IL-2 Korea Custom Skins, MRR Testing & a New Livery Preview Tool

[Mr.ChippyPancake]

I went pretty far down the custom-livery rabbit hole this weekend, so here is a quick overview of what I found, what I have put together, and what I am currently testing.
[The attached screenshots show my initial test skins, created simply to confirm the workflow worked, so the designs are still a little rough around the edges.]
[I also included a screenshot of the Preview Tool / Editor Launcher & a custom skin on a plane in the Editor.]

How Korea Handles Custom Liveries

First, I was able to work out how Korea handles custom skins. Most aircraft use two 4096×4096 DDS files: one for the visible color/design and a second MRR file that controls how the surfaces react to light. The B-29, C-47B, and Li-2T use two texture sheets instead, so those require four files.
 

Photoshop Starter Templates

Using the files already included with the game, I created basic Photoshop starter templates for all 12 aircraft—30 PSDs covering 15 texture sheets in total.

These are reconstructed starter files, not official paint kits. They do not have the old BoS-style wireframes or separate layers for every aircraft part. The original insignias, stencils, warning labels, grime, weathering, and panel coloration are still baked into the base texture.

What they do have are separate layers for new paint and camouflage, new markings, normal-map-derived panel/rivet shadows and edge highlights, plus hidden coordinate grids and reference layers to help locate parts of the aircraft. The MRR templates include the original material map, an editable working layer, and channel references.

I have had some luck manually separating existing graphics into their own layers. Large insignias, words, numbers, and identification markings are fairly easy. Separating all the tiny warning labels and maintenance stencils is possible, but it is much more intricate and will take considerably more time.
This is something I am going to continue working on, so each aircraft ideally has the large graphics and insignias in their own respective layers.

 

 

Understanding the MRR Files

The MRR files are Korea’s replacement for the old grayscale “tone mapping” workflow. I actually like the new system because the three RGB channels have distinct jobs:

• Red controls metalness. Low values behave more like paint; high values behave more like bare metal.

• Green controls roughness. Low values produce smoother, sharper reflections, while high values produce a rougher or more matte finish.

• Blue controls the strength of the reflected environment. Its effect is subtler, but it helps fine-tune the overall finish.

The final appearance comes from all three values working together, along with the lighting. I made controlled test skins using extreme channel values to confirm what each one does, and I am now documenting useful starting values for paint, polished metal, weathered metal, anti-glare panels, and so on. I have also measured approximate stock MRR values for each aircraft to provide sensible baselines.

 

 

Exporting the Finished DDS Files

The NVIDIA Texture Tools Exporter still works. The files need to be exported as legacy BC3/DXT5 DDS files with the full mip chain.
I also have a command-line conversion tool that successfully creates compatible DDS files.

 

 

Building a New Livery Preview Tool

The biggest project was a new livery-preview launcher. I first tested the old Great Battles Viewer, but although it can see some of Korea’s aircraft information, it cannot properly load the newer Korea models and materials. Korea uses a newer renderer, so I switched to using Korea’s own Mission Editor as the preview environment.

The Mission Editor records whichever skin is selected for a mission, but it does not actually display that skin in the editing view. To work around this, the launcher creates a private temporary workspace that uses the player’s own installed Editor and game files. It temporarily presents the selected custom skin to that workspace as the aircraft’s default texture. Nothing is downloaded, no 1C files are redistributed, and the original game installation is not replaced or altered.

 

 

How the Preview Launcher Works

From the launcher, I can select an aircraft, a complete custom livery, and one of several lighting conditions. It then generates and opens a simple preview mission with that aircraft sitting on the runway.

The first time, the Editor camera may open somewhere over the ocean. Pressing Ctrl+A and then Ctrl+F finds the aircraft. Once a useful camera angle has been saved with Ctrl+Alt+C, the launcher can recall it with a button.

The best part is that skins can be changed while the Editor remains open. Select another livery, click Apply Livery, and the launcher uses the Editor’s own texture-reload function. Within a couple of seconds, the new color and MRR files appear on the aircraft. If I create a brand-new skin while the Editor is open, I can place the files in the normal skin folder, click Rescan, and—voilà—it is available immediately. A restart is only needed when changing the aircraft itself or the lighting setup.

 

 

What Has Been Confirmed So Far / What I’m Still Testing and Working On

The F-86 workflow, live color/MRR swapping, runway placement, rescan, and saved-camera features have all been visually confirmed. The launcher has also passed file and mission checks for all 12 aircraft. I am now testing the other aircraft visually, with particular attention being paid to the four-file B-29, Li-2T, and C-47B. The C-47B remains experimental for now.

I am also putting together plain-language How-To documents covering the PSDs, MRR values, DDS exporting, file naming, and troubleshooting. Everything is still a work in progress, but we now have a functional foundation for creating and testing Korea liveries much more quickly.

[Aed]

Where did U get skins? i have only some skins from unpacked Skins1.gtp file. But no templates yet. 

[Haluter]

Very interesting project!