[BruceJKDLee]

I'm a new member here, and I've been searching around for some help about modding Zero Hour. I'm not totally new at modding, but I'm still shiny. So here's my problem:

All I want to do is add a FA22Raptor to the game. I would like to use the current raptor model (I can change the vertices and make look the way I want) but paste the black Stealth Fighter skin onto it, or just make it black. Later once I get familiar with using the programs, I'd hopefully be able to make the plane barrel roll every now and again instead of just flying straight.

I'm using GMAX with that RenX gamepack. I've got that .W3D importer and a RenX custom UI. I have a .BIG extractor. Do I need anything else?

Secondly, I'm going to have to change the INI files as well I assume. But I'm not looking to change the voice, or anything else excpet that barrel roll animation.

So could somebody point me in the right direction? Thanks in advance.

[IraqiPeopleRocks]

its nearly possible to make planes in ZH to barrel roll but it looks somewhat retarded :| if u still want to make it barrel roll look at 'Locomotor.ini' and find the Raptor's Locomotor...EA already left usefull comments on the tags


dunno about the other questions maybe someone will come in help you

[CommieDog]

Creating a barrel roll animation in RenX would be fairly simple (though hard to make it look good); the real challenge would be to make it barrel roll at the right time (instead of, say, trying to roll during landing).

In order to make the Raptor model black, all you need to do is remove the skin from the model and then assign black to the mesh.

[BruceJKDLee]

I figured I'd need to edit INI's as well, thanks for help.

Am I going to have to have to make up a new locomotor? For instance:

Locomotor RaptorJetFA22Locomotor

...
...
...
..

I don't really want to replace the old raptor animations. My guess is I'm going to have to copy&paste nearly everything in the INI files that relate to the Raptor. Then change them to "...FA22...."

Again and help would be much appreciated.

[BruceJKDLee]

Alright. After a long night I've made some good progress. I skinned the Raptor 3 times. 1 is for when it's not damaged, 1 for when it is damaged and the last for when it's a pile of junk on the ground.

I've changed the INI files a bunch and now I can actually build my FA22 raptor in game. The only problem is, when you build, the model is invisible. You can click on it and everything and it flies like normal, but it's invisible. Any suggestions?

So my new goal is to change the tooltips because right now the picture you click on to build the FA22 is the same as the King Raptor. I want it to be changed to a jpg file I have. It also reads the same as the King Raptor when you highlight it. IE:

King Raptor
Cost
Time
Strong vs Aircraft & Tanks
Weak vs Anti Air Units
Detects Stealth
etc.

So why is model my invisible, and how can I change the tooltips? Thanks.

[zogle]

well did you put the w3d files in the art\w3d directory ?? and did you put your tga or dds files in the \art\texture directory??

easy way to convert between file types is open the jpg in adobe and sale the image to 71 by 71 .... then make sure you change the data\ini\mappedimages\texturesize_512\snuserinterf ace.ini to point to your new .tga or .dss file

example

MappedImage FA22
Texture = FA22.tga
TextureWidth = 71
TextureHeight = 71
Coords = Left:1 Top:1 Right:71 Bottom:71
Status = NONE
End

tooltips ... find a csf editor
heres a site with one for free http://www.cncden.com/cncgen_utility_downloads.shtml
also i would highly recommend bigpop .. it save so much freakin time haha ..

oh yea
you will want to add entries to the csf
like ...

OBJECT:FA22
CONTROLBAR:ToolTipFA22
CONTROLBAR:ConstructFA22

make sure you change it to suit your needs haha ..

anyways ..... when you are making these entries the tooltip is the comment below the price .. the objecT:fa22 will show up when you highlight your unit in the field and for the constructFA22 .. you can make a shortcut for ease of building by putting an & before the letter you choose .. for example if you wanted it to be the letter F .. for your entry you would put ... &FA22 .. or for the letter A .. F&A22


so after you mapp the image change your commandbutton to this

CommandButton Construct_USA_FA22
Command = UNIT_BUILD
Object = FA22
TextLabel = CONTROLBAR:ConstructFA22
ButtonImage = FA22 ; or whatever you mapped your immage as
ButtonBorderType = BUILD
DescriptLabel = CONTROLBAR:ToolTipFA22
End

then add Construct_USA_FA22 to your airflied commandset

well hope that helps ..

PS EVERYTHING IS CASE SENSATIVE .. so if it doesnt work prolly cuz i typed it quickly just re-check everything

[Rene]

For the invisible model,

First make sure the model is correctly exported. Open the w3d viewer and open your w3d file there. After loading expand the hierarchy at the left side. There should now be 1 hierarchy listed. When selecting this hierarchy you model should show up (don't worry about missing textures if there are any).

If the above is all correct, make sure you put the model in the correct folder:
{Zero Hour install directory}\Art\W3D\

If that's also correct, make sure the ini file reads the correct model name. I'm not sure but it could be that the name is also case sensitive.



For string editing:

The strings you see in game are located in a file called generals.csf. This file is located in English.big (or whatever language your game is in). For editing you need an csf editor like the found here (third last downloadable file). I don't know if there are other/better editors but this one works well enough for me.

The texts themselves are located at three different locations. For the following part I assume you replaced the king raptor object (AirF_AmericaJetRaptor) with your own model.

