vs322

Oh and fallschirmjager ... is there a link to your work-- I'm always looking for competent artists.

What's Up strat-co. So I know this is about 3 years late...But I have been working on a "classic" tactics like game (picture Disgaea, FFT or even x-com.) I am building from scratch and may use some of my old SS ideas. I'm using C++, DirectX, XML etc, and hope to distribute it within a year or so- If you are /truly/ interested you can check www.reodjectz.com to see some up to date info. BTW are Komik and DoomMunky still around at all? Anyway I know this isn't exactly SS related, but I wanted to let you know what I was up to.

Ok, I do not have my hands on Hammer and Sickle yet, but I am going to start this topic now, as Novik may already have an answer. Is there a way to open or transfer a mod made with the sentinels editor with the Hammer and Sickle editor? -vs

You need the graphics converter that is available in the file section for silent storm, under tools. Be warned, this converter will not convert every file without problem. -vs

hello and welcome to strat-co- anyway- to edit the cost of weapons you need to bring up the RPG items tab in the editor. Inside there are folders for weapons / mines / grenades - any thing that you would sell at the store. Each one, under properties, has a 'cost' item. Set this to the price you want it to sell at. (If you need clarification just ask) hope this helps- and good luck with the mod, -vs

Novik thank you for the info about the shops... that is sort of how I thought it was set up. I will go ahead and make some of my shops dialog based then have one that uses the main shop and its interface. Also its very nice to have someone so knowledgeable on the forums...seems like we had worked out all that we could without some help from someone on the inside. -vs

KoMik- the shops you are describing are vary much like what I'm talking about- my experiments will probably not happen too soon, as I too would rather be making and scripting levels- I spent a big chunk of the last two weeks of mod time just doing textures...Feel like I've fallen behind in just making maps... I have played around with the SSS interfaces some... I really only know how to alter the ones that are already in the game- I wouldn't know how you would call-up custom interfaces-the script functions would probably need to already exist (like 'uiShowLoot,' 'uiShowMissionSelection' etc.) Also I can't find where the code / scripts are for the already made interfaces so it might be hard coded. But like you said: all this stuff takes time from making the missions, and that's what the people are going to remember...not 'oooo, custom shops!!' So one must prioritize. (I have a lot of sss stuff already on my plate as it is) -I'll post again about this when I know more. -vs

Hello fellow s3 modders... I'm wondering if anyone has gotten in-depth into re-doing the shop in s3. I have questions about choosing the 'level' of items- is it related to the character's level or to the block they are in? For what I want to do I may have to resort to scripting and doing it all through dialogs (which may not be worth it)- What I'd like is to have different people sell different things- make sense right? If no one here has played around with it I'll start experimenting and telling you all what I find, but maybe someone can save me some time... -vs

yes- I was looking around and found both a green and red alien texture, pretty weird. There are lots of sci-fi textures in that res- I'm not sure if there are models that go with them or not, but some of them 16786382, for example, actually fit other models in the game- that one is a more hi-tek looking switch. Some of the unused textures are very nice and I plan to find uses for them in my mod- maybe those alien textures were going to be used in the UFO/PK encounter from the first SS? If I had maya I'd go un-pack the model's res and see if they made them- The textures defiantly being u/v maps it seems very likely that there are models that go with them. @Slaughter: maybe it is here somewhere, but not in the ss or sss tools or mod file areas. I got mine from the link that duanem gave. -vs (any one know how the res file's numbering is organized? I realize that many of the IDs do correspond to the file names, but there is a large number of files that do not correspond to IDs and vice versa. there is also the large number of 16000000 files and there are no IDs that high. edit:Ok- so for the files that are over 16000000 you need to subtract 16777216, this works for most of them, there are still some images that I can't find however: like the body for a terror elite, and some others.)

Hey you guys NEED to check out 16786449 ->16786449 from the texture res(from SSS)--- I don't want to spoil the surprise, but it looks like a lot more sci-fi elements were going to be in SS/SSS take a look

So... to those of you who are extracting textures already: I'm confused about what the numbering system that is used for these files, are they absolute database entry numbers or something- because I can't find a correlation between texture Ids and the # the files use Any guidance? -vs

where did you guys get the .res extractor? It's not on the file section here. (are you there slaughter?)- Having the MMP2TGA File Converter v1.2 hosted here too would not be a bad idea either- -vs edit: Ok- got the res extractor and extracted the textures no problem. about how the res extractor works; open up a command window (run:cmd) and put the rextract.exe in the ss/res directory... in the cmd window go to the res directory and just type 'rextract FILE_TO_EXSTRACT.res'. It puts them all right in that directory so I'd move them and keep that dir clean...

