MODDING FOR ROOKIES

[VINTAR]

Thanks I`ll check it out

[EggChen]

E-mail sent, sorry for delay

[VINTAR]

Eggchen, youre a scholar and a gentleman. Thank you very much

EDIT: just one question and please excuse my ignorance , but in this line "particle = _ecp\mutant_controller_idle" Where is the _ecp that it is calling the particle from?

EDIT AGAIN: I think I see it in particle.xr. Two more questions, 1. how do you edit a .xr file 2. Where are the HUD_OGF files stored?

[EggChen]

Yep, _ecp\blah_blah is the name of the particle effect which I added to the particle.xr file.

Editing xr files, the SDK, but it depends which file....

particle.xr is edited with the particle editor
lanims.xr is edited from within the level_editor

Not sure about the others, though I know Utility edited the shaders and material xr files.

Here is a link to a small tutorial on particle editing....

http://www.hoogin.com/stut/particlebasics.html

You may have lost me on the hud ogf files.... do you mean weapon huds? If so look in meshes/weapons...

[VINTAR]

Thanks Eggchen, where can I get the particle editor from. Oh, and if I just replace your new particle in your script for one that I want, would it work? (its a particle already in SHOC)

EDIT: AH, I see the particle editor is in the SDK.

[EggChen]

Yep you can replace it with any particle, but as always there is a catch.

Some particles are looped, others play once...

So for example, if you chose a grenade particle it would only play once, whereas something like a campfire effect is looped so it works OK. Just have to try it out in game. If the effect is not looped and you need that effect I could probably create a looped version, just let me know.

[VINTAR]

Thanks man, I`ll give it a go

[VINTAR]

Eggchen, is it possible to use your PE3 to attach particles to the actor?

[EggChen]

Not as it is, PE3 includes the bind_monster script from AMK, which I just hacked apart. In the Infested City mod, myself Jamie and Kany had a brief chat about doing the same thing with bind_stalker, and I understand it can be done quite easily.

Have a read of that thread see if that helps, unfortunately I am no scripter, I'm a hacker.

[VINTAR]

I tried to hack pieces in bind_monster and add to bind_stalker, added section to your particle.ltx file. Added line in actor.ltx for bone_particles (does it matter where it is added?)but didnt work. Back to the drawing board. I know Kany can do it easy, but he`s tired of modding at the mo.

[EggChen]

I would say that the key was in this post of Kany's....

Call the script from bind_stalker, function actor_binder:update(delta), and get the player as

if self.object:section()=="actor" then
blablabla

I've never tried it and I don't have the codes to look through it right now, but I would guess the blablabla is where you call the particle...

Maybe ask Jamie if he has done this for his mod yet, I believe that was the way he was going to use the fog, but I have heard nothing on the fog for a while.

What effect are you trying to spawn?

[VINTAR]

Not trying any specific effect, just wanted to try and attach anything to the actor to try and learn scripting a bit. Spent long hours on it last night, but keep getting a CTD. Cant remember what it was now, but my scripts look really ugly now with copy and paste, so anything could be happening

[DARK TEMPLAR]

I didn't think a new thread was necesery cause I saw this thread. Anyways @EggChen
yep the pda image, now I found the file, what do I have to do to change the image

[EggChen]

Well if you just want to use a different image, you'll need something to edit the file, I use GIMP which is free.

Important pointers for Stalker files, they use .dds format and should be saved in DXT1 compression with mipmaps. The exception is for files that use transparency, like the icon files. These you save in DXT3, and you don't need mipmaps for ingame icons, you do for textures used in the world though.

Mipmaps are smaller versions of the same texture, saved in layers within the texture file. They are used at lower texture settings, and for distant objects where you cannot see the detail anyway. This decreases video memory usage, and a "shimmer" effect you can sometimes see on distant objects that do not have mipmaps.

I posted something for another guy in the Bar thread with GIMP links, etc.... I'll try and find that and add it here later.

Edit:
GIMP
http://sourceforge.net/project/download ... mirror=ovh

DDS Plugin
http://nifelheim.dyndns.org/~cocidius/d ... -dds-win32

- Open the picture you want and the ui_iconstotal.dds file.
- Select the area you want from the original picture, 165x102 pixels...
- If it is larger, select a rough rectangle, then resize it so it is 102 pixels high.
- You may then need to crop off any pixels over 165 wide.
- Select the image now you have it 165x102, copy.
- Go into the dds image, right click paste.
- Move the texture into place, it can help to zoom into 800% for the final position.
- Click on an area outside of your pasted layer to "anchor" the new image over the top.
- Save as DXT3 compression.

[DARK TEMPLAR]

thanks alot Egg !!!!!!

[EggChen]

By the way, it is 165x108 pixels.... sorry, I forgot I used 102 pixels in my Eco-Mod files to fit more NPC's in the texture.

[DARK TEMPLAR]

GIMP GIMP
GIMP Animation Package GIMP Animation Package 2.2.0
GIMP + GTK+ (development rel.) GIMP 2.5.4 + GTK+ 2.14.1
GIMP + GTK+ (stable release) GIMP 2.6.4 + GTK+ 2.14.6
GIMP Help 2 GIMP Help 2.4.0
GTK+ GTK+ 2.10.13
Install Scripts GIMP Help install script 20080128


Finally got some free time and a I'm slightly confused as i am new to this. These are all the things I can dl from there, but which one should I dl?

[EggChen]

The links take you direct to the downloads, be sure to check the top of the page for a "to protect your computer Internet Explorer..... block download" toolbar....

If this does not work, I would go for GTK + Gimp stable, and you'll need the DDS plugin from the second link.
You need to install the GTK runtime before Gimp.

[DARK TEMPLAR]

Where and how to change the character name?