Tutorial: Tattoo's, Flags, and You!

[Din Narcotic 23]

Tutorial: Tattoo's, Flags, and You!

Hey everyone,

After seeing the great work by u/Mijeman from this thread and seeing the comment from u/BurlyusMaximus, I felt like I needed to deep dive into the mechanics of being able to upload artwork. (Not everyone is as talented as Mijeman, I mean just look at this.) I've done a lot of customized content for APB (All Points Bulletin), POTBS (Pirates of the Burning Sea), just to name a few... and I'm looking forward to bringing more creations to Atlas as we move through early access and release!

Now please forgive the roughness of this guide and it's images. I really just wanted to put this together so the community had a better idea on how to bring in images to customize their characters, companies, and ships. Please let me know if anything is unclear or if there are questions.

Requirements outside of Atlas:

ARKpnt Editor (Version 1.23 updated June 8, 2018) can be found here and on this thread,

Photoshop/GIMP/Image editing software

Character template which I made can be found here: Template 1 and Template 2

Character Template:

So this is a rough mockup I made today. It was a little difficult as anytime I started adding a ton of color the game would disconnect me, I would come back and lost all my progress as well as my dyes. As you can tell it's not really complete, so hopefully we can get this fully fleshed out later.

Alright, let's get to it!

Step 1: Create a paintbrush.

You'll need the following materials:

1 Hide

20 Thatch

1 Wood

Step 2: Create some dye. 

I recommend just doing one color initially to set up your templates, then once you get the hang of things you can go nuts with color.

Dye generally requires berries and a fully filled waterskin (100 units). Be sure to have a rain barrel, open the inventory slots of the barrel, place the skin into it, and it will fill (as long as the actual barrel has water available). Each 100% waterskin will yield 5 dyes of your chosen color.

Step 3: Create your base file

If you're going to make a tattoo, you'll need to equip the paintbrush and right click. This will open the bodypaint/tattoo window. Be sure you click 'Tattoo' at the bottom to change over. Go ahead and drag the dye over onto the paintbrush to apply the paint. Once the bar is filled you can then select the brush and start painting on your character. (Remember you don't have to waste a ton of paint or be fancy, we're just doing this so we can save over it.) Once that is complete, choose the 'Save Paint' button at the top. The game will then prompt you to enter in a name, go ahead and do that now and jot it down.

If you're going to make a flag, you'll need to equip the paintbrush and left click your claim flag. It's a similar process so just follow along.

Step 4: Find your file and prepare it in ARKpnt

Remember the name you jotted down? No? Guess you'll have to go back and see what you called it... do you have it now? Awesome! You'll find these files in a folder similar to this path: Steam\SteamApps\common\ATLAS\ShooterGame\Saved\MyPaintings

Go ahead and fire up ARKpnt Editor and click on 'Load ARKpnt file'

Load your basic .pnt file to establish the dimensions. This will be helpful when you go to re-upload the file.

Step 5: Open the character template in your image editing software

I apologize that it's so rough, but you can use this as your base for placement locations on your character. Be sure to take the image you want to use and overlay it where you want it to appear. Once you have your placement set, be sure to hide any other layers besides the tattoo you wish to use.

Step 6: Convert the .png file to a .pnt file

Go back into ARKpnt Editor and click on 'Load Image'. You'll now be using this program to open your .png file that you edited with your tattoo. Be sure to click 'Yes' when it asks you if you want it to reduce the colors (in the few tests I've ran, items just show better when this option is selected.)

You should now see a large grey box and your tattoo! Let's go ahead and now click on 'Save as ARKpnt file'. You'll be using the program to SAVE OVER your base file that we quickly made in-game. Be sure you say that you're okay with saving over the file.

Step 7: Get back ingame and apply your new tattoo!

Go back into Atlas, use the paintbrush on yourself, and now click on the left icon to open the paint file. It should still retain the old name you gave it, but it should now allow you to apply the new design! Be careful, if you added tons of color and fancy stuff- it's going to eat up a LOT of dye. This is why I suggested starting out with something basic/easy.

The game will automatically apply the new design, use up your dye, and you'll be sailing the seas in style from now on!

I hope this makes sense. I'm available on here and reddit under Din_Narcotic if you have questions or if I can be of any assistance. I hope this helps people out!

[IbizaCupraRevo 0]

and for the flag and sail how we can make it?

thx for your awsome work

[Din Narcotic 23]

It's the same concept expect you'll need to create a 256x256 image for flags.

