I'm creating a plugin for an Elven Warrior class, but I dont know how to assign an animatio to the class. how? Ive looked at the cs walkthrough and a couple FAQ pages and none of them seem to adress this particular problem.
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Quote
Originally posted by Spazzybob:
I'm creating a plugin for an Elven Warrior class, but I dont know how to assign an animatio to the class. how? Ive looked at the cs walkthrough and a couple FAQ pages and none of them seem to adress this particular problem.
Icons are not associated with class, or even race, as they can be changed at any time. Instead they are assigned to the character as the beginning of your game and can then be changed later on.
In the case of PoG there is an event that does this that you will need to modify in order to get the effect that you desire. I don't recall off the top of my head what the event's name is, but I would recommend that you download (url="http://"http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cgi-bin/vftp/show.pl?product=coldstone&category;=essentials&display;=date&file;=Trinity_Unleashed.sit")Trinity Unleashed(/url) which is the source code to the Trinity plug-in. This plug-in changes the character icon upon beginning the plug-in, as determined by the class that the player chooses.
Take a look at how this is done in Trinity and duplicate it with your plug-in, modifying it to suit your needs.
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uhhhhhh, did you try reading the manual? Read, form specific questions, search for them on the board, then post questions you need a specific answer to. If you need real-time help, for answers that you have searched for already, and still do not understand fully, try the IRC channel.
And as far as the Trinity source, you read the manual and have a decent understanding of how the game engine works right? You went through the manual step-by-step and created the demo game, right? Try those things, then the Trinity source will become clear.
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Originally posted by Spazzybob:
uhhhhhhhhh....I dont even know where to start with it I downloaded it what am I supposed to look for or do or what?? I really need some plain help here Im completly stuck and about ready to just give up one creating stuff with coldstone
You need to load the plug-in source code into Coldstone so that you can view all the files. You can then open up the different events and see how things were done so that you understand them.
An explanation of loading this code can be found (url="http://"http://stark.evula.net/plugin_faq.htm#modifyingplugins")here(/url).
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I don't want to seem rude, but seeing as how you're new and all, here are a few tips.
Use the Plug-in Tutorial. When you're completely new to Coldstone and you don't have a clue what you're doing, it helps tremendously to have a little walkthrough. With the tutorial, you can safely poke and prod at the editor and still have a lifeline to catch if you get in trouble.
Read the manual. I read manuals for every app I own, but not everyone has that much patience, and even I can't read the entire CGE manual in one sitting. 
Here's what I did, and I think it's a good strategy: Pick a simple editor, such as the Item Editor, and read the section in the manual about it. Then, start up Coldstone and fool around with the editor, using the manual as a reference for the parts you don't know or can't remember. When you know the item editor fairly well, expand upon that knowledge ? say, you want an NPC to talk to you and give you the item (in which case you would start learning the NPC editor and event editor).
Keep it simple. Eventually, you'll wind up with a complete education of Coldstone, and THEN you can go after the big plug-in ideas. But for now, trying to make something big when you can't use the engine will only frustrate and discourage you. My current "big" project, The Four Mages, started out as a simple plug-in which added a few items; I had no plans to bite off more than I could chew, which is one of the few reasons it lived up to the date I announced it. Try not to make the same mistake. Stick to what you know and what you can learn, at least at first. You can always jump into oblivion once you have a solid grip on the "reality", as it were, of the engine.
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Stark, the event is called main.cet or most of it anyway, but it includes parts refering to
"Switch_HeroStade0,1,2,3" I looked these up in th evets and found them to have the class name assinged somehow to a graphic, please take a look at these and telll me if im wrong and if i am what that really is. the thing is there has to be a set of graphics somewhere for pog to assign the specific class, i know it doesn't just ramdom graphics out of a hat.
(edit) It also reefers to Switch_HeroStadeB,B1,B2,B3, the first four are graphics of each type for each of the ffour levels when using hand to hand weapons, the secnd four show the four stages with bow weapons (since a conjurour cant use abow he just has a normal graphic)
(edit edit) oh yeah i also just took a look in the pictures wizard thin and scrolled down. there are dozens of specific animations for each class take a look yourself. > :frown:
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(This message has been edited by Spazzybob (edited 02-06-2003).)
(This message has been edited by Spazzybob (edited 02-06-2003).)
SpazzyBob,
This is correct. If you want to add a new animation look(ie, your elven warrior), then you will need to create the graphic. I will tell you right now that this is a lot of work. It is doable, but it is a lot of work. Take a look at the hero_ranger and hero_conjeror graphic sets in the trinity_unleashed source code and you will see what you will need to make in order to create a new graphic set.
Once you have an actual graphic created that you want to use, I'll help you with getting it actually added into the world. But if you want to do this, getting the graphic created will be the first thing to do due to the time consuming process.
Btw, in answer to your question about the original graphics that PoG uses. Yes, they exist, but we do not have access to them. I don't recall off the top of my head the exact name for these animations, but they are probably something like "Hero", "Hero1", etc. Or perhaps "NPC_Hero" is the name. If you look at the Trinity Unleashed source code, find the event that is used when Septemris changes the player's icon with the Knights quest. There are three of them, and they all start with "septemris_". Within these events there should be the call to change the player's icon based on his class. The warrior class uses the standard PoG graphics while the other 2 use the new Trinity graphics.
In a nut shell, once you have your graphic sets you will copy these events exactly into your plug-in(same name and all) and then add your conditions to them(ie, if the player is an elven warrior). What this will do is your new event will replace the Trinity/standard PoG events so that all conditions are possible. But again, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. First you will need to make the graphic set that you want.
Good luck.
