110 Image Limit... megamod anyway?

[DrPraetorious]

Right now, there seems to be a limit of 110 new images that can be added by mods to a single game - if you try to add more than that you get a sprnbr error when you try to delay the sprites declared later in the mod file (unit # is irrelevant). Might depend on file size or something, I haven't tested carefully enough to say. If anyone has succeeded in modding in more images than 110 images at once, *please* let me know so I can figure out what I'm doing wrong (but I don't think I'm mistaken.)

You can add essentially as many *units* as you want - hundreds - but only ~100 new graphics.

Johan, assuming I'm not mistaken, is this limit going to increase in future patches? I understand that it probably isn't your first priority, if you're going to increase it at all.

Anyhoo - if we work under the assumption that this limit isn't going to increase, I have to decide what I'm going to put in the megamod. Do people mind if I trim their graphics down somewhat? I'd rather not do that - since I am profoundly untalented at pixel drawing as in all artistic endeavors, I am loath to lose precious eyecandy - but it's going to take real parsimony to fit in half a dozen new nations with only O(100) new graphics.

[Sombre]

At least some unit graphics from some nations can be swapped for ingame equivalents, not for the 'normal' version of the mod but for a version to be included in a compilation.

If I were to get my exile mod done for instance slith graphics could easily be swapped for ingame Ctis ones.

[NTJedi]

DrPraetorious said:
Right now, there seems to be a limit of 110 new images that can be added by mods to a single game - if you try to add more than that you get a sprnbr error

That is bad news.
Hopefully the developers can increase the limit to at least 500.

[Teraswaerto]

What about multiple mods? If there are several mods active that have a total of over 110 images?

[DrPraetorious]

I split them back into individual mod files and nothing seems to change.

The limit on the number of added sprites *might* be higher - since I'm not totally certain which mod it is processing "first" (definitely isn't in the order in which I processed them), but it's still the same story that about half of the mods generate a sprnbr error when all are loaded at once.

If you only load 4 - seemingly any combation of 4 - everything is fine. Whether or not this corresponds to exactly 110 sprites I'm not sure.

[Foodstamp]

Looks like I am running 122 graphics no problem. I am using unit index 2600-2660 all with custom graphics with 7 mods (one for each nation I have created. This includes 7 flags and 7 banners as well for a grand total of 139 graphics.

I wonder if there is a conflict between two mods your trying to mesh, as far as #unit numbers or a bad command line pointing to an invalid image for the default or action sprite.

It is worth noting I run all these mods at once and usually play games with all of them included.

[Amos]

You will have another problem in that national spells cant be restricted by Age. You will have to assign separate nation numbers to different Ages of the same nation.

[Sombre]

Are you sure it isn't anything to do with the namepools?

[DrPraetorious]

I wonder if there is a conflict between two mods your trying to mesh, as far as #unit numbers or a bad command line pointing to an invalid image for the default or action sprite.

I'm sorry, that's *220* unit-sprite limit, counting only units. The declarations for banners etc. are all *after* the unit sprites in the megamod file, and they all load just fine, leading me to believe that only unit sprites count against the 220 limit. It may also be that smaller sprite files use up less space.

It definitely isn't a unit # conflict or the like - I deal with that in some detail in my previous thread, but basically - if you change the order in which the units are declared, the first 110 units load fine, and units after that produce a sprnbr error when you try to display them.

I have a script to rationalize the unit #s between different mods - but after extensive checking *I* can't find an error in it Since other people have downloaded the output and not posted the error I've made - I tend to think that I haven't made one, although it would be foolish to assume that, of course.

Blockquote me (follow the link above to get the attachments):

Okay, here's how I know that isn't the problem.

Compare the two mod files I've attached (megamod_late.dm and megamod_late2.dm are zipped together) - you can swap from one to the other by renaming and then restarting the dominions executable. The only difference between the two is WHERE IN THE FILE the dwarves (Kharam Dzu) appear. You will also need the attachment at the root of this thread for the graphics if you don't already have it.

If Kharam Dzu appears in the middle of the file, you can play them (sprites for their initial commander load just fine), but when you try to recruit units, the game crashes (one of their recruitables is triggering the sprite error, therefore.)

On the other hand, if you move that entire block of monsters to the begining (as in the second file) Kharam Dzu becomes playable - and Trade Confederation, which appears immediately before Kharam Dzu in the first file, becomes unplayable. If you look at exactly what I'm moving, it has to be the number of things and not any particular thing which is causing the crash. The other nations that are playable in version 1 remain playable in version 2, even though they are also now-after Khazam Dzu.

So - Trade Federation becomes unplayable when you add Kharam Dzu to the begining of the file, but everything before Trade Federation remains playable, meaning I haven't added anything to the begining that screws up the entire rest of the file. Am I making sense?

I think this means that something somewhere is overflowing, and it's happening halfway through the unit list, and effecting all units after the overflow, even though all the units are formatted just fine.

Since whatever it is that's overflowing is triggering a sprite loading error - I would tend to assume that it's the custom sprite memory block (or something, again I don't know how Johan has engineered the thing) which is overflowing.

[Foodstamp]

Ok, to help alleviate this problem, I am switching my mod "Haida Gwaii" to using ingame graphics. I am going to use external graphics for the pretender, the flag and the banner. This should help if you decide my mod is worthy enough to be included