After getting spammed through emails from people asking me to make a Facebook, I did just that. If you want to be kept up to date on new dds releases or any updates to the blog in general, I'll be keeping things up to date on Facebook.
As many people have become aware, it's possible to edit your SC2 .mpq files to customise your menu to look just how you want it. Although changing the entire interface wouldn't exactly be simple, changing the background can be done in a matter of minutes. I'm sure by now most of you are sick of Tychus staring you in the face every time you log in.
Why not have someone a little more welcoming?
And here's a few friendly faces I'm sure most of you will recognise that I made myself.
But anyway, enough showing off, how's it done?
First off, this is for educational purposes only. Understand that this is in fact against the Blizzard Terms of Use. While it's unlikely anyone will be banned for this, it's still a possibility and you should think about whether or not you're willing to put your account at risk for something so small. That said, I've edited mine pretty heavily and feel pretty safe. On top of that, GSL Code S champion oGsMC is also using it.
1.To get started, you're going to need a few programs. The first beingMPQEditor. This will obviously be used to open the .mpq files which are located in C:\Program Files\Starcraft 2\Battle.net. The one we want is Battle.net.mpq. Be sure to back up your MPQ in case you decide to change your mind later or make an error along the way. Also, the only way Blizz can detect that you're doing this is when a patch comes out. It'll be able to detect the difference in filesize for your current MPQs and might get suspicious. If you're nervous about getting banned, replace your custom MPQs with your backups whenever a patch is released, and simply revert after it's installed. Currently it's still pretty safe as I've had my custom ones installed for the last 2/3 patches, but it's up to you.
Once you've opened the mpq, then open the folder inside it called Battle.net and then 'Shared'. Here you'll see a hell load of .dds files, each representing pieces of the menus and backgrounds etc. If you're interested in spending your time changing anything and everything about the menu, you're best off downloading MysticThumbs so that you can extract them all and see the images on the icons instead of having to open each individual one. If you're only interested in a new background, this won't be necessary.
2. There are eight main background files we're most interested in. I know the dimensions look weird for the one's I've added, but trust me, they're accurate. This will NOT remove the gap on the left of the screen for Terran and Zerg. I explain how best to deal with this in #3.:
Home Background (1500 x 808)
c9a309d4dd98195a94c061fb6e4a698c9668740c.dds
Standard Menu Background
01110e2102da23d81a9ade8db2578e4711555663.dds
Quickmatch Terran (1352 x 812)
38ce15e9795375b3da85a7a2a5f2e616f9915f34.dds
Quickmatch Zerg (1424 x 820)
edb3d6511b5e5e026a4f9905ba926e2e465d323b.dds
Quickmatch Protoss (1508 x 832)
36276c7561a180810757b037865c7c34e08ce351.dds
Quickmatch Random (1504 x 808)
c12ca1f639f313ba31e40e2d0671d789dd92b37b.dds
Multiplayer In-Lobby Background (1500 x 808)
a4479d8a457b3a2852450356343e36eedf01fba2.dds
Score Screen (1500 x 808)
28a0d83f17ab2011a755f61b8c838fec3cbd734e.dds
I'll provide download links for some of the work I showed earlier. If you want to use them, it'll be a matter of simply replacing the files with the relevant name. The program auto saves work on changes made so don't worry about closing it. Also, do NOT run SC2 while MPQEditor is running. It won't be one bit too happy.
3. If you want to create your own .dds files, you're going to need Photoshop, Gimp or something similar. Hell, even paint would work. I used photoshop so I'll be writing from that point of view. Photoshop can't actually save images in a .dds format by default, but if you're running an x32 version, you can download the NVIDIA DDS Plug-In to do it. If, however, you're running an x64 version, this won't work. Instead you'll need to download Paint.NET. (Update: After many years of incompatibility, the wonderful people over at NVIDIA have finally released the plug-in to work on all x64 versions of Photoshop, including the recent CS5 release! It's a fine day for science. That said, if you can't get your hands on Photoshop, Paint.NET still does the trick.)
Save your image from photoshop in a .png format and then open it with Paint.NET and save it again as a .DDS. Alternatively you can use ImageConverter Plus which is a much lighter program than Paint.NET and faster for this purpose. However, I'm pretty sure this is trial software and will need to be paid for after a month or so. The quality also won't be perfect which is a pretty important factor. This option should only be considered if Paint.NET can't be. Mac users can also use Aorta for their .DDS files, which is completely free. When you're done, be sure to rename your .DDS file with the relevant code provided, and then drag and drop it into the Shared folder in the MPQEditor. Some of the menus have weird placement coordinates and will end up making images look choppy when you apply them. You'll see what I mean if you make one to replace the quick match Terran/Zerg backgrounds. To counter this, I used the Elliptical Marquee Tool and selected a large oval of the picture and applied a Layer Mask, then revealed selection. After this, I applied a Gaussian Blur effect and just adjusted it to how I preferred. Another method is to apply a layer mask and Gradient transparency to reveal the left side. To learn more about this, scroll down to the section titled "Photoshop".
Again, make sure you close the MPQEditor before running SC2 to test your .dds, keeping in mind it'll save changes automatically.
If you want to mess around with some of the other game textures, just extract the "Shared" folder from the MPQEditor to wherever you want and you'll be able to see every single texture individually. Not all textures used in the games are maintained in this one individual MPQ, so if you don't find something you're looking for, just try opening a different one.
Unfortunately, MysticThumbs only comes with a 30 day trial. To my knowledge, there is no free alternative for Windows 7 or Vista. If you're still rockin' an XP, you can download the NVIDIA DDS Thumbnail Viewer which is totally free. If not, any files you want to mess around with I advise getting done as soon as you can unless you want to pay something like $20, I can't quite remember. I myself have a lot of fun playing around with the various files so I ended up buying it. It's also for this reason I'm willing to accept requests from people who wouldn't be willing to do so after their free trial expires. There's a ridiculous amount of textures to mess around with in these files. Like searily. 1491 icons in this single mpq.
