
I'm gonna take a wild guess and say once a new name is figured out for the item (this includes name changes for each file within the str2_pc) then a modification (kinda like an add-on instead of a replacement) will be needed for other files like the customize_item.asm_pc and then pack it all into a single *.vpp_pc and place that in the cache folder for the game.
One of the bad things that will probably come up with user based custom cloths is when people start tinkering with shirts and pants (say making a pair of crotchless pants or a shirt with the chest section removed).
But I'll leave that last one for later.
The custom hair, I definitely want to play with that, heck just to get some of the SR4 sets to go into SRTT...