An introduction to customizing items (Colouring and Texturing)

As long as there have been people, there has been a need to diversify oneself in order to stand out from the crowd. In Entropia Universe, this is not only possible by means of the elaborate avatar creation process (and the beautician/hairdresser and make-up professions once they get reinstated), but also through customization of items. Apart from tiering items and adding enhancers in order to subtly tweak a weapon, armour or tool for one's specific needs, there is also the ability to colour and/or texturize items.

Not all items can be customized, but most of the crafted items do offer this possibility. You can identify items that are customizable by the addition of a (C) or (T) (or a combination (C, T)) in the item description. In the auction, you can recognize already coloured and texturized items because they will have little symbols behind the item name. An opened paint can for coloured items, and an icon resembling a chess board for texturized items.



The colouring and texturing systems are extremely similar in the way they work. They require a customizable item, a tool to perform the customizations with, and ingredients to do the customization. Let us briefly discuss both.

Colouring
Colouring, unsurprisingly, is intended to add colour to an item. The tool used for colouring is a Ziplex 'Fashion Line' Colorator (L), and the ingredient is paint, coming in Paint Cans. Paint Cans can only be looted from MOBs. Applying paint requires little more than a colourer, the item itself, and paint.

There is a progression system in the different paint colours, starting off at Blue, Olive, Orange and Yellow, both requiring a colouring level of 0, and then progressing all the way up to fancy colours like Red, Darkslate Grey, Black and finally Dark Crimson at Level 73.

Level	Colour	Level	Colour	Level	Colour
2.0	Blue, Olive, Orange, Yellow	23.0	Dark Purple, Pink	45.0	Cornsilk, Dark Mauve
5.0	Steel Blue	25.0	Light Green	47.0	Silver
8.0	Green	27.0	Mauve	50.0	Dark Umber, White
12.0	Purple	30.0	Umber	55.0	Crimson
12.5	Dark Steel Blue	31.0	Deep Cadmium	57.0	Brigadier
15.0	Brown	33.0	Dark Blue	60.0	Red
17.0	Dark Green, Turqoise	35.0	Burtn Umber	64.0	Darkslate Grey
19.0	Navy	39.0	Burgundy	69.0	Black
21.0	Violet Cream	41.0	Dark Lavender	73.0	Dark Crimson

In order to increase the chance of succesfully colouring an item with a colour that you have not yet unlocked, Basic Pigment Enhancers can be used. These are typically found in return-loot when colouring.

Texture Crafting
Texturing serves to reshape the acual look of the item's surface. By texturing an item with a leather texture, for instance, the item will actually look as if it's surface was made from or covered with leather. Not only does the texture affect the look, but it also serves to add some form of depth perception or pattern. Take, for instance, bigwig veneer texture, which looks like wooden boards laid in a pattern. This translates onto the item it is applied to. All textures are crafted, and involve refining materials into texturing materials. Texturing is a profession on itself, and even comes with its very own blueprint book at the technician. Unless one already has the pre-crafted texturing materials, these materials will have to be created, involving not only obtaining raw materials and extractors, but also the correct blueprint. Once the desired texturing materials have been created, they can be applied by means of a Ziplex T100 Texturizer (L).



As with colouring, the texturing system is also based on progression level system. Good starting materials include Brukite Stone texture, or Large Striped Cotton Fabric and one can progress all the way up to Kirtz or Valurite.

