Is it possible to make a texture transparent when its alpha channel is not transparent?

[tex editing noob]

I'm trying to make a game texture transparent. Here is a screencap of the full texture from the .dds file:

 

I want to make the part highlighted in red transparent. The alpha channel functions as inverse metallic (https://github.com/NSACloud/MHR_Research/wiki/ALBD-Texture-Type). If I just erase the part I want to be transparent the texture will appear black when loaded in game.

 

Even if I could edit the alpha channel in paint.net I have no idea how I could make only part of the texture transparent without removing whatever the inverse metallic function does. Any ideas?

Edited July 24 by tex editing noob
typo

[MJW]

Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like the game has chosen to co-opt the alpha channel for some other function besides transparency, so there's nothing left to use for transparency. I can't see how you can get around that.

[tex editing noob]

I found out that there are two main tex files for the full 3d model. ALBD and ALP. While the ALBD file has 4 channels (red, green, blue and alpha), the ALP file only has the 1 greyscale channel that functions as transparency (https://github.com/NSACloud/MHR_Research/wiki/ALP-Texture-Type). Here they are side by side:

If I could find a way make the ALBD file use the greyscale channel from the ALP file I would be able to erase things to make them transparent. Or maybe there is a better way?

[MJW]

17 hours ago, tex editing noob said:

If I could find a way make the ALBD file use the greyscale channel from the ALP file I would be able to erase things to make them transparent. Or maybe there is a better way?

 

I'm not exactly sure what you mean. One file can't use another file for something. Files are just data. If the game program that uses the files takes both the (Red, Green, Blue, Inverse Metallic) file, and the grayscale file, and uses the grayscale file as alpha, you're all set: just make a grayscale file with the shades of gray set to the alpha values you want. If that's not what the program does, I don't see what you can do.

 

If the game program does take both files and uses them in the right way, you can use the alpha-handling plugins in BoltBait's plugin pack to help move around and edit the alpha channel. If you get to this point and are confused about the workflow to use, post a question about it.

 

(Forgive me if I'm misinterpreting what you're asking.)

 

UPDATE: I shouldn't say you're all set. You'll need to read and save files in the correct formats. Knowing little about the ALBD and ALP file formats, I don't know how easy or difficult that will be.