I’ve had a number of people ask me about the custom jeep skins and billboards that are used in the BF2 Racing mod and if they can add their own custom artwork to those objects. The simple answer is: Yes and No.
Yes – you can modify the images on the cars and on the billboards, BUT!
Those image files are located in the Client files, not the Server files. In other words, the files are stored on your computer and not on the server, so only YOU (or anyone you share the files with) will be able to see your modified images.
The images are in the .dds format (direct draw surface) that is read by DirectX in game. You will need an image editor program that can open and save this type of file. I used Photoshop 6.0.1 with a DDS plugin when I created my custom jeep skins and billboard images, but I’m sure that there are other programs that will also work. There is a free graphics editor called GIMP that should work for you as long as you install the DDS plugin for it too.
I’ve extracted the vehicle skins and billboard images from the MOD and made them available as a separate download. You can click the following link to download them.
Vehicle Skins and Billboards Download
I have maintained the file structure of the image files so that you will know where to put them after you edit them. Do not change any of the file names and do not re-size any of the images.
You will want to store a backup copy of the mods/bf2racing/Objects_client.zip file somewhere on your computer, then create a folder on your desktop and drag & drop the Objects_client.zip file from the mod into it and extract it, then delete the zip file from the desktop folder.
When you are done modifying the images, open the folder on your desktop where you extracted the Objects_client.zip file and put the images into the correct folders, then ZIP up the contents of the folder and name it Objects_client.zip. Do NOT zip the folder itself, just all of the contents in the folder. Now drag & drop this modified zip file back into the bf2racing mod. Start the racing mod and view your modified images in game. If the game crashes back to desktop, you did not follow these directions and you will need to double-check your work.
If you would like to have your images considered for inclusion into future updates of the BF2 Racing mod, you are welcome to submit them to me at bf2jeepracing@gmail.com.
