Guide: Changing the Default Campaign Colours for DC/SS

**Kronoch** · 27th May 07 10:30 AM

WARNING: Updating in progress!

This a basic guide about changing the colour schemes used in the campaing of Dark Crusade and Soulstorm. At the end of this tutorial you will know to change the Blood Ravens colour scheme into (say) the Imperial Fists colour scheme. Note that I can only tell you how to change it in one of the 8 basic colour schemes available for each race. If you want a different scheme, you'll have to ask far more experienced modders.

A note on the Dark Eldar and the Sisters
These two races seem to be incredibly resistant to change and cannot be changed using the method described below. A shame, because in my opinion, these two have the most boring colours available.

Before We Start
Before you can start changing files, you will need to have:
1) Corsix's Mod Tools (can be downloaded here )
2) Microsoft VB6 SP5 runtime files. You will need these to make sure Corsix's Dow SGA reader works. (can be downloaded here )

Opening The Races SGA Files
(1) Install the Visual Basic runtime files
(2) Install Corsix's Mod Tools
(3) Open the Mod Studio
(4) Select "Load Single SGA Archive"
(5) Locate the Dark Crusade root folder (usually something like c:\program files\thq\dawn of war - dark crusade), go to the "DXP2" folder, and open the DXP2Data.sga
(6) In the left column, go to Scenario => sp, races folder and select the race you want to edit. Now, in the mod tools there is this awesome little option that lets you edit everything you want (well, what I want to edit today).
(7) Simply rightclick the race file and select "view as text file".

Changing The Default Colour Scheme
Now we get to the fun part. We are going to change the Blood Raves colour scheme into that of the Imperial Fists.

We're looking for this piece of text.

ForceName = "$690010"
TeamColourForceName = "Blood Ravens"
TeamColour = "default_0"
CommanderName = "space_marine_squad_force_commander_advance_sp"

We're interested in the line: TeamColour = "default_0" .The number 0 refers to the Blodd Raves default colour scheme. Each race has 8 basic colour schemes, default_0 to default_7. To change this into the Imperial Fists colour scheme, simply change the number 0 to 3. So it will look like this.

ForceName = "$690010"
TeamColourForceName = "Blood Ravens"
TeamColour = "default_3"
CommanderName = "space_marine_squad_force_commander_advance_sp"

So
(4) Change TeamColour = "default_0" to TeamColour = "default_3"
(5) Click on the disk icon to save. Save it in the dxp2/scenarios/sp/races folder. if the folder doesnt excist, create it.

Et voila, the Blood Ravens suddenly strut around wearing Imperial Fists colours and livery in the campaign. You can do this with all the races in the campaign. Just change the number to the colour scheme you want your army to wear.

Default Colour Schemes in Dark Crusade
And now what we have all been waiting for. The colour schemes for all the different races. The numbers 0 to 7 refer to TeamColour = "default_0" to TeamColour = "default_7". If you don't know to which colour scheme I'm referring to, you can look them up in the army painter.

Note that I haven't checked all of the Soulstorm default colour schemes as they seem to be the same. I'll update when I find changes.

Chaos

Space Marines

Eldar

Imperial Guard

Necrons

Tau

Orks

The wargear items are pre-coloured as far as I can tell. for instance, choosing the Word Bearers Colour scheme for Chaos leaves the shoulder pads of the commander at the Alpha Colour scheme.

Changing the Stronghold Mission & Commanders Colours by Leto Artreides 2

Strongholds, Commanders & Fliers

I figured out how to get custom colors working on stronghold maps in SS!

Go to dxp2/data/scenarios/sp and edit or extract these files:

stronghold_chaos_marines.scar
stronghold_dark_eldar.scar
stronghold_eldar.scar
stronghold_imperial_guard.scar
stronghold_necron.scar
stronghold_ork.scar
stronghold_sisters.scar
stronghold_space_marines.scar
stronghold_tau.scar

There is a default_x line in each file corresponding to each faction. It may be a bit harder to find in some than in others, but there's one in every one.

Search for "if MetaMap_GetPlayerRaceName() ==" to find the relevant section, and "colorscheme = "default_x"" should be under their somewhere.

