How to edit a Saint Row the Third Normal Map.

[scanti]

I wrote this guide for use with gimp. You can get gimp from here.

You will also need a couple of plug-ins for gimp. The first is the DDS plug-in. You can get it from here. The second allows you to manipulate normal maps and you can get it from here.

Now you are all set unpack your normal dds file from one of the game files and load it into gimp.

It should look like the above. The red and blue channels are blank. The green and alpha channels have data in them. We need to convert this into a format the normal plug-in can understand.

So select only the red and alpha layers. Click on filters>colors>decode alpha component. This will move the alpha channel into the red channel and it should look something like this:

Now select only the blue and alpha channels. Click on layer>transparency>remove alpha channel. The alpha channel should now be gone.

Now making sure the blue channel is still the only channel selected fill the whole layer so it's at it's maximum blueness. It should look like this:

Now select all the layers and click on filters>map>normalmap. I dialogue box will pop up. You want to set it up as below and click ok.

Now click on filters>map>normalmap again. This time set-up the dialog box as below and click OK:

This should convert the normal map into a height map. Mid grey means no change to the height. Black means it's higher and white lower. This is what you edit to change the normal map.

Once you have edited it you need to convert it back into a format the game can understand. I'll show you how to do this in the next post.

 

[scanti]

OK now you have altered your normal map you need to convert it into a format the game can understand.

First save your height map. You may need to make changes to it and the conversion between a height map and normal map is lossy. i.e. the image degrades each time you do it.

First select filters>map>normalmap and use the settings below:

You may need to play around with the scale setting but 10 seems to be OK. You should end up with something like this:

Now select only the blue channel and fill it so it's completely black:

When you look at all the channels it should look something like this:

Now save the texture as a DDS file. In the compression box you MUST MAKE SURE it's set to BC3n/DXT5n otherwise it won't save in the correct format.

If you reload the saved file into gimp you will notice the red and alpha channels have been swapped.

Now you should be able to edit normal maps in Saints Row the Third.

Enjoy.

For those people with Photoshop you can watch the following video tutorial:

 

[Gandalf]

What a fine tutorial,very nice of you scanti.
I've seen similar normals before but i can't recall now what game it was.
RE5 maybe?
It took me forever to understand what was going on.

 

[Cazzonero]

So normal maps are the equivalent of the bump texture maps of 3d programs, like poser?

 

[Ava]

Now you just need to find the breast part of the texture and.. well.. >.> Never mind. I am sure to give this a go soon. ^.^

 

[ZoneTripper]

scanti, seriously good stuff man. Do you have any tips on making your normals line up perfectly with your textures?

 

[Gondar]

Wait, they're not using symmetrical normal-maps?
...that's actually quite surprising. I kinda wish I could edit textures though, but this is great stuff and should help those who can.

But... how do you get the textures out of the game, and then back into the game once edited? You mention plugins and methods, but not how to actually get the textures out and moreso back in. Or can you just drop an edited dds into the SR3 root and have it override?

 

[Pacesetter]

Not working. When i try to load the f_ideal_n.tga, and follow these instructions I wind up with a blank picture... Any ideas?

Edit: This happens after I fill the blue layer with blue. Immediately afterward the red and green layer go black.
This is driving me nuts! Heeelp!!

 

[scanti]

Not working. When i try to load the f_ideal_n.tga, and follow these instructions I wind up with a blank picture... Any ideas?

Edit: This happens after I fill the blue layer with blue. Immediately afterward the red and green layer go black.
This is driving me nuts! Heeelp!!

Are you sure only the blue channel is selected when you fill the image? Try filling it with white. If only the blue channel is selected it should fill as blue, otherwise it will fill as white.

 

[Pacesetter]

Hey Scanti,
Thanks for getting back to me so soon.
Yep, made a rookie mistake and didn't properly click on the channels. What a dope