Replacing leader 3D diplomacy scene with 2D art [Q answered: now with instructions]

Edit: Question answered. Scroll down to see Bodacious image below.

This would be useful to facilitate modders that add leaders (perhaps many) and don't have WETA-like resources to make all that 3D art. Or for those that don't think the 3D leader scenes add much to the game.

I've gained a reasonable understanding of UI xml and lua files and how they work (I can do trivial modifications like moving scroll bars around). But I can't find the part of the UI that controls leader diplomacy 3D screen. I'm not even sure if it is exposed in xml/lua at all. There is a LeaderPanel in the DiscussionDialog.xml and lua, but that's just the dialog box, not the scene control. The specific leader scene is called from the leaders.xml by (for example) <ArtDefineTag>Elizabeth_scene.xml</ArtDefineTag>. However, I can't find any such file so I don't know where that is pointing. Anyone have any ideas how to go about this? Or any clues that might help me?

Look at my post

Um... no.

I'm not sure that I found all 4 threads, but I see at least 3 threads on how to make or add 3D leader heads to the game (or perhaps how to simulate 2D still art using the game's 3D animation system).

That's not what I'm asking.

JeBuS27 said:

Sorry, it must have been 5 posts below yours by the time of posting.

Click to expand...

Wow, bit harsh to compare this thread where the OP is asking a specific sensible question in depth to that one.

He may have used more words, but the thread was about the exact same topic.

JeBuS27 said:

Literally 4 threads down in the forum, someone asked the same question not half an hour ago.

Click to expand...

Maybe it's me, but I wasn't able to fully understand the question in this one.

Anyway, Elizabeth_scene.xml is in LeaderModels.fpk.

edit : maybe FallbackImage is what you look for in the first line
I don't know if you could force it by editing the rest...

fozo1655 said:

Leader heads must be 3d correct?

2d is simpiler to create... So what if when we made a leader head a simple plane and added a texture to it thus creating the illusion of 2d?

Click to expand...

OK, I apologize profusely to fuzo1655. It may be silly to explain, but I did a good search on the topic several hours ago. It took me a couple hours to get the question written (because I was furiously trying to figure the answer out myself by digging around in UI). So I posted without checking what has gone up in the last 2 or 3 hours. I stand corrected.

In any case, I don't think fuzo1655's idea is very similar to mine at all, even if our desire is similar (we both want to start using 2D art for leaders). I'm not criticizing. Fuzo1655's approach may be better than mine. I don't even know if what I'm doing is possible. Perhaps it's hard coded. But if it's accessible through xml/lua, then it would be much better to redirect to a still 2D image (my approach) than to play a 3D animation that is frozen (this is my understanding of fuzo1655's method -- sorry if I'm mis-characterizing). Perhaps that is what we will have to do until we get the dll, but maybe someone (a better modder than me) can get me pointed in the right direction if there is a way.

I also didn't want to hijack the wonderful thread on making/adding 3D leader heads. It's very possible my question would have been answered there, but it would have felt like a hijack because their purpose is very different from mine (but I applaud their efforts).

Look, the question is pretty clearly laid out in the thread header, and more so in the OP. It's a somewhat technical xml/lua question. If you think it is unworthy (and everyone else agrees) then it will slip down the list and die a natural death.

have you tried putting NULL is some of them? (probably all except the dds and the camera one) Not sure if that would work, but you could try

I thought modders had found out it is impossible right now? It apparently just makes the game crash, Firaxis needs to fix 2d leaderheads on their end or some such.

yea, its hard to believe a static dds isn't possible from the start, but maybe that is the case.

Yeah, NULL doesn't work there (crashes the game).

That FallbackImage="Elizabeth.dds" statement in Elizabeth_scene.xml looks very promising (Kael's mod changes that to FallbackImage="Boudica.dds). It might be there and do nothing at all. Or there might be some secret way to trigger the FallbackImage that we don't know.

@Soduka, please point me to that discussion if you remember where it is.

btw Its a "o" not a "u" but thx

Jackpot!!! Maybe...

Just go into GraphicsSettingsDX11.ini and set
Now, I have two questions:
1. Can a mod change a graphic setting? (If not, it's less elegant but no big deal. Just have to instruct mod user to do this.)
2. What is the still image that's being used? Below are two screen shots that I took in game (they really are still images). One is Washington, the other is supposedly Boudica from Kael's mod (It doesn't seem like this is likely to be Kael's FallbackImage="Boudica.dds". But I don't have a dds viewer right now so I'm not sure).

not entirely sure on the first part, perhaps include a custom GraphicsSettingsDX11.ini and one for the DX9, maybe... we could do things like this in civ4, so it would be going backwards if we couldn't

the second part, I'm really not sure either, but it seems like it would be still requiring the animated part, but it just doesn't play, and you see a static image, but you didn't change any defines, its still getting the image of the leader from somewhere, because that is separate from the background.

Hah! Take a look at them apples!



Kael's mod has a bug in it, so to speak. He created a Boudica_scene.xml with FallbackImage="Boudica.dds", but then in leader Leader_Boudica.xml used ArtDefineTag = Elizabeth_scene.xml. So I don't think Boudica_scene.xml is used at all.

So I changed ArtDefineTag to Boudica_scene.xml. I then edited Boudica_scene.xml to match Elizabeth_scene.xml exactly except FallbackImage="Boudica.dds". Then I run game with UseScreenShots = 1 (in GraphicsSettingsDX11.ini), and am presented with the Bodacious image above. When I run with UseScreenShots = 0, then I get the normal Elizabeth animations. So it all works and FallbackImage is really where you can put a 2D image for your leader. My question remains whether a mod can change GraphicsSettingsDX11.ini, or if the mod user will have to do this themselves.

yep, it works.

to do a quick test, set "UseScreenShots = 1" in dx11 config, rename Boudica_scene.xml to Elizabeth_scene.xml (and edit Queen of the Iceni (v 3).modinfo to reflect the renaming), launch a quick game with 2 civs and select england as the opponent (and not celt, I don't thing that Kael's mod set the scene to be used).

I beat you to it Gedemon.

Very good thanks for sharing