2K9 AL-West Caps Set v1.21

[Umachines]

File Name: 2K9 AL-West Caps Set v1.21

File Submitter: Umachines

File Submitted: 4 May 2009

File Updated: 20 May 2009

File Category: MLB 2K9 - Uniforms and Accessories

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AL-West Caps Set by Umachines 1.21

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Hi!. This is my V1.21 AL-WEST set of baseball caps for MLB 2K9 Baseball, PC version.

Here you'll find current season caps only, main, alternate and batting practice

versions.

You'll need the 2K9 IFF Editor to add these caps to your uniforms. Also your

uniform files must be already uncompressed, in order to open them with that

program. And I also assume you know how to drag and drop files/objects from a

window to another one in MS Windows XP or later. Never forget to backup your files

before attempting to modify or replace them. I'm not responsable for, you know...

This is how it works:

Every cap has two files, a common bitmap picture and a DirectX 3D texture. Both

files, plus the 3D cap object in the game, join to form the cap. What we have

to do is using IFF 2K9 Editor to replace the bitmap and green (dds) texture.

Inside the RAR file, there is one folder per team of the divisional set. Go to

the folder of the team you want to update and see there are several files, some

of them are comon bmp's and some others are dds files. All dds files finish in

a low number and a "0", like 10, 20 or 30. All the bmp files finish in a low number

that comes after those decens (tens), like 11, 12, 21, 31, etc. I name them that

way to keep the ones related together. To be sure of that, order your files by name

in that folder. The dds file that finishes in 10 is designed to work with the bmp

files that finish in near superior numbers, like 11, 12 or 13. And so, the dds

file that finishes in 20 works with the bmp's that finish in 21, 22, etc.

For example, let's say you want to update Texas Rangers Caps. I chose this

example 'cause there are several bmp files and two dds files:

- Uncompress the RAR file content in any folder, and remeber the folder path for

next steps.

- Open "uniform_ter_home.iff" in the game folder with IFF 2k9 Editor. This is the

Rangers main home uniform.

- Go to Sequence 04. This is comonly the dds cap 3D texture

- In Windows File Explorer, go to ".../UM-2K9Caps-AL-West/Rangers" folder and find

"RangersCap10.dds". This is my version of Texas main cap texture.

- Drag that file from the folder to the IFF 2K9 Editor window and drop it on

the old texture picture itself. The green texture is already replaced. No need to

save.

- Now, go to Sequence 08, that's usually the bitmap cap picture. Then look for

"RangersCap11.bmp" in team's folder and repeat the replacing step, dragging and

dropping the file the same way. You have now replaced the cap picture too.

- Go to the game and test your new baseball cap.

Notice all my xxx10.dds and xxx11.bmp files will belong to team's main cap, home

version, at least. If there is any other bitmap that matches the same dds file, then

it will be 12, or 13, etc. If there is another cap model, with a different logo, or some

other non-color related difference, then the files will be xxx20.dds and xxx21.bmp, and

xxx30.dds and xxx31.bmp. All the teams in this set have at least two cap models.

In the case of Texas Rangers, there are other three caps that match the RangersCap10.dds

file layout. Those are the red cap, the blue cap with red "T" logo and the blue, black visor

cap. So, use RangersCap10.dds and RangersCap12.bmp, RangersCap13.bmp or RangersCap14.bmp to

replace the cap you want. RangersCap20.dds is the BP cap, and it works with RangersCap21.bmp.

It happens more or less the same way with the other teams of the division, but there are

different dds' or bmp's, according to the variety of caps that each team wears.

Feel free to use these caps the way you want. In case you want to use them in any personal

or public uniform mod, easier to install, you're also free to include them, and I'd be

proud of that. The same for any other cap set I've done for MLB 2k9. Just don't forget to

mention me in the credits . I want to extend this permission to all those in the modding

comunity interested in using my caps, no matter to what server/site you prefer to upload

your uniforms. Just have in mind that I suppouse your project is legal, since I don't

condone piracy, and I charge no money for making these caps. But remember I only upload

these source files to MVPmods site. Also feel free to let me know about any detail I forgot, or

if I'm not using proper colors, logos, etc. You can contact me at MVPmods forums.

Notice some logos are harder to work, because of the game's bitmap importing problems. You can

see that if you compare the clean BMP's to the imported versions. The same happens to the caps

color/pattern combinations. Commonly, I have to test several times until I find a pattern that

keeps more or less clean after importing it to the game. Even so, I always try to find different

colors for each team's caps, avoiding the copy-paste proceddure in this aspect as much as possible.

**********Notes for v1.2******************

I've jumped from v1.0 to v1.2 'cause there are more changes than the ones I added to my first

set review, and I'll eventually have to do the same to AL-East set too. Most of the changes have

been added to make main caps look more like 5950 New Era collection. I've also added other details

learned on the way while making my later 1.0 sets. Here you have a short list of the most important

changes.

