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Topic: New UQM mod (Read 35773 times)
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meep-eep
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Posts: 2847
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I looked them bit and noticed that every eye-blink animation and hand anim is one anim itself, so there is not just only one picture what is animated, theres many parts.
So, I think that there is some code what say to each animated part where to be.
So if someone know how to place those single animations plz tell me or if someone other can do it I can send the alien potraits to him when theyre some day ready..
In the content there are .ani files for the image files which determine the location of the partial images. To quote from doc/devel/aniformat:
[...] each line is in following format:
filename transparent_color colormap_index hotspot_x hotspot_y
[...]
hotspot_x, hotspot_y
can both be positive of negative (or 0)
the position of the image on the screen will be
(draw_x - hotspot_x, draw_y - hotspot_y)
so a positive hotspot *usually* defines the logical center of
an image, and a negative hotspot *usually* defines the position
of an image within some larger compound image; there are of course
exceptions to this general rule
The information on how many frames are expected in an animation, and what kind of animation it is (random, circular, or "yoyo" (back and forth)) are located in the source, in src/sc2code/comm/<race>/<race>.c. Look for "AlienAmbientArray".
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“When Juffo-Wup is complete
when at last there is no Void, no Non
when the Creators return
then we can finally rest.”
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Shiver
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Nicholai is going to need a human comm animation that looks completely different from Hayes, isn't he? Sounds a bit difficult.
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Nicholai
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I've just noticed the little Spathi Eluder in the top-right corner of the Thraddash comms image. 
I always assumed it was supposed to be the Vindicator. I was so proud of myself for that detail! Heh-heh. I'm glad somebody noticed. 
Done some, here ye go :p.
Hey! Cool! These are definitely going in. I'll have to figure out a way to credit people eventually... (there's probably an easy way to add it to the end credits, actually... which is exciting!)
So the B.S.S. is real after all.
I can neither confirm nor dispute this claim.
So where can one download this exciting mod? Can you give us a peek, an alpha?
Unfortunately, there's little point in actually playing the mod yet. There are too many dead-ends. For instance, right now, if you ally with the Ilwrath, and try to talk to them in hyperspace, the game will freeze. (because the allied dialogue trees don't exist yet, only the conditions for them) -- Until I wrap up more loose ends, the mod needs to be pretty carefully navigated. The most difficult part of the whole process is writing dialogue for the dozens of different scenarios you might encounter. For instance, on a sheet of paper next to my computer is a list which reads:
Thraddash - Neutral - Space
Thraddash - Neutral - Planet
Thraddash - Neutral - Starbase
Thraddash - Enemy - Space
Thraddash - Enemy - Planet
Thraddash - Enemy - Starbase
Thraddash - Allied - Space
Thraddash - Allied - Planet
Thraddash - Allied - Starbase
(repeat for each race....... and some of them have more than three locations.) ....And then, the allied sections include lots and lots of trees specifically related to other races you might be allied with. Basically, I'm trying to make the game FAR more dynamic than it was ever intended to be.
This list basically is to help remind me which conversation trees I have made and which still need to be done.
So.... When a few more races are actually complete, it will probably be much more worthwhile to release something play-able.
I'd even settle for just more in game shots. This looks seriously amazing. I code as well as any rabid monkey, but if you need any help with dialogue or such I'd be happy to lend a hand.
Thanks!
Like I was saying above, dialogue is definitely the biggest issue. I'm trying to figure out how I would actually go about getting assistance with dialogue, since, obviously, to write it, you have to have a pretty good idea of what's going on in the mod.... I dunno.
Meep-Eep is definitely more qualified to explain how to do the alien portrait animation stuff than I am (as he did) -- but yeah, like you were saying, each small part (like a hand, or an eye, or a mouth) is its own small graphic... It's difficult to experiment with if you aren't compiling the source code yourself while making the animations, because you're limited to the code that already exists.
If you WERE able to make an alien portrait, and all of the smaller animations, I'm sure I could manage to get them into the mod properly....
If you think you can make one, I'll tell you what I need!! Heh-heh.
Nicholai is going to need a human comm animation that looks completely different from Hayes, isn't he? Sounds a bit difficult.
Yup. There's also a unique Human in the game, which is going to be interesting, because, of course, a UNIQUE Human, you would assume, would look differently than every other Human.... (unlike all the clones you seem to encounter with every other race, heh-heh) -- so I might need TWO Human comm animations. Ugh!
If somebody wants to make it for me, that'd be cool! Heh.
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~ Nicholai
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zarren3
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As I said, I never repeat myself
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I would try to do those alien potraits next week. But I would start at human potraits because I think that alien potrait would be harder to make than hunam.
EDIT: just forgot that animating.. thanks for Meep-Eep, but I don't have any experience about this kinda coding, but I'm gonna try..
