Ten Icon Filters

Presenting a pack of 10 icon generators! Download it here.

Today's interfaces, both on the web and in games, contain many universally recognized symbols for items such as Facebook, Twitter, email, RSS, and so on.  But instead of using the standard icon for these services, many projects will instead use versions of the symbols that match the interface or theme of the service.  For example, a medieval game may include a Facebook icon made of stone.  This pack contains 10 filters for integrating these modern-day hieroglyphics into your interface.

Extract the pack and open the GTX files in Genetica.  The icons begin with a default "G" symbol, but are easy to edit.  Double-click the Canvas node to customize the design directly within Genetica.  Alternatively, drag an Imported Image node into the filter's input slot and select a black-and-white image of your desired design.  The following illustration shows this being done with the gold-on-wood icon in order to create a matching pair of Facebook and Twitter icons.

Enjoy!

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Ten Cartoon Text Effects

The following pack contains 10 cartoon text effects that can be used with the seamless texture and image editor Genetica.








Here's a sampling of some of the effects included in the pack.  Download the complete pack here.

To customize the text with your own wording, use Genetica to open one of the GTX files included in the pack, then double-click the Canvas node that will appear within the workspace.  Finally, select the desired text object, select the Text tool, and type your text into the area indicated below.

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Manipulating Nodes in Genetica

Genetica 3.6 introduces changes that will be more intuitive to new users and lead to faster workflow, but will be a change for long-time users of Genetica.  This article will get you up to speed on the changes you need to know about.

Old-timers will recognize the popup menu shown in the following illustration.  In this example the user has just dragged a Gaussian Blur node over the Colorize node, and the popup menu appears to ask users what type of operation they intended.  Did they want to completely replace the branch?  Did they want to insert the new node below the old one?  Or perhaps they wanted to replace the node while keeping its inputs intact?

While familiar, these popups confuse new users and also slow workflow.  With Genetica 3.6, dropping one node on top of another one will always do a "Replace, Keep Inputs" operation, while other operations happen depending on where the node is dropped.  Other changes include the ability to create nodes by typing, and a new way to work with groups and inputs.  See the video for further details.



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Modify Clothing with Genetica and iClone

This video tutorial examines how to use Genetica to modify the clothing textures of 3D models.  iClone is used to provide us with some models to work with.






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Make a CD Shader In Unity

This tutorial shows how to make a compact disc in Unity with highlights that realistically shift as the viewing angle changes.  The trick that is described relies on existing shaders with very minimal tweaks to shader code.

To follow along with the video, download the assets here.

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Importing Styles into Genetica

Genetica will let you apply sophisticated styles to vector drawings, as previously demonstrated.  Countless styles have been shared by users on Genetica's forum, but integrating freshly downloaded styles into Genetica can be a little tricky at first.  In this tutorial we show you how it's done.




Step 1

Begin by downloading some styles that you'd like to use in your drawings.  To help you follow along with this tutorial we've released a pack of 5 pop-art styles that you can download here.  But you can follow along just as well with any of the user-contributed styles that can be found in various threads throughout our forum, such as this, this, and this one.

Step 2

Using Windows Explorer, navigate into the folder Documents\Genetica User Files\Genetica {Version}\Style Presets\, and then create a new folder named after the new set of style presets you would like to add to Genetica.  In the example shown below, a folder called "Pop Art" was created.  The name you give to this folder will be used by Genetica to name the corresponding category within the application.

Finally copy in the new style files, which should have the STYLE extension.  If the file you have ends in ZIP or RAR, then you'll need to unpack the files first.

That's all you need to do to import the new styles into Genetica.  The remaining steps in this tutorial are for new users who need additional help finding the styles within Genetica itself.

Step 3

Within Genetica, start a new document by clicking File > New in the main menu.  Next, drag a Canvas node from the Library panel into the empty slot in the middle of the workspace.  Finally, switch to the Canvas tab either by selecting the Canvas tab or by double-clicking the newly created Canvas node.

Step 4

In the Canvas tab, use the Shape tool to add one or more shapes to the workspace.  Then select the Style tool and click the Edit button.

Step 5

From within the Edit Style dialog, select the category corresponding to the folder created in Step 2.  Then select one of the new styles to apply it to your drawing.

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Nine Cartoon Backdrops

Here's a new texture pack containing 9 cartoon backdrops. Download the pack here. Usage rights are described here.








Each backdrop is horizontally seamless, making it appropriate for use in side-scrolling games.

In addition to bitmap images, the backdrops are also supplied as Genetica files, allowing them to be fully customized. Genetica is available for download here.

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Mystery Forest Tile Set

We're kicking off the new year with the Mystery Forest texture set, which will get you started creating platform game environments with a mysterious forest vibe.







Download the pack here.  Below is a closer look at the type of environment that can be made with the pack.

The atmospheric background can be created by layering several textures, as shown below.  Begin by tiling "Far Background.png" on a plane.  Next, "Cat's Eyes.png" can be randomly bombed above the same plane.  Layering "Near Background.png" next will cause the eyes to become partially concealed and appear to be peaking through the bushes.  Finally, a particle simulation of "Flare.png" can create the impression that fireflies or mysterious points of light are drifting through the environment.

The wall tiles have been devised with a special scheme that will allow you to create a large variety of configurations with a minimum of tiles.  Begin with a grid with squares marked NW, NE, SW, and SE, as shown below.  Within any one square, only place textures with names ending with the same code.

In addition to rendered bitmap textures, the pack also includes the original GTX files that can be opened and edited within Genetica.  Download Genetica here.

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Walking Paper Girl

We're giving away a character to go with last week's Paper World Texture Set!  The new pack also includes a Unity 3D game project that demonstrates how the character can be used.

Download character pack here.  To learn what's included in the pack, play the following video.



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Paper World Texture Set

Here's a texture set that will get you started creating environments that look like they've been mocked up from arts and crafts materials.  Download the pack here.

In addition to bitmap textures that have been rendered at a size of 512 x 512, the pack includes the original GTX files that can be opened in Genetica either for modification or for rendering at a larger size.  Download Genetica here.

The included textures can be placed on planes, boxes, and cylinders to make environments like the following.

The textures can also be used for 2D side-scrollers.

A number of the textures include opacity channels so that they can be layered on top of other textures.

Full-featured 3D environments will include decal or texture layering functionality for this purpose.  However, textures can still be layered in environments where such functionality is not present, such as Second Life.  To accomplish this, create two surfaces, one of which is slightly in front of the other one.  Then place the transparent texture on the closer surface, and the opaque texture on the farther one.

The chimney texture is intended for use on a cylinder that has end-caps removed.  If the chimney is sunk halfway into the rear wall of the environment then the smoke texture can be placed on that rear wall as shown below.

To modify any of the designs, open the GTX file in Genetica, then double-click the Canvas node to reveal the Canvas tab as indicated by the following illustration.  Once there, designs can be modified using standard drawing tools.  A tutorial demonstrating those tools can be found here.

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