How to make your own saber
This is a weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster.
What you need if you want to create your own lightsaber for
"Jedi Knight" or "Mysteries of the Sith"
Software
Download MatMaster To convert BMP's to Mat files and vice versa.
Download BMut To create bm files for the menus.
Paint Shop Pro or any other good graphic program (I use Photoshop).
and for editing the "sabers.dat" file, any text editor will do.
Creating a Lightsaber
An elegant weapon for a more civilized time.
There are four files you need to change and edit.
The "sabers.dat" (similar to "models.dat") tells the JK engine
which texture files to put on which saber.
The next two files are the actual textures for the saber.
Finally, you need to create a BM file so gamers can choose
your new saber in the menu.
For this tutorial, we'll be making a Dark saber.
STEP 1:
Open up any of the saber MAT files to use as a template.
The procedure is the same as making a skin.
A saber is made of two distinct parts. Saber blade and top of blade.
You can change only the blade if you like and use one of the existing
saber "tops" for yours. That's what we'll do now. For the saber blade, I used
the "saberdred1.mat" as a template.
First, create your saber BMP in your favourite graphics
program. You should then have something that looks like this:
Notice that i deliberatly "phased out" my texture to the left
by about three pixels. This is due to a problem with the old "Matmaster". When I'll convert my BMP
to a MAT, the texture will be correct. You no longer have to do this in the latest version of Matmaster.
STEP 2:
Next, I convert my BMP to a MAT file using the "Matmaster" program.
I will call this new MAT "saberdark1.mat" and put it in a sub-directory called "mat" inside my main JK dir.
STEP 3:
Now I need to create a special file called a "BM" file so gamers are able to actually choose my new saber in JK.
To create that file, you'll need "BMut". Once installed, I convert one of the BM files used for the saber menu to use as a template.
For now, we'll use "sabD2.BM".
STEP 4:
Once converted to a BMP file, edit it in your graphic program like you would do a regular texture.
It should look something like this:
STEP 5:
Again using BMut, I recompile my BMP file to a BM file. This BM file should then be put it in a sub-directory called "bm" in another sub-directory called "ui"
inside my main JK dir. I will call this new file "sabd2.bm"
STEP 6:
You need to edit the "sabers.dat" file and add your new saber. Remember, I did not make a saber top for this tutorial
but you can.
STEP 7:
Put the file names of your new saber like this. Notice that for the saber tip, I simply copied the blue tip for mine.
STEP 8:
Don't forget to update the count at the top of this file. This is very important or JK will crash.
STEP 9:
If you want to practice just putting the right file in the right place, get the Darksaber source files. They are in zip format.
But don't forget to make your own!
Your skills are now complete.
