I was looking through michaelvlutz49 global addon files ...original link here... and i realized that they were simply normal maps. It never occurred to me to look for normal maps, lol.
normal maps are used in most mods. (of course, i'm not very good with them at all, haha)
anyways, here's a blog that explains normal maps quite well for those who are not familiar with them. https://blog.teamtreehouse.com/understanding-normal-maps
Anyways, for a simple visual of what you can accomplish with normal maps, i made a small graphic of skyrim.
so, on the left is the default bethesda normalmap. the middle is a normalmap mod. the right is a different normalmap mod.
Anyways, in some older games (such as skyrim) there is a model (the male body mesh), the texture (male skin texture), and one normal map (--only one--). So in the image above, I havent changed the body model or the body texture. Just changed the normal map.
Well, checking out the golabal addon files that michaelvlutz49 shared (from 2k16, i believe) i noticed these groups of normalmaps:
chest_normal_avg_soft.1cf630f0adb9a9d9.dds
chest_normal_avg_normal.27eddef26f178d45.dds
chest_normal_avg_ripped.46a87fa66681e19e.dds
chest_normal_avg_superripped.a6462fc78f29afad.dds
the thing i was interested in is how they interacted with the body (player mesh) and texture while the game is playing.
Sorry about the long intro.
anyways, i got them working in 2k18 (yes, i probably will never buy 2k19.... hope 2k20 is a good game) and see what i could fiddle with.
Worked with Soft, Normal, and Ripped (2k18 doesn't have superripped.) I did a quick blend of normal maps -- 2k16 100% and 2k18 50%
Here are the differences between soft, normal, ripped in this video:
https://streamable.com/k0z5v
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j1BIzM ... sp=sharing
So, the "Soft" has no muscle definition, the "Normal" has medium muscle definition, and the "ripped" has extreme muscle definition.
Anyways, now off to break some stuffs.
So, i plopped my blend into my 2k18 global and poked around in gameplay and instant replay. It seems "Soft" normalmap is applied to the body texture when on the bench or before game or standing around waiting for injury. "Soft" normal map doesn't seem used very often (according to what i saw.)
the "Normal" normalmap is used when waiting for standing around in game (like waiting for out of bounds, or foul stoppage, standing at free throws, etc), or running, maybe start of shooting motion.... but the "Normal" normalmap is used often during gameplay.
the "Ripped" normalmap is used during flexing, or dunking... maybe shooting, not sure. but the animations in 2k blend together the "Normal" and "Ripped" normalmaps.
Quite different from older games that used only 1 normal map. Like my Skyrim doode, earlier in the post, he has one set of muscles and that is that. animations dont change the normal map.
anyways, some videos using my blend (2k16 100%, 2k18 50%)... not sure if i like it, just was for testing stuff. all videos below are of Harden stretching sequence.
Video 1 --> Soft, Normal, Ripped (did not rename any files):
https://streamable.com/wudo1
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kv7M32 ... sp=sharing
Harden goes from regular arm, to super muscely arm.
Video 2 --> Normal is default (no rename). But renamed Soft to Ripped.... so renamed: chest_normal_avg_soft.1cf630f0adb9a9d9.dds --- > chest_normal_avg_ripped.46a87fa66681e19e.dds -->
video 2: https://streamable.com/w228u
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1919KHs ... sp=sharing
Video 3 --> Renamed Ripped to Normal and then renamed the Normal to Ripped ....
video 3: https://streamable.com/18ziq
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oNs9FN ... sp=sharing
Anyways, the game uses animation to blend Normal and Ripped.... possibly also Superripped for 2k19... did this stuffs on 2k18. Anyways, the point, the game animations blend the normal maps, so by adjusting the normal maps, you can have super muscles when dunking or faint muscles when running or whatever. Just something y'all can fiddle with if you have the time and skillset.
But yeah, i've always been horrible with normal maps. But it's something that the people who are good at that stuff can look into. The easiest would be to extract the normal maps from 2k15, 2k16, 2k17, 2k18, 2k19 .... and blend a few together to see what blend looks good in game. Just posting this here in case anybody finds this useful for future modding.
Have a good day.
