here are the basic tools i use to mod SKIN/TEXTURE :
• Photoshop
• NVIDIA Texture Tools for Adobe Photoshop
• T7-Extracting-Tools (thx to bbb)
• Texture Extracting Tool (thx to Unclefestor)
• Updated Texture Extracting Tool Script
• Umodel
[PREPARATION]
1. download the NVIDIA texture tool, the T7 extracting tools, and Texture Extracting Tool (duh) and place them somewhere at least with 50GB space.
a. install both 32bit and 64bit drivers (dont know why, but that works for me)
b. there will be 4 folders 'quickbms' 'u4pak' 'Tekken7Textures' 'umodel' after extracting the files download from the link i provided.
c. copy the updated script of 'tk7_Texture_Extractor_Updated' into 'Tekken7Textures' folder, or it will not work properly.
d. it would be easier if you put all the tools in a folder that has shorter path, but not compulsory. mine is 'E:TEMP'
[THE FIRST EXTRACTION - quickbms]
2. copy all the paks file from '..steamappscommonTEKKEN 7TekkenGameContentPaks' into 'quickbms' folder and extract the paks using 'extract-all_4gb_files.bat'
a. extracting takes time, if the extraction ask for anything, type nothing, just press enter
b. Paks will be extracted into 'out' folder, content of the 'out' folder is as below
c. place the extracted content 'quickbmsout'to somewhere convinient, my choice is put the folder besides the other tools
d. i rename the 'out' folder to something unique so i can recognize the content
[MESSING WITH THE FILE - Tekken7Textures]
3. navigate to the path of file that is viewable by umodel (if the file is viwable by umodel, most probably it can be mod using this method)
a. copy the file you want to mod into 'Tekken7Texturesinput', in this case its 'T_CH_elz_body_D.uasset'
b. execute the '1_export.bat' to extract the texture file, extracted textures will be located in 'texture folder'
c. use photoshop to open the DDS file in the 'texture' folder and edit away
d. before saving the files make sure what type of FORMAT you were messing with
(DXT1 alpha with no transparent part / DXT5 alpha with transparent part)
NOTE: the graphic it has to be flattened into 1 layer
e. choose no MIP maps before saving, and edit all other DDS files of different resolution in the 'MIPS' folder
TIPS: just resize this DDS file into their respective MIPS resolution so you dont need to redo all the works again for each file, just remember to use their special file name for each resolution
f. after you done saving, go to the 'Tekken7TextureScripts' folder, edit this line in 'inject.bms' to the same name as the file in 'input', in this case its 'T_CH_elz_body_D.uasset'
g. save the 'inject.bms' and go back to 'Tekken7Texture', execute '2_inject.bat' to reconstruct the files you edited into a usable file, the newly constructed file will be inside 'output' folder
NOTE: ignore the '*.last' file, pick the '*.uasset' file
h. continue editing other related files until you get the full set of mod
i. take your newly made 'T_CH_elz_body_D.uasset' and the rest to 'u4pak'
[PACKING THE FILE - u4pak]
1. make a folder, name it the way you like how your mod should look like.
2. inside the mod folder construct the folder structure just like the place you get the 'T_CH_elz_body_D.uasset' from, in this case its 'COLOR-TATTekkenGameContentCharacterCommonshaderTextureskinelz'
3. back to the 'u4pak' folder drag the 'COLOR-TAT' to 'DROP_MOD_FOLDER_HERE' and witness the born of your MOD
[FINAL STEP - mods folder]
a. your mod will be in 'u4pakpak' folder
b. copy that COLOR-TAT.pak into '..steamappscommonTEKKEN 7TekkenGameContentPaks~mods' folder
c. if no such '~mods' folder exist, create one now (duh) and put the COLOR-TAT.pak inside
d. open the game and look at the result of your texture mod
just sharing, i may not immediately have the time to answer your question (if any)
this tutorial might looks a bit long, but it is quite easy, ok, take care.