EDIT2:http://boldt.us/4953-2/submarine-captain.jpg
Thats I'm gonna start from. maybe. Of course I edit face and make picture fit sc2 style and add some stuff there. I keep finding these kinda pics.
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« Last Edit: March 11, 2008, 07:30:47 pm by zarren3 »
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Lukipela
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The Ancient One
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Thanks!
Like I was saying above, dialogue is definitely the biggest issue. I'm trying to figure out how I would actually go about getting assistance with dialogue, since, obviously, to write it, you have to have a pretty good idea of what's going on in the mod.... I dunno.
An alternative might be to outsource the "non-vital" communication. I mean, in the examples above I assume not everything the Traddash says is going to be relevant/important. The different greetings, different goodbyes and general blundering could be written by someone who only knows how they are supposed to feel about you. If you have any back story not directly plot-related, you could just give someone the broad strokes, and let them polish it up.
As for story related elements, I guess you'll just have to decide how much you want to share, and with whom. More than one writer also means trying to fit slightly different styles together, which might be a problem. Anyway, PM me if you decide that you could do with soem form of help with this, I'll do my best (whatever that means).
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What's up doc?
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Valaggar Redux
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More than one writer also means trying to fit slightly different styles together, which might be a problem.
It's in no way a problem if no race has two writers. This *is* the way SC2's dialogue was written, after all.
From the 1998 IRC chat with Toys for Bob (Fwiffo is both Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III here):
<_Stilgar> <Spyhunter> Fwiffo: "How many people was involved in writing the huge amounts of dialoque in SC2?"
<Fwiffo> Regarding the dialog: I defined the conversations structurally and wrote pieces of all of them, however, Greg Johnson was responsible for the majority of the Orz, Arilou, and Pkunk. Mat Genser wrote the Utwig and Ilwrath. Robert Leyland wrote the Supox, and Leonard Robel wrote some of the Thraddash. Iain McCaig did much of the VUX.
<Fwiffo> The dialog took about 5 months.
One (half-time) writer would in no way be able to finish the 70-80-90-100 pages involved in this mod (there are 50 A4 pages of dialogue in SC2, and that's after we delete all line breaks and empty lines). You cannot win the fight alone, Captain. You need allies.
In addition, Nicholai would probably have to write the vital dialogue as just broad strokes (as opposed to writing the whole of it), and let his writers polish it up (so that the style isn't discrepant).
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Cedric6014
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I agree with Valaggar here.
1) It will be a far less onerous task to get many people involved
2) And actually, there is some merit in assigning races to different people as it means that the races’ characteristics to not blur into one dialogue style – if you see what I mean. There will be a greater distinction between the races – and you really will feel like you’re conversing with different folks from different worlds.
My only concern will be around the quality of the writing. I think that Nicholai would have to be brutal about what dialogue he accepts from contributors. Writers would have to accept that he has creative control and not get cranky if Nicholai turfs out their entire contribution because it is terrible.
He should have the power to say “I’m sorry Suchandsuch but that’s not QUITE what I’m after for that race so I’m not going to use any of that”.
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Cedric6014
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Oh, and another thing – I REALLY don’t want to know who is doing which race. For example, If I found out that Valaggar was doing the Utwig, it would completely ruin the whole experience for me. It would be like I’m talking to Valaggar when I’m playing the game. Nooooooooooo.
In other words, As long as it’s good I don’t care who – as long as I don’t know who.
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evktalo
Frungy champion
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I just wanted to cheer for this project. I hope it will inspire many to fiddle with the source and try to make those mods!
--Eino
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Nicholai
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An alternative might be to outsource the "non-vital" communication.
Yeah, having given it some thought, this seems like a pretty good idea. It certainly would help with the more tedious things like greetings, goodbyes, starbase nonsense (ie. "Thanks for the minerals, captain!") and other such things. It would also help to have a bulk-supply of silly alien-babble saved up... such as frungy-arguments between the the Zoq Fot Pik, or references to some new kind of mask for the Utwig, or weird racist rants for the VUX... just to throw in whenever the dialogue needs to be more colorful.
In addition, Nicholai would probably have to write the vital dialogue as just broad strokes (as opposed to writing the whole of it), and let his writers polish it up (so that the style isn't discrepant).
This seems like a good plan too. When I make a little more progress, I could probably come up with a list like:
captain: "let's form an alliance to defeat Ur-Quan"
response: "sure, our homeworld is the red planet, Zeta Persei I, red star, 353.4 : 526.4 -- let's defeat Ur-Quan!"
... and then leave it up to whoever is writing it what information about that star they want to include -- coordinates, name, etc., since it doesn't ALL need to be there, as well as making a more compelling interaction between the phrases.
Anyway, I'll figure out what I need in the near future and send it to the folks who have offered assistance!
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~ Nicholai
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