How to Make Gmod Textures

In a 3-D application, textures are the graphic files attached to the faces, or sides, of the 3-D object. Garry’s Mod, or Gmod, began as a modification for the Half-Life game and has evolved into a standalone game engine that works in conjunction with games based on the Valve Source Engine. Gmod uses Valve Texture Format, or VTF, files as textures for the objects in the program. You can use the free VTFEdit program to convert Targa graphic files to VTF files and make them available in Gmod.

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• VTFEdit

1. • 1
     Open a graphics editor, like Photoshop or the free Paint.net, that supports the Targa.
   • 2
     Load or create a texture graphic and save it as a 24-bit Targa TGA file. Gmod accepts textures from 64 by 64 pixels up to 1028 by 1028 pixels.
   • 3
     Download and install VTFEdit from "Nem’s Tools."
   • 4
     Click “File” and “Import” and navigate to the location of your saved TGA file. Double-click the file to open it.
   • 5
     Click the "General" tab. In the "General" panel, click “DXT1" in the “Normal Format” drop-down menu, “DXT5" in the “Alpha Format” menu and “Animated Texture” in the “Texture Type” menu.
   • 6
     Click the “Resize” check box in the Resize panel. Click “Nearest Power of 2" in the “Resize Method” menu, “Triangle” in the “Resize Filter” menu, and “None” in the “Sharpen Filter” menu. Click the “Clamp” check box and click “4096 in the “Maximum Width” and Maximum Height” drop-down menus.
   • 7
     Click the “Generate Mipmaps” check box in the Mipmaps panel. Click “Box” in the “Mipmap Filter” drop-down menu and “Sharpen Soft” in the Sharpen Filter menu. Click “OK.”
   • 8
     Click “File” and click “Save As.” Enter a file name for the TFT file and click “Save.”
   • 9
     Click “Tools” and then “Create VMT file.”
   • 10
     Click the “Textures” tab and click the file browse icon next to the “Base Texture 1" text box. Navigate to the location of the saved TFT file and double-click the file.
   • 11
     Click the “Options” tab. Click a texture category in the “Surface 1" drop-down menu. If your texture does not directly match a category, click the category that best matches your texture. For example, if you have created a sand texture, you might click “Dirt” or “Gravel” in the drop-down menu.
   • 12
     Click “Create” and save the VMT file in the same location as your VTF file.
   • 13
     Create a directory in the “materials” folder in your “GarrysMod” directory with the name of your project or map and move the VTF and VMT files into it. If there is no materials directory in GarrysMod directory, create it.