MAKING A CAPITAL SHIP 1. Copy an existing Capital ship that resembles the features you want your new capital ship to have the most 2. Rename the ship with something that makes sense; ie CapitalShip_<Racename><ShipType>.entity 3. It’s a good idea to load the new capital ship into a game first to make sure it is working before you change any of the abilities or other details. Go into your Player<race>.entity file and add your new capital ship to its capital ship list. Make sure you change the count at the beginning of the list to reflect your new add. Make sure you save all of your new files after you make the changes. You may have to shut the game down and restart it and reload your mod. 4. Open the newly named capital ship file and note the following changes that need to be made. a. Change abilities to the abilities that you would like your capital ship to have. We will customize these abilities and rename them later. b. MAINVIEWICON_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME> we will change this later. c. NameStringID "IDS_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME>_NAME" we will change this later d. DescriptionStringID "IDS_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME>_DESCRIPTION" we will change this later e. picture "CAPITALSHIPPICTURE_<SHIPNAME>" we will change this later f. hudIcon "HUDICON_CAPITALSHIP_TECHSUPPORT" we will change this later g. smallHudIcon "HUDICONSMALL_CAPITALSHIP_TECHSUPPORT" we will change this later h. infoCardIcon "INFOCARDICON_CAPITALSHIP_TECHSUPPORT" we will change this later i. At the bottom of the file there are a group of sounds files listed. We will go over how to change these later too. 5. The next thing we need to do is create the files and changes that support the changes that you need to make to your new ship file. If we make the changes to the ship file first the game will not be able to find them in the files that need to be reference and the game will crash. 6. The first change that we will make is to the 5 files that control the image that you see when you select the capital ship factory and are selecting the new capital ship that you want to make a. Open the following four files (located in the \Textures\ folder)in photoshop or equivalent you may need to install a plugin to do this. Edit each of them adding your new ship icon to one of the blank slots. Save the files as TGA’s do normal first. i. Unit_Hud_CurserOver.TGA (make slightly brighter) ii. Unit_Hud_Disabled.TGA (make black and white) iii. Unit_Hud_Normal.TGA (just put it in the blank spot) iv. Unit_Hud_Pressed.TGA (just put it in the same blank spot) b. In the Window directory open the file called HUDIcon-Ships.brushes i. We are going to be creating two new brushes. ii. The first will be the ones that controls the five TGA file that contain the graphics for the capital ship factory icon. Change the brush count at the top of the file to reflect adding 2 to whatever it currently is iii. Go to the bottom of the file and add the following lines without the numbers 1. brush 2. name "HUDICON_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME>" 3. content "States" 4. Disabled 5. fileName "Unit_Hud_Disabled" 6. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ] 7. Pressed 8. fileName "Unit_Hud_Pressed" 9. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ] 10. CursorOver 11. fileName "Unit_Hud_CursorOver" 12. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ] 13. Focused 14. fileName "Unit_Hud_Normal" 15. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ] 16. Normal 17. fileName "Unit_Hud_Normal" 18. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ] iv. The numbers inside the brackets reflect the location of the drawing of your graphic within five TGA files v. You will have to adjust these and save and adjust and save and adjust until you get them lined up to the correct location of your icon. Make sure you are doing this while you have the developer’s exe of the game opened. You should be able to see the changes realtime. After you get them all lined up you your icon is finished vi. Now the other brush we need to create. This one will control the tiny icon that is seen on the info card as you mouse over all the tiny dots that indicate ships while in the game. Type the following lines at the bottom of the HUDIcon-Ship.brushes file (no numbers at the beginings 1. brush 2. name "HUDICONSMALL_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME>" 3. content "Simple" 4. fileName "Unit_Main" 5. pixelBox [ 243 , 121 , 28 , 28 ] vii. The same thing goes for the numbers in the brackets as in the last brush 7. We are now going to edit the file that pertains to the name and description of the new ship as it is seen in the game. a. Open the file \String\English.str b. Add the following lines and change the NumStrings Count at the top of the file to reflect 2 new strings (do not add numerals) i. StringInfo ii. ID "IDS_CAPITALSHIP_GLENSUPPORT_NAME" iii. Value "<SHIP NAME AS IT IS TO APPEAR INGAME>" iv. StringInfo v. ID "IDS_CAPITALSHIP_GLENSUPPORT_DESCRIPTION" vi. Value "<DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW SHIP>” c. The first space you put in the name will determine the class of the ship. In other words if your ship name is “My Ship” then when you mouseover it, it will read My Class Ship. Therefor if you want your ship to appear with that space try naming it “My_Ship Battleship”. Then it will read My_Ship Class Battleship. 