Not being able to read Russian; I didn't know that there was a res extractor- if you can get it working please share. I have been loading up textures in the SS editor and then doing a windows screen to clipboard and then pasting it in Photoshop and editing it to the right size... Having all that stuff unpacked would be a huge time saver. Good luck, sorry I can't be of any help. -vs

smacker

Anti-aliasing makes a big difference in FPS- I can run everything on except Anti-aliasing which I run on medium- and get good FPS, but when I put Anti-aliasing up I seriously get 1-7 fps. Hope that that helps -vs

Ok- The Nival forums started working for me- I didn't chang any settings or anything, but now it works fine- man that place is quiet. -thanks for the advice anyway- -vs

Yea, Right now the Mobs/Pers are where a lot of my time is going- Making new skins mostly- Skinning models is a much slower poses than I had thought it would be, but it is what will make the world believable (or not just seem like world war 2 in a really red desert). About the losing VPs in certain areas I think that I will just use a UnitInArea function and mark out the areas in the template that are 'irradiated.' I'm glad that you like the lighting scheme- I'm really attached to it myself, but got an across the board negative reaction until now. I made a new (still red) lighting setup that is browner...I may use that more then the one used for the screenshots. -vs

To expand on Komik's advice here is a little code for tracking the destroy stage of multiple objects. All the objects must be give a name and put in the oToDestroy table; this example has 4 objects to keep track of. You then substitute the number of objects for the nDesObject variable inside of the DestroyObjectState() function.- the way that this is written now you would put the code for whatever you want to happen once all the objects are destroyed in the AllDestroyed() function (like updating of mission goals). -Good luck the editor is quite intimidating at first, but hopefully we've got another modder around here. -vs oToDestroy={GetObject('oB_1'),GetObject('oB_2'),GetObject('oB_3'),GetObject('oB_4')} function AllDestroyed() out('All Objects Destroyed') end function DestroyObjectState() local nDesObjects=4--This number is the number of objects that you are monotering the state of (the number in the table above) local nAllObjects=nDesObjects while nDesObjects>0 do Sleep(20) nDesObjects=nAllObjects for i=1,nAllObjects do if ObjectGetDestroyStage(oToDestroy[i])~=0 then nDesObjects=nDesObjects-1 end end end AllDestroyed() return end StartThread(DestroyObjectState)

I've gotten a lot of comments about the redness of the image- I worked quite a wile to get the lighting to 'pop' in my mind- Like how I pictured the word after the apocalypse- stark (more contrast)- and polluted (the red)... But now- (especially since I have made a lot more 'terrain spots' that are dirtier / more corrodes) I might use a more regular lighting for more of the game. I think that now I will have 'eradiated' areas (like in the wasteland (the first CRPG that I truly loved))- where I will use the red lighting, and there may be some additional effect- along the lines of 'radiation sickness' (some sort of minor bleeding that cannot be bandaged)- Thanks for the encouragement! After reading what people said about my mod on other forums- which all turned into flame wars... I'm glad that ole' strat-co pulls through with thought-out and respectful comments- we may post less often here, but we make it count. -vs

(this is also in the news post) Back story / setting for 'sandy wastes' Among the scientists that worked on 'the gadget' (the first atomic bomb which was tested at the Trinity Test Site in New Mexico) there was a traitor. Through unknown means he was able to leak almost all of the research and designs to Japan. The Japanese shared the information with Germany and the two began their work on their own bombs. Their combined efforts proved exceptionally fruitful. Both countries had a sizable stockpile by the time that America decided to use 'Fat Man' and 'Little Boy.' This resulted in the obvious: nuclear retaliation by the Japanese. Las Angeles was first hit on August 12, 1945, then again on the 13. Few survived, the bombs that the Japanese had developed were far superior and deadlier than the American versions. The Russians, however, had discovered the German's nuclear nerve center, deep under Berlin. The technology was beyond anything that had been seen before, hundreds upon hundreds of 'little gadgets,' each with their own means of propulsion and guidance. The Russians attempted to launch a counter-attack. Unfortunately, the German system was not operated properly: thousands of drone bombers were launched, targets chosen at random- seeming to favor the most populous places... By August 14 little was left. What technology that remains is all from the '40s - little progress was made towards rebuilding the world. Some of the survivors found the new world strangely appealing.- The individual was king- no governments. The lawlessness was rampant- people could not see past living through the day- this sped civilizations decline. By the '60s women had almost vanished- their lives had become quite terrible as one could imagine- it seemed that the current generation would be the last generation. Raiders have garnered much power. They used to simply be more aggressive scavengers, but they have organized and started building bases underground where they horde what goods are left. Small thriving towns have sprung up- seeing the eventual end of mankind they are people banding together to form a semblance of a normal life. Usually completely untrusting of outsiders, it is quite difficult to enter their walled towns. The Church of the Rubicon and its followers 'the cleaned' try to bring about contentment in their current life through the technology of the old- They have developed an irreversible process that allows one contentment and inner-peace even in the harshness of the waste. Into this world has come a sweeping plague- 'vapor sickness.' Red clouds that can paralyze, blind or even kill. You have gotten word that the one female you have ever known, Polly, has been exposed. You emerge from the waste to help her.