It worked on the one stronghold I tested it for, the ork stronghold.

It goes to reason that if there are files that control team colors on stronghold maps, then there are also files that control team colors for commanders and air units. I just have to find those now...

*Update*
I figured out how to edit the colors of the commander and air units for Tau. They are tied to particular texture files and are not controlled by a color scheme.

You only need to edit 4 rsh files to recolor the commander and air units for Tau, and presumably every other faction. They are all located in data/art/ebps/races/tau/texture_share.

The 4 files are:

tau_barracuda_01.rsh
tau_barracuda_02.rsh
tau_commander_a1_src_b.rsh
tau_commander_b2_src_b.rsh

All you need to do is use the IBBoard texture tool to compile a teamcolored rsh from the relevant wtp file to recolor the rsh files. This should change the colors of air units and your commander on all campaign maps. This still does not change the color of the commander on the main menu, however. I'm starting to think that's hardcoded or something. But it does change the commander's color on the wargear screen.

You can then change the ingame icons for your commander easily enough through the relevant files in \Data\art\ui\ingame\.

All that's left of the default colors are in cinematics which you can't really change and your commander's portrait on campaign screens. I couldn't find the artwork for campaign screens anywhere, except for backgrounds, so I'm beginning to think they're hardcoded.
Last edited by Leto Atreides 2 : 5th Apr 08 at 7:14 PM.

And thanks to Smock, we now have a method of changing campaing skins into custom colour schemes. it is discussed on this page.

There are loads of things you can edit using the races file. Go explore!

Have Fun ,
Robert

**Tempe** · 27th May 07 12:33 PM

i followed this and my commander was the colour i chose but not the normal sms?
they were still blood ravens

**Kronoch** · 28th May 07 12:37 AM

That's odd. I didn't come across any problems when I tried all the races. Are you sure you didn't change anything except the teamcolour?

Also, I can't replicate the problem. Did you start a new game or did you load an old game? I found that when loading a game (a stronghold/skirmish map), you will get the colours you had previously, but when you load a game that is saved in the world-map, the units do get the new colours in-game.

*Edited first post

Imperial Fists

Space Wolves

Robert

**Tempe** · 28th May 07 3:25 AM

it might be because i was playing dowxp.
the bulidngs , scouts and servitors were the right colour but not the marnies

**Kronoch** · 28th May 07 11:12 AM

Well, that could be it. The standard colours only work for the unmodded unit-models. If I recall correctly DowXP uses randomized marine models, who use their own teamcolour files. That would explain why the scouts, servitors and the commander do colour correctly, while the marines do not.

**Tempe** · 29th May 07 1:55 AM

is it possible to change their teamcolour files?

**Kronoch** · 31st May 07 1:44 AM

Unfortunatly not a fast or easy way (well, for the campaign that is), I'm afraid. You'll have to ask an experienced modder/skinner like Hangar_8 for instance. There are still some threads about this on the forum, you'll have to use the search function to find them.

Joel · 7th Jun 07 6:08 AM

Is it possible to do this with custom army colours?

Legate · 7th Jun 07 8:09 AM

What if you changed the coulours of a default army in the painter then assigned thatr army? Would it still be the original colour of the army?

jeddy00 · 8th Jun 07 12:31 AM

Legate, I don't think it would, they are different to the army painter's army colours (I think)

**cagecrawler** · 8th Jun 07 6:10 AM

If you mean "What would happen if I changed the Ultramarines to green?" for example, then they would now be green in game. The game doesn't know what colour Ultramarines should be, it just thinks of them as scheme_x for SM.

**Kronoch** · 8th Jun 07 7:00 AM

The colours are set. The ultramarine scheme will always look like the ultramarine scheme that came with the game.

**Melissia** · 22nd Oct 07 3:42 AM

I also want to know wether or not you can choose custom colors somehow, using this...

**Ragnarok** · 24th Oct 07 9:53 AM

it seems theres a bit of a contradiction between Cage and Lord Kronoch (or did i read wrong?)

if its like Cage said, you only need to edit the standard schemes to have your custom ones. ill check later today.

