Progress Report

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Thorn
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Progress Report

Post by Thorn »

I've been mostly successful at creating a custom race. A few tips for those also trying:

1) I had to save the emblem.dds file in DDS DXT3 format for it to work properly.
2) In your 'lang' folder make sure you change the next subfolder to the proper name. It was defaulted to 'de' and I had to change it to 'en'.

The problem I'm still having is with the animations (in .ogv format). Even if I copy over another default race Idle.ogv file into my custom race it still shows the original animation. I would really like to use a custom picture in place of the .ogv file. Is this or can it be possible? If not, where do I alter the settings to get a custom .ogv file to play?
Also, what are .har files and can we edit them?

Here's what I have so far for my custom Federation race :D

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Thorn
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Re: Progress Report

Post by Thorn »

I've discovered that if I change the Idle.ogv file for the humans in the main Horizon directory it does change for my custom race. So my theory is that there is an inheritance problem with the .ogv files when creating a mod.

Thorn
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Re: Progress Report

Post by Thorn »

Well, I was able to create my own .ogv file. It works fine if I replace the default file. This is most certainly an inheritance problem. Can you guys fix that?

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Zaimat
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Re: Progress Report

Post by Zaimat »

Cool, nice work :) Will check the inheritance issue for the mods folder for ogv and fix it.

The .har files are all the base encoded xml versions of the quests/default race templates etc. You don't need them with mods enabled it uses the xml files found under mods folder instead of the .har files.

For race templates, if you make custom template in-game, you can then move the xml file generated into the mods folder. Which you can further edit in XML for some options are not available in race customization in game. Also you can unlock the ‘advanced race’ creation option by adding the corresponding flag mod_allowAdvancedRaces=True in ‘Horizon.ini’ found in your My Documents, Horizon Game folder, you have to save it after the game is closed otherwise the file is overwritten.
Horizon - Lead Designer | a.k.a. Raf

Thorn
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Re: Progress Report

Post by Thorn »

Zaimat wrote: For race templates, if you make custom template in-game, you can then move the xml file generated into the mods folder. Which you can further edit in XML for some options are not available in race customization in game. Also you can unlock the ‘advanced race’ creation option by adding the corresponding flag mod_allowAdvancedRaces=True in ‘Horizon.ini’ found in your My Documents, Horizon Game folder, you have to save it after the game is closed otherwise the file is overwritten.
Ahh, that explains why I kept getting the 'Default' option in my mod. I copied over the entire directory and started from there. I had created a custom race at one point before I did that. :P
Now that I have this part mostly figured out I'll move on to the ship graphics and see what can be done.

[EDIT]Well, I deleted the .har files in my mod but I'm still getting the 'Default' traits? I have to change from 'Default' to 'Federation' in the drop down menu to see the ones I changed in the .xml file.

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Zaimat
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Re: Progress Report

Post by Zaimat »

Thorn wrote:Ahh, that explains why I kept getting the 'Default' option in my mod. I copied over the entire directory and started from there. I had created a custom race at one point before I did that. :P
[EDIT]Well, I deleted the .har files in my mod but I'm still getting the 'Default' traits? I have to change from 'Default' to 'Federation' in the drop down menu to see the ones I changed in the .xml file.
The race template files need to be renamed Default.xml and Default_lang.xml under the corresponding mods folder, so they appear as the default when the mod is enabled. See the 'sample - custom race' mod for reference. This works fine on my end.
Now that I have this part mostly figured out I'll move on to the ship graphics and see what can be done.
If you are familiar with a 3d program like 3dsmax and you find the models online, you can generate the sprites quickly from that by rendering 16 frames (rotation in z-axis) in isometric view and output/save to 256x256 in 32-bit tga or png format. You can then replace the sprite tables for the ship animations, if you have photoshop there is a script that can automate this step.
Horizon - Lead Designer | a.k.a. Raf

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keller
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Re: Progress Report

Post by keller »

Nice job so far. Quick question - Is this going to be a complete mod with klingons, romulans and other ST races?
keller~

Thorn
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Re: Progress Report

Post by Thorn »

Zaimat wrote:
Thorn wrote:Ahh, that explains why I kept getting the 'Default' option in my mod. I copied over the entire directory and started from there. I had created a custom race at one point before I did that. :P
[EDIT]Well, I deleted the .har files in my mod but I'm still getting the 'Default' traits? I have to change from 'Default' to 'Federation' in the drop down menu to see the ones I changed in the .xml file.
The race template files need to be renamed Default.xml and Default_lang.xml under the corresponding mods folder, so they appear as the default when the mod is enabled. See the 'sample - custom race' mod for reference. This works fine on my end.
Now that I have this part mostly figured out I'll move on to the ship graphics and see what can be done.
If you are familiar with a 3d program like 3dsmax and you find the models online, you can generate the sprites quickly from that by rendering 16 frames (rotation in z-axis) in isometric view and output/save to 256x256 in 32-bit tga or png format. You can then replace the sprite tables for the ship animations, if you have photoshop there is a script that can automate this step.
Nice, renaming the xml file work! Thanks.

I do have Photoshop and a couple of other programs. I don't have a lot of experience with 3D models but the 2D stuff isn't a problem. I'll see if I can figure out how to generate the sprite sheet.
keller wrote:Nice job so far. Quick question - Is this going to be a complete mod with klingons, romulans and other ST races?
If I have success in creating the ship spites then most likely I will add the other races and turn this into a full mod. :)

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keller
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Re: Progress Report

Post by keller »

Don't know how many weeks this is going to take you , but I am most definitely looking forward to seeing this completed.
keller~