There are 2 separate points to this tutorial:
1) How to get much BIGGER midfield logos in-game.
2) How to make the field lines show through for a much more realistic effect.
Newbies: This tutorial requires the program TexMod to work. Download TexMod HERE and then read the tutorial HERE on how to create .tpf's using TexMod.
For an introduction to Paint.NET, check out my graphics guide for newbies.
Some screenshots first (scroll down past these to get to the tutorial).
CLICK ON ALL OF THE THUMBNAILS FOR CLOSE-UPS!
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SECTION 1: How to get BIGGER midfield logos in-game
Let's back it up a bit. Madden's midfield logos are all the same dimensions (256x256), but some cover a larger area of the field in-game. Most of Madden's default midfields show in-game BETWEEN the 45 yard lines, giving a maximum width of only 9 and a half yards. However, in real-life many of these same logos actually extend PAST the 45's, and the largest in real-life (49ers) touches both 40 yard lines.
In Madden 08, the midfield logo that covers the largest area is the Bengals logo (the old leaping tiger) which extends between the 41's. Looks like this:
The factor that determines the midfield size in-game (the TMdl) requires some (moderately) complex editing to alter it. However, this tutorial is designed to be easy-to-follow, and therefore takes an simpler approach!
Simply put, if you make a simple change in your roster file that sets the Bengals midfield for any or ALL teams, then you can overlay that large leaping tiger in TexMod with the correct logo for your team, and it will be just as big!
Here's the Vikings midfield at default (smaller) size, followed by the correct larger size (using the Bengals midfield as placeholder).
To do this for any team:
1) Open your roster in Madden DB Editor, and export the TEAM table as a .csv file.
2) Open that file in Excel (or the free OpenOffice Calc), and find the TMFL field (which is column AK).
3) The Bengals midfield value is 1, so locate the team you wish to change, and enter a value of 1 instead.
4) Save the .csv and import back into the roster.
5) Save the roster under a new name.
N.B. When creating your .tpf, you MUST use the memory address for the leaping tiger, which is always 0xFD9ECB63 for default (un-modded) Madden.
Therefore, your .tpf should have a line that looks something like this:
0xFD9ECB63|midfield (CIN).png
(I like to retain the "CIN" tag to remind me that I'm using the Bengals midfield logo as a placeholder.)
BTW, as far as I remember, the FF XIII mod (i.e. the one before the current one) had the current Bengals midfield "B" in the mod, but at the default smaller size, which means you will not be able to gain any advantage from using it as a placeholder. If that's still the case for the current mod, then just simply move the FIELDART.dat to a different folder to get the larger leaping tiger back.
EDIT: While my method will not work for midfields in .dat-form or CustomArt-form, it IS now possible to achieve this with some extra steps thanks to StingRay68's excellent work HERE. I'll post some more detailed steps when I get the chance, but it is considerably more difficult.
Anyway, this method really comes alive when used with my FieldBuilder framework, giving college midfields that stretch all the way from one wide hash to the other!
Here's my Clemson field:
(Just to be clear, I have used uniforms, crowd, and wall wrap from the Heisman mod in the above screenshot; everything on the field of play is my own work.)
One final other benefit relates to the Titans midfield. Eagle-eyed Titan fans out there may have noticed that the Titans midfield logo is wrongly oriented in Madden. With many other midfields, you can simply invert the image, and it will show correctly in-game. Not so for Tennesee though, due to the asymmetrical shape of the logo. When you invert that image, it is no longer centered on the 50 yard line. See here:
But when you use the Bengals midfield as placeholder, it is now possible to invert AND correctly center the image. Like this:
Not hugely important, but kinda neat all the same!
SECTION 2: How to make the field lines show through
1) Create your midfield logo as usual (the bigger the better). (Use my Hi-Resolution team logo's as a launch point if you wish)
2) Take care when choosing your colors, as field art colors are often a different shade from the logo and uniform colors! Real-life paint doesn't stick to grass as well as it does to turf, so as a general rule I therefore use lighter shades for a midfield logo on grass. For colors on turf, it varies hugely. The black rubber in turf sometimes makes the paint look darker than normal, and the Cowboys' turf shades of blue and silver are MUCH darker than their logo and uniform colors. On the other hand, the Bengals' turf-orange in real-life is much lighter than their logo and uniform orange!
3) Always avoid using 0,0,0 for any black on any field or it will look TOO dark. I use 20,20,20 for more realism.
4) Download my "large midfield template" from the bottom of this post. I have used a canvas size twice as big (512x512) to compensate for the logo being spread over a larger area (to retain the same level of detail).
N.B. It's important to realize that in real-life the hash lines are 2ft long, but Madden incorrectly uses 3ft lines. Therefore, any comparisons you do with real-life photos should be with the "2ft lines" layer in the template.
5) Open the template, and using the "2ft lines" layer as a visual guide, get an idea of how wide your logo needs to be.
6) Measure the desired width (in pixels) in relation to the hash lines, and take note of this width. (Look for "Bounding Rectangle Size" at the bottom of the Paint.NET window for the exact dimensions of your selection.)
Next, you need re-size your logo to that width. In Paint.NET, you MUST do this as a separate action; if you just copy and paste and then re-size "on-the-fly", it will not appear as sharp!
7) So, go back to your midfield logo and flatten.
8) In Paint.NET, click on Magic Wand, and set Tolerance to 0%.
9) Click anywhere in the empty space, and then click on "Edit" followed by "Invert Selection" (or press CTRL I).
10) Click on "Image", then "Crop to Selection". Your logo should now touch the canvas on all edges.
11) Click on "Image", then "Resize" and enter in your desired width.
12) Copy and paste onto the top of template.
13) In the Layers window, locate the Properties button (bottom right). Click on that and set the opacity (transparency) level for your logo to 216. You should now see the hash lines show through, and can fine tune regarding placement.
14) When you're happy with the correct placement, uncheck the "2ft lines" layer, and check the "3ft lines" layer instead.
N.B. This midfield template uses sections of grass and turf taken from my TrueTurf field template, so if you use a radically different shade of field, you will need to add your own layer at this point.
15) Decide whether you need a grass or turf layer. (For grass, use the “grass light50” layer as default.)
16) Delete all other layers, leaving only 3 layers: the logo, the 3ft lines, and the grass/turf.
17) Click on the 3ft lines layer, and flatten it down onto the grass/turf layer by clicking on the “Merge Layer Down” button in the Layers window.
It's important that no grass or turf sticks out beyond the edges of the final version of your logo, so
18) Click on Magic Wand, but this time set Tolerance to 70%.
19) Select the logo layer and click anywhere in the empty space. This will select all the dead space around the logo, AND go slightly over the logo edges too.
20) Leave the selection as it is, but click on the lower (lines/field) layer to highlight that instead.
21) NOW click on Cut (the scissors icon at the top).
22) Finally, flatten the semi-transparent logo down onto the field layer, and save in .png form (32-bit). You should be left with an image that looks something like this:
To be clear, the above image is one layer, with a semi-transparent logo placed on white lines on turf. The lines and turf stop slightly short of the edges of the logo, so that only the white of the logo border is at the very outermost edge.
SOME FINAL TIPS ABOUT MIDFIELD ART:
1) You should ALWAYS leave a gap of 1 pixel on all sides or else you will get a weird bleeding effect when the logo touches the edges. When using this template, the maximum size for your logo should therefore be 510x510 (centered on a 512x512 canvas). But the same applies to regular-sized .tpf midfields (254 on 256 canvas), AND to CustomArt .bmp midfields too (I don't know about .dat-form).
2) Unlike the logos in my Logo Mod, a semi-transparent midfield will not show as semi-transparent in-game unless it has been flattened onto another layer first. To put it another way, if you set your logo opacity to 216 and save it without any else underneath, it will appear as full “opacity 255” in-game. Therefore, always flatten onto a grass or turf layer first.
3) If you are making a midfield logo for a team that uses the smaller logo area CORRECTLY (i.e. fills the smaller area to the correct proportions), then another option is to forget about the Bengals placeholder, and just make THAT smaller-style midfield logo 512x512 instead. That means twice the resolution in the smaller area, which can be great for logos with lots of diagonals or detail (although the hash lines in the template will no longer match up). It doesn't have to be multiples of 256 of course; TexMod will accept dimensions of any size, so you are free to improvise and just work with whatever you have.
DOWNLOAD EVERYTHING YOU NEED HERE: pick6's better midfields v2.zip
The .zip contains the template in Paint.NET (.pdn) format, as well as Photoshop (.psd) format.
That template also contains layers of the midfields used in this tutorial, which you can flatten yourself following the instructions above.
I have also included 2 demo .tpf's, containing the MIN midfield on turf, and the TB midfield on dry and wet grass versions of my TrueTurf field. Remember they need to be loaded separately since they share the same memory address for the midfield. Also remember to load the included roster, which has the necessary TMFL changes for the CIN placeholders, as well as setting the Vikings stadium to Rhein Fire (closest match to TCF Bank) and changing its field type to turf. I have inverted the midfield logos in those .tpf's, for correct real-life orientation. No endzone or other stadium art is included.
Feel free to use any part of it yourself, or to modify and use in whatever way you wish, but please remember that permission should not be taken for granted on this forum. Always check with the author first before assuming that you have permission to do so!
Enjoy!
