Path For Animal Skins

[Alpha Raptor]

OK, so I decided to give ZT2 animal recoloring a shot.  I've looked around, and already downloaded DXTBmp.  But, now I need to find the skins.  What is the default path to open them.  Also, what file format should I look for?

[csleesburg]

The skins themselves all end in .dds When you open them in dxtbmp, they will look like a 'pelt' (kind of) with an eye one place, a tongue another, and a foot here, a foot there. Remember, the skins are symmetrical, so what's on one side will appear on the other, too. The .dds files are found in the entities/units/animals folders, both in ZT2 and ES. They will read something like BearPolar_M.dds You can download Penguinman's VAT (Variant Animal Tutorial) for help in doing them. There are instructions in the tutorial on how to use dxtbmp.

If you have any other questions, feel free to post them. :happy

[Alpha Raptor]

Sorry to sound clueless, but how do I get to entities?  I'm trying C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Zoo Tycoon 2 .    I see an individual file called entities (a '.z2f' file).  But where is the entities folder?

[csleesburg]

Oke doke, here's the deal. First, you absolutely must COPY that ZT2 entities or ZT2 ES x100_000 folder to wherever you want. NEVER, never operate on anything but a copy (for your own safety). Then, with either WinZip or WinRAR (both free for download) right click on that huge folder you just copied and say "Open With" (use whichever one you downloaded). When the file is open, you will see literally HUNDREDS of files inside (quite daunting! :shocked). Simply tell the program (either WinZip or WinRAR) to Extract the files to wherever you want to work on them. You can use your desktop, a folder in Your Documents, or somewhere else you like to work. The extracting will take a good 5-10 minutes (remember, hundreds of files).

Once it has done that, you will see the entities folder. Inside of that will exist all the other folders/files you will need. I know it sounds like a big deal, and really, it IS. Reason? Because if you mess up the game entities, the game will cease to function. This way, you have an entire entities folder to 'play' with.  :happy

[Alpha Raptor]

Since I want to recolor an ES animal, I assume i need to copy the x100_000 folder, correct?

[csleesburg]

Weeelllll.... there again, it depends. If the animal occured originally in ZT2 (like the camel) the .dds files will still be in that original entities file. If it's an ES animal (like the Fennec), then you're right, you do need to extract the x100_000. See, ES uses the original files (like camels), but gives extra 'instructions' for them in the ES pack. (I know - confusing... :rolleyes)

[Alpha Raptor]

So animals like the camel, polar bear, etc will be in entities, but ES animals like the fennec, sable antelope will be in x100_000...I think I got it.  Thanks for all your help  :wtg

[csleesburg]

Yaay! You GOT it! The post will still be here if you have more questions. :lol

[alloy61]

Do you have to rezip the file after extracting it? (once you've changed what you want that is)

[csleesburg]

No, you do not. As Penguinman's VAT (Variant Animal Tutorial) will tell you, you make a separate, NEW folder for the skins you color. Then, you only use WinRAR or WinZip to zip them into a z2f file. If you use WinRAR, click the .zip option, then in the name box, change the .zip to .z2f and it'll become a ZT2 file. Got it?