Overlays question

[Kazee]

How can i make my own overlays like the titile screen, menu backgrounds etc.. Im interested to learn how..

[Andrew]

You'll need:

- EA Graphics Editor (to extract the .big files from the .viv files)
- BigGui (to extract the .fsh textures from the .big files)
- FsHX (to export and import textures from the .fsh files)
- Photoshop, GIMP or other image editing software (to edit the textures)

The basic process is:

1. Use the EA Graphics Editor to open the various .viv files in the fe folder.
2. Extract the (using the Extract toolbar button or menu command) .big file(s) you want to edit. The name should give you a clue as to what it's for, sometimes you might have to hunt a bit and look through a few files.
3. Open the .big file with BigGui and extract the .fsh file.
4. Open the .fsh file using FshX. Export the texture as a .dds
5. Open the texture with the image editing software of your choice (NOTE: Both Photoshop and GIMP require a plugin to open .dds files. Google .dds plugin for GIMP or .dds plugin for Photoshop and you'll find them.)
6. Make your desired changes, save the texture as a .dds file.
7. Import the updated texture into the .fsh file using FshX, and be sure to save it.
8. Open the .big file with BigGui. Import the .fsh file; you'll be asked if you want to overwrite the existing file with that name. You do.
9. Close BigGui when you're done.

There's no need to re-import the .big files into the .viv files. They can simply be placed in the sgsm folder and the game will load them instead of what's in the .viv files.