8. Adding the detailed picture to the middle of the bottom display console a. You will open the file UNIT_PICTURE.dds i. Copy your picture and size it into one of the open slots ii. Look for the Alpha Channel in your channel tab (by layers on photoshop) iii. Create the appropriate alpha image for your picture (use other images as examples) iv. Flatten the image and save the file as a .dds (use DXT5) b. You will have to open the brush file from the /window/ folder called PICTURE-SHIP.brushes i. After opening this change the count to reflect one more brush ii. Create a new brush by using one of the others as a template iii. Experiment with the bracket numbers until you get the correct and you picture shows in the display window iv. I got a debugger everytime I saved the brush file but there was no issues after I just skipped each time 9. Editing the files for the animated icon while zoomed out a. Open the UNIT_MAIN.tga i. Add your picture to one of the blank spots. Make sure it is not any larger than the other capital ships or it will be cut off ii. Select the alpha channels like you did in the display picture and add the alpha backdrop iii. Flatten and save b. Open the MainviewIcon-Ship.brushes from the /windows/ folder i. Change the brush count at the top to add 1 ii. Add a new brush using your ship’s name and the same conventions as the rest of the brushes iii. Experiment with the bracketed numbers to find your ship iv. You may have to restart the game and mod for effects to be noticed the first time. Afterward though you should be able to move the bracket numbers around without restarting as long as you are in developer exe. 10. Editing the icon that is seen when you mouseover the small dots on the info card a. Open the UNIT_INFOCARD.TGA i. Add your picture to one of the blank spots. Make sure it is not any larger than the other capital ships or it will be cut off ii. Select the alpha channels like you did in the display picture and add the alpha backdrop iii. Flatten and save b. Open the INFOCARDICON-SHIP.BRUSHES from the /windows/ folder i. Change the brush count at the top to add 1 ii. Add a new brush using your ship’s name and the same conventions as the rest of the brushes iii. Experiment with the bracketed numbers to find your ship iv. You may have to restart the game and mod for effects to be noticed the first time. Afterward though you should be able to move the bracket numbers around without restarting as long as you are in developer exe. 11. Editing the icon that is seen on the left with all of your planet information a. This uses the same picture as the one that we already modified for the Unit-main.tga, therefore you will not need to edit any tga’s for this step as long as you already did for the animated icon b. Open the HUDICON-SHIP.BRUSHES from the /windows/ folder i. You should have already created the brush for this on step 6,b,iv. All you need to do is find it (do search with the edit,find feature for the name of your capital ship and look for the brush that looks like this 1. brush 2. name "HUDICONSMALL_CAPITALSHIP_<YOURSHIP>" 3. content "Simple" 4. fileName "Unit_Main" 5. pixelBox [ 275 , 121 , 28 , 28 ] ii. Edit the bracket numbers to find your ship (they should be the exact same as the one you made for the mainview animated icon 12. Editing Sound Files a. To edit sound files you must first obtain them from whatever source you like. Use other software like magix or other converter to convert them to a file that is about 215 db loud and in the .ogg format. b. Copy the file to the /sound/ folder c. Now open your capital ship file and go to the bottom. You will notice that there are a number of lines that read similar to this i. NumSoundsFor:ONATTACKORDERISSUED 4 (these are various events) ii. SoundID "<SOUND>_0" iii. SoundID "<SOUND>_1" iv. SoundID "<SOUND>_2" v. SoundID "<SOUND>_3" d. Change these lines to reflect the names of the sound files you wish to add e. Now open the file named SoundDialogue.sounddata f. Create a new effect to reflect your new sound file. Use the others for an example. Make sure to adjust the count at the top of the file g. Your new sound should work now. Make sure the count at the top of c,i matches the number of sounds you have for that type of event
MAKING A CAPITAL SHIP
1. Copy an existing Capital ship that resembles the features you want your new capital ship to have the
most
2. Rename the ship with something that makes sense; ie CapitalShip_<Racename><ShipType>.entity
3. It’s a good idea to load the new capital ship into a game first to make sure it is working before you
change any of the abilities or other details. Go into your Player<race>.entity file and add your new
capital ship to its capital ship list. Make sure you change the count at the beginning of the list to reflect
your new add. Make sure you save all of your new files after you make the changes. You may have to
shut the game down and restart it and reload your mod.