I have yet to test the sails, but I assume very much the same haha.

Let me know if you need more explanation, we can always chat on Discord.

[Teach 79]

Awesome write-up, dude! Thank you for the template!

-z00t from Joker

Edited December 29, 2018 by Teach

[LtSharpShooter 15]

Can this many get some thanks emojis or what!?

[LtSharpShooter 15]

man*

[BornSvg 4]

why is this so hard and why doesn't "ark" just let everyone select a picture that has a transparent background and add the picture item to a choosable loc.

 

[Death Strike Gaming 26]

anyone know each of the file extensions for the paint item names like name_SailGeneric_C.pnt so not all of us have to waist paint trying to get them?

Edited December 29, 2018 by Death Strike Gaming

[darcek 44]

Sent OP message .. want to paint sails but no go

[mizunami 40]

sails aren't the base 256x256, just like with the ark converter we need templates for sails

 

[mmb 5]

Has anyone managed to use the painting covering a significant part of the character during character creation process?
I only succed once few days ago and it was for no reason because the same painting fails every time (server drops connection).

[IbizaCupraRevo 0]

i cant do it can someone do it for me and send me the file i can show the image

thx

[Freund535 0]

i, have try it. but the Flag has only a Image in the middle.

Can someone help me?

 

[Freund535 0]

1 hour ago, Freund535 said:

Thank you

 

[mmb 5]

Just a warning about character tattoos. If you want to have a tattoo that looks good and persist the death of your character, you MUST do it during the character creation process.

Comparison below.

[Din Narcotic 23]

32 minutes ago, mmb said:

Just a warning about character tattoos. If you want to have a tattoo that looks good and persist the death of your character, you MUST do it during the character creation process.

Comparison below.

This actually is not true. You just need to be sure you adjust OUT of war paint and into the tattoo portion. 

I've had my tattoos now though multiple deaths. I appreciate all the PMs and feedback. I will be testing on sails later today and get back to you on that and getting templates for that as well. 

[mmb 5]

21 minutes ago, Din Narcotic said:

This actually is not true. You just need to be sure you adjust OUT of war paint and into the tattoo portion. 

I've had my tattoos now though multiple deaths. I appreciate all the PMs and feedback. I will be testing on sails later today and get back to you on that and getting templates for that as well. 

Omg i am retarded… you are right. I missed "tattoo" button -.-

[Netsurai 7]

21 hours ago, BornSvg said:

why is this so hard and why doesn't "ark" just let everyone select a picture that has a transparent background and add the picture item to a choosable loc.

 

because they have never play : APB (All Points Bulletin)  - best USER editor for  - cloth color / tattoo and decal, i have ever see in a mmo like game.

 

but i hope, they come up "later" with a "UV-Map", for male/female and a tattoo template file in  Steam\SteamApps\common\ATLAS\ShooterGame\Saved\MyPaintings

Edited December 30, 2018 by Netsurai

[Din Narcotic 23]

2 hours ago, Netsurai said:

because they have never play : APB (All Points Bulletin)  - best USER editor for  - cloth color / tattoo and decal, i have ever see in a mmo like game.

but i hope, they come up "later" with a "UV-Map", for male/female and a tattoo template file in  Steam\SteamApps\common\ATLAS\ShooterGame\Saved\MyPaintings

7

Ugh I know! I miss doing stuff in APB!

 

Edited December 30, 2018 by Din Narcotic

[Forely 1]

Painting my character fully completely crashes me, so I cannot grab a template. if anyone else has one please send the male and female character templates.

[Din Narcotic 23]

20 minutes ago, Forely said:

Painting my character fully completely crashes me, so I cannot grab a template. if anyone else has one please send the male and female character templates.

You don't need to completely color your character. Just draw a single line to get your initial file going. 

[Zestay 8]

On 12/28/2018 at 11:55 PM, Din Narcotic said:

It's the same concept expect you'll need to create a 256x256 image for flags.

I have yet to test the sails, but I assume very much the same haha.

Let me know if you need more explanation, we can always chat on Discord.

Id love to get the sails figured out !!! ive tried but no dice for some reason

 

[ULYSSE 29 0]

Hello, i wondering how to craft a paintbrush. There is a skill to unlock ? Thank you. 

 

[Bärtlef 1]

So nobody knows how to paint the sails?

[Luxfere 90]

Use a paint brush on the sails