All teams:

- BP caps now feature elastic bands at the sides, the way I started making them with AL-Central

set, to look more like 3930 New Era BP caps.

- Black undervisor for all official and alterante caps, like in New Era 5950 series.

- MLB logo is placed a bit higher and looks more like the one on real caps.

- All seam lines are now slightly lighter than the background color, instead darker.

Angels:

- Several changes in "A" logo shape and colors

- Some changes in main cap color/pattern

Athetics:

- Some changes in green caps color/pattern

Mariners:

- Some changes in "S" logo shape and size

- Some changes in main cap color/pattern

Rangers:

- Some changes in all caps color/pattern

- Added blue cap with red "T" logo.

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This 1.21 update is exactly the same v1.2. I've only changed

Angels logo for a thinner and taller version. HaloFan made me see

my lastest Anaheim cap logo had some errors. Thanks to him for

the logo I used in v1.21. It still has some importing issues.

The imported version is very dirty. But the logo shape is much

better, and colors are more loyal to real cap.

Thanks to: MVP Mods comunity for being so patient with me these years, MVP Mods crew

for hosting my files and to you for downloading my mod and giving it a try. I guess you

are also downloading it from www.mvpmods.com too ;P

Umachines - 20090504 (initial release 1.0)

V1.2: 20090515

V1.21: 20090520

Click here to download this file

[Umachines]

Updated to v1.2

[HaloFan]

I like the work you've been doing with the caps, but I think your Angel caps took a step backward in this new version.

In terms of positives, you got the colors much better on the logo this time around. There is no blue, the stitching is done in black.

The problem I see here is the shape of the A. The A on the actual cap should be taller and thinner than what you have. The problem is that it seems like in this version you made the a wider, especially at the bottom of it.

Perhaps a visual of what I'm talking about would make sense here. I have made a mock up of the cap logo, using one of my personal caps as a base.

Here's a scan I made of my actual cap:

And here's the mock up that I made:

Obviously, this doesn't have any stitching texture, this is just an idea of what the A actually looks like. The biggest thing to note here are the feet of the A. You used the correct A in the first cap, but in the second cap you used an A that really makes the A look far wider than it should. Take a look at the shape between the legs before and after on your cap.

The other major issue is the halo. On the cap, its much thicker than it is on the official logos. The silver stitching really stands out on the cap. But this is something I haven't really seen on any video game cap version, as I think they all just grab the official logo and work from that.

Anyhoo, as I said, you're doing some good work here, just wanted to put in my expertise in the hopes that it can help you with your work.

[Wicked420]

The mock up that you made? When did you make it? It's kind of odd that I have the same exact A logo on my PC from a while back...

[HaloFan]

The mock up that you made? When did you make it? It's kind of odd that I have the same exact A logo on my PC from a while back...

With the actual colors I have there, and the expanded halo? I doubt it. It's the normal logo, but I made changes to it to show the differences that the cap logo has.

Here's what I started with:

So if you have it, more power to you, but I just made the image, not that it took much work.

[Umachines]

I see your point here. If you watch my 1st Angels cap versoin in slo-mo, you'll see there is a deformation at the bottom of the logo. This can be seen in all big geometric logos. I'm trying to apply a deformation envelope to counter effect this. But I see my lastest Angels logo is too wide too. I'm following your advises for a new revision.

[Umachines]

1.21 version adds HaloFan logo to Angels caps. Not perfect yet, 'cause this logo is particularly hard to work and get a clean imported result. But I guess this version is much more accurate. Thank you, HaloFan, for the logo and feedback.

[krawhitham]

if you release with all files in DDS format you would get better quality

IFF Editor Beta9 imports DDS files directly (minus the 128 byte DDS header), when you use a BMP file with IFF Editor Beta9 it converts that file to a DDS before it inserts it.

nvdxt.exe does a much better job at creating DDS files than IFF Editor Beta9 does (IFF Editor Beta9 uses MS's DLLs)

http://developer.nvidia.com/object/nv_texture_tools.html

DDS is a Lossy compression, so no mater what program converts the file to DDS you will lose quality

command to convert your BMP files to DDS would be

nvdxt.exe -file RangersCap21.bmp -dxt1 -quality_highest -nmips 8

[Umachines]

Wow, Kraw!. You have opened a new door to me, man. I'm doing some tests with that DOS tool and with Photoshop plugin options too, and the compression quality difference is amazing. Thanks a lot. You see I'm a total newbee in all this DDS stuff. I guess I'm starting some reviews again... Right when I was thinking about taking a rest .

HaloFan: Try that trick on Angels cap if you haven't yet, please. Still a spot in some place, but a much cleaner logo.

[HaloFan]

Well, if I had known you were just going to use my mockup, I would have provided you the .psd I made of it, so you could tweak it out all you want.

So here you go. The Halo, white border, and background are all on separate layers.

Angels_Cap_Logo.zip

That being said, the screenshot you there for what you've already done is pretty damn good. Definitely the best rendition of the cap I've seen in a game.