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Files that generate an asset in Cities Skylines (01)
By crmaro
Description and explanation of the files needed to import a building asset into Cities Sklines.
   
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Created by
crmaro
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Category: Modding or Configuration, Workshop
Languages: English
Posted
Updated
14 May, 2020 @ 1:47pm
5 Dec, 2020 @ 10:20pm
685 Unique Visitors
20 Current Favorites
Guide Index
Overview
Introduction 
Files and masks 
Difuse map 
Illumination map 
Specular map 
Alpha map 
Color map 
Normal map 
Result 
Comments
Introduction
Hello everybody, I'm Cristiano.
I'll explain the files that are generated when a Cities Skylines asset (building) is made. This guide belong to a video guide, that you can watch here (activate the subtitle for English):

https://youtu.be/3RyuY6gaWNw

You wouldn't see it in that guide: - how to create a 3D - how to work with photoshop


Files and masks
Usually an asset (building), has the following files, which I will explain below:

  • .fbx file - the wired in 3d (exported from a 3d program)
  • difuse map file - a texture file (.png)
  • Ilumination map file - grayscale (.png)
  • Specular map file - grayscale (.png)
  • Alpha map file - black e white (.png)
  • Color map file - black e white (.png)
  • Normal map file - generated "automatic" (instruction below)



File names structure:

  • Difuse map = fbx name + _d
  • Ilumination map = fbx name + _i
  • Specular map = fbx name + _s
  • Alpha map = fbx name + _a
  • Color map = fbx name + _c
  • Normal map = fbx name + _n
Ex:
mybuilding_d.png
mybuilding_i.png
(...)



Difuse map
Diffuse map is nothing more than the texture itself
Illumination map
This lighting mask it defines the behavior of these windows at night in cities skylines there are numbers on a scale of degradation that goes signal if your window:

- will be on all the time
- off (areas that aren't windows or windows totaly off - if you want)
- radon on.

In this lighting map are chosen values from 0 to 255 in grewscale


192 are values neutral, no lighting
128 to 255 in areas that you want lighting radon
120 would be for full illumination

Specular map
It also has a specular map which is the reflectivity map, generally we use this map on the windows and balcony glass.

Black = no reflectivity
White = totaly transparent (can see inside the building)
Gray color graduation = have reflectivity but not totaly transparent like white color

Alpha map
Apha map some buildings have others not.
Bring transparency, usualy in fances structures.

Black = tranparent
White = will show the structure


Color map
Color map of color variation. What is this map used for?
In my building, has a side strip so I wanted every new construction that would emerge
change color, vary, so with that color mask, you define this area:



Normal map
This map generates a false volume in the 3D model

I generate this map outside Blender in this site: http://cpetry.github.io/NormalMap-Online/

6 Comments
< >
A Chaos Emerald? 28 Jun, 2024 @ 8:15am 
helpful thanks
史上最躺major冠军得主 28 Mar, 2021 @ 5:24pm 
nice worrk
macluk 20 May, 2020 @ 3:03am 
And (sorry to add so much but i started to love normal maps) you could do the same with window frames for your building, even multiple ones. Only I haven't practise it yet, my guess would be to have window frames stacked together and scale adjusted if needs be so they are exactly same on your UV map (and simply a proper full window shape I think), if it uses a texture that is not detailed at all the UV island for those window frames could be absolutely tiny and then in normal map you would have to fill in that space with black or white, depending what you want and how you want to do it there. The effect should be amazing :)
macluk 20 May, 2020 @ 2:58am 
What's best with the normal map: you don't have to have additional detail on your diffuse, if you have a square with just a single colour, just use your UV map when creating a normal map, plop some dark or white shape in there and you will get a nice relief on that part your asset - visible only on game because your diffuse map doesn't have it.
macluk 20 May, 2020 @ 2:54am 
(2/2)

If you are using GIMP 2.10 like me, download normal map addon first, when using it do:
- invert X as a must - so your shadow dosn't go to the west while your sun is in the west too
- invert Y when needed - usually to get black/dark parts of a picture/texture to be deeper and white to be protruding (if not ticked, the opposite is true)
- change filter to make your creases ever more visible or leave it on 4 sample
- if left on 4 sample i usually use scale well over 5.000 (i hardly ever go below 1.00 - but that again may depend on filter type)


And voila... you didn't need to create bricks in blender/sketchup - saved on tris and file size, and you still have them in your game ! :)

see this guide:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1139018071
macluk 20 May, 2020 @ 2:54am 
From my experience (and it's just a short one) you'd better prepare your own normal map - it makes your wood, bricks and other structures (if they are simply a picture or a painting) alive... and they can be really really alive - almost as if you have put seperate bricks or wood planks there.
to do so you need to use your defuse map picture, the best is if you have layers there not collapsed (so it's not really a picture but the file with all your materials seperately laid out there) and do normal maps for each one of them seperately depending on your need (or simply use diffuse map png file to create one normal map with same value for all your textures).