Use unique texture names

When creating textures for mtm2 or 4x4e all files must have unique names. This results from the way the game reads the pod.ini file as well as the pods themselves. Quickly, what happens is that the game reads all the pod files (not just yours) and loads the first textures it finds with the name it's looking for. If they are your art work, then the track will look good. But if they are somebody else's art work, but uses the same name as yours, then those will show up in the game instead of your own. You can imagine the mess that will make. The solution is to just use a unique name for your work.

So, how do you know what's been done and what hasn't? Well, obviously, you can't. However, there are a few common sense things you can do to ensure that nobody else will stumble accidentally onto your names. The best plan is to 1) create a naming scheme that is all your own, and 2) stick with the same scheme all the time.

We've seen examples of this throughout mtm2. For instance, TeamDeath always begins his work with an exclamation point. ! He has done this consistently since the beginning. The idea is that we all have come to recognize the exclamation point as his trade mark. So, nobody uses it. SRT World begins all his work with a number 1. And of course, there is ZooN who begins most of his work with a "z". Same idea, same results.

However, since Slice60 allows only five letters in the texture base name, that kind of cramps the monopoly on single character designations. Sure, we will still respect the conventions established by TeamDeath, World and others but what this character limit on names does is force our attention more strongly onto the names we choose.

Here's a couple examples that I myself have used. If you follow similar ideas, you should have no problem.

When I made Lord Cap's Pack, the base texture names were PG4LC. This stood for (P)hineus (G)age (4)for (L)ord (C)ap. The little five letter base just says that I made the textures for Lord Cap. Similarly, when I made the textures for the templates I used PG4TD, which stands for (P)hineus (G)age (4)for (T)eam (D)eath. The same scheme for two different people. It's very unlikely these combinations of letters will meet with conflicts.

Another thing to note is that you can take advantage of the startIndex feature. What that means is that I could create a texture set today using an abbreviation of my name "phin" and create a thousand (999) textures with it. But notice that's only four letters. So, if I had a "1" to it so that it becomes "phin1", I open up the possibility of creating ten thousand textures using the same base name: phin1 (first thousand), phin2 (second thousand), phin3 (third thousand), etc. right up to phin9 and back to phin0. That should be enough textures to last a while. But, suppose I do the impossible and make tracks and eventually soak up all ten thousand textures. Easy. I just name the next set phin(a), phin(b), phin(c), etc. for a possibility of creating thirty-six thousand textures (10,000 with a numeric character, and 26,000 with an alphabetic character tacked on the end) and I've still only used the one basic four letter base name. Need another 36,000? How about Phi1n, Phi2n, Phi3n, etc. And another? How about Ph1in, Ph2in, Ph3in, etc. That's one hundred thousand textures and I haven't even strayed from the four letters of my name. And the likelihood of conflict is almost zero.

Any kind of naming conflict will zap the fun out of using your track. In most cases, people will keep the first track that worked and delete the second one that causes the conflict. The best advice is prevention. However, if you work hard to create unique names and you still find there is a conflict, don't delete your original graphic that contains your track images. It's a bit more work, but you can re-slice the graphic using a new name and then just go through and re-texture the terrain. If you've done a good job, it will be worth it.

Tip: Never use common words like "road" "dirt" or "grass" for your textures. They've all been used a dozen times. This message about unique names comes from hard experience.

For related info, see the startIndex feature.