4. Open the newly named capital ship file and note the following changes that need to be made.
a. Change abilities to the abilities that you would like your capital ship to have. We will customize
these abilities and rename them later.
b. MAINVIEWICON_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME> we will change this later.
c. NameStringID "IDS_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME>_NAME" we will change this later
d. DescriptionStringID "IDS_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME>_DESCRIPTION" we will change this
later
e. picture "CAPITALSHIPPICTURE_<SHIPNAME>" we will change this later
f. hudIcon "HUDICON_CAPITALSHIP_TECHSUPPORT" we will change this later
g. smallHudIcon "HUDICONSMALL_CAPITALSHIP_TECHSUPPORT" we will change this later
h. infoCardIcon "INFOCARDICON_CAPITALSHIP_TECHSUPPORT" we will change this later
i. At the bottom of the file there are a group of sounds files listed. We will go over how to change
these later too.
5. The next thing we need to do is create the files and changes that support the changes that you need to
make to your new ship file. If we make the changes to the ship file first the game will not be able to
find them in the files that need to be reference and the game will crash.
6. The first change that we will make is to the 5 files that control the image that you see when you select
the capital ship factory and are selecting the new capital ship that you want to make
a. Open the following four files (located in the \Textures\ folder)in photoshop or equivalent you may
need to install a plugin to do this. Edit each of them adding your new ship icon to one of the blank
slots. Save the files as TGA’s do normal first.
i. Unit_Hud_CurserOver.TGA (make slightly brighter)
ii. Unit_Hud_Disabled.TGA (make black and white)
iii. Unit_Hud_Normal.TGA (just put it in the blank spot)
iv. Unit_Hud_Pressed.TGA (just put it in the same blank spot)
b. In the Window directory open the file called HUDIcon-Ships.brushes
i. We are going to be creating two new brushes.
ii. The first will be the ones that controls the five TGA file that contain the graphics for the
capital ship factory icon. Change the brush count at the top of the file to reflect adding 2
to whatever it currently is
iii. Go to the bottom of the file and add the following lines without the numbers
1. brush
2. name "HUDICON_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME>"
3. content "States"
4. Disabled
5. fileName "Unit_Hud_Disabled"
6. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ]
7. Pressed
8. fileName "Unit_Hud_Pressed"
9. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ]
10. CursorOver
11. fileName "Unit_Hud_CursorOver"
12. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ]
13. Focused
14. fileName "Unit_Hud_Normal"
15. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ]
16. Normal
17. fileName "Unit_Hud_Normal"
18. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ]
iv. The numbers inside the brackets reflect the location of the drawing of your graphic within
five TGA files
v. You will have to adjust these and save and adjust and save and adjust until you get them
lined up to the correct location of your icon. Make sure you are doing this while you
have the developer’s exe of the game opened. You should be able to see the changes
realtime. After you get them all lined up you your icon is finished
vi. Now the other brush we need to create. This one will control the tiny icon that is seen on
the info card as you mouse over all the tiny dots that indicate ships while in the game.
Type the following lines at the bottom of the HUDIcon-Ship.brushes file (no numbers at
the beginings
2. name "HUDICONSMALL_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME>"
3. content "Simple"
4. fileName "Unit_Main"
5. pixelBox [ 243 , 121 , 28 , 28 ]
vii. The same thing goes for the numbers in the brackets as in the last brush
7. We are now going to edit the file that pertains to the name and description of the new ship as it is seen
in the game.
a. Open the file \String\English.str
b. Add the following lines and change the NumStrings Count at the top of the file to reflect 2 new
strings (do not add numerals)
i. StringInfo
ii. ID "IDS_CAPITALSHIP_GLENSUPPORT_NAME"
iii. Value "<SHIP NAME AS IT IS TO APPEAR INGAME>"
iv. StringInfo
v. ID "IDS_CAPITALSHIP_GLENSUPPORT_DESCRIPTION"
vi. Value "<DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW SHIP>”
c. The first space you put in the name will determine the class of the ship. In other words if your
ship name is “My Ship” then when you mouseover it, it will read My Class Ship. Therefor if you
want your ship to appear with that space try naming it “My_Ship Battleship”. Then it will read
My_Ship Class Battleship.
8. Adding the detailed picture to the middle of the bottom display console
a. You will open the file UNIT_PICTURE.dds
i. Copy your picture and size it into one of the open slots
ii. Look for the Alpha Channel in your channel tab (by layers on photoshop)
iii. Create the appropriate alpha image for your picture (use other images as examples)
iv. Flatten the image and save the file as a .dds (use DXT5)
b. You will have to open the brush file from the /window/ folder called PICTURE-SHIP.brushes
i. After opening this change the count to reflect one more brush
ii. Create a new brush by using one of the others as a template
iii. Experiment with the bracket numbers until you get the correct and you picture shows in
the display window
iv. I got a debugger everytime I saved the brush file but there was no issues after I just
skipped each time
9. Editing the files for the animated icon while zoomed out
a. Open the UNIT_MAIN.tga
i. Add your picture to one of the blank spots. Make sure it is not any larger than the other
capital ships or it will be cut off
ii. Select the alpha channels like you did in the display picture and add the alpha backdrop
iii. Flatten and save
b. Open the MainviewIcon-Ship.brushes from the /windows/ folder
i. Change the brush count at the top to add 1
ii. Add a new brush using your ship’s name and the same conventions as the rest of the
brushes
iii. Experiment with the bracketed numbers to find your ship
iv. You may have to restart the game and mod for effects to be noticed the first time.
Afterward though you should be able to move the bracket numbers around without
restarting as long as you are in developer exe.
10. Editing the icon that is seen when you mouseover the small dots on the info card
a. Open the UNIT_INFOCARD.TGA
b. Open the INFOCARDICON-SHIP.BRUSHES from the /windows/ folder
11. Editing the icon that is seen on the left with all of your planet information
a. This uses the same picture as the one that we already modified for the Unit-main.tga, therefore you
will not need to edit any tga’s for this step as long as you already did for the animated icon
b. Open the HUDICON-SHIP.BRUSHES from the /windows/ folder
i. You should have already created the brush for this on step 6,b,iv. All you need to do is
find it (do search with the edit,find feature for the name of your capital ship and look for
the brush that looks like this
2. name "HUDICONSMALL_CAPITALSHIP_<YOURSHIP>"
5. pixelBox [ 275 , 121 , 28 , 28 ]
ii. Edit the bracket numbers to find your ship (they should be the exact same as the one you
made for the mainview animated icon
12. Editing Sound Files
a. To edit sound files you must first obtain them from whatever source you like. Use other software
like magix or other converter to convert them to a file that is about 215 db loud and in the .ogg
format.
b. Copy the file to the /sound/ folder
c. Now open your capital ship file and go to the bottom. You will notice that there are a number of
lines that read similar to this
i. NumSoundsFor:ONATTACKORDERISSUED 4 (these are various events)
ii. SoundID "<SOUND>_0"
iii. SoundID "<SOUND>_1"
iv. SoundID "<SOUND>_2"
v. SoundID "<SOUND>_3"
d. Change these lines to reflect the names of the sound files you wish to add
e. Now open the file named SoundDialogue.sounddata
f. Create a new effect to reflect your new sound file. Use the others for an example. Make sure to
adjust the count at the top of the file
g. Your new sound should work now. Make sure the count at the top of c,i matches the number of
sounds you have for that type of event
Not that this is a bad guide but there is a few things I would like to point out.
Nice guide!
As Ice pointed out, it indeed can be generalized to any shiptype, and seems more of "how to give a new ship all of the appropriate icons" than "ship creation from scratch".
But regardless, it's information that would be quite useful to add to the new Sins Modding Wiki! I'd encourage you to contribute your knowledge here: https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/369183
Yah I agree about the posting clarity and I intend on reformatting it at some point to make things more clear. To be honest I have never even posted to one of these types of forums. So while I am getting quite good at modding Sins, I am a bit of a noob at forum posting, lol.
I am currently working on modding a fully customized research tree. It that there are a number of things that tie into abilities and ability access through the research tree. I will be getting into the abilities of the capital ships and other modules in that guide. To be honest these guides that I am wirting are as much for myself as they are for everyone else. I find that if I don't write this stuff down as I learn it i tend to forget what I just figured out. Still I am getting the hang of this and how the game uses different files as reference points. I will fine tune this at some point and get everything together as a comprehensive guide.
I’m in the process putting together all the application needed, but I really don’t which ones I need. Also; which ones I have to buy or free ones that will get me buy for now. Can open .dds -.entity - .brushes - .window and .mesh files, and a few others. Is it method, file conversion and/or applications??? Or my XP Home Edition not up to speed?
I’m in the process putting together all the application needed, but I really don’t which ones I need.
Also; which ones I have to buy or free ones that will get me buy for now.
Can open .dds -.entity - .brushes - .window and .mesh files, and a few others.
Is it method, file conversion and/or applications??? Or my XP Home Edition not up to speed?
Those are completely different file formats.
Photoshop can open DDS with the plugin, the middle three can be opened with Notepad++, and meshes can only be imported into Max.
not to say "your wrong Carbon", but you are a little bit-
GIMP- an open source photo software, has both DDS import and DDS normal map plugins.
Notepad++ can open and be used for hardpoint editing of TXT meshes. In fact, for editing TXTed .mesh files, Notepad++ is the recommended way to go as- Notepad and Wordpad will load the multi-MB files to slowly and will also exhibit the changes very slowly. NP++ does not.
I really wish there were some way to import & export Sins meshes to & from Blender. That's the only thing missing to make Sins a completely-free game to mod.
well- get 3D Object Converter (Google is your friend). Import the BINARY (BIN) mesh file into 3DOC. Export as .slp "Pro Engineer Render".
From there- import into Blender. From Blender, one can also turn the .slp into a .obj or .xsi for use in Softimage XSI Mod Tool. Mod Tool is freeware, while Blender is open source, and 3DOC is sharware (but will work FOREVER even if you don't register it; just most file formats are un-exportable/importable).
Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I was trying to follow these directions, but I've gotten pretty lost when I got to the .brushes section.I'm not expecting the OP to be around to answer this, but was hoping someone who knows alot about modding might be able to help.I'm trying to create a few super-capitals, based off existing capitals, and just making them physically larger, more powerful, etc.
The parts of this that confuse me is part 6 (below).
"Edit each of them adding your new ship icon to one of the blank
slots. Save the files as TGA’s do normal first." - There are hardly any "blank slots" available on this .TGA. I intend to make more additional ships than there are blank slots.
The four numbers [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ], relate to the location of the icon on the screen or within the hud I am guessing. However what does each number mean?
However I was further confused as when I fired up Sins, and the new ship icon magically appeared in the 7th(final) slot on the capital ship page, using the build icon for its original ship. I didn't expect this! So at present, my ship works, I can build it.However all of this hud stuff has confused the beejesus out of me!
