Creating a Whip Skin

With the way our melee weapons are set up, we are able to do complete mesh swaps for them per weapon type! This lets our players use these skins for a variety of melees, unlike our weapon-exclusive primary and secondary skins.

Unlike a Sword or Hammer, Whips are a little more complicated to implement custom models for — hence the need for a custom guide!

Technical Guidelines:

• Triangle budget: 6,000
• Maps authored at 2048 x 1024.
  • In-game resolution: 1024 x 512.
• Requires a full set of textures as per our texturing guide here.
  • Non-Metals at roughly 50% luminance, or 128 on a 255 point scale.
  • Metals at roughly 80% luminance, or 186 on a 255 point scale.
• You cannot edit the cord’s mesh, but it can be retextured.
• If you want to add a special scrolling texture to your emissives, you need to provide us with the file!
• For custom FX, please make sure it’s set up on a separate mesh that fits within the triangle budget, with its own material set/UV unwrap.
• The handle and cord need to be offset in a specific way for the animations to work seamlessly. Take note of how these are positioned in the Scoliac example below.
  • TIP: Keep the original model visible as you work on your concept so you can easily refer to the proportions and positions!

Aesthetically:

• Like all other TennoGen pieces, Weapon Skins must be based on a Faction. We recommend looking at other weapons in that Faction for further inspiration, and to ensure you’re bringing a fresh idea to the game!
• Ensure your skin includes design elements from its chosen Faction.
• Do not use gold as the metal color (unless allowed in the Faction guidelines).
• Keep the construction of this piece in mind — how would it have been made? How do the various elements work together?
  • Simple panels and “toothpaste-y” swirls do not meet the detail level you’d see in-game.
  • Complex layers of materials are necessary to make this item fit in-universe.
  • Here’s an example of this complexity, when applied to Tenno metal details:
    https://imgur.com/BlBV8hc
• Avoid pop culture, copyrighted, or otherwise out-of-universe references, as outlined in our Common Reasons for Rejection.

Checklist:

Prior to submission, please refer to the handy checklist below to make sure your Whip skin meets all the TennoGen criteria: