Modders 'How To' guide.

[Coal]

How about a guide for shipset creation also. I just can't figure out how to do it.

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Rules? What Rules?

[This message has been edited by Maverick (edited 21 April 2001).]

[Atrocities]

Ship set creation is really easy if you already have the images. If your attempting to make your own images, then it can become very difficult.

When I set out to make my first ship set, I did not have the faintest idea of what I was doing, and it showed. Heres what I did.

I took an image of a ship (TOP DOWN VIEW) and opened it in MS Paint and inlarge the image to 600%. I then used the paint all (bucket looking icon) and tried to make the dark area around the ship yellow. I then used the brush tool, on small, and bushed around the ship as close as I could get. Again in yellow. Once the entire ship is outlined in yellow and all the space around it is yellow, I went back to the dipper thing and painted the whole area BLACK. I then selected the area with a modest boarder, and copied it. I pasted it to a new document, and then saved it. I then used a program called ACDSee that I got from www.downloads.com and opened the image. I double clicked on it, and then clicked enhance. I then croped the image that I wanted and double clicked again. I then resized it using the resize tool that is also offered once you choose to enhance the object. I resized it to 36 X 36 pixels. I saved the image naming it accordingly, Race_mini_Battleship.

I used the same ACDSee to crope the 3d image of the ship and resize it to 128 x 128 pixels and saved it as Race_portrait_battleship. Voila, I had just made my first ship. Oh ya, I also had to convert the images from JPEG to a BIT MAP and this was done simply by saving as and then selecting BIT MAP below the Name position. Name was Race_mini_Battleship, and below that was another window and I saved it as a Bit Map.

I hope this basic outline helps you as you attempt to make new ships. Ship making is fun, but takes a long time to do. I can do a complete ship set in about 8 hours if I have all the images I want. This includes testing and tweaking.

[pathfinder]

Maverick: In addition to what Atrocities said (an excellent way to do the ship figures BTW) Malfador has a design criteria area at their website under racestyle (I think). their website is: [url=http://www.malfador.com.]
G'luck with any shipsets ya do!

now as to the AI files, I simply take one of the modded files, run it off (paper), then run off the same one from a default one and compare the values. EG. EA_anger.txt and compare it to Xi'Chung. I did that then made a copy of the EA one and set values between them to make an anger file for a custom race of mine. a nasty race that isn't quite Xenophobic.

Hope this helps.

[This message has been edited by pathfinder (edited 21 April 2001).]

[This message has been edited by pathfinder (edited 21 April 2001).]

[Dubious]

I've just posted in the "Space Empires: IV - Modding and other Help Tools/Information" archive a FREE side-by-side file comparison tool called "ExamDiff". It has various display options for showing the differences, including the ability to make changes directly to the files IIRC.

Makes the job a LOT simpler!

[Q]

quote:

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Originally posted by Dubious:
I've just posted in the "Space Empires: IV - Modding and other Help Tools/Information" archive a FREE side-by-side file comparison tool called "ExamDiff". It has various display options for showing the differences, including the ability to make changes directly to the files IIRC.

Makes the job a LOT simpler!

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Woh! That's really a fantastic tool! Thank you very much for posting it here.

[Coal]

Pathfinder, Atrocities, thank you for your Posts. I'm makeing a few practice ship pics and, hopefully, will begin work on a race style soon. The ACDSee program is helping alot. The only problem I have is making the minis. I'm not good at drawing with MS paint. Mabye with enough practice I'll improve.

Thanks again.



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Rules? What Rules?

[Q]

Maverick I am not very experienced in making pictures, but I found it very easy to make minis once you have the large picture. Even the most basic drawing programms let you change the size of your picture: choose pixels as units and 36x36 as size and that should convert the large picture to the mini.