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First off I wanna thank StrYdeR for his tutorial on using custom textures in maps and it helped me figure out how to create loadscreen. So this is for all you people out there still having problems trying to get your loading screens working. Lets start;

What you need;
CoD Modding Tools

DDS Plugin for Photoshop, can be found here.


Step 1
Create a images folder in your Call of Duty 2 directory, NOT YOUR MAIN directory. It is very important that is it all lower case, you should end up with this if you installed in the default path. C:\Program Files\Activision\Call of Duty 2\images


Step 2
Take your picture or screenshot that you wish to make into your loading screen, resize it to 1024x1024 and resolution must be set to 72.

Once that is set, save your file as loadingscreen_(name of map here).dds. For example, my map is "mp_nzo" so I had to save my file as loadingscreen_mp_nzo.dds

Save as *DDS file, DXT5 ARGB
2D Texture NO MIPMAPS.

Place that file in your C:\Program Files\Activision\Call of Duty 2\images folder you created in step 1.

Step 3
Open up your asset_manager.exe which should be in your bin folder where the codradiant.exe is located.

1)Click on new entry

2)Under name, name it the same as you named your *dds file. without the extension. So in my case, loadingscreen_mp_nzo

3)in the scroll menu under the buttons "new entry" etc.. locate and select materials

4)Material Type MUST be set to 2D, sort set to default, surface type set to and usage set to . blendfunc must be replace, cullface must be to back, polygonoffset set to none, alphatest set to always, depth test set to lessequal and finally depthwrite set to

Color map; here you click on the browse button and select your *dds file from the images folder you created. Set the tile option to NO TILE, then and IT MUST be set to DXT5. make sure nopicmip is unchecked.

lost? heres a screenshot.. simply mimic the options you see just replace the name of the file so it fits into your map.



5) Now its time to save your work, File-> Save As. save it the same as everything else, loadscreen_mp_nzo.gdt (EDIT: it actually needs to be loadingscreen_mp_nzo.gdt) . or whatever your map name is.

6) The conversion. Now that everything is saved and ready to go, Select the PC Convert menu and click Convert Asset Only, or simply hit F10.

The Final Step
Everything has been converted. You will find your new *iwi file (image file) in your call of duty 2\main\images and the materials file you will need in the call of duty 2\main\materials . The last file you will need is a *csv file. simply make a text file and name it the same as your map. In this case, it has to be named mp_nzo.txt. Include this code.

Save it and change the name to mp_nzo.csv and place it in your main\maps\mp folder. where your *bsp and *gsc file is located.

Change the name to fit the name of your map, and you're done. All you have to do next is just include all these files with their proper folder in your *iwd file.

originally posted at iwnation.com