Hello and Happy Valentine's Day !
Today I'm releasing an update for the Latex Catsuits and the Latex Socks & Gloves... except this is not really an update but new content. I'm bringing you latex boots !
Update : Since 10/12/2020 you can use the included Accessory HUD to modify the shine and tint of your boots, see this post for details.
They work well with catsuits...
... as well as stockings.
I've always liked the idea of high heels being directly part of a latex catsuit or latex stockings. Some RL and even some SL catsuits do and I find the look so much better than wearing normal heels that you can lose easily (especially while running super secret spy ops, think practical, girls !) or that require so many straps that they kind of kill the smoothness of the latex. And knee or thigh-high boots are sexy, but they tend to hide the latex underneath in the first place. So there you go, integrated high heels, or boots if you prefer, problem solved !
I didn't mention it but this update is free and the boots are copy/mod so you can do whatever you want with them, even use them with other appliers if you own the textures. I'll explain later in this post.
Before you ask, these are really boots and they are really rigged attachments that you wear on top of your feet. Even though they look like socks with heels attached, they are more like boots because of the shape of the main part. It is not exactly following the shape of the foot, especially on the toes, it is much smoother, like a boot :
Notice the flattened tip and the blend with the heel, the overall smoothness, as well as the creases behind the ankle
Those boots are meant to be used with the Maitreya high feet (they don't work with any other brand, sorry, but as the latex catsuits are Maitreya only as well for now, I think that's fine) and function very much the same way as the neck piece of the catsuits. They receive the same textures as the bottom of the mesh body (as opposed to the neck piece which receives the textures of the top of the body) and display them on each part of each shoe : main part, heel, sole etc. Each part is UV-mapped in a way that even though it is the same texture on the whole shoe, the colors and transparencies (in the case of the latex stockings) are different yet still assorted.
For example, the regular catsuits are monochrome even under the soles so the heels take the exact same color, while the stockings are darker and more opaque under the soles, which is why the heels and under sole of the shoes are darker as well, but still the same color to remain assorted. And if you don't want some parts of the boots to take the same texture (for example if you want your heels to always be opaque, or always be plastic), then you can specify which surfaces will change texture which won't. Here is an example of what I mean :
Here you can see the sole takes the part of the texture covering the sole on the feet, same for the heel, while the rest of the boot shows the upper part of the foot. This is the same texture, but different parts are displayed, and the result is that you get different shades of the same tint and material.
After you have updated your Latex Catsuits and Latex Socks & Gloves, you will notice that your HUDs feature two more buttons :
They are pretty self-explanatory : click them to show and hide the shoes, just like the neck piece. And just like the neck piece, for the Latex Catsuits, clicking on the "show shoes" button while they are already visible makes them change their mask mode (exactly like the Maitreya HUD does with the clothing layers of the body). That way if for any reason you need to change the mask mode of your catsuit, you are able to do so for the shoes as well to make them match the shine of the legs. And like the neck piece, in the particular case of opaque catsuits, the shoes mask mode is turned on automatically (and off by default in any other case).
The boots use the SL avatar's UV map, so the main part covering the feet show the feet texture just like the Maitreya socks do. This is why the patterns of the catsuits and socks cross more or less seamlessly over the ankle. It's not perfect, that part of the body is hell to UV-map due to how tiny it is, but I think the result is very close to the SL avatar now. This also means that you can apply your own clothing textures (stockings for example but not only) to the top of the shoes, as long as you own said textures, and make your own boots !
When you apply a texture from the HUD, the shoe takes it before the body (since the body asks you which layer to apply to), just like the neck piece. And once you have selected the body layer, you will notice a strange seam on the ankle, especially if the latex variant you use is not opaque :
Or in the worst cases, you might even see the sock through the boot :
Rather inconvenient, but the fix is easy. Open your Maitreya HUD, go to Layers, click on "Socks On/Off" twice (don't ask me why twice) :
And voilà, no more seam or double socks :
How to modify your boots to suit your needs
Aha, this is where the fun begins. So you want your boots to look in a certain way and not all of their parts to apply textures along with your body. For example, you want them to look like heels "glued" to the stockings (because in RL that's what they would be), with an actual leather sole, hard plastic heel and metal heel tip.
And frankly, because with certain appliers the full latex boots look a bit bizarre...
Fishnet... heels ?
So if you want to modify them yourself, read on.
Rez your boots on the ground and edit them :
Notice the "all" written in the description field ? This can be changed, and the script inside reads that field to know which parts to texture and which ones to leave alone. "All" means "texture all of them", in case you wondered.
And before I explain what to replace "all" with, let me show you what the actual surfaces (or faces, if you prefer) of the shoes are :
The face numbers are important here, because this is what you will write in the description field instead of "all". You simply write the numbers of the faces you want to see change, separated by spaces. For example, if you only want the foot and the arch to change, you write "0 4" (that's zero, space, four) :
And that's it, no need to reset.
Please note that the faces written in the description field make those faces change textures, bump and specularity, but not tint. That means if you tint a face black, it will remain black whatever the latex suit you apply.
I have included two copies of the boots in both the Latex Catsuits and Latex Socks & Gloves products. The "latex" one has "all" in its description field to make it change all its faces, this is the one that is demonstrated in nearly all the pictures in this blog post.
The other ("leather soles") is set to just "4" so only the foot changes, and the rest is pre-textured and tinted to look like actual shoes with leather soles and black heels with a metal tip and frame. This is the only difference between the two, they otherwise function exactly the same way.
This is what the "leather soles" version looks like :
It looks a bit more dominatrix than plastic heels, right ?
And no, I'm not going to put a logo on the arch. I know it would make them look swag but I don't like it when my heels turn me into a walking advertising space, so I'm not going to inflict it upon you either.
Oh one more thing, the latex parts (the ones that change, depending on what you decided for your own boots) shine with a blank specular texture, 150 shininess and 0 environment. This yields a rather high shine that matches latex well, but since you can change your shine on your own Maitreya HUD and there is no way to catch that change automatically, you'll have to change the shine on your boots manually if you need.
How to update
It can't be simpler. To update a variant of your Latex Catsuits and/or Latex Socks & Gloves, simply open the corresponding folder and rez the updater object on the ground. Wait a little and you will receive your new box, while the updater derezzes itself after 20 seconds. Make sure you are not in "Do Not Disturb" mode or you won't receive anything.
You can update as many times as you want, for example if you make an oops with your shoes and need new ones. The updater also serves as a redelivery server.
Have fun !
Marine
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