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Quote
Originally posted by Spazzybob:
oh yeah i also just took a look in the pictures wizard thin and scrolled down. there are dozens of specific animations for each class take a look yourself.
Yes, there are a lot of frames you will need in order to create an animation.
The animation editor is explained beginning on page 62 of the Coldstone manual(it is in the docs folder of your Coldstone Demo folder and is of type .pdf).
Basically you will need the following image types:
Further more, you will need frames for each of the 8 directions: North, Northeast, East, Southeast, South, Southwest, West, Northwest.
Lastly, you will want several frames for each type/direction so as to give the appearance of fluid movement.
In the Trinity Conjurer class, they have the following formula:
Attack: 7 frames per 8 directions = 56 frames total
Block: 3 frames per 8 directions = 24 frames total
Cast: 5 frames per 8 directions = 40 frames total
Walk: 8 frames per 8 directions = 64 frames total
Grand total: 184 frames for the conjurer animation.
And this is just for one knight ranking. They then duplicate this formula for the other 3 rankings to make for a whopping 736 individual frames for the entire conjurer class.
So again, this is a tremendous undertaking. I'm displaying this for you so that you understand how large of a project this is. It is doable and it can be added to the world, but it will take a lot of effort and time.
If you still wish to do this, good luck.
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hmm, what I was considering doing for the animation was possibly using the graphic set used for the npc elf in the cave in the plains of endless wind and modify it to contain all that i need , also , desribe to m,e what ill need to do to make all these graphics, is there a program built into coldstone that i can use to cut and paste or what, ( that would make things so much easier) if I need to use an external pogram please recomend the best one that is usale on a macintosh (400 mhz, plenty of memory). Last, not to be rude at all, but I have considered the kind of time this will take and am willing to put forth quite a bit of effort into a project, the real problem for me is getting started and getting past all the un-foressen problems and learning all I need to know.
-thanks
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(This message has been edited by Spazzybob (edited 02-06-2003).)
(This message has been edited by Spazzybob (edited 02-06-2003).)
Quote
Originally posted by Spazzybob:
hmm, what I was considering doing for the animation was possibly using the graphic set used for the npc elf in the cave in the plains of endless wind and modify it to contain all that i need
Once you receive the CD you will have the individual frame images to use. However, as the elf is a passive NPC it will only have walking animations. If you want to have an attack animation, block animation, or cast animation, then you will need to create these by yourself either by scratch or by modifying the existing walk animation frames.
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desribe to me what ill need to do to make all these graphics, is there a program built into coldstone that i can use to cut and paste or what
Coldstones only method of animation is the animation editor, which takes existing images and puts them together into an animation. You will need something completely seperate to actually create graphics.
There are several threads that discuss the various graphics programs. I do not, on the whole, do my own graphics so I am not experienced in the various programs out there. Photoshop, Poser, Lightwave, Bryce have all been mentioned. Do a search on graphics programs and you should find several threads on them. If you have questions as to how they work or which is best you can ask in those threads and the people who are knowledgeable will answer you.
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Last, not to be rude at all, but I have considered the kind of time this will take and am willing to put forth quite a bit of effort into a project, the real problem for me is getting started and getting past all the un-foressen problems and learning all I need to know.
Great! Good luck.
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I tell you right now, and this is from two weeks of highly frustrating personal experience, stay the hell away from poser! Trust me its not worth it it has many cool features but it is extremly unrefined, meaning if you accidently drag the arm past were it normally can go.. weellll all of a sudden you have a gigantic mass of twisted spiky graphics that takes a long time to unwind. also even if you save you file is subject to change and finishing touches made at the end can screw up th whole sequence <
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Don't step on the ducks, they don't like it
-me It is as bad as you think, they are out to get you. -my brother
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Originally posted by Spazzybob:
**I tell you right now, and this is from two weeks of highly frustrating personal experience, stay the hell away from poser! Trust me its not worth it it has many cool features but it is extremly unrefined, meaning if you accidently drag the arm past were it normally can go.. weellll all of a sudden you have a gigantic mass of twisted spiky graphics that takes a long time to unwind. also even if you save you file is subject to change and finishing touches made at the end can screw up th whole sequence <
**
1 - who poses dragging appendages? use the dials man.
2 - how in the world could your save file change if you didn't write over it?
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I have no idea but trust me it happens, my friend would save his file(this was in a class) every day and the nexy day the people would be in completely different position
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Don't step on the ducks, they don't like it
-me It is as bad as you think, they are out to get you. -my brother
Quote
Originally posted by Spazzybob:
**I have no idea but trust me it happens, my friend would save his file(this was in a class) every day and the nexy day the people would be in completely different position
**
Not really for this board (try Renderosity.com for Poser questions) but there was an issue in ver. 4 in using more than one figure (and in rare cases, conforming clothing) where one figure would over-write the pose on another. Had to do with both being identified internally as "figure 1."
I did the Poser-to-Coldstone once with a Naomi Armitage character I'd been working on. Worked fine. Took a day. That said, I might not use Poser again...I prefer the look of a custom mesh.
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Anyway, back to the topic. Strak, I have loaded all the current orabas elf walking images there are now.. Can I edit them in them in the sense of duplicateing an image and then changinf the position of the arms and or legs in the duplicate?
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Don't step on the ducks, they don't like it
-me It is as bad as you think, they are out to get you. -my brother
Quote
Originally posted by Spazzybob:
Anyway, back to the topic. Strak, I have loaded all the current orabas elf walking images there are now.. Can I edit them in them in the sense of duplicateing an image and then changinf the position of the arms and or legs in the duplicate?
You can edit them however you would like from another application, but Coldstone does not have image editing capabilities.
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