6. The first change that we will make is to the 5 files that control the image that you see when you select the capital ship factory and are selecting the new capital ship that you want to make a. Open the following four files (located in the \Textures\ folder)in photoshop or equivalent you may need to install a plugin to do this. Edit each of them adding your new ship icon to one of the blank slots. Save the files as TGA’s do normal first. i. Unit_Hud_CurserOver.TGA (make slightly brighter) ii. Unit_Hud_Disabled.TGA (make black and white) iii. Unit_Hud_Normal.TGA (just put it in the blank spot) iv. Unit_Hud_Pressed.TGA (just put it in the same blank spot) b. In the Window directory open the file called HUDIcon-Ships.brushes i. We are going to be creating two new brushes. ii. The first will be the ones that controls the five TGA file that contain the graphics for the capital ship factory icon. Change the brush count at the top of the file to reflect adding 2 to whatever it currently is iii. Go to the bottom of the file and add the following lines without the numbers 1. brush 2. name "HUDICON_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME>" 3. content "States" 4. Disabled 5. fileName "Unit_Hud_Disabled" 6. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ] 7. Pressed 8. fileName "Unit_Hud_Pressed" 9. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ] 10. CursorOver 11. fileName "Unit_Hud_CursorOver" 12. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ] 13. Focused 14. fileName "Unit_Hud_Normal" 15. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ] 16. Normal 17. fileName "Unit_Hud_Normal" 18. pixelBox [ 398 , 259 , 47 , 33 ] iv. The numbers inside the brackets reflect the location of the drawing of your graphic within five TGA files v. You will have to adjust these and save and adjust and save and adjust until you get them lined up to the correct location of your icon. Make sure you are doing this while you have the developer’s exe of the game opened. You should be able to see the changes realtime. After you get them all lined up you your icon is finished vi. Now the other brush we need to create. This one will control the tiny icon that is seen on the info card as you mouse over all the tiny dots that indicate ships while in the game. Type the following lines at the bottom of the HUDIcon-Ship.brushes file (no numbers at the beginings 1. brush 2. name "HUDICONSMALL_CAPITALSHIP_<SHIPNAME>" 3. content "Simple" 4. fileName "Unit_Main" 5. pixelBox [ 243 , 121 , 28 , 28 ] vii. The same thing goes for the numbers in the brackets as in the last brush
Additionally, I am interested to know if it is possible to create a new factory to build a whole new set of ships?
or do we have to use the existing factories and make use of the available hud slots we have?
Can't be done.
Yes, you have to do this.
Thanks Lavo. Also, sorry to everyone for resurrecting old threads, however I am trying to make use of the search function as much as possible, and trying not to reask questions people have already answered.
Just use this thread. It helps keep things consolidated...
https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/407617/page/63
is it possible to create a new sub menu in the factories (like the frigate factory has frigate and cruiser sub-menus)
@ZombiesRus5: Thanks, I will do that in future.
@maxwell: Oh really? How could I do that? That sounds perfect!
I'm guessing he missed the answer to your question Viper. It's totally impossible.
Oh damn!Ok, thanks.
I am assuming this is what dictates where they appear? (not showing up nicely), but is within the Player<Race><Faction>.entity file.
Edit: hmm... I just lost half my post.
capitalShipInfo Page:0 count 7 entityDefName "CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLESHIP" entityDefName "CAPITALSHIP_PSIPLANETPSIONIC" entityDefName "CAPITALSHIP_PSICOLONY" entityDefName "CAPITALSHIP_PSICARRIER" entityDefName "CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLEPSIONIC" entityDefName "CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLESHIP2" entityDefName "CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLESHIP3" frigateInfo Page:0 count 7 entityDefName "FrigatePsiScout" entityDefName "FrigatePsiLight" entityDefName "FrigatePsiLongRange" entityDefName "FrigatePsiSiege" entityDefName "FrigatePsiAntiFighter" entityDefName "FrigatePsiColony" entityDefName "CorvettePsiRebel" Page:1 count 7 entityDefName "FrigatePsiCarrier" entityDefName "FrigatePsiUtility1" entityDefName "FrigatePsiUtility0" entityDefName "FrigatePsiHeavy" entityDefName "FrigatePsiStarBaseConstructor" entityDefName "FrigatePsiAntiModule" entityDefName "FrigatePsiEnvoy"
I noticed on here that there is Page:0 and Page:1 for Frigates. Page:1 appears to be for the Cruisers.Is this hard-coded?I am guessing adding a Page:1 for the CapitalShipInfo wouldn't work?Additionally, do you have any advice\answer for my original question based on .brushes and .tga's for hud icons?Thanks alot for everyones replies. Much appreciated.
