Customise Backround Images Tutorial

[Teliko]

Customise Starcraft 2 Backround

As Existor brought to our attention on TeamLiquid.net, it is possible to edit your SC2 .mpq files to customize your menu to look just how you want. Although changing the entire interface wouldn't exactly be simple, changing the backround can be done in a matter of minutes. I'm sure by now most of you are sick of Tychus staring you in the face every time you log in.

Why not have someone a little more welcoming?



And here's a few friendly faces I'm sure most of you will recognise that I made myself.


But anyway, enough showing off, how is it done?
First off, understand that this is infact against the blizz toc. While it's unlikely anyone will be banned for this, it's still a possibility and you should think about weather or not you're willing to put your account at risk for something so small.

1. To get started, you're going to need a few programes. The first being MPQEditor. This will obviously be used to open the .mpq files which are located in C:\Program Files\Starcraft 2\Battle.net. The one we want is Battle.net.mpq.
Once you've opened the mpq, then open the folder inside it called Battle.net and then 'Shared'. Here you'll see a hell load of .dds files, each representing pieces of the menus and backrounds etc. If you're interested in spending your time changing anything and everything about the menu, you're best off downloading MysticThumbs so that you can extract them all and see the images on the icons instead of having to open each individual one. If you're only interested in a new backround, this won't be neccessary.

2. There are eight main backround files we're most interested in:

Code Select Expand

c9a309d4dd98195a94c061fb6e4a698c9668740c.dds - Home Background
01110e2102da23d81a9ade8db2578e4711555663.dds - Standard Menu Background
c12ca1f639f313ba31e40e2d0671d789dd92b37b.dds - Random background in quickmatch
38ce15e9795375b3da85a7a2a5f2e616f9915f34.dds - Terran background in quickmatch
edb3d6511b5e5e026a4f9905ba926e2e465d323b.dds - zerg background in quickmatch
36276c7561a180810757b037865c7c34e08ce351.dds - Toss background in quickmatch screen
f8d9af948f117cc961795193c5185630751f7144.dds - Multiplayer Join/Create Custom background
a4479d8a457b3a2852450356343e36eedf01fba2.dds - Multiplayer in-Lobby background
I'll provide download links for some of the work I showed earlier. If you want to use them, it'll be a matter of simply replacing the files with the relevent name. The program auto saves work on changes made so don't worry about closing it. Also, do NOT run SC2 while MPQEditor is running. It won't be one bit too happy.

3. If you want to create your own .dds files, you're going to need Photoshop, Gimp or something similar. Hell, even paint would work. I used photoshop so i'll be writing from that point of view. Photoshop can't actually save images in a .dds format by default, but if you're running an x32 version, you can download the NVIDIA DDS Plug-In to do it. If, however, you're running an x64 version, this won't work. Instead you'll need to download Paint.net.
Save your image from photoshop in a .png format and then open it with Paint.net and save it again as a .dds. Be sure to rename it with the relevent code provided, and then drag and drop it into the Shared folder in the MPQEditor. Some of the menus have weird placement coordinates and will end up making images look choppy when you apply them. You'll see what I mean if you make one for to replace the quick match backrounds. To counter this, I applied a Layer Mask and revealed selection which I then applied a Gaussian Blur effect to.
Again, make sure you close the MPQEditor before running SC2 to test your .dds, keeping mind it'll save changes automatically.

As for downloads to the ones I posted, The first one and the boxxy one are already completely .dds ready installed. All you need to do is replace the battle.net.mpq in your SC2 folder and you're ready to go. No programs needed.

Download Medic .mpq
Download Boxxy .mpq

As for the last picture, this is in .dds format so you'll at least need the MPQEditor just to put it into the file. This download also comes with three more different edits. One for each race selection under the quick match menu. Links to the images and download below. I can't show the picture here as it seems there's a limit of four.

Yuna, Rikku and Lulu.

Download

For requests or more information, feel free to visit me here

[Myst]

lol boxxy.  Nice tutorial