This is a proposal in case modders want to join this project. I am not sure when it will be done yet.
But inspired by the factions that have hullmods that change ship sprite, I realized it is possible to make hullmods to paint ships in your faction colors.
So how it works:
You add a free hullmod to your hulls, the name and icon of hullmod configured on the mod config files, and it will search the mod folders for a graphics folder that has a configured name. If it finds it, if checks if there is a file there for the hull texture, if there is, it replaces the hull texture, if there isn't, it does nothing.
So example usage: assuming the mod didn't have permission to ship with any textures included:
- Download this mod
- Download diable avionics
- Download a diable avionics skin pack, for example Rosenritter skin
- Put Rosenritter skin in this mod folder (instead of a normal install), configure this mod to create a Rosenritter hullmod
- Start your Rosenritter playthough, find their ships, buidl some mechs, learn Diable Avionics blueprints, then add the Rosenritter hullmod to them.
- Now you can be Rosenritter with white-pink Diable ships, while Diable remains red
So when you fight them you can see who is who too! Can even steal their ships after combat, and paint them in Rosenritter colors.
So I assume what is needed is coding the hullmod itself, and getting modders permission to use existing skin files, and also have people make new skin files.
Also this mod can maybe work as a library for any other mod wishing to repaint existing ships without any other modification, for example we have the "anti-hegemony" faction mod that has no ships and just use existing ones. That mod could use this one to paint existing ships in new colors, by automatically including the hullmod in all their ships (assuming someone made the sprites, of course).
Also I assume with clever usage of shaderlib it might be possible to make ships that change color by code (for example have ships with a certain mask texture, and have shaders repaint the masked area in other color).
