Today we want to share a little behind-the-scenes look at how the armor menu icons are created for ZGW! Each icon starts with the in-game armor model itself. I pose the model in a controlled setup and capture a clean render that matches the official TotK menu style as closely as possible. From there, I bring the image into an editing workflow where I adjust lighting, contrast, and color so it fits as naturally as possible compared to the vanilla armor icons.
After that, I carefully crop and scale the image to the exact menu dimensions, making sure details like materials, trims, and silhouettes remain readable even at small sizes. I also do manual touch-ups to fix edges, remove visual noise, and ensure the icon stays consistent with the vanilla UI style.
The final step is testing in-game. we follow a shared workflow to load the icon into the menu and check it to make sure it looks clean, balanced, and doesn’t stand out in a bad way. If something feels off, it goes back for another pass.
These icons take more time than they might seem at first glance, but that extra polish helps the mod feel like it truly belongs in Tears of the Kingdom. Thanks again for supporting the project and making this level of detail possible!
We couldn’t do it without you!