Object Display Name:
This is the text displayed when you hover with your mouse over the ingame unit for several seconds. When you look at the design parameters of the object code of the king raptor you'll find a parameter called 'DisplayName' with the value 'OBJECT:KingRaptor'.

Open the generals.csf file with the editor and in the left panel find the key with this exact name. At the right side there is an textarea labeled 'value'. This is the value displayed ingame at every location where the ini files make a reference to this key. Change the value to the value you want.

Commandbar Text Label:
This is the text displayed when you hover with the mouse over the button in the controlbar to build the unit. It also determines the hotkey on the keyboard that will build this unit. To find the key used for this one open CommandButton.ini and find the button responsible for building the king raptor ('AirF_Command_ConstructAmericaJetRaptor').

The key we are looking for would be 'TextLabel' which has a value of 'CONTROLBAR:ConstructAmericaJetKingRaptor'. When you look up this key in the csf editor you will notice that in the value there is an '&'. The character followed directly after the '&' is the hotkey you can use to build the unit. Change the value to your liking.

Commandbar Tooltip:
I don't think this one needs explanaition but as I've done it for everything so far, it is the text saying what units it is strong and weak against. Like the Text Label it is also located in CommandButton.ini and is called 'DescriptLabel'. The key for the king raptor would be 'CONTROLBAR:ToolTipUSABuildKingRaptor'. Like the other texts, change as you like.


The build cost is automaticly added by reading the BuildCost of the AirF_AmericaJetRaptor Object.

Save the csf file and place in the following folder:
{Zero Hour install directory}\Data\English\


Notes:
When closing the w3d viewer it wil report an error, don't worry about that, it's a feature.
When editing the csf file, don't use the delete key to delete text in the textarea as it will remove the entire key. Use backspace instead.


Edit:
Hmm zogle beat me to it... well now you two explanaitions and he also included the images that I forgot...

[zogle]

haha wow .. theirs is typed much better then mine .. haha ..

[BruceJKDLee]

Thanks so much guys. After I typed that I went searching around for tooltip editing whilst waiting for a response and came across a csf editor. I got it to work just fine, and the model shows up perfectally fine now. I started from scratch because I had way too many files to manage. I actually think I it was invisible now because I didn't type the write name...duh

I never new you needed so many tools to make a simple change. First it was GMAX, then I need RENX, then I need a big extractor etc etc.

My last problems now are minor tweaks ( I was trying it out last night and I just got a bunch of crashes). In the AirF strategy centre, I would like to make a button you have to purchase, in order to build the FA22 from the Air Field. Kind of like a prerequesite to go along with the Air Field and Strat Centre. I thought I was close last night with my editing, but I just got crashes and the crash report told me nothing.

I've got the FA22 carrying 2 different weapons. Primary is the King Raptor Missles, and Secondary is the Aurora bomb weapon. I don't want these to shoot at the same time (IE make them interchangable like the rangers Rifle --> Flashbang and vice versa). Also, I would like the ammo type undearneath the FA22 to switch, depending on the mode selected. I was looking at the Rangers INI files to get some pointers, but that's about as far as I get.

Lastly is the locomotor (which relates to the type of ammo selected). When the King Raptor missles are selected, I would like it to fly normally like a King Raptor. But when you select the Aurora Bomb, it goes into supersonic mode. Is this even possible? I tried to make a locomotor "JetRaptorFA22Locomotor", which works fine. Then I tried making "JetRaptorFA22SupersonicLocomotor", which didn't work so well. Then I copy pasted the Aurora part dealing with the locomotors in the Object file, and replaced the "AuroraSupersonic" and others, with my locomotors. The game crashed.

Oh and 1 more thing. Currently the picture in the Air Field for the FA22 is of a King Raptor. I would like that to change to a picture that I have d/l of an FA22.

Any tips will help. I'll be plugging away as soon as I'm done writing this message and hopefully will learn something as I'm doing that.

Thanks again.

[BruceJKDLee]

^ about my above post

I've so far been able to add the command buttons to my FA22 to switch weapons. The pictures are there, the tooltips come up, but I can't click on them. They are greyed out.

Either that happens, or when I click on the "switch to missle" button (if I change some code around), my FA22 shoots 4 of the 8 bullets I've given it. This is probably because in the Object AirForceGeneral INI, I've changed:

WeaponLaunchBone = PRIMARY Wingtip01
WeaponLaunchBone = SECONDARY Wingtip02
WeaponLaunchBone = TERTIARY WeaponA

So now when the FA22 fires, it shoots 4 missles from each Wingtip. The Tertiary WeaponA is supposed to be where my FA22 Bomb drops out of. I've created the necessary weapons in the INI's to accomodate these two changes. Here's what I've changed in the Object INI files:

WeaponSet
Conditions = None
Weapon = PRIMARY AirF_RaptorJetFA22MissileWeapon
Weapon = SECONDARY AirF_RaptorJetFA22MissileWeapon
End
WeaponSet
Conditions = None
Weapon = TERTIARY AirF_RaptorJetFA22BombWeapon
End

The reason I've created a different weaponset is because if I put TERTIARY under the same weapon set, it drops the bomb at the same time it shoots the missles.

How do I make it so that I can select which type of ammo to choose from? If I had to guess, I would change the "Conditions" part....but to what? It's not an upgrade, it comes standard with the plane (right now), but for a balance issue, the right ammo needs to be selected. Thanks again for any tips.

/wall of text