Step nr. 1
Design a Crosshair
The first step is to draw your own crosshair. Just open your graphics editing tool, even paint will do the trick. Set the canvas to 64x64 and start drawing.
A good crosshair should be aligned to the center of the image. Otherwise you're crosshair won't be in the center of the screen when you're playing, and you'll have some serious aiming problems. Remember to have a 2x2 point in the middle, or and actual cross or something that marks the center of your crosshair. For the minigun it's useless, but for the shockrifle it helps a lot.
Now go and draw it. But in case you're too lazy, download the crosshair that's attached to this post.
http://www.ut99.org/download/file.php?id=63
And you can also make animated crosshairs or multi colored ones. If you're making an animated one you'll have to draw each frame of the animation. And make sure that it loops perfectly.
Step nr. 2
Convert a Crosshair
(if you have downloaded the attachment you may skip this step)
This is quite and important step. You'll have to convert your crosshair so that UT will be able to use it. All you have to do is to save it to 8-bit PCX using RLE compression. Easy, huh ?
For those that didn't understand, in your graphics editor there should be a function that reduces the color amount to 256 or decrease color depth (paint doesn't have it). After that you'll have to save it to PCX. If there is an advanced button, or preferences about saving to PCX then click on it and set the compression to RLE.
If you don't have tools to convert it to that format then I suggest downloading Infran View. (http://www.irfanview.com/) It's a free software that lets you look at pictures, adjust their brightness, add a few effect, reduce red eye and stuff like that. It's very basic but very useful.
So open the image whit InfranView. Click on the image menu, then on Decrease Color Depth. After the new window appears click 256 colors, and ok. Now save you're image.
Step nr. 3
Unrealize a Crosshair
Now this is it, the hardest part.
Open the Unreal Editor in the system folder. It's not a problem if you didn't use it before. If you follow these steps carefully then you won't have any problem. Open the texture browser. It's the 11th button on the horizontal toolbar which is just above the viewports. (12th if you are counting from the right) Now, in the texture browser click file then import. Open your converted image. (if you have made an animated one then select all the frames) A window has just appeared. Set the package to UserTex. Leave the group blank. Set the name to MyCrosshair. Uncheck Generate MipMaps. Click OK. (if you have an animated one set the frame name for each MyCrosshair# where # is the #th frame) After the window disappeared (if you have an animated one you'll have to double click one every one of them and set the anim next frame to the next frame (for the last frame the first one)(and don't forget to set the speed)) and you imported the crosshair, click file then save. Don't change the name. Just press the save button. Close the Unreal Editor.
Now open user.ini in your system folder. (you should make a backup copy, just in case) Find the line 'CrossHairs[8]=Botpack.CHair9'. Replace 'Botpack.CHair9' whit 'UserTex.MyCrosshair'. Now save it.
Now run UT, go to the hud settings and select your crosshair. You may set the color if you wish.
After then just FRAG.
Note :
• Black areas are completely transparent (use for your background). White is fully visible. Shades of gray are partly transparent (use to control levels of transparency for your xhair, if desired).
• In your User.ini, you can actually add more crosshairs (up to a limit of 20 crosshairs). Make sure your Crosshaircount setting matches.
• IMO, the best kinds of crosshairs to make are simple in nature. Things like Dots, crosses, Inverted L shapes (where the point is dead center of course), maybe some circles.