EDIT: ok, changing the default colors in-game doesnt work.

you need to make a skin using the wanted colors it seems.

PalatineKatinka · 25th Nov 07 2:16 PM

Hi! Thought I'd leave feed back on this, thanks for the advice, something I've been looking for for ages!

Also, I fiddled about a bit more with the file and by changing these parts:

ForceName = "$690010"
TeamColourForceName = "Blood Ravens"

you can change the army name that comes up in the campaign.

I was also trying to use custom schemes from the army painter by changing "default_1" to the appropriate filename for the scheme I want to use but it didn't work. Does anyone know if the army painter saved schemes might need to be put into a different folder to work in the campaign? Where does the game look to find the "default_1" scheme?

**hangar-8** · 25th Nov 07 2:55 PM

The 8 standard themes correspond to RTX files name accordingly: xxxxx_default_0.rtx = Blood Ravens, xxxxx_default_1.rtx = Ultramarines etc. To use a custom theme in the campaign, you need to recreate the full RTX texture set. It can be done, but it is tedious work. Before you start, you'd need to decide which of the default army colour schemes you will replace.

You will need IBBoards Texture Tool (which can create the requisite file types). If I am correct, this is actually all you'll need. I think there is a tutorial somewhere here detailing the exact steps. If there isn't I guess I should write one.

xxxxx corresponds to the unit/building name, of which there are quite a few.

SquireJames · 30th Nov 07 3:30 PM

Hello there.

I'm sure I registered here before but, ah well.

Anyways, what I am after is changing the default unit iconography to the ones made by Hangar8 and other modders. While having the Fire Hawks in the campaign would be nice, I know how much work I have ahead, so for now, simply using the massively improved banners and badges that are out there will be good enough.

Are the banners/icons for the campaigns painted onto the .rtx textures, or are they defined in the same places as the teamcolours for the defaults (For example, your tutorial says how to change the Blood Ravens into the Imperial Fists by making the maps load the Imperial Fist template. Is there any way to change this default template to tell the game to use new badges and banners)

I tried changing the name of the new Blood Ravens badges to the name of the default, but, as I thought thats too simple (It seems how elaborate your mod idea is is inversely proportionate to the work required. If you want to implement a whole new race, its relatively simple. If you want to change a single badge, its exceptionally complex or long winded!)

Panic · 31st Dec 07 11:07 PM

Has anyone had success changing the colours into custom ones?

iets@chaos · 5th Jan 08 9:03 AM

Hi there, i found this thread on hive world terra wich describes the procedure for using custom schemes in the campaign. Go to the Hive world Terra site then type in search: "How to change Dark Crusade campaign scheme". Just read the 1st 2 posts it contains steps for using custom schemes.
Iam also trying to figure this out, my only problem is wich files needs to be replaced then i also can go to work. I already created a set of RTX files for the Word Bearer legion to cit to my own legion (Sons of Horus, 2nd Legion --> custom made). Because the chaos schemes are to colourful to my opinion. Mayb with this info you can edit ur guide

Grtz,

iets

(p.s. the site doesnt allow me to add links :S)

Nex · 6th Jan 08 10:56 AM

Funny, I was wondering how todo this just yesterday.

Small world.

SquireJames · 13th Jan 08 5:30 PM

Orks
0. Blood Axes
1. Bad Moons
2. Goffs
3. Deathskulls
4. Evil Sunz
5. Big Choppaz
6. Gold Toofs
7. Snakebites
8. Evil Sunz

I've recently been editing the Orks in the DC Campaign, and I don't know about DoW or WA but in DC default_8 for the Orks is the Blood Axes.

**JDude** · 2nd Mar 08 1:47 AM

Thanks for the tutorial. I've found that you can do this in Corsix without much fuss.

I'm just wondering if anyone knows how to get these changes onto added units. For example, I'm using the C2C command squad, veterans, and land raider crusader, but they remain blood ravens or ultramarines rather than whichever default I switch to.

Smock · 17th Mar 08 6:49 PM

Hi there,

I too was wondering if I could change the colours of the campaign armies (specifically in DoW and WA) and found this article which shows how to use custom colours (RGB ones) like in the army painter and also custom banners/badges

http://wiki.relicrank.com/index.php?...Campaign_Skins

It's geared slightly towards using someones unit pack, but found that the steps are very similar to just creating your own army. What's more - you can just delete the extra files you make and it all goes back to normal.

Bronze Knight · 20th Mar 08 10:26 AM

Right well I tryed to do this for Soul Storm and it dident work so well it chages the coloers but not for campain. If any noe knows how please let me know I mutch prefer Order of our Mayatared Lady to Scrakred rose.

**Kyo** · 21st Mar 08 6:40 PM

yeah the new colours are horrid imo, before someone flames me i don't care if they are valid factions. Some of the schemes imo are absolutely horrible.

Panzern00b21 · 24th Mar 08 5:38 PM

Im an idiot, Ill admit it.

I just cant seem to get this working for soulstorm.
Its probably because i screwed up on of the steps.

I know all you pro's are tired of morons like me asking, but perhaps you could make a complete idiot/non modder's guide to doing this. Because to me, the instructions you give dont work and cause much sadness

nick2512 · 24th Mar 08 11:22 PM

Bloody hell. You guys have the problem of not having your marines in the right colours. I got my marines in the right colour but not my force commander. lol.

Bloody hell, even my honour guards are coloured like Space Wolves. Everything except the Force Commander, what did I do wrong?

I must figure out the colour schemes for the SoBs the only way I know how. Try all of the colours and get it right.

Ah right, the only one who don't get coloured is my space marines commander.

Can anyone help me with the Sisters of Battle? They're hard and it seems that I can't change. It seems as if the SoBs will always be Order of the Shi**y Rose.

**Kyo** · 25th Mar 08 3:17 AM

Originally Posted by nick2512

Bloody hell. You guys have the problem of not having your marines in the right colours. I got my marines in the right colour but not my force commander. lol.

Bloody hell, even my honour guards are coloured like Space Wolves. Everything except the Force Commander, what did I do wrong?

I must figure out the colour schemes for the SoBs the only way I know how. Try all of the colours and get it right.

Ah right, the only one who don't get coloured is my space marines commander.

Can anyone help me with the Sisters of Battle? They're hard and it seems that I can't change. It seems as if the SoBs will always be Order of the Shi**y Rose.

Pan your not a idiot. I could not get this quite working in SS either. From what i have sussed so far and tested through campaign this method of changing the default_x to whatever colour works to a degree.

Except ;

Force Commander stick to default colours regardless.
Air Units stick to default colours regardless.
When you attack a race home map your modify colour scheme defaults back to the default colour. ie will default back to Blood Ravens if SM. This affects all units from buildings to troops etc. However as soon as u are back on a regular map then the modify colours kick.

This is a little frustrating but some changes is better than none

nick2512 · 25th Mar 08 4:26 AM

so skirmish-like maps, you'll get your colours but when your in a stronghold assault, you'll be turned into Blood Ravens? I thought so.

More changes.

**Kyo** · 25th Mar 08 9:38 AM

Originally Posted by nick2512

so skirmish-like maps, you'll get your colours but when your in a stronghold assault, you'll be turned into Blood Ravens? I thought so.

More changes.

Yeah you got it. Like I mentioned at first i was concerned it look pretty silly having the full units for one chapter but having the Blood Raven force commander. After a little while you don't even notice the slight difference. I constantly now can't make my mnid what chapter to stick to and constantly change it

Hopefully someone can figure out how to fix this properly this is the only option without doing too much reconfiguration to the game. The banners etc all work.

nick2512 · 29th Mar 08 2:10 AM

hah, i just pretend that the all the Blood Ravens has died in the theater except their commander. Another chapter comes along and they got their commander killed and they like the Blood Raven's surviving commander tactics. Works for me

.

Leto Atreides 2 · 4th Apr 08 4:16 PM

I figured out how to get custom colors working on stronghold maps in SS!

