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Skinning FAQ

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Topic Starter
LuigiHann
Okay, this will be a literal "Frequently asked questions," not a full tutorial. Ask a question and I can answer it here.

How do I make a skin?
Oh boy. If you have to ask, it's going to be tricky. First off, download the "template skin for skin makers" through Osume, and read the readme.txt and all the notes in the skin.ini file. Then download one, several, or even all of the other available skins, and look at what they do, comparing what you see in the game to the files in the folder. Then make a copy of the template skin folder, edit the skin.ini to fit your skin, and start playing around with the pngs in Photoshop or a similar program (You can't make a decent skin in MS Paint, sorry. You need something that can create transparent png files). Experimentation is the best way to learn your way around, and once you think you have something worth sharing (or if you really need help) zip up the folder (right click the folder and hit send to -> compressed/zipped folder), delete any files that you haven't edited (to save space) and post it in a new thread here as an attachment, with some screenshots. The skinning community (mostly me, sigh) will be happy to lend a hand.

The background changes color! Why?
Because Peppy says so. Beatmappers can select a background color when mapping a song, so your background will be overlayed with that color. You should probably just make your playfield.png black and white, but you can add a hint of color. Just be aware that it will be recolored for gameplay. The menu-button-background works the same way.

The same rules apply to the approachcircle.png and hitcircle.png, which will change color along with the combo.

The countdown is hard to skin properly.
That's not a question, but it's true. Count1.png will be the bottom layer, so you have some leeway with that, but for 2 and 3, you should follow either the template skin or the EBO skin as closely as possible to avoid a mess. These sprites are aligned based on their left border, so variations in shape and size will mess everything up.

Why isn't anybody commenting on my skin?
There are a few possibilities:
A) It sucks
B) The topic is too obscure, so people don't bother with it
C) For the most part, only skinners browse the skinning section, so don't assume it's A or B. Sometimes nobody comments because nobody has checked it out. Be patient, ask about it in IRC, and keep improving your skin even if nobody is saying anything.

Also, make sure you post some screenshots, keep your first post updated with the most recent download, and bump your thread when you update, so people know what to expect before they download.

What do I have to do to get my skin added to the updater?

This isn't a very democratic process, as it's largely up to me and Peppy's whims. But to increase your odds of being "published" in the updater, make sure your skin is:
A) Complete. You don't need to skin every little thing, but the gameplay sprites, at the very least, should all match the theme.
2) Fun. It should be fun to play Osu using your skin. Anything too distracting, obnoxious, or ugly might ruin the experience, even if it does fit the theme, so make sure the priority is on making it enjoyable to play with.
3) Clean. I'm a stickler for this. Make sure your sprites have smooth edges, so they don't look like crap when Osu resizes them. I suggest using an outer glow or drop shadow when appropriate. Also, delete any remnants of the template skin. They waste space and make your skin look unfinished when I browse the folder.


I'll try to organize this better once I have some more questions. So ask away.
YoshiKart
Nice FAQ!! I'll use this when I "try" to start my skin. Haven't thought out the whole idea through yet. :o


:)
Darius Ukugagi
Opp! I'm inspired to make something, though it might be similar to the EBO skin, I'll try adding my own flavor to it.
MasterOfTheXP
Thanks! I have used MS Paint and I was like "WTF why isn't this working!!!!" It now is with MS Image Composer 8-)
EliteBeatAgents_old
i need help when i use WinZIP and save my skin into the skins folder, i get a error that either the end name is unknown and the file is corrupted or dameged in winzip. How do i fix this?
PLEASE HELP LUIGIHANN I DONT WANT TO ONLY HAVE A DEFALT! :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :| :| :| :| :| :| :| :| :| :| :|
Topic Starter
LuigiHann

EliteBeatAgents wrote:

i need help when i use WinZIP and save my skin into the skins folder, i get a error that either the end name is unknown and the file is corrupted or dameged in winzip. How do i fix this?
PLEASE HELP LUIGIHANN I DONT WANT TO ONLY HAVE A DEFALT!
The easiest way to get skins is through the Osume updater in your osu file. It doesn't have every skin, but it has most of the completed and up-to-date skins.

As for your issue, have you tried redownloading the file? It sounds like you just had a bad download. If you keep having the same problem, post about it in that skin's thread, and perhaps the author can reupload it, if it's not in osume.
ash
"How do I animate certain elements in skinning?"
Topic Starter
LuigiHann

Ash wrote:

"How do I animate certain elements in skinning?"
Certain elements can optionally be animated by adding -# to the end of the filename. For instance, to have an animated sliderfollowcircle.png, name the frames of the animation as:

  1. sliderfollowcircle-0.png
  2. sliderfollowcircle-1.png
  3. sliderfollowcircle-2.png
  4. sliderfollowcircle-3.png
And so on. Remember to start with 0 because peppy is odd. By default, osu will cycle through however many frames you provide, over the course of one second. So if you provide 4 frames, the animation will play at 4 fps.

The following skin elements can currently be animated:

  1. sliderfollowcircle
  2. menu-back
  3. scorebar-colour
  4. followpoint

The process is slightly different for the sliderball. The files, by default, are named sliderb0.png, sliderb1.png, and so on. The number of sliderball frames must be specified in skin.ini in the "SliderBallFrames" area.
Xiao_old
I was wondering how awp changed the followpoints to the light puck. Thanks a ton, you just opened up a whole new world for me in skinning. However,

By default, osu will cycle through however many frames you provide, over the course of one second. So if you provide 4 frames, the animation will play at 4 fps.
It's a static 1 second? So even if I make 100 frames, it'll just run it at 100fps? No wonder. I figured it ran at a stock 30fps or something. Now that I know that, guess I won't have to waste anymore time trying to figure out why my animations were going so fast. Hahaha.

Is it possible to change that, though?

Download: NicoNicoDouga - Nico Nico Douga Monogatari (Blue Dragon) [CDFA likes to feed his cocks in the morning].osu
Topic Starter
LuigiHann

Xiaounlimited wrote:

I was wondering how awp changed the followpoints to the light puck. Thanks a ton, you just opened up a whole new world for me in skinning. However,

By default, osu will cycle through however many frames you provide, over the course of one second. So if you provide 4 frames, the animation will play at 4 fps.
It's a static 1 second? So even if I make 100 frames, it'll just run it at 100fps? No wonder. I figured it ran at a stock 30fps or something. Now that I know that, guess I won't have to waste anymore time trying to figure out why my animations were going so fast. Hahaha.

Is it possible to change that, though?
It is. Ask awp.
awp
I don't remember the name, but there's a field in the skin.ini - check OEWY's skin.ini file. Something like AnimationFrameRate = x milliseconds.
Xiao_old
Another question - is it possible to reskin slider tracks?
YoshiKart
You can recolor the sliders' tracks in the skin.ini file:

//The border colour on slider tracks.
SliderBorder: 117,255,255


Ignore that RBY code, that's just a light blue color for my skin.
Xiao_old
I mean completely reskin it.
Topic Starter
LuigiHann
No, only colors can be changed currently. Not sure what more you could do with sliders, given their dynamically-rendered behavior, but you could ask peppy.
YoshiKart
This map has been deleted on the request of its creator. It is no longer available.
Mafiamaster
Am I allowed to take different things (ex. hitcircle) that are in the skin folder or other people's folders and put them in my beatmap and upload or would I have to make my own things?
Topic Starter
LuigiHann

Mafiamaster wrote:

Am I allowed to take different things (ex. hitcircle) that are in the skin folder or other people's folders and put them in my beatmap and upload or would I have to make my own things?
Ask permission from whoever made the skin. Some skinners will let you use their stuff, and some won't. In general, you should make your own stuff.
Mafiamaster
This map has been deleted on the request of its creator. It is no longer available.
K2J
Use GIMP. I can speak from experience as a long time low-tech Paint (and The Games Factory, oddly enough) user that it's fairly easy to get into; if you have an image from somewhere else and want to make part of it transparent in GIMP:

1) Start a new file or open the file you want to replace.
2) Paste.
3) On the layers dialog (Ctrl + L), press the new layer button in the lower left to make the pasted image into a layer.
4) Click on the "Background" layer, then the trash can to delete it.
5) On the toolbox, choose the magic wand.
6) Select an area you want to make transparent.
7) Hit the delete key.
8) Repeat steps 6 and 7 for all the areas to be transparent.
9) Save.

If you need any help, I'm new to this too, so feel free to ask me, but with the knowledge that I probably don't know nearly as much as some of the other guys here.
Mafiamaster
After 20 minutes of fiddling around, I got it! Thanks for linking the program K2J. This is awesome!
Gens
gaph2000
How would I ensure that something on the hitcircle.png stays white? Also, could someone upload the count1.png? Mine seems to be missing.

EDIT: On second thought, would I be able to ensure something stays any color, and only a certain part changes according to the user selection?
Topic Starter
LuigiHann
This map has been deleted on the request of its creator. It is no longer available.
Vieroz
Does anybody in this thread know how to edit the 'catch the fruit' skin and the 'taiko mode' skin,
because i didn't see their example png template on default skin.

somebody help me please...
DawnII
Catch the Beat skin defaults can be found in the latest version of the default skin, make sure you update through osume.exe.
headshotsalot
I was wondering if anyone knew a good program that can make transparent png files?
gaph2000

headshotsalot wrote:

I was wondering if anyone knew a good program that can make transparent png files?
Photoshop if you can afford it :P

But seriously, try The Gimp.
Gens
This map has been deleted on the request of its creator. It is no longer available.
Atmey

headshotsalot wrote:

I was wondering if anyone knew a good program that can make transparent png files?
http://www.pixlr.com/editor/
Online photoshop.
dumpsterdiver

gaph2000 wrote:

Photoshop if you can afford it :P
heh
Velguador
I was wondering, is it possible to have multiple hit-circles with different images?
What I mean is, instead of having a 'transparant' hit-circle and having the game assign a background color, I want to create multiple hit-circles with different images, that are cycled between in the same way hit-circles cycle between colors.
If that made any sense.

Would that be possible, and if yes, how do I do it? I couldn't find the answer to this anywhere, and no questions about it as well, so...
Ace of Trades
This map has been deleted on the request of its creator. It is no longer available.
Mythological Cow
Um i'm having a hard time finding out where the 'template skin for skin makers' is. Could you provide me with a url?
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