For a majority of my downloads below this point, I'm currently using Mediafire to host them. For some annoying reason, they tend to take down my files at random times. If you notice that a link is broken, please just take two minutes to leave a comment bringing it to my attention.
I've been getting a lot of comments and emails regarding picture resolutions. I've uploaded a photoshop format template of the background menu to make it easier to get your custom picture just how you want it. Note that this is mainly for the main menu background. While it may also work for protoss and random, it won't work for terran or zerg because of the slightly smaller resolutions.
A question people seem to be asking me a lot is how I seem to have a Chinese SC client when the beta was only recently released in China. This was just another result of me messing around with the mpqs. While exploring, I came across these two dds' and decided they looked awesome and that I must have them. Was just a matter of replacing the name for the Chinese .DDS with the original .DDS names. Or alternatively, you can just Download mine and replace the previous ones from your Battle.net.mpq. You don't need to remove the previous .dds files as you were basically replacing the same files with files that were already there.
Sounds
The sounds of the game can also be changed or swapped around using this exact same method, only located in various different mpq files. For example, if you navigate to Starcraft 2 > Mods > Liberty.SC2Mod, open base.SC2Assests with MPQEditor, then go to Assets and Sounds, you'll find a majority of the unit sounds made in the game. From here you can freely change any you like. I would advise against completely removing a sound you may not like, though. Instead maybe just replace it with a blank recording of similar length.
If you do intend on adding your own custom sounds, it's important that the format remains the same as the file you're replacing. For a majority of cases, the sounds are in .wav format. I recommend Media.io for this. Here, you can convert your files directly online to .wav and also to .ogg, another sound format used in the .MPQs.
Downloads
As for downloads to the first pictures I posted, The first one and the Boxxy one are already completely .dds ready installed .MPQ files. All you need to do is replace the battle.net.mpq in your SC2 folder and you're ready to go. No programs needed. Can't have both, so choose wisely. Kabuto or Omanyte?
As for the last picture of Tifa, this is in .dds format so you'll at least need the MPQEditor just to put it into the file. This download also comes with three more different edits. One for each race selection under the quick match menu. Images and download links below.
I recently located the Jim Raynor picture you see on the loading screen as soon as you start up the game and decided to take immediate action. Although some might say I'm going a little far by replacing a picture I only ever see once when loading the game, I'm hardly going to let that stop me. For those interested, you're more than welcome to Download this also. Don't rename it, this file just coincidentally has a much simpler name. The location of the file to replace this with is Starcraft 2 > Mods > Core.SC2Mod, open enGB.SC2Assets (or enUS etc depending on region) then go to Assets, Textures and replace the startupimage.dds located there. Alternatively you could always again make your own .DDS image, rename it to startupimage.dds and replace the default loading screen with whichever picture you want. The default dimensions for this are 2048 x 1160.
For those unfamiliar with this, the picture is actually originally totally unrelated to SC2. It was designed for a release intended for the Xbox/Ps2 called Starcraft: Ghost which was discontinued. I messed around with it for a few minutes to re-dimension it, remove old website logos and add the SC2 logo and that was my result.
Photoshop
A lot of people have been wanting more details on how to get around the unusual offset placements for Terran and Zerg quickmatch screen, so that's what you're going to get. As an example, I've taken a random nice looking Terran related picture from google.
I've followed the requirements carefully, and redimensioned the picture to 1352 x 812. So, it should fit perfectly, right? Awesome!
But oh no! D: It's not working at all. Unfortunately there's no way to get around this unusual picture placement. (Well, not that I've found... yet.) So, if we can't get around it, we still need to make it look as appealing as possible, because that's hideous. Open the picture up in photoshop. On the bottom right, you'll see the picture listed in the "layers" section. If there's a small lock icon next to it, double click the icon of the picture in the layer and click ok. Now, look below and there's a few icons. Click the one that lets you add a layer mask.
Now you'll notice a white box appears next to your picture icon. This is the layer mask. Next, go to the tools and select Gradient.
Once you've selected that, go to the far left of your picture, left click with your mouse and drag it slightly to the right of the picture. Hold down shift to keep the line straight. When you release, it should look like the picture below. If you don't see the chequered boxes and instead just white, it's because the white box icon that appeared in your layers reference has been deselected somehow. Click on it and try again.
This might not look very faded now, but that's because the background is very bright. Keep in mind the SC2 background is dark. If you want a closer example of how it'll really look, add a new layer and paint it black. I'll explain that in the next step. For now, you've probably noticed you don't have an edge of the picture to reference to. How can you tell if the picture is faded enough? Saving and installing it only to realise it wasn't faded enough can get annoying as all hell. Adding a black layer can help this also. Look below your layers reference box again and click on the button to add a new layer.
This should now add a new layer that'll appear above your picture. Now pick the paintbrush from tools on the left and make sure black is selected. Paint everything black. (Press [ and ] to increase/decrease brush size) You'll notice you're painting over your picture. Don't worry about that. When you're done, just click on the black layer and drag it below your picture. Now this is a closer example of how your picture will actually look in SC2. But we can also use this to get a reference of how well faded our picture is. Click on the layer for your original picture again and press V so you can move it around. Move it slightly to the right so you can get a comparison of the edge.
As you can see, the bottom of the picture is still kinda sharp. No worries, just go back to your gradient tool and drag it further this time, keeping in mind to hold down shift to keep it straight. After you're happy with your result, export the DDS and install it to your MPQ.
Now, one thing I've noticed with saving images as DDS that have been gradiented like this in Photoshop is that they tend to look like this
Nasty. Unfortunately, I honestly haven't a clue why this is happening, or if it's just me or what. If it's happening to you, then no worries. Simply save it as a PNG and then open it in Paint.NET which I was referring to earlier in the guide and then save it as a DDS. When you get the popup after that, click on the dropdown box on the top left under "File Format" and pick A8R8G8B8". It's the top one under interpolated alpha.