Go to dxp2/data/scenarios/sp and edit or extract these files:

stronghold_chaos_marines.scar
stronghold_dark_eldar.scar
stronghold_eldar.scar
stronghold_imperial_guard.scar
stronghold_necron.scar
stronghold_ork.scar
stronghold_sisters.scar
stronghold_space_marines.scar
stronghold_tau.scar

There is a default_x line in each file corresponding to each faction. It may be a bit harder to find in some than in others, but there's one in every one.

Search for "if MetaMap_GetPlayerRaceName() ==" to find the relevant section, and "colorscheme = "default_x"" should be under their somewhere.

It worked on the one stronghold I tested it for, the ork stronghold.

It goes to reason that if there are files that control team colors on stronghold maps, then there are also files that control team colors for commanders and air units. I just have to find those now...

*Update*
I figured out how to edit the colors of the commander and air units for Tau. They are tied to particular texture files and are not controlled by a color scheme.

You only need to edit 4 rsh files to recolor the commander and air units for Tau, and presumably every other faction. They are all located in data/art/ebps/races/tau/texture_share.

The 4 files are:

tau_barracuda_01.rsh
tau_barracuda_02.rsh
tau_commander_a1_src_b.rsh
tau_commander_b2_src_b.rsh

All you need to do is use the IBBoard texture tool to compile a teamcolored rsh from the relevant wtp file to recolor the rsh files. This should change the colors of air units and your commander on all campaign maps. This still does not change the color of the commander on the main menu, however. I'm starting to think that's hardcoded or something. But it does change the commander's color on the wargear screen.

You can then change the ingame icons for your commander easily enough through the relevant files in \Data\art\ui\ingame\.

All that's left of the default colors are in cinematics which you can't really change and your commander's portrait on campaign screens. I couldn't find the artwork for campaign screens anywhere, except for backgrounds, so I'm beginning to think they're hardcoded.

crusader10k · 26th Apr 08 12:14 PM

nice leto, i got this to work as you said. color schemes are changed for all maps, except for with commander. (i haven't tried air units)

i'm tau though, so its not just with the force commander. i know this threat hasn't been added to in a while, but it would be nice to fix this last problem.

**Deconstructor** · 1st May 08 1:39 AM

Nothing of all of this works-
http://forums.relicnews.com/showthre...81#post2978281

this topic should be deleted then.

P.S.
everything Leto Atreides 2 said is completely false..and Tau commander is the first to change every single time, right from the opening screen.

Leto Atreides 2 · 1st May 08 9:02 AM

Nothing of all of this works-
http://forums.relicnews.com/showthr...281#post2978281

this topic should be deleted then.

P.S.
everything Leto Atreides 2 said is completely false..and Tau commander is the first to change every single time, right from the opening screen.

Everything I said is absolutely true. Crusader10k got it to work as well. It is likely that you did not properly mod your files, as it can be really difficult to locate the proper line in the files I mentioned and to install them in the proper locations. I did not give the most detailed instructions. If you would like, I could e-mail you or anyone else who is interested my modded files, even though you rashly accused me of giving false information because of your own frustration. If you wanted help you should have requested it instead of lashing out.

**roospion** · 17th May 08 8:47 PM

can someone reupload the dowsgaread.zip? all links are dead...

crusader10k · 5th Jul 08 7:10 PM

Using corsix:
Data>art>team_colours you get a list of all the races. under each race there is a list of the standard color schemes. open these as text files and you get the rgb color codes for these schemes. I haven't tested it yet, but changing these, you should be able to edit the scheme to a custom scheme.

i don't know if this is easier than the other methods and tutorials but it looks pretty easy to me. (note: you can find the rgb color codes in the army painter).

if i find time to test this, i'll edit this post.

EDIT: this does not work for campaign. interesting note though: this will change the default color scheme for the game. so if you hit restore scheme in the army painter, it will revert back to the custom code you typed in here.

oh well, i only found this accidentally anyway.

Has anyone got a easy way to change the color schemes for fliers and commanders. I found a line of code that specifies which model to use for the commander (which is different from regular skirmish). but I'm not sure of how to change this model.

i know this is a dead thread, but it would be nice to have all this info in one place.

InVinoVeritas · 21st Jul 08 5:47 AM

I'm seconding crusader10k's request. I've been able to change the army colors easy enough, but I'd like to have a little more detailed walkthrough of how to change the commander colors. We would all appreciate it!

Samwiiise · 6th Aug 08 5:12 PM

Uh, sorry for the... Embarassingly nooby question guys, but I'm pretty new to the Corsix tools... Anyway, I can edit the files just fine, single Sga, view as text, and so on, but I can't actually seem to save the damn thing without it going to a separate location and ending up useless.

I'm genuinely stumped... Could someone give me a hand here?

**ElizLestrad** · 19th Aug 08 8:25 PM

Is it the same method for using a custom texture as changing the team colors? Because the textures that im using for the Imperial Guard and Sisters of Battle show up in Skirmish, etc but not in SP.

EldarAspect · 20th Aug 08 1:39 PM

Nice work.
How would one change new added models team colour in the campain to the same as the added models races campain colours?.This has been bugging me for a long time.Is it the rsh files?.How can someone open these files i open them with notepad and i get unreadable text?.I am just taking a guess but about the only thing i have not looked into using corsix mod studio are those races art rsh files.Any help on how to open these files and see what is in them instead of the text being unreadable?.

Its ok now i know now how to change the models colour to campain team colour.

voodoochill · 4th Sep 08 7:49 AM

i cant get this to work i followed your instructions as you posted but it just drops back to desktop after palying the title movie ????
also im having trouble saving the file in the correct place etc ???

lobukia · 24th Sep 08 6:29 AM

Great topic... I registered for the forum just to find this (thought I had registered awhile ago, but whatever)

I need a little help. I've got the Ultramarines now in the sp game, BUT I have to save to dxp2/data/scenarios... not dxp2/scenarios as the directions said

I also am I complete idiot as to how to get the force commander and air units changed via messing with rsh files. If any one can give me any pointers, I'd appreciate it

Orangenemesis · 18th Oct 08 1:28 AM

What if, you want the Blood Ravens in Dark Crusade to be... Death Guard? Is it possible to make them any color scheme you want, or just the preset ones?

Voiddweller · 14th Dec 08 9:49 PM

A shame DC and SS campaigns using skin from .rtx files instead normal teamcolor schemes from .wtp for the unknown reason...
That's makes me angry

because if you adding some new model like eldar jetbike it uses texture file from .rsh and that is not good.
So... if you need custom campaign colors make a new .rtx set

**matthew** · 25th Mar 09 1:54 PM

Ive followed your instructions and i still get the BR colour scheme - im saving the new data file here:
C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War - Soulstorm\DXP2\scenarios\sp\races

ive edited as this: (space wolf colour scheme)

ForceName = "$690010"
TeamColourForceName = "Blood Ravens"
TeamColour = "default_2"
CommanderName = "space_marine_squad_force_commander_advance_sp"

Any ideas??

EDIT: Problem solved - i saved to:

C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War - Soulstorm\DXP2\data\scenarios\sp\races

Instead of

C:\Program Files\THQ\Dawn of War - Soulstorm\DXP2\scenarios\sp\races

**xXProd1gyXx** · 21st Jan 10 9:08 PM

ha lol i didnt read the whole thing and now i have to reinstall the whole game

and i loose all of my schemes and prgress... if anyone knows how to save my files plz tell me

------------------------------------------------------------

PROBLEM SOLVED!

**xXProd1gyXx** · 21st Jan 10 10:27 PM

it didnt work for me oh well ill have to

more carefully

**Purple** · 23rd Jan 10 8:56 AM

What if, you want the Blood Ravens in Dark Crusade to be... Death Guard? Is it possible to make them any color scheme you want, or just the preset ones?

~~This is what I would like to know as well.~~

Edit: fount the link, but I can't delete the post.

Also, that link wiki article needs tools that are no longer available for download from the links there.
Are the mod tools listed here the same thing?

**Kyo** · 19th Jul 10 12:47 PM

Since installing windows 7 i cannot even load corsix tool any longer. Anyone got any alternative options that I can use. Think the VB6 isnt compatible with my OS either

Guide: Changing the Default Campaign Colours for DC/SS

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