Fantasy Unit Conversions from Kohan II

[lemonjelly]

Wow, they look really good Can't wait for the tutorial

 

[The_J]

OMG OMG OMG .

 

[Valkrionn]

Hate to ask this, but as I'm incapable of doing it...

Is there any chance I could get a gold/bronze reskin of the blue dragon? We don't have a blue drake dragon in RifE, but we DO have a bronze, and this way we could have a drake for each dragon.

EDIT: Actually, maybe I'm not incapable. Downloaded paint.net. I do have a question for you though... What compression do you use when saving .dds files? I seem to have lost some definition in my conversion....

Spoiler :

EDIT2: This one is a bit better, just need to tweak the coloration (green is too bright, for one). Using DXT3, iterative fit... Other options are default, let me know if I can improve on that.

Spoiler :

 

[Deliverator]

If you're getting into Paint.NET reskinning then I recommend getting the following freeware plugins:

pyrochild plugins -Includes Gradient Mapping, my new favourite way to do this kind of recolouring.
Ed Harvey plugins
Tanel Plugins - I always use Hue/Saturation+ rather than the built in one which can give grainy results apparently.
Conditional Hue/Saturation Plugin

The DDS options I use are:
DXT1 for 3D Textures that don't require alpha/transparency - saves on file size and keeps the game speedy.
DXT3 for 3D Textures that do require alpha/transparency.
Other settings for textures: CompressorType:Iterative fit, ErrorMetric: Perceptual, Additional Options: Generate Mip Maps ticked.

For icons, I use A1R5G5B5 format since the reduction in quality from the DXT compression can be quite noticeable. The other settings are the same apart from Generate Mip Maps which should be unticked.

I can do a golden reskin tomorrow, but if you want to do a quick Hue/Saturation one yourself then I suggesting using the Fire Drake texture as a starting point - shifting the Hue about 33 into orangey/yellow looks quite nice. Ideally, you'd want a gloss layer too for a gold drake so that it looks metallic...

 

[Valkrionn]

If you're getting into Paint.NET reskinning then I recommend getting the following freeware plugins:

pyrochild plugins -Includes Gradient Mapping, my new favourite way to do this kind of recolouring.
Ed Harvey plugins
Tanel Plugins - I always use Hue/Saturation+ rather than the built in one which can give grainy results apparently.
Conditional Hue/Saturation Plugin

The DDS options I use are:
DXT1 for 3D Textures that don't require alpha/transparency - saves on file size and keeps the game speedy.
DXT3 for 3D Textures that do require alpha/transparency.
Other settings for textures: CompressorType:Iterative fit, ErrorMetric: Perceptual, Additional Options: Generate Mip Maps ticked.

For icons, I use A1R5G5B5 format since the reduction in quality from the DXT compression can be quite noticeable. The other settings are the same apart from Generate Mip Maps which should be unticked.

I can do a golden reskin tomorrow, but if you want to do a quick Hue/Saturation one yourself then I suggesting using the Fire Drake texture as a starting point - shifting the Hue about 33 into orangey/yellow looks quite nice. Ideally, you'd want a gloss layer too for a gold drake so that it looks metallic...

I'll have to grab those plugins; I'm not the best at anything art related, but the capability to do some simple reskins myself is nice.

The Hue/Saturation+ sounds very useful... Mostly as that's the tool I use the most in Photoshop, and what I used here.

What exactly does generate mip maps do for the skin? Just curious, as I didn't use it.

If you're willing to do a golden skin, I'd DEFINITELY use it. As is, this is the best I've done:

 

[The_J]

What exactly does generate mip maps do for the skin? Just curious, as I didn't use it.

If i understand it right, mipmaps are additional information, which is used to scale the resolution down for users with low graphics settings.
Is very good recognizable for buttons, where you shouldn't do that.
Can't say anything about the impact on the skin.

 

[Lord Tirian]

If i understand it right, mipmaps are additional information, which is used to scale the resolution down for users with low graphics settings.
Is very good recognizable for buttons, where you shouldn't do that.
Can't say anything about the impact on the skin.

Mipmaps are just rescaled versions of the texture (half size, quarter size etc.) - that way, the game can use smaller textures for objects farther away - this means they looking better as they're "pre-anti aliased". If you remember FfH2's release of the "finished" 0.4 version, a lot of citysets were sort of flittering and pixelly when you were scrolling over the map. That was due to the lack of mipmaps. Of course, for some UI elements, mipmaps mean that the game might use the smaller versions, which is unwanted.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Valkrionn]

Definitely going to use mipmaps then, thanks for the explanation!

@Deliverator - Those plugins are awesome. So much smoother, and that conditional hue/saturation is amazing.

I've got two versions... Think I prefer the second. Can upload either if there's a desire for them, though I'd still use yours if you made one.

First one:

Spoiler :

It's a little too red, too much like the fire drake.

Second one:

Spoiler :

Belly is a little light, but at this point it's become too difficult to edit.

 

[Psychic_Llamas]

Awesome! ive added these to the Warhamemr mod

just a quick question:

ive made 2 new dragons, a green forest dragon and a gold dragon. ive also made 2 new breath attacks for these (well the forest dragon will use the poison breath attack so i made a purple/black breath attack for the black dragon), however i cannot find where to link these breath attacks to the units (ie my forest dragon and gold dragon both use the default lightning breath attacks)

any idea where i should be looking?