And there you have it! and because I know I'll inevitably be getting emails asking for a download to this one anyway, here you go.
Requests
Any additional .DDS files I end up making for whatever reason, be it requests or boredom, I'll post below here. If you're interested in knowing exactly when I post new files, I'll also post updates on my Facebook. Any further requests can be sent to teliko@live.ie or left in a comment below. Requests must include large image links as well as what part of the menu you want it to replace. From now on, I'll be ignoring lazy ass requests such as "Can you make me a picture for The Simpsons?" or stupid stuff like that. If you want me to dedicate my time to you, the least you can do is find the picture yourself.
I will no longer be accepting requests that require heavy photoshoping before it looks decent for free. I always get carried away with attention to detail and the amount of requests I'm getting is taking up too much of my time. All I'll be doing with requests is re-dimensioning / dds converting from this point on. Any requests that do require attention with photoshop will still be considered, but for a small fee. Any requests that I decide to complete will be posted publicly below. If I'm sent a paid commission, it too will be publicly posted unless otherwise stated by the requester.
Any further DDS files from now on will only be added to the Facebook page, as this is getting kind of cramped.
Anyone who no longer wants to use custom pictures and forgot to backup their mpq can download the defaults for Terran, Zerg, Toss, Random and main menu here. These files are in .DDS format, so you're still going to need to MPQEditor to replace them.
By replacing it with your backup. If you didn't make a backup, tell me the file you want to have set back to the default and I'll send you mine.
The dimensions for each different background are different. Just extract the target .DDS and open it with photoshop and it'll tell you what dimensions it is and you can work on it from there.
"The location of the file to replace this with is Starcraft 2 > Mods > Core.SC2Mod, open enGB.SC2Assets (or enUS etc depending on region) then go to Assets, Textures and replace the startupimage.dds located there."
I tried to do one by miself for the quick match (terran). I extracted the original file, modified it and saved it back to .dds But when I launch the game, my new image doesn't fill all the sapce. I got a gap between the left border of the interface and my new image, as if the image was positionned too much on the right. Any idea why?
This is unavoidable. The default texture was just the same but was faded out so you couldn't tell. The best way to counter this is by using the Gaussian Blur like I mentioned in the blog. Sorry, but there's no way to get around this.
If you can send me a link to the picture you want created into a .dds and let me know which background you want it to replace, i'll get working on it when I have the time.
-_- Everyone has different tastes in art and I don't know the first thing about DBZ so I wouldn't know where to start in terms of picking a suitable picture. Just link me one you like and I'll work from that.
I never got in to it :P Anyway, awkward placement. No matter where I try to put him, he ends up being hidden behind menus. Can make him taller if you want his face more revealed but that's about it.
First of all, I want to say thank you for doing this, I really appreciate it. It's awesome and very helpful. I just have a few questions.
The first is, how did you make the Boxxy picture? She's cute but I just want to know how you placed her face into the Marine suit so I could change it to someone else if I wanted to.
Second, do you know where I can find nice Starcraft art or fanart much like the background picture you made for Maverick?
Lastly, do you have another language other than Chinese for the client menu?
Hey, thanks for the feedback. Always good to know people appreciate the time I put into it.
I didn't put boxxy in the medic helmet, all I did was make it a little more suitable for the SC2 menu. I spent some time looking for the guy who did but wasn't successful. The guy who did do it, did it by manipulating the original medic picture (the first one in the blog) if you look at the left, you can still see the original hair. Basically, it can be done with a little experience and a lot of patience with photoshop.
The picture I did for Maverick was done at his request, I'm afraid I've no idea where the picture originated. Although I searched google and there's a good few examples of fanart here
Chinese was the only other language that the sc2 logo was written in. I searched every single .dds image in the mpq and found nothing else. Although, I do have the background image without the writting on it so if you wanted, I could show you how to make your own SC2 writing and you could easily make one yourself however you wanted.
Thank you for the response. I'm actually a newbie at Photoshop and only recently started using it because of this Starcraft editing so I don't think I'll be adept enough to make my own SC2 writing, haha. Thanks though.
I ran into a few problems however regarding the texture recoloring. The lag spikes you mentioned did occur, however they never stop. It always occur when I build the Gateway, and then when the Zealot finishes building. The game will freeze and it will eventually drop me. Do you have any explanation or solution to this? Thank you.
It's possible that the quality is too high. Say if the original .dds file was 800kb and after you edit it, the new file is 2mb, it has a lot more information to load than it was originally designed to. That's the only thing I can think of. If you reduce the quality or filesize and then try, hopefully it'll be ok.
Here's the default Terran, Zerg, Toss, Random and main menu files in .DDS format, so you're still going to need the MOQEditor to replace the old ones in the MPQ.
http://www.mediafire.com/?dygw89wgt8021am
For all people waiting on requests, I'll have them done in a few days. People should actually consider attempting to follow the tutorial. I've got so many requests atm that I'm convinced people are just skipping the entire blog and immediately emailing me to do it for them.
Hey Teliko, great tutorial. I changed alot of my menu interface pictures, but I was wondering if you could change the background of achivements/replay/profile as well. Are those different than .dda because I think I've found the folder for them and it was a different extension.
No, they are also .dds files. After a brief glance, profile seems to be 1b4d70bd8c56b832fd1a8555b332e8f427faa38a. I didn't see the replays one so there's a chance it could be in battle.net-patch.mpq as that also has a couple thousand more .dds files. Either way, it's definitely in dds format.
No worries. Make sure when you extract the files that you organise them by filesize. These menu backgrounds are usually the biggest dds files in the mpq, so they should be all near the top.
How come when i put my picture up, its not fit the screen perfectly/ near perfect. The picture looks like it has been shifted to the right if it was to full screen. Using (1440x900) dimension pictures.
The picture has to be the same dimensions as I listed next to the required filename for each dds file. E.g. The main menu has to be 1500x808, Terran has to be 1352x812. Even with these dimensions, Terran and Zerg will always have a gap on the left like I describe in the blog. Use a fade out to counter it.
Added the loading screen but you should really consider reading the actual guide and learning how to do this yourself. It's the whole reason I wrote it.
I added the required dimensions for the most commonly requested replacements to the tutorial next to the code name for each dds file a couple of days ago, consider giving it another shot.
I'm sorry to bug you about this, but it seems after the recent patch, I'm having some problems playing online now. I'm probably going to resort to reinstalling it eventually, but I'm trying to exhaust all options before doing so. Do you have any suggestions on what I should do?
Update: The NVIDIA DDS Plug-In has been released on all x64 versions of Photoshop, including x32 + x64 on the most recent CS5 release! Anyone having to use Paint.NET when they had Photoshop in their hands the entire time can finally go back to using Photoshop.
I would love if I could get a picture of a player similar to the one Blasterion requested, but with oGsNaDa on it. If you decide to get back to me and help me with my request I'l be sure to donate :D!
Indeed, I think bloggers spamfilter was blocking it because of the link size. It might be a bit small of an image but I'll work on it later today and we'll see how it turns out. I'll email you in a few hours.
Hi there, I would like to say that this is a great guide you've written here and it helped me out a lot. I was wondering if you have the original Battle.net MPQ? Patch 1.3.4 (or 1.33), that is. Thanks in advance.
I'm not really up for uploading the entire 100mb mpq due to my slow internet. Why do you need the entire thing? I've uploaded a default dds pack for the ones people usually replace, or if you've changed some other dds files yourself just let me know what ones those are and I'll upload them as well.
I changed some units according to the CE Thor tutorial. Can you upload the files for the original Ghost, Dark Templar and Void Ray? I forgot to make a backup.
Those aren't parts of the battle.net mpq... you're talkin' like 150 audio/animation/texture files in total. I think you'd be just better off removing the files you replaced from the game folder and running repair, or install the game elsewhere and copy the required files from there. You really need to backup if you're going to be messing around with that many files.
Hey, if you could spare some of your time, would you make a tutorial video about the fading out prozess on photoshop for the terran or zerg background? Btw thanks a lot for the guide.
Because that's an animation file. The .dds files are picture files, and they can only be in .dds format or else the game will detect a missing file and try to repair it. Trust me, it's not possible.
I have followed your tutorial and have made some Girl's Day replacement screens. Is it ok if I email them to you when I am done? Then you can put them up on here, I notice someone else is into Girl's Day too ^^
I appreciate you giving me the opportunity, but I'd prefer to just keep the ones I've made up here. If I agreed to everyone who emailed me asking to put their work on the blog, I'd be adding to it every hour or so. Sorry, man.
The Facebook page I made for this is still lookin' kinda empty though. I can put it on that if you want.
Understood dude, I'll add them to your facebook through a friend's profile. Thanks heaps for these tutorials, I love being welcomed to Starcraft by lovely ladies, as opposed to manly men... ^^
Peace, see you on the book. Thanks again, much love.
Can Blizzard see which parts of the MPQ file that has been modified? I'm very interested in modifying my backgrounds but I'm wondering how safe it is. If Blizzard can tell that only these lobby images have been modified I'm sure that it will be safe.
I can't honestly answer that because I've no way of knowing, and I'd doubt they plan on telling anyone any time soon. My best guess would be that they can scan the MPQs every time a patch is released and will be able to detect a difference in size, but not for the DDS files individually.
That said, they won't be allowed to ban anyone just because of a different size mpq than the default. It could mean anything. I'm pretty confident that you'll be safe.
Hey Teliko, ive been trying to change the league icons but i cant find them in the MPQ file. I tried searching for the names according to one of the screenshots you posted but i dont have them. Afterwords i deleted my MPQ file, repaired, and still the league icon files are not there. Can you help?
Those icons are in battle.net-patch.mpq. Even at that, I don't know if they're the correct ones as there's different sized icons displayed in different parts of your profile. Not sure why you'd want to change your league icons, but I don't think it's be worth the time it'd take you to find the icons to replace your profile, the multiplayer menu and the leagues and ladders menu.
im just trying to use the .dds files you gave us, and not make my own. my problem is that when i switch out any of the files, everything becomes see through. none of the borders or backgrounds show up... only the letters from the menus, and the background of outer space.
if you dont know what im doing wrong, heres what i did... -extract a folder of "Battle.net.MPQ" -delete 2 of the .dds folders, and replace them with yours (i chose the zerg menu and the welcome menu). -create the new "Battle.net.MPQ" and delete the old one (and i closed the extracting/drop software)
You don't need to extract anything, just open the MPQ and replace the old DDS files with the new ones. Can you send me a screenshot of what yours looks like?
And yes, I've never done this on a Mac, and they have a reputation of not working with nice things.
the only way i can open the MPQ, is by using my mpq extractor (not sure if its cause im using mac)
when all i do is replace the .dds files with the new ones...nothing happens. wtf. doesnt make sense. even when i restart my mac, theres no difference in the menus
so when i try and do something more by creating a new MPQ to replace it, i just get this....
so iono, it may just be a mac thing. but it just doesnt make sense to me. if im replacing the pictures, why are the old ones still there and unchanged. haha, i have a retarded problem, so no worries if you say i cant fix this -_o
Everything works great except for the home screen, which has a left blue bar on the side of the image (similar to how the Terran and Zerg pictures are smaller than Protoss or home), which wasn't mentioned in your guide. One other person I know also has this problem.
The strange thing is, when I put in pictures 1500x808 for the score screen and the looking for games menu they went all the way to the end. Not sure why the home screen is acting this way. Are you aware of this problem and/or any fixes for it besides the same thing as Terran/Zerg? Was this a change in the last patch or something?