Level needed	Texture
0.0 - 2.9	Brukite Stone, Large Striped Cotton Fabric (0.0), Nissit Stone (1.0), Denim Fabric (1.2), Kaldon Stone, Midastree Texture (2.0), Flannel Fabric (2.3)
3.0 - 4.9	Rutol Stone (3.0), Fine Hessian Fabric (3.5), Sopur Stone (4.0), Hessian Fabric (4.6)
5.0 - 6.9	Trutun Stone (5.0), Tight Knitted Wool Fabric (5.8), Ribbed Velvet Fabric (6.9)
7.0 - 10.0	Stinktree (8.0), Large Ribbed Wool Fabric (8.1), Large Woven Cotton Fabric (9.2)
10.0 - 12.9	Generic Leather (10.0), Evenweave Cotton Fabric (10.4), Velvet Fabric (11.5), Turp Leather (11.6)
13.0 - 14.9	Firn (14.0)
15.0 - 15.9	Cbase Plastic, Coarse Frieze Fabric, Soft Leather (15.0), Plumatergus Leather (15.3), Snablesnot Leather (15.7), Sabakuma Leather (15.9)
16.0 - 16.9	Combibo Leather (16.0), Cornundos Leather, Fugabarba Leather (16.1), Terrycloth Fabric (16.2), Exarosaur Leather (16.8)
17.0 - 18.9	Caudatergus Leather(17), Medium Frieze Fabric(17.3), Snarksnot Leather(17.5), Burlap Fabric(18.5)
19.0 - 19.9	Gradivore Leather(19), Cornundacauda Leather(19.2), Prancer Leather(19.3), Fine Frieze Fabric(19.6), Faucervix Leather(19.8)
20.0 - 20.9	Bigwig, Lysterium, Thermodue Plastic(20), Daikiba Leather(20.2), Berycled Leather, Striped Frote Fabric(20.8)
21.0 - 21.9	Allophyl Leather(21.7), Coarse Frote Fabric, Tripudion Leather(21.9)
22.0 - 23.9	Belkar(22), Foul Leather(22.7), Mermoth Leather(22.9), Felt Fabric(23.1), Tantillion Leather(23.3)
24.0 - 24.9	Blausarium(24), Fine Silk Fabric(24.2), Mourner Leather(24.6), Argonaut Leather(24.9)
25.0 - 26.9	Emerald(25), Wrinkled Felt Fabric(25.4), Fine Frote Fabric(26.5), Narcanisum(26.9), Longu Leather(26.6)
27.0 - 29.9	Canvas Fabric(27.7), Tantardion(27.8), Armax Leather, Zinc(28), Suede Fabric, Tezlapod Leather(28.8), Atrax Leather(29.1)
30.0 - 32.9	Fine Leather, Frigulite, Satin Fabric(30), Ganganite, Oxidized Lysterium(32)
33.0 - 34.9	Oculus Leather(33.1), Aetherex Leather, Ambulimax Leather(33.9), Iron(34), Itumatrox Leather(34.5)
35.0 - 39.9	Oxidized Aluminium(35), Himi(36), Cersumon Leather(36.4), Atrox Leather(37), Cumbriz, Oxidized Iron(38), Formidon Leather(38.2)
40.0 - 44.9	Copper(40), Nexnecis Leather(40.4), Rough Metal(41), Caldorite(42), Grooved Metal, Megan(44), Frescoquda Leather(44.7)
45.0 - 49.9	Cobalt(46), Brushed Aluminium(47), Lanorium(48)
50.5 - 59.9	Diamond, Hammered Metal, Gazzurdite(50), Erdorium(52), Polished Chrome, Quantium(54), Adomasite(56), Chrome Texture, Niksarium(58)
60.0 - 69.9	Ignisium(60), Letomie Leather(60.1), Grated Metal(62), Durulium(63), Phasm Leather(63.7), Morpheus(66), Chomper Leather(66.6), Langotz(69)
70.0 - 79.9	Araneatrox Leather(70.9), Alferix(72), Gold(75), Maganite(78)
80.0 - 89.9	Terrudite(81), Azzurdite(84), Dianum(87)
90.0 - 99.9	Petonium(93), Kanerium(99)
100+	Opal(100), Platinum(102), Eomon Leather(109.1), Kirtz(110), Valurite(114)

Like with colouring, Texture Enhancers can be used to improve the results, but only when the SIB (Skill Increase Bonus) for the texture is still in effect.

Colouring/Texturing process
An item will have surface areas or fields that can be customized. A pair of pants, for example, will have a main area, and a smaller area for the seam. It is possible to apply different customizations to these areas, in order to achieve specific looks with different combinations of colour. Each field will allow for a minimum of 100 and a maximum of 1.000 units of either paint or texture, where more units mean a higher density of customization. With 323 cans of paint, one can achieve a 100% chance of success.

There are items with 1 field, items with 2 fields, and items with 3 fields.



Should the colour or texture used be of a higher level than the skill level of the person performing the process, the chances of succesfully giving the item the desired colour or texture will greatly decrease. It will still be possible to obtain a hint of the colour or texture, but a higher skilled texturer or colourer will be able to do a far better job.

In order to perform the customization, one should equip the proper tool, and then use it. Then the item to be customized should be dragged to the upper section of the customization screen. In the bottom section, the available fields are shown. Drag a stack of paint or texture to these fields. Generally speaking, the left field will cover the largest area. You can see a preview of the item in the upper section, and by adding at least 1 unit of the desired colour or texture, you can preview what the item will look like with a 100% succesful customization attempt. Please do keep this in mind. The preview shows the item as if the customization attempt was performed by an artist who has a perfect succesrate for the level of the materials. Your own results might vary. In the bottom, a statusbar shows the chance of success for the material in question.

After you click the button, your item will be customized. Roughly 90% of the TT value of the materials will be returned to you in the form either TT value added to the item, and if the item is full TT already, pure PEDs, which conveniently ensures you can buy some more paint and/or textures and ensure those Ferraris will keep filling the MindArk parking lot!

Bleaching
Please note that if the item has been customized before, it will have to be bleached first in order to remove earlier materials. This will be clearly visible due to the field in question showing a lack x in it. In order to do this, the texturing or colouring tool can be equipped with a bleaching addtion. This can be added to the tool by dragging it onto the tool in the inventory. Once applied, equip the tool and use it. Then drag the item to the upper section of the tool, and hit the "Bleach" button to remove all earlier traces. The item will then dissappear into the inventory, and be ready for another go. Coluring and texturing here are interchangable, meaning that you will not need to remove coloiur if you only want to texture, and the other way around.

Skilled colouring and texturing artists: Sarah Carlton, LeeLoo Faith, Summer.

For an overview of different colours of paint and materials, LeeLoo's site color-service.info is a great resource.

Guide courtesy of EntropiaPlanets. Contributors: LeeLoo, MindStar9, David Westmoreland, VF.