I wrote this to help fellow modders understand how the texturing system works in sins. It is long overdue.

Edited to incorporate the changes that came as of patch 1.12, and Entrenchment.

You will need ether Adobe Photoshop, or Jasc Paint Shop Pro with the nvidia dds plugins, or any image editor that can open, view, and edit the .dds format to view/edit any sins texture. I use Adobe Photoshop 7 to write this. I am assuming modders know how to edit the color channels in an image. BACK UP any Sins texture you wish to edit.

In Sins a particular model can use up to 3 texture sheets with a naming convention as follows.

For example the Kol Battleship uses 3 textures. The primary color texture would be "CapitalTechBattleship-cl.dds". You will also see 2 other textures like "CapitalTechBattleship-nm.dds. This would be the Kols "normal", or "bump map". There is a 3rd texture for the kol called "CapitalTechBattleship-da.dds". This is the texture that makes all the nifty lighting fx, and we will get into that as you read on.

The "-cl.dds": This is the color, or diffuse texture, and one that would show the ships colors as they would normally appear in game. Open the file in photoshop, or paint shop pro, and view the "channels". You have your normal red, green, and blue channels. These channels you normaly dont touch, However you have a 4th channel, an "alpha" channel. The alpha channel represents the "specular map" of the ship in Sins, and it is how the ship gets that shiny metallic look to it. This is a grayscale image. The lighter areas are more shiny with white being the shinyest while dark is dull areas with black as being no shine at all. The Alpha channel is the only channel that would need editing in a "-cl" file after your texture is created. As of patch 1.12 the Alpha channel now represents the "Team Colors".

The "-nm.dds": This is the normal, or "bump" map it is a grayscale image that simulates raised, and lowered areas on the model with shadows that change depending on the direction of the light source. You can create your own normal maps using the nvidia dds tools provided with the plugins. On a bump map white is a raised area. While black is a lowered, or indented surface. Channels do not need to be edited individually since it is a grayscale image. I forgot to mention that the dev's duplicate the Red channel and use it as the Alpha channel. If the normal map has no alpha then the model has wierd effects in game. Just duplicate the Red channel and rename it to Alpha.

The "-da.dds" : This is where things get very interesting. The "da" file means "data". As in your luminosity, or light map, team color, "bloom" ,and reflective surfaces. This is an RGB+ alpha image (red, green, blue, and alpha channels) Each channel represents a certain aspect of the model. You will need to view, and edit each color channel individually, because each color channel has a different effect.

The Red channel is the "team color" channel. This is what surfaces should display team colors of your fleet. As of patch 1.12, and Entrenchment the Red channel now represents the Specular map of the model.

The Green channel is your luminosity or light map. This is what areas of your model that should be "lit up" or, illuminating.

The Blue channel is your "Reflective" channel. As in "chrome", or mirror like surfaces that will reflect the space around them just like a mirror.

Finally the Alpha channel. this is identical to a light, or lumiosity map. However the lit surfaces will cast a "bloom", or aura effect around it. As with other images the whiter the surface the brighter with white being the brightest. Darker has a dimming effect with black being no effects at all.