Princess Pistol (24/08/2006)

[beboy]

Once upon the time, there was a beautiful princess who was getting sick of being captured without defending herself! She said, in the lingua franca of the moment:"Ouate de phoque!", and she took a pistol. This was the beginning of a Revolution!

UPDATE (28 august): The file have been updated with improvements made by Vuldacon; look at post 14. Thanks!

Preview: Attack/Attack/Victory:


Civpedia image:



The Link to file

Note: the pistol animation is a C n' P from Utahjazz7's Partisan

 

[LMR]

awesome work, beboy

it doesnt look at all like C'n'P

 

[Plotinus]

Now that is pretty imaginative! Good job!

 

[DJ Bonebraker]

Take THAT, Bowser! and THAT!



Nice job, there!

 

[Bluemofia]

Definitly going into the Playground Mod!

 

[The Omega]

Definitly going into the Playground Mod!

Curses, you beat me to it!

 

[aaglo]

Damn, that's cool

 

[Stormrage]

Prom-Queen (sp?) gone ballistic! Nice job beboy

 

[Vuldacon]

Very Novel Unit indeed. I am sure there are many games she can be used in. Splendid job on the animation for her and nice sounds as well

BTW, Do you have the way to make .amb files? IF so, I would really like to know the software you are using.
IF a .amb files is used from another unit, it causes the original unit to use the new sound entries. This is problematic unless the unit that had the .amb file originally is not used. This has been the case when I have tried it.

 

[taube87]

a lady with a gun

 

[beboy]

Thanks everyone for the comments!

@Vuldacon: Sorry, I have no idea how to work with .amb files. As a matter of fact, I was thinking that if someone knew how to work with this type of files, it would have been you.. I normally prefer to mess around with .wav files for units without sounds rather than to use .amb...

 

[Vuldacon]

Well the best way to "Use" the existing .amb files for a new unit is to keep them the same, using the same sounds that were placed in them for the unit the .amb file was made for. This will not create any problems. The .amb files are little programs that dictate the sound bytes that play is a sequence for a flc. In order to make new .amb (program) files, special software programs are needed. If you analyze an existing unit and make the animation for a new unit where it matches the number of frames and the actual steps of the Run animation along with the same Flc speed, the .amb file from the original game unit can be used for the new unit. Just listen to the Run sounds from any unit that has a .amb file to decide if the Run sounds are what you want for a new unit... Once you decide, you can then create your new unit Run animation so you can use that .amb file and sounds with it.
Even though there are several units that use .amb files for the Attack as well, it is the run sounds that always create the biggest problem for timing on all areas of the map.

 

[woodelf]

Dangerous Broad!

 

[Vuldacon]

beboy..There are a few minor things that I corrected IF you want them for this Unit.
Corrected the Shadows in the NW direction for the Run animation.
Corrected All shadoes for the Attack and and Victory Flcs.
Made some of the Attack Smoke transparent.
Corrected the SW, S, N, NW and W directions for the Run animation to coincide with the Default Flc.
Moved All Flcs two pixels to the to the Left except the Death and Default Flcs which were ok.
Replaced the Musket Rifle sound with a Pistol sound.
Made a Fortify Flc from existing Flcs because the Default is too long to use for a Fortify Flc.
Made a Fortify sound ...(laughing and cocking the pistol).
Set the Default as the Fidget Flc as well and added her laugh just for sound.
Made a Civ Specific units_32.pcx.
Adjusted the .ini
All Game tested.
beboy...These adjustments and additions are intended to help, not take away from your work on this Fun and Novel unit. Credit is all yours. I merely adjusted and added these changes to use this unit in my Game and thought I would offer them to you. The Files are named PistolPrincess so they will not overwrite your original files. Use IF or as you like. Fun Unit

 

[Goldflash]

I should tottaly make a movie called 'Princess Pistol!'

 

[beboy]

@Vuldacon: I just saw your post; I was away for the week-end. Those changes sound very interesting!! The issues with centering were particularly annoying. I cannot have a look at your files now, but I'll do so as soon as I get back home from work

 

[Vuldacon]

beboy... Because the original Princess Flcs use different Offsets and different sized frames, this becomes a factor to deal with when changing the Frame sizes for a new unit. I analyzed the storyboards and used the same sequence of Frames that you used to correct the Shadows that used only one light shadow shade. I separated the Shadows from the animations with a "Shadow Palette" I made to quickly do this and then applied the corrected Multi-Shade Shadows. The Offsets had to be analyzed and manually corrected since the Flcs were already finished. Civ3FlicEdit will help you keep the Offsets if you use it first to generate the storyboards when resizing the Frames. Generate the Storyboards with it to the size you want, then you can work with those storyboards as you like and keep the offsets where the animations will all be centered.
Since this unit did not have a Fortify Flc, the game automatically uses the Default Flc and this was too long. Fortify Flcs need to be kept short or the animations and sounds will be "Chopped" or not play in the game so the new Fortify Flc is simply several Frames of other Flcs, put together for a shorter animation that will play and allow sound to play with it.
I thought the Death Sound was a bit too long to match the action so I very slightly adjusted that as well.

I am added her to "Escape From Zombie Island 2" as a "Crazed Prom Queen" who went Berserk from Fear caused by the Zombie Infestation Her Laugh and appearance fit very well. Fun Unit

 

[beboy]

Thanks much for the info Vuldacon! I never used Civ3FlicEdit, solely Flicster. But from from what you are telling, it seems a lot better for resizing jobs!!

As for the palettes, I still have some learnings to do in this fields, especially with my next cut 'n' past unit...

 

[Vuldacon]

beboy... I also use Flicster and prefer it but IF you want to take a unit that has different Frame sizes and offsets for the Flcs it uses and make a new unit with different Offsets and frame sizes...Civ3FlicEdit is best to use, at least for the First Storyboards you make with Different Sized Frames. Flicster Must have Two Pixels of space on the East Frame and most Original Game units have the animations closer or touching this Frame Border. This is what causes the animation anomalies when generating a Flc with Flicster. It is Best to increase the Frame size in order to have the needed distance away from that East Frame Edge when using Flicster. Civ3FlcEdit will add an extra Frame if you are making a New Unit and this causes a Hesitation in the animation...IF you start with an existing Unit, Civ3FlcEdit will use the existing information for the unit and then does not place the extra Frame.
Flicster and Civ3FlