CUSTOM SKIN LOADER
==================

Replace Minecraft Dungeons II's skins and capes with your own PNGs. The game loads them itself, so there is nothing to build: drop a PNG in the skins or capes folder and it shows up in game.

Custom skins and capes only change what your own game shows. Other players see the originals.

Install Second Skin Layer as well to give your skins the Java Edition jacket, sleeves and pants layers, and the proper Java size hat. When both are installed, skin icons show the outer layer and the bigger hat too:

    https://www.nexusmods.com/minecraftdungeons2/mods/10


REQUIREMENTS
------------

- Blueprint Loader, which must also be installed
    https://www.nexusmods.com/minecraftdungeons2/mods/2


INSTALL
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1. Close the game, and fully close the Minecraft Launcher if you use it.

2. Open your Minecraft Dungeons II Paks folder.

    Steam:               Right click the game in your library, then Manage > Browse local files, then open Dungeons\Content\Paks
    Minecraft Launcher:  C:\XboxGames\Minecraft Dungeons II\Content\Dungeons\Content\Paks

   If you picked a different install folder in the Minecraft Launcher, it is Minecraft Dungeons II\Content\Dungeons\Content\Paks inside that folder.

3. Create a folder called ~mods inside the Paks folder if there is not one already.

4. Extract this zip into a new folder called CustomSkinLoader inside ~mods, so the files end up in:

    Paks\~mods\CustomSkinLoader

   The mod looks for the skins and capes folders there, so do not rename or move it.


MAKING A SKIN
-------------

1. Start the game once. The mod writes every skin in the game to skins\_defaults\, named after the skin, for example "Valorie.png" or "Adventure Steve.png".

2. Pick the skin you want to replace. Your skin takes its place in the skin picker.

3. Make your skin, in one of two ways:

    From a Minecraft Java skin:  Convert it first, see CONVERTING JAVA SKINS below.
    From scratch:                Copy the skin's PNG from skins\_defaults\ into skins\ and edit it.

4. Name your file exactly the same as the skin it replaces, for example "Valorie.png", and put it in skins\.

5. Press F5 in game to reload your skins in game.

Every PNG in skins\ gets used, so you can replace as many skins as you like. To go back to the original skin, delete its PNGs from skins\.

Skins can be any size. The layout is the same as the game's 64x64 skins, just scaled, so a 128x128 skin gets twice the detail.

The skin picker icon is generated from your skin automatically, in the same pose as the game's own icons. To use your own picture instead, put a <Name>_Icon.png next to <Name>.png in skins\.

The mod rewrites skins\_defaults\ and capes\_defaults\ every time the game starts, so they always match the current game. Do not edit the files in there, as your changes get overwritten.


CONVERTING JAVA SKINS
---------------------

Minecraft Java skins and capes use a different layout, so convert them first with the Custom Skin Converter for Minecraft Dungeons II:

    https://ewanhowell.com/tools/dungeons2skinconverter

1. Choose your Java skin or cape on the converter page.

2. Check the preview, and change the arms, outer layer, eyes and mouth options if needed.

3. Download the converted file.

4. Rename it to the skin or cape you want to replace, using the names in skins\_defaults\ or capes\_defaults\, and put it in skins\ or capes\.

5. Press F5 in game to reload.

The converter shows a live 3D preview and how the face looks in game, and works with HD skins too.


FACES
-----

Dungeons II skins have a blank face. The eyes and mouth are separate pieces that move when your character blinks, looks around and talks, and they take their colours from a few pixels in the unused corners at the top of the skin. The mod adds more shapes to the game's own:

    eyes_1px_row_5_mirrored   1 pixel tall, on the 5th row of the face (the game's own)
    eyes_1px_row_5            1 pixel tall, on the 5th row
    eyes_1px_row_6            1 pixel tall, on the 6th row, with the same eyebrows as eyes_2px_rows_6_7
    eyes_1px_row_7            1 pixel tall, on the 7th row, with their own eyebrows 2 pixels lower
    eyes_2px_rows_4_5         2 pixels tall, on the 4th and 5th rows, with their own eyebrows 1 pixel higher
    eyes_2px_rows_5_6         2 pixels tall, on the 5th and 6th rows
    eyes_2px_rows_6_7         2 pixels tall, on the 6th and 7th rows, with their own eyebrows 1 pixel lower
    mouth_2px_row_7           2 pixels wide, on the 7th row (the game's own)
    mouth_2px_row_8           2 pixels wide, on the 8th row
    mouth_4px_row_7           4 pixels wide, on the 7th row

templates\ has a template for each one, named as above, showing which pixels of the skin it uses. The eye on the left when you look at the face is white (eye), blue (pupil) and brown (eyebrow), the eye on the right is cream, green and purple, and the mouth is red. Each pixel alternates between a lighter and a darker shade, so you can see where every pixel is. Draw your eyes and mouth in those pixels, and leave the pixels of every other shape transparent, including the game's own ones if you use a different shape.

The game's own eyes (eyes_1px_row_5_mirrored) have a separate pupil for each eye, but the eye white and eyebrow are drawn once, as the eye on the left when you look at the face, and mirrored for the other eye. Every other eye shape has each pupil, eye white and eyebrow drawn separately, so the two eyes can be different. In each pair, the first is the one on the left when you look at the face. Eyebrows are optional, and most of the game's skins leave them empty.

The converter can make any of these from a Minecraft Java skin's face, see CONVERTING JAVA SKINS above.


FOLDER LAYOUT
-------------

pak\                 The mod itself
skins\               Put your custom skins here
skins\_defaults\     The game's own skins, written by the mod
capes\               Put your custom capes here
capes\_defaults\     The game's own capes, written by the mod
templates\           MRES textures and face templates to start your own from (see FACES above and MRES TEXTURES below)


MAKING A CAPE
-------------

Capes work the same way as skins, using the capes\ folder instead:

1. Start the game once. The mod writes every cape to capes\_defaults\, named after the cape, for example "Hero Cape.png".

2. Make your cape, in one of two ways:

    From a Minecraft Java cape:  Convert it first, see CONVERTING JAVA SKINS above.
    From scratch:                Copy the cape's PNG from capes\_defaults\ into capes\ and edit it.

3. Name your file exactly the same as the cape it replaces, for example "Hero Cape.png", and put it in capes\.

4. Press F5 in game to reload.

Cape textures are 32x16, or any larger size with the same layout.

The cape's inventory icon is generated from your cape automatically. To use your own picture instead, put a <Name>_Icon.png in capes\ next to <Name>.png. MRES textures work the same as for skins.


MRES TEXTURES
-------------

Each skin and cape also has an MRES texture that controls how its surface reacts to light. Each colour channel does a different job:

    Red      Metallic
    Green    Roughness. Higher is more matte, lower is shinier.
    Blue     Emissive (glow)
    Alpha    Subsurface scattering (soft light through skin)

To set your own, put <Name>_MRES.png next to <Name>.png in skins\ or capes\.

An MRES texture is not needed. Without one, a default MRES is used, with the game's default roughness and no metal, glow or subsurface. To make your own, copy Skin_MRES.png or Cape_MRES.png from templates\, rename it to <Name>_MRES.png and edit it.


UNINSTALL
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Delete the CustomSkinLoader folder from ~mods. This also deletes your skins and capes, so copy the skins and capes folders somewhere else first if you want to keep them.


SUPPORT
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