Yes.
That is correct. In addition, they are hard coded by entity type. You can't have frigates built out of a capitalship factory or capitalships out of the titan factory etc.
The brushes files are used to tell the game which file and at which pixels to find a given HUD element. It follows in the graphics standard of constructing a box (bounding box) around the area of the texture you want to use. Those 4 numbers are [ X coordinate of the upper left corner of the box, Y coordinate "", number of pixels long on the x axis (length), number of pixels long on the y axis (height)].
So in that instance, it means the button in question starts at the point (398, 259), and the box is 47 pixels x 33 pixels.
Perfect explanation. Thanks alot Goa.
What about the bit about adding the icon to one of the blank slots?You don't appear to have alot of options in the .tga's suggested.
Can you just increase the size of the canvas?
Could I also just create a whole new Unit_HudX_Icon.tga file and reference that for icons?
I am guessing yes.
Do I need to place these references anywhere else other than the .brushes file?
I would just change the fileName's and it will automatically look for them in the textures folder, I'm hoping?
brush name "HUDICON_CAPITALSHIP_PSIBATTLESHIP3" content "States" Disabled fileName "Unit_Hud_Disabled" pixelBox [ 397 , 258 , 47 , 33 ] Pressed fileName "Unit_Hud_Pressed" pixelBox [ 397 , 258 , 47 , 33 ] CursorOver fileName "Unit_Hud_CursorOver" pixelBox [ 397 , 258 , 47 , 33 ] Focused fileName "Unit_Hud_Normal" pixelBox [ 397 , 258 , 47 , 33 ] Normal fileName "Unit_Hud_Normal" pixelBox [ 397 , 258 , 47 , 33 ]
Yes but...
This is better. Just make sure to change which file reference under that box definition.
Also, if you care about being professional with this, Sins also reads .dds files, and these use less memory than .tga. However, .dds is lossy, while .tga is loseless. Thus its best to have your master icon files in .tga, then when going to put it in your textures file to save it as .dds while keeping your .tga original in case you need to make changes later.
No, when ever you put anything that is expecting an icon or UI element, it checks if that name is in any of the brushes files. Note you can make your own brushes files, and this is better because it makes it easier to update your mod and helps compatibility issues with other mods. Just copy a existing brushes file, rename it to "MyBrush.brushes" or whatever, and add that reference to the brushes.manifest file, and update the count on the top of that file.
What do you mean about lossy and loseless?As for Sins reading .dds, so if I put in fileName "Unit_Hud_Test" and had a file called Unit_Hud_Test.dds in the textures folder, it would read it appropriately?I like the idea of making my own files and not editing existing content.Thanks for these tips.
When converting to .dds and editing .dds files you lose image quality since .dds files are compressed. .tga files aren't compressed and therefore lose no image quality when edited.
This is a term used in any kind of digital art media, pictures, music etc., so it maybe worth while to do some reading on it. Basically when you save a file on a lossy format like .jpg or .dds (or .mp3 or .ogg for music), it compresses the media to save space (good for games). However, lets say you then want to edit that file again. When you save it, it will once again try to compress the file. Thus each time you save a lossy file, you lose some quality, and if done enough times this can be noticeable.
That's why you should always have master files in loseless formats (.tga, photoshop files, .wav for sounds) as these files can be saved any number of times and don't lose quality because they don't compress themselves when saved. When you have it ready to put it in a game, you then export the media to your lossy format of choice so that it's only compressed once. When you need to edit that file, you go back and change the master, not the lossy file, and re-export.
I know if you don't specify the file extension, it will try to look for both a .tga and .dds. I don't know which it prefers if it finds both, but yes I think that does work. However, I prefer to explicitly declare the file type, since there are some files I do leave in .tga, like for loadsceen pictures, where you want the high quality image.
Interestingly enough when I converted my first .tga into a .dds, it got bigger!
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