Back story / setting for 'sandy wastes' Among the scientists that worked on 'the gadget' (the first atomic bomb which was tested at the Trinity Test Site in New Mexico) there was a traitor. Through unknown means he was able to leak almost all of the research and designs to Japan. The Japanese shared the information with Germany and the two began their work on their own bombs. Their combined efforts proved exceptionally fruitful. Both countries had a sizable stockpile by the time that America decided to use 'Fat Man' and 'Little Boy.' This resulted in the obvious: nuclear retaliation by the Japanese. Las Angeles was first hit on August 12, 1945, then again on the 13. Few survived, the bombs that the Japanese had developed were far superior and deadlier than the American versions. The Russians, however, had discovered the German's nuclear nerve center, deep under Berlin. The technology was beyond anything that had been seen before, hundreds upon hundreds of 'little gadgets,' each with their own means of propulsion and guidance. The Russians attempted to launch a counter-attack. Unfortunately, the German system was not operated properly: thousands of drone bombers were launched, targets chosen at random- seeming to favor the most populous places... By August 14 little was left. What technology that remains is all from the '40s - little progress was made towards rebuilding the world. Some of the survivors found the new world strangely appealing.- The individual was king- no governments. The lawlessness was rampant- people could not see past living through the day- this sped civilizations decline. By the '60s women had almost vanished- their lives had become quite terrible as one could imagine- it seemed that the current generation would be the last generation. Raiders have garnered much power. They used to simply be more aggressive scavengers, but they have organized and started building bases underground where they horde what goods are left. Small thriving towns have sprung up- seeing the eventual end of mankind they are people banding together to form a semblance of a normal life. Usually completely untrusting of outsiders, it is quite difficult to enter their walled towns. The Church of the Rubicon and its followers 'the cleaned' try to bring about contentment in their current life through the technology of the old- They have developed an irreversible process that allows one contentment and inner-peace even in the harshness of the waste. Into this world has come a sweeping plague- 'vapor sickness.' Red clouds that can paralyze, blind or even kill. You have gotten word that the one female you have ever known, Polly, has been exposed. You emerge from the waste to help her.

I tried the link; the forum is still all garbled after I log in. I tried using both IE and firefox same result- what browser are you using?

is any one else having problems with the nival forums? As soon as I log in the justification of every item flips sides; if I click On anything I get an error about them having a problem with the database; any one else??? -vs

Here's some info and pics on the mod I've been working on. Right now it is called 'Sandy Wastes' and takes place in a post apocalyptic 1978- where all is desert and what remaining technology is horded a select few- The open sands are plagued by raiders who prey off the scavengers who are trying to rebuild a life for themselves. The game play will have much more Role playing elements: Dialogs where your choices matter, factions to join or fight, and a real outcome to your decisions. The party will also be kept small and the fights less-hi powered (as in no panzerkins, less heavy weapons and grenades, less ammo all around). The baggiest influences to this mod would be: movies: 'a boy and his dog', 'blood of heroes', 'hardware', 'mad max' (no cars though, but fighting over gas) games: 'wasteland' 'fallout'; It's not faithful to any of them, I'm working on a back story and overarching plot still... I'll post some picks soon) -Nothing too faithful to any of them, but small inspirations and hints at. The pics: A desert raider, and a 'cleaned one,' a follower of the church of the Rubicon. -still a long way off (3-4 months realistically), but I might start putting betas out to get some feedback and bug finding sooner. -vance

I'd just like to chime in: that a mod can take a long long time. Making a few levels and scripting them may sound easy, but if you want quality and originality it can take days and days of tweaking after you think that a map is done before you are totally done with it. Also the s2 / s3 editor makes it hard for people to work on a mod together- you can't easily move templates (what the maps are in ss/sss) from one mod's database to another. You can work on the same database if everyone is on the same network, but seeing as how ss madders are (few and) far between - that probably wont happen. I agree with slaughter that you need to take the initiative and get the ball rolling - I think that getting the alien models + skins would be a good place to start. Once the models are made (which would be done in maya and lots of people know/use it) some ss modders (with out current projects) would probably get excited and actually start putting the hours in. -good luck -vs