That was introduced in 1.3.5 and is happening to everyone. I've no idea why they decided to change it by that margin, but that's Blizzard for you. The only remedy is to do the same thing done for Terran and Zerg.
Hi thanks for teaching, but i have a problem for the Zerg quickmatch background. after i did everything and open SC2,all the backgrounds changed to the new ones except for zerg. also the since the previous zerg file was removed, now theres no picture in the background for zerg. is it a bug or did i do something wrong?
First thanks for the tuto but i got a little problem with it.
I downloaded the software for 32 bits, the picture i want, what i did is : rename the picture (wich i downloaded right here on the page with the link ) with the name of the terran backgroud for quick match. then put it in with the software and all i get is a blue screen for terran, with no picture. I tried for protoss and it s the same. why ?
notice that I deleted the standard picture before put the new one in the software, if i don't do that and let the two picture with the same name, bnet show me the blizzard one.
hi ;) thanks 4 this great guide its another game now ;)))))))
but i got a small problem after all i wanted to change the League icons, so in whatever leage i am it will be shown as grandmaster ;) found all the nesseary icons, but soon i change the patchmpq it starts patching when i start...... i assumed the will undo the stuff but didnt dare to try, got xp with that?
Hello, Teliko I changed my backgrounds easily because of your instructions on your website, but I did not back-up my files and there is a new patch that released recently. Can you help pls to aset everything beack to normal so I can download patch and then redo it again. The reason I am doing this is because on case of a chance of getting banned. Thank you very much.
how do you undo it. Lol
ReplyDeletealso whats the size for this, I made my own in photoshop but it was really off.
ReplyDeleteBy replacing it with your backup. If you didn't make a backup, tell me the file you want to have set back to the default and I'll send you mine.
ReplyDeleteThe dimensions for each different background are different. Just extract the target .DDS and open it with photoshop and it'll tell you what dimensions it is and you can work on it from there.
Can you just make the whole default folder?
DeleteHow do u set up the start up image do you have the #.DDS. And great job with this.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mediafire.com/?558llti271qd924
ReplyDelete"The location of the file to replace this with is Starcraft 2 > Mods > Core.SC2Mod, open enGB.SC2Assets (or enUS etc depending on region) then go to Assets, Textures and replace the startupimage.dds located there."
I tried to do one by miself for the quick match (terran). I extracted the original file, modified it and saved it back to .dds
ReplyDeleteBut when I launch the game, my new image doesn't fill all the sapce. I got a gap between the left border of the interface and my new image, as if the image was positionned too much on the right. Any idea why?
This is unavoidable. The default texture was just the same but was faded out so you couldn't tell. The best way to counter this is by using the Gaussian Blur like I mentioned in the blog. Sorry, but there's no way to get around this.
ReplyDeleteI wana make a request some .dds for the icons/new background :) like make it have more protoss/zerg/terran style
ReplyDeletei manage to put my gf picture on the background.. but it was out of focus so i give up on making my own .dds >.<
btw.. does anyone got annoyed when you join a game, boxy's eyes are covered by our names(this is her best feature)??? =D
ReplyDeleteI like it though :) gj.. btw.. mawr!!
If you can send me a link to the picture you want created into a .dds and let me know which background you want it to replace, i'll get working on it when I have the time.
ReplyDeletei got no creative mind and you got good taste on picking your picture..xD
ReplyDelete-I want some DBZ mod but i'll wait for your creation :)
-_- Everyone has different tastes in art and I don't know the first thing about DBZ so I wouldn't know where to start in terms of picking a suitable picture. Just link me one you like and I'll work from that.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.desktopanimewallpaper.com/wallpaper/Goku-Super-Saiyan/
ReplyDeletethis would be an exelent background picture as a protoss picture background(yellow an all).. =D
but now iono what to do with riku :(
and im so supprise you know nothing about DBZ 0_0
I never got in to it :P Anyway, awkward placement. No matter where I try to put him, he ends up being hidden behind menus. Can make him taller if you want his face more revealed but that's about it.
ReplyDeletehttp://img823.imageshack.us/img823/6029/screenshot2011042023544.jpg
Download;
http://www.mediafire.com/?brm2gg2y6gt3wji
My Home Background Girl
ReplyDeletehttp://savepic.net/1073431.jpg
http://therobots.info:8080/sc2/c9a309d4dd98195a94c061fb6e4a698c9668740c.dds
random http://savepic.net/1095980.jpg
ReplyDeletehttp://therobots.info:8080/sc2/c12ca1f639f313ba31e40e2d0671d789dd92b37b.dds
First of all, I want to say thank you for doing this, I really appreciate it. It's awesome and very helpful. I just have a few questions.
ReplyDeleteThe first is, how did you make the Boxxy picture? She's cute but I just want to know how you placed her face into the Marine suit so I could change it to someone else if I wanted to.
Second, do you know where I can find nice Starcraft art or fanart much like the background picture you made for Maverick?
Lastly, do you have another language other than Chinese for the client menu?
Again, thanks so much.
Hey, thanks for the feedback. Always good to know people appreciate the time I put into it.
ReplyDeleteI didn't put boxxy in the medic helmet, all I did was make it a little more suitable for the SC2 menu. I spent some time looking for the guy who did but wasn't successful. The guy who did do it, did it by manipulating the original medic picture (the first one in the blog) if you look at the left, you can still see the original hair. Basically, it can be done with a little experience and a lot of patience with photoshop.
The picture I did for Maverick was done at his request, I'm afraid I've no idea where the picture originated. Although I searched google and there's a good few examples of fanart here
http://www.google.ie/search?q=sc2+art&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1233&bih=683
Chinese was the only other language that the sc2 logo was written in. I searched every single .dds image in the mpq and found nothing else. Although, I do have the background image without the writting on it so if you wanted, I could show you how to make your own SC2 writing and you could easily make one yourself however you wanted.
Thank you for the response. I'm actually a newbie at Photoshop and only recently started using it because of this Starcraft editing so I don't think I'll be adept enough to make my own SC2 writing, haha. Thanks though.
ReplyDeleteI ran into a few problems however regarding the texture recoloring. The lag spikes you mentioned did occur, however they never stop. It always occur when I build the Gateway, and then when the Zealot finishes building. The game will freeze and it will eventually drop me. Do you have any explanation or solution to this? Thank you.
It's possible that the quality is too high. Say if the original .dds file was 800kb and after you edit it, the new file is 2mb, it has a lot more information to load than it was originally designed to. That's the only thing I can think of. If you reduce the quality or filesize and then try, hopefully it'll be ok.
ReplyDeleteCan i request for a dds of this picture http://yourkoreanbias.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/0294601.jpg for quick match terran. Thank you very much! :)
ReplyDeletehey can you upload a default file..? I happen to didn't back up mine =D
ReplyDeleteand i like those new request :)
Here's the default Terran, Zerg, Toss, Random and main menu files in .DDS format, so you're still going to need the MOQEditor to replace the old ones in the MPQ.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mediafire.com/?dygw89wgt8021am
For all people waiting on requests, I'll have them done in a few days. People should actually consider attempting to follow the tutorial.
I've got so many requests atm that I'm convinced people are just skipping the entire blog and immediately emailing me to do it for them.
None of you guys would happen to know what picture it is that oGsMC uses for his homescreen would you?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.google.ie/search?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aofficial&biw=1233&bih=654&site=search&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=suzy%28miss+a%29&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=
ReplyDeleteHey Teliko, great tutorial. I changed alot of my menu interface pictures, but I was wondering if you could change the background of achivements/replay/profile as well. Are those different than .dda because I think I've found the folder for them and it was a different extension.
ReplyDeleteThanks in advance.
No, they are also .dds files. After a brief glance, profile seems to be 1b4d70bd8c56b832fd1a8555b332e8f427faa38a. I didn't see the replays one so there's a chance it could be in battle.net-patch.mpq as that also has a couple thousand more .dds files. Either way, it's definitely in dds format.
ReplyDeleteoh the battle.net-patch.mpq also has additional .dds files used in the game huh? Thanks, I'll check those out :)
ReplyDeleteNo worries. Make sure when you extract the files that you organise them by filesize. These menu backgrounds are usually the biggest dds files in the mpq, so they should be all near the top.
ReplyDeleteHow come when i put my picture up, its not fit the screen perfectly/ near perfect. The picture looks like it has been shifted to the right if it was to full screen. Using (1440x900) dimension pictures.
ReplyDeleteThe picture has to be the same dimensions as I listed next to the required filename for each dds file. E.g. The main menu has to be 1500x808, Terran has to be 1352x812. Even with these dimensions, Terran and Zerg will always have a gap on the left like I describe in the blog. Use a fade out to counter it.
ReplyDeleteIf ur ever bored.. >.<
ReplyDeletehttp://good-wallpapers.com/wall.php?category=games&id=854&width=1280&ratio=1.25 for protoss..
http://www.myfreewallpapers.net/games/pages/starcraft-2-terran-marine.shtml for terran... (flip it)
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jSUlsokOGTU/TFml_EOyL2I/AAAAAAAAADw/KSkLnZsirOQ/s1600/wallpaperkerrigan.jpg for zerg.. :)
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jSUlsokOGTU/TFmZaQOAOmI/AAAAAAAAADY/miOsnNJANvI/s1600/wallpaper-zeratul-vs-kerrigan.jpg for the MAIN loading screen..
I like everything so far already so doing this or not doesn't matter.. but thanks so much for the hard work :)
Added the loading screen but you should really consider reading the actual guide and learning how to do this yourself. It's the whole reason I wrote it.
ReplyDeletei did.. but it didn't fit so i gave up lol...
ReplyDeleteI added the required dimensions for the most commonly requested replacements to the tutorial next to the code name for each dds file a couple of days ago, consider giving it another shot.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to bug you about this, but it seems after the recent patch, I'm having some problems playing online now. I'm probably going to resort to reinstalling it eventually, but I'm trying to exhaust all options before doing so. Do you have any suggestions on what I should do?
ReplyDeleteThank you.
If you feel it's due to these, then replace them with your default files. But I find it unlikely this is the cause.
ReplyDeleteUpdate: The NVIDIA DDS Plug-In has been released on all x64 versions of Photoshop, including x32 + x64 on the most recent CS5 release! Anyone having to use Paint.NET when they had Photoshop in their hands the entire time can finally go back to using Photoshop.
ReplyDeleteDownloads here;
http://developer.nvidia.com/object/photoshop_dds_plugins.html
Hey! That's some awesome work!
ReplyDeleteI would love if I could get a picture of a player similar to the one Blasterion requested, but with oGsNaDa on it. If you decide to get back to me and help me with my request I'l be sure to donate :D!
Greetings!
My email is mromofer@gmail.com. Let me know <3.
ReplyDeleteI'd appreciate if you could send me the actual picture you want. We'd both be better off as I don't know which pictures of NaDa you like :P
ReplyDeletehttp://www.starcraft2.net.pl/portal/sc2/1/1915/GSL_Season_6_finaly.html
ReplyDeleteThere's the site, NaDa's picture is number six, for some reason I couldn't post the bigger link, sorry.
Indeed, I think bloggers spamfilter was blocking it because of the link size. It might be a bit small of an image but I'll work on it later today and we'll see how it turns out. I'll email you in a few hours.
ReplyDeleteYeah, sorry about that, couldn't find a bigger one. =/
ReplyDeleteCheck your emails, gogo.
ReplyDeleteCheck your paypal, gogo <3!
ReplyDeleteD::: Hory sheeet! Much love, bro. No homo. Or homo if you want, you're the man of the hour. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
ReplyDeleteNo prob, you're the one who deserves the credit for a job well done. Hope you'll help me out in the future!
ReplyDeleteNaturally man. Feel free to email any future requests to me.
ReplyDeleteHi there, I would like to say that this is a great guide you've written here and it helped me out a lot. I was wondering if you have the original Battle.net MPQ? Patch 1.3.4 (or 1.33), that is. Thanks in advance.
ReplyDeleteI'm not really up for uploading the entire 100mb mpq due to my slow internet. Why do you need the entire thing? I've uploaded a default dds pack for the ones people usually replace, or if you've changed some other dds files yourself just let me know what ones those are and I'll upload them as well.
ReplyDeleteI changed some units according to the CE Thor tutorial. Can you upload the files for the original Ghost, Dark Templar and Void Ray? I forgot to make a backup.
ReplyDeleteThose aren't parts of the battle.net mpq... you're talkin' like 150 audio/animation/texture files in total. I think you'd be just better off removing the files you replaced from the game folder and running repair, or install the game elsewhere and copy the required files from there. You really need to backup if you're going to be messing around with that many files.
ReplyDeleteHey, if you could spare some of your time, would you make a tutorial video about the fading out prozess on photoshop for the terran or zerg background? Btw thanks a lot for the guide.
ReplyDeleteSup man, it's me again, I was wondering if you could work with a 619x449 Pic or if it is too small.. Lemme know, cheers!
ReplyDeleteShow me it and I'll have a look tonight
ReplyDeletei wish i can rate these stuff.. i would like to thumbs up on all the background with females =D
ReplyDeletehey is there ANYWAYS.. i can have a multiple selection of background running at once..?
like i can click at protoss icon.. and switch to random.. then switch back to protoss and its a different background..?
While that'd be awesome, I'm afraid it's not possible.
ReplyDeletehm.. cant we try to do a flash file..? or how does the planet stuff in the back ground move..? cant we create something like that..? =D
ReplyDeleteBecause that's an animation file. The .dds files are picture files, and they can only be in .dds format or else the game will detect a missing file and try to repair it. Trust me, it's not possible.
ReplyDeleteFor the Terran/Zerg backgrounds, should I use the Gaussian Blur on the picture itself or on the Layer Mask?
ReplyDeleteOn the layer mask.
ReplyDeleteI have followed your tutorial and have made some Girl's Day replacement screens. Is it ok if I email them to you when I am done? Then you can put them up on here, I notice someone else is into Girl's Day too ^^
ReplyDeleteI appreciate you giving me the opportunity, but I'd prefer to just keep the ones I've made up here. If I agreed to everyone who emailed me asking to put their work on the blog, I'd be adding to it every hour or so. Sorry, man.
ReplyDeleteThe Facebook page I made for this is still lookin' kinda empty though. I can put it on that if you want.
(Anonymous from above)
ReplyDeleteUnderstood dude, I'll add them to your facebook through a friend's profile. Thanks heaps for these tutorials, I love being welcomed to Starcraft by lovely ladies, as opposed to manly men... ^^
Peace, see you on the book. Thanks again, much love.
No worries, bro. Glad you enjoyed the tutorials.
ReplyDeleteCan Blizzard see which parts of the MPQ file that has been modified? I'm very interested in modifying my backgrounds but I'm wondering how safe it is. If Blizzard can tell that only these lobby images have been modified I'm sure that it will be safe.
ReplyDeleteI can't honestly answer that because I've no way of knowing, and I'd doubt they plan on telling anyone any time soon. My best guess would be that they can scan the MPQs every time a patch is released and will be able to detect a difference in size, but not for the DDS files individually.
ReplyDeleteThat said, they won't be allowed to ban anyone just because of a different size mpq than the default. It could mean anything. I'm pretty confident that you'll be safe.
Wonderful, your boss mate.
ReplyDeleteHey Teliko, ive been trying to change the league icons but i cant find them in the MPQ file. I tried searching for the names according to one of the screenshots you posted but i dont have them. Afterwords i deleted my MPQ file, repaired, and still the league icon files are not there. Can you help?
ReplyDeleteThose icons are in battle.net-patch.mpq. Even at that, I don't know if they're the correct ones as there's different sized icons displayed in different parts of your profile. Not sure why you'd want to change your league icons, but I don't think it's be worth the time it'd take you to find the icons to replace your profile, the multiplayer menu and the leagues and ladders menu.
ReplyDeleteHey Man, sent you an Email, hope you can get a look at it =P! Btw, call me Razor =P
ReplyDeleteHaven't gotten any :S you sure you send it to the right address?
ReplyDeletewhere i can get 1491 icons?
ReplyDeleteplz help thank
In the battle.net.mpq
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cherubicsoft.com/projects/sagethumbs
ReplyDeleteVery nice thumb viewer and converter works with win7 both 32&64bit!
enjoy :)
almost forgot ...and free :)))
ReplyDeletedear teliko, can you post a tutorial on how to improve the appearance of the left side of the terran & zerg quick match :\ ?
ReplyDeleteThat's a Photoshop thing. Just google gradients and fade outs etc.
ReplyDeleteim just trying to use the .dds files you gave us, and not make my own.
ReplyDeletemy problem is that when i switch out any of the files, everything becomes see through. none of the borders or backgrounds show up... only the letters from the menus, and the background of outer space.
if you dont know what im doing wrong, heres what i did...
-extract a folder of "Battle.net.MPQ"
-delete 2 of the .dds folders, and replace them with yours (i chose the zerg menu and the welcome menu).
-create the new "Battle.net.MPQ" and delete the old one (and i closed the extracting/drop software)
any idea what im doing wrong? thanks
*sorry meant to say '-delete 2 of the files'...not folders
ReplyDelete...and im using a mac. if that matters
You don't need to extract anything, just open the MPQ and replace the old DDS files with the new ones. Can you send me a screenshot of what yours looks like?
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I've never done this on a Mac, and they have a reputation of not working with nice things.
the only way i can open the MPQ, is by using my mpq extractor (not sure if its cause im using mac)
ReplyDeletewhen all i do is replace the .dds files with the new ones...nothing happens. wtf. doesnt make sense. even when i restart my mac, theres no difference in the menus
so when i try and do something more by creating a new MPQ to replace it, i just get this....
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/845/screenshot20110716at115.png/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/34/screenshot20110716at115m.png/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/269/screenshot20110716at115r.png/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/30/screenshot20110716at115.png/
so iono, it may just be a mac thing. but it just doesnt make sense to me. if im replacing the pictures, why are the old ones still there and unchanged.
haha, i have a retarded problem, so no worries if you say i cant fix this -_o
Sorry man, I don't have a Mac, so I can't really help you.
ReplyDeleteso k. ill let you know if i figure it out
ReplyDeletebtw, when i download the medic/boxxy MPQ...it works fine.
ReplyDeleteso confused-ill keep lookin
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCould I get a terran city and a protoss city background for when I select a the those races?
ReplyDeleteRight on bro, good to see it worked out for you. Lemme know if you need anything else.
ReplyDeletedo you know what is the name of the blond girl Requested by 子揚 ?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great guide!
ReplyDeleteEverything works great except for the home screen, which has a left blue bar on the side of the image (similar to how the Terran and Zerg pictures are smaller than Protoss or home), which wasn't mentioned in your guide. One other person I know also has this problem.
The strange thing is, when I put in pictures 1500x808 for the score screen and the looking for games menu they went all the way to the end. Not sure why the home screen is acting this way. Are you aware of this problem and/or any fixes for it besides the same thing as Terran/Zerg? Was this a change in the last patch or something?
That was introduced in 1.3.5 and is happening to everyone. I've no idea why they decided to change it by that margin, but that's Blizzard for you. The only remedy is to do the same thing done for Terran and Zerg.
ReplyDeleteGreat. Good to know.
ReplyDeleteThanks again!
hey teliko I found a free dds (and more image formats) thumbnail viewer.
ReplyDeletehttp://newsgroup.xnview.com/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=746
http://code.google.com/p/sagethumbs/
i forgot to backup a my mpq files.
ReplyDeletecan u pls send me a backup file for these?
these r the files i changed:
c9a309d4dd98195a94c061fb6e4a698c9668740c.dds (home)
36276c7561a180810757b037865c7c34e08ce351.dds (protoss bg)
28a0d83f17ab2011a755f61b8c838fec3cbd734e.dds (score scrn)
5d101af2801f99579d0097490808b240bbffc52d.dds (protoss profile stats)
i didnt back up my files.
ReplyDeletecould you please get me the
Standard Menu Background
01110e2102da23d81a9ade8db2578e4711555663.dds
please?
Hi Teliko and the others.
ReplyDeleteI have a question. I changed the eight main background files but I'm not happy with 3 of them :
Multiplayer Join/Create Custom Background
f8d9af948f117cc961795193c5185630751f7144.dds
Multiplayer In-Lobby Background
a4479d8a457b3a2852450356343e36eedf01fba2.dds
Score Screen
28a0d83f17ab2011a755f61b8c838fec3cbd734e.dds
I didn't save default files and your default folder we can download don't give them. Do you have it please ?
Thanks a lot for your answer
Awesome read sir! Ty so much for the info
ReplyDeleteHi thanks for teaching, but i have a problem for the Zerg quickmatch background.
ReplyDeleteafter i did everything and open SC2,all the backgrounds changed to the new ones except for zerg. also the since the previous zerg file was removed, now theres no picture in the background for zerg. is it a bug or did i do something wrong?
its ok i fixed it :D
ReplyDeletetheres every info that u need on here. perfect man perfect. thanks
ReplyDeleteWasn't satisfied with the backgrounds that are available here so I made my own and I'm really happy about how they turned out. :)
ReplyDeleteTerran quick match:
http://i.minus.com/ibioXAfVUbl7Uv.jpg
download - http://www.mediafire.com/?qfbxbfpvtmlbbnp
Welcome screen:
http://i.minus.com/i6gxyTBLLF5tj.jpg
download - http://www.mediafire.com/?7g6ow5b0tvb55ig
Wow that Marauder one is a thing of beauty.
Deletei need the custom game background default again its the only one I forgot to make a copy of... anyone send me theirs???
ReplyDeleteits this code:
f8d9af948f117cc961795193c5185630751f7144.dds
thanks a bunch!
For french tuto VOD
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCY98YLLM08&hd=1
hey Teliko
ReplyDeleteFirst thanks for the tuto but i got a little problem with it.
I downloaded the software for 32 bits, the picture i want, what i did is : rename the picture (wich i downloaded right here on the page with the link ) with the name of the terran backgroud for quick match.
then put it in with the software and all i get is a blue screen for terran, with no picture.
I tried for protoss and it s the same. why ?
notice that I deleted the standard picture before put the new one in the software, if i don't do that and let the two picture with the same name, bnet show me the blizzard one.
Thx for reading man ;)
hi ;)
ReplyDeletethanks 4 this great guide
its another game now ;)))))))
but i got a small problem after all
i wanted to change the League icons, so in whatever leage i am it will be shown as grandmaster ;)
found all the nesseary icons, but soon i change the patchmpq it starts patching when i start...... i assumed the will undo the stuff but didnt dare to try, got xp with that?
Hello, Teliko I changed my backgrounds easily because of your instructions on your website, but I did not back-up my files and there is a new patch that released recently. Can you help pls to aset everything beack to normal so I can download patch and then redo it again. The reason I am doing this is because on case of a chance of getting banned. Thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteI changed my loading screen and my Terran, Zerg, and Protoss defaults.
DeleteThe download link to "Download Medic .MPQ" is down :( Anyway you could re-upload that for us? Thanks so much!
ReplyDelete