@Red:
exactly, it’s 100% what i had to go through when i released the psds for the F-16s to the public and others to the devs.
I want to make note of the fact that I have not produced any worthwhile textures during my time modding so far, but I am generally, perhaps at worst vaguely, aware of the processes here. Releasing a paint kit upon issue of a project does not have to be a big deal, but the intent to release such a kit needs to be present at the time of texturing. This is the process I see as rational for releasing 3rd party paint kits with a project:
1. The initial dev must keep track of all assets and make continuous back-ups from early on in development. This can result in a lot of clutter, and because most of us don’t like clutter, this can be harder to do than we think.
2. There must be a plan early-on to paint the model in such a way that specific details can be separated into layers. The painter needs to separate the panel lines, grime, typical markings (like BU numbers, warning labels, etc.), general paint, etc. This is not hard to do, but not every program does this sort of thing… some people may in fact use MS Paint - it does happen.
3. When painting is finished, those layers are of course combined into a single set of textures… whatever the engine uses to produce its visuals: the primary raster image, the bump/height/normal maps, etc. That is the obvious part, and is what you get with the official model. If a paint kit is to be released…
4. NOW the painter must determine how to distribute the kit. His source files may come from a variety of programs, and not everyone may have those programs. Perhaps the best that can be done is to release .PNGs of all the layers? Regardless, this is undoubtedly the tricky part, even if producing a paint kit was an intended component of the release cycle: the painter must now produce a usable asset for the community which is accessible and hopefully has some set of standards, and isn’t the big jumble he or she has created to produce the original thing (which would certainly also be useful for some people).
So, it doesn’t have to be too much more work if you are used to the workflow, but it is generally always more work. And again, the key is building it into the workflow. Not everyone is willing to do it, and not everyone will even consider the concept unless they are prompted to.