[jezmy]

Hi there everyone. I have been a fan of Zero Hour (and all the C&C games) for ages, but have just started experimenting with modding...

My problem is that I cannot find out how ZH determines exactly what image to load for the command buttons - in CommandButton.ini is a reference e.g. ButtonImage = SSRocketAttack ... How can I tell the location of the file used to display the button?

Also, some of the images are in Targa format (.tga) but others are not... I'm very confused about what must be pretty basic to you all - any help would be greatly appreciated.

[IHM]

If you look in the INI big, you will see files that are known as mapped images, basically, these files say what parts of a image file are for what, such as 0,0 to 100,100 is button a on image.tga.

Get me?

[jezmy]

OK - Thanks; I've found (for example) the entry for "Capture Building", which refers to a .tga file (SSUserInterface512_002.tga)... I've looked at other "UserInterface" files and can see what the coordinates are doing.
I've searched my drive for "SSUserInterface512_002.tga" but cannot find it, although I have several "similar named" files.

Does the game unpack the image files from an archive somewhere else?

[IHM]

Now I assume you don't understand the .big files. Basically, they are archives of all the different bits and bobs that make up zero hour.

Basically, you found the mapped images in inizh.big, now look for another one, called englishzh.big (or what ever language(s) you have installed), you will find the images in there, such as SSUserInterface512_002.tga. Hope that helped.

Another note, if you cant find a graphic in the zero hour .big files, check the generals files.

[jezmy]

That's brilliant! I have extracted all of the .tga files using BigPOP and am able to display the button images that I need to within my program ...

I'm trying to make an editor which will allow you to select buttons and either replace or insert pre-existing command buttons into units. Ultimately, I want it to be able to create new buttons and commands, but for now I'm happy to be able to see the graphics for each button.

Again, many thanks for your help, IHM. When my proggy is a bit tidier (and hopefully working), I will submit it for the downloads section.

[IHM]

Sounds good, if you need anything else, just say.