The Undying Nephalim's 3rd avitar idea

posted on September 25th, 2010, 6:03 am

The Undying Nephalim had a tread about possibly adding a third avitar awhile back, and I thought it was a good idea. Some races could use a third avitar. My question is....how do I add a third one. I have the buttons and avitar pics ready to go, can someone give me a list of files associated with the avitars. It doesn't have to be a complex step by step instructional, just a short and simple overview would be great.

posted on September 25th, 2010, 6:45 am

There will be 4 avatars for each race by the end.

In principle it is simple, but it is a lot of work editing ODFs and other files because each avatar really should have its own set of ODFs (rather than mainly reusuing a base ODF).  This depends of course.

I have an idea that I have discussed on these forums for a Vulcan avatar for the Feds... its going to be a long long time before I finish it as well.

Anyway, to get you started, lets go with my vulcan idea to explain.  By the way, there are several sequences in which you can edit files, but even just to get the basic avatar in without any customization still requires a number of files editing.

Take a look at the odf files starting avatar_
Copy one of the fed ones an rename it avatar_fed_vulcan.odf.  Now edit this file and give it unique tooltips and make an entry for it in Dynamic_Localized_Strings.h (read on the guide how to edit this file).

Now edit file fed_outpostS.odf and add a third weapon that refers to avatar_fed_vulcan

ie:
weapon3 = "avatar_fed_vulcan"
weaponhardpoints3 = "root"

The last steps are to edit gui_global_spr
eg:
b_avatar_fed_vulcan    avatars_vulcan    0    0    256    256
b_avatar_fed_vulcanS avatars_vulcanS 0 0 64 64

The techtree (tech1.tt) so the avatar is selectable
eg: avatar_fed_vulcan.odf 0

And don't forget to put your avatar TGA files in the Textures directory.

Now, if you didn't change replacement0class0 in the avatar file you are now have the ODFs sorted so that your new avatar will play exactly like either Risner or Mayson (depending on which avatar file you copied)

To make the avatar unique, you now need to start setting up a different starbase for the initial replacement class.  From this its just a case of a lot of ODF work.  I would advise against reusing existing ODFs for your avatar because if the devs change them then it will also affect your avatar.

To give an example, if you use Risner's sabres, they are known to get Mayson's defensive bonus, so i would expect this to be fixed in the next patch.  If you use Risner's sabre's ODFs for your avatar then they will also get changed.

Also you will need to do ODFs for all the things that make your avatar unique from the others, for example any unique ships.  Each ship capable of ranking up needs 6 ODF files and also you may need to create unique weapon ODFs and special ability ODFs as well, unless you reuse existing weapons.  If creating new weapons you will also have to deal with the weapons.spr file as well.

Before starting, if you are not experienced at modding, I suggest you do some reading on basic modding techniques, read the modding section on the guide, and learn about good practice, eg: backup files regularly, keep track of which files you are changing (you shouldn't just start editing files directly in the game folder... keep modded files in their own repository), and perhaps the most important thing is, test, test, test after every change.

Hope this helps you somewhat.  I may have missed something but this should get you started.

posted on September 25th, 2010, 8:57 am

youve covered most of it there just one minor thing that i didnt see
in the new avatar the line
buttonslot =
needs to be 3
avatar 1 -> buttonslot = 1
avatar 2 -> buttonslot = 2
avatar 3 -> buttonslot = 3
etc otherwise it'll hide behind the others (which is a good thing if u want an AI only avatar )

posted on September 25th, 2010, 9:57 am

Ahh yeah that mod. 
I ended up stopping it because I found out the Devs have plans for 3rd avatars in future patches. I might restart the mod after the Devs are done with all the avatars maybe, for now I've been working on Sigma.

Looks like loki and Blade covered how to put the avatars in though.

posted on September 25th, 2010, 10:35 am

Blade, thanks for spotting that I had missed that.

posted on September 25th, 2010, 9:07 pm

Thanks guys.... I'll try this tommorow.

posted on October 3rd, 2010, 8:54 pm

Just wanted to post here to say that the guide has been updated to include a thorough explanation of adding an avatar (found in the adding a faction section)

posted on October 3rd, 2010, 9:57 pm

Ahh yeah that mod. 
I ended up stopping it because I found out the Devs have plans for 3rd avatars in future patches.

Could you give me then your material? It could really help. I myself was working on a 4th Avatar Mod. And I could really use that material.

posted on October 3rd, 2010, 10:38 pm

Blade, thanks for spotting that I had missed that.

np