View source for Creating cloth plugin

Cloth plugins allow for easy distribution and sharing of new cloth objects with others.

Creating a cloth plugin is pretty straightforward.

Using textures outside the packs needs a little more explanation. But once see done it it is also pretty straightforward.


==Creating cloth plugin==

<ol>
<li>You have created a new cloth object. For using that cloth object as a plugin you need to also have a standing pose state for that cloth.<br>
Info on how to create cloth and the standing state can be found in [[Creating cloth]].</li>
<li>You can see a folder called <code>plugin</code> in the root directory where you installed [[XStoryPlayer]]. In it are several directories with existing plugins.<br>
Create a new directory with a name that fits your cloth plugin and add it.</li>
<li>Copy the file called <code>_plugin.ini</code> from one of the other plugin directories into your newly created directory. We will use it as a template for the new plugin.<br>
This file describes where the plugin files are.</li>
<li>Open the <code>_plugin.ini</code> in a text editor and make it look like this:
<syntaxhighlight lang="cpp">
cloth_object
{
  // This cloth was created by: Your alias
  // Version: 1.0

  pack = "pack/pack_dungeon.bin"; // Remove this line if cloth should be used in all fast sex packs.
  
  character = "Saiko";      // Name of character (can also be e.g. Monica)
  name      = "Cloth name"; // Change into the name of your cloth, will be used in settings menu
  
  // First cloth item (can be more if you want more cloth items)
  item[0]
  {
    object      = "#plugin/Your Plugin Name/clothObjectNameShape.obj";        // Change into your cloth object filename
    stand_state = "#plugin/Your Plugin Name/saikoClothObjectNameStand_0.dat"; // Change into your cloth standing pose state filename
  }
}
</syntaxhighlight>
</li>
<li>Make sure the cloth object file and its standing state file are also placed in your plugin directory.<br>
You now should be able to use your cloth in the fast sex dungeon pack.</li>
</ol>


==Using cloth plugin textures==


<ol>
<li>Textures are normally stored inside the packs. You use a texture file in Maya and convert the object using the filemaker.<br>
The texture file is then assumed to be in the same pack as the object (that uses the texture).<br>
Because in most cases we want to place the plugin textures outside of a pack, we need to add a little code to the shader of that object.</li>
<li>Open the <code>body.ini</code> file that describes your cloth object. In most cases cloth already has a shader description in it.<br>
Suppose your cloth uses a shader with name <code>AA_cloth1</code>, we then have a shader description e.g. like this:
<syntaxhighlight lang="cpp">
shader "AA_cloth1"
{
  ...

  view_offset = 0.03;
  norm_offset = 0.005;
  
  ...
}
</syntaxhighlight>
</li>
<li>We now want to overide the textures paths that are used in Maya, with texture paths that are outside the pack.<br>
Add the following lines to the shader:
<syntaxhighlight lang="cpp">
shader "AA_cloth1"
{
  ...

  view_offset = 0.03;
  norm_offset = 0.005;
  
  color_map = "#plugin/Your Plugin Name/textures/Your Color Texture.dds";
  bump_map  = "#plugin/Your Plugin Name/textures/Your Bump Map.jpg";
}
</syntaxhighlight>
You will notice that the path is prefixed with an #.<br>
This will let [[XStoryPlayer]] know, not to look for the texture inside the pack but relative to the install directory.<br>
The advantage for changing the path in the shader is that we don't need to change the texture path in Maya.
</li>
<li>We are almost done now. We do however need to create a directory with the same path inside the pack we are using to create the cloth object using the filemaker.</li>
<li>Suppose your Maya cloth file is located in <code>./pack/pack_cloth/sources/scenes/character6_cloth/</code><br>
then the texture files you use in Maya are located in <code>./pack/pack_cloth/sources/scenes/textures/</code>.<br>
We now need to create this directory <code>./pack/pack_cloth/#plugin/Your Plugin Name/textures/</code> and add your plugin textures to it.<br>
We need to do this because otherwise the filemaker cannot find the texture files and give an error for that.</li>
<li>Now use the filemaker to convert the objects. Now you have created objects that can use the textures from your plugin directory instead of the textures in a pack.</li>
<li>You can now use a <code>textures</code> directory inside your plugin directory that contains the textures for your cloth object.</li>
</ol>