 

[Deliverator]

To hook up effects and sounds to a unit you need to look in the NiTextKeyExtraData node of the KF animation file in question, in this case storm_drake_strike1.kf:

Spoiler :

You have a start and end entry that mark either end of the animation. In between you have entries beginning EFFECT or SOUND.

The EFFECT entries tell the engine, for example, to trigger the Drake Poison Breath effect 0.2 seconds into the strike animation. Effect_Mouth is the node in the NIF that you want the effect to be emitted from and EFFECT_DRAKE_POISON_BREATH is the entry in CIV4EffectInfos.xml.

The SOUND entries tell the engine, for example, to play the Drake Fire sound effect 0.3 seconds into the strike animation. The string AS3D_DRAKE_FIRE corresponds to an entry in Audio3DScripts.xml.

These can be easily amended in NifSkope. If you ever need more entries you can just increase the Num Text Keys value and click the green refresh icon. It is not necessary to enter the text keys in chronological order.

You'll want to start with the storm_drake_strike1.kf file corresponding to the breath that you've recoloured. So, if your purple breath is a reskin of the poison breath, then use the storm_drake_strike1.kf from the black_drake folder as your start point. This is because the pattern of triggering is different for each effect type. For example, the lightning breath only triggers twice during the animation, whereas the fire breath triggers about nine separate 0.033 second bursts to ensure that the fire always comes out of the drakes mouth rather than somewhere behind its head.

Edit: By the way, if your creating different colours of breath it is definitely worth tuning the colours and alpha of the NiMaterialProperty for the NiParticleSystem. I've found this has a more profound effect on the final outcome than the texture file used. For example, the texture for the frost breath is just a grey cloud, but the NiMaterialProperty turns it into a nice misty white. If you have 3DS Max and SceneViewer installed you can just drag and drop effects NIFs into SceneViewer which greatly improves the tweak and re-test times. Otherwise, going back to Main Menu and starting a new game seems to reload effects so you can tweak and re-test that way.

 

[Grey Fox]

Wrong place to ask I know, but does Paint.NET have good support for pen tablets, and does it have any tool similar to the pen tool in Photoshop? (draws vector curves which you can then use in various means, like stroke with a brush, fill, or save as a shape you can load later)

 

[Glaeder]

Say Deliverator
For this flying-, not-flying change of a dragon unit, we'd talked about.
You said you've allready made something simulare befor. So could you tell me if I need knowlige about python programing or does xml do?
I'm affraid I don't know python very well jet.

 

[Deliverator]

Wrong place to ask I know, but does Paint.NET have good support for pen tablets, and does it have any tool similar to the pen tool in Photoshop? (draws vector curves which you can then use in various means, like stroke with a brush, fill, or save as a shape you can load later)

I don't know about pen tablet support, and it doesn't really have support for paths like Photoshop as far as I know. It is a simpler tool than Photoshop ultimately, but it is free and it does support a lot of really handy things like layers, clone stamp, etc.

For this flying-, not-flying change of a dragon unit, we'd talked about.
You said you've allready made something simulare befor. So could you tell me if I need knowlige about python programing or does xml do?

The solution we used for Dune Wars is described in this thread towards the end. It requires a 7 line change to the SDK as well the XML changes. Compiling the SDK is a step up in modding complexity from changing Python code - I've not done it yet myself.

To see the art swapping in action you can try the Dune Wars mod, play as the Fremen and move a Fremen Scout onto the desert. The art switches to the Worm Rider.

 

[Deliverator]

No one seems interested in creating reskins of the Lamia unit I posted here yet.

 

[Psychic_Llamas]

thats because it looks absolutely awesome as it is!

*yoink*

 

[Deliverator]

Yeah it looks pretty nice as it is, but if people want 3 levels of spellcaster for the Kuriotates Arcane line then they could use 3 reskins for the variants like in C.Roland's original:

Spoiler :

By they way, I've thought more about the tutorial. I found so many problems with using Blender to alter the animations when doing the Drakes (mostly import or export screw ups) that I figured out how to do everything needed in 3DS Max which seems a far more foolproof process. Is it worth me doing a tutorial if 3DS Max is required? I seem to remember you saying you had it PL...

 

[Manifold]

No one seems interested in creating reskins of the Lamia unit I posted here yet.

after my present project to find a battle-animation for the master_gunsmith, i would love to give this unit a male torso for a Erichthonius of Athens unit. this guy was half-man and half-serpent, just like your creepy girls

 

[Psychic_Llamas]

I figured out how to do everything needed in 3DS Max which seems a far more foolproof process. Is it worth me doing a tutorial if 3DS Max is required? I seem to remember you saying you had it PL...

Absolutely! i do have 3DS max indeed and id love a tutorial! (it might even help me in animating my bloody Hydra at last)

 

[Psychic_Llamas]

Ive reskinned the Storm Drake as a Coatl, a mythological Aztec dragon with rainbow featherd wings.



<<<<<<<<<< DOWNLOAD COATL ATTACHMENT >>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[NotSoGood]

Ive reskinned the Storm Drake as a Coatl, a mythological Aztec dragon with rainbow featherd wings.

Look awesome, like all other units in this thread. Unfortunately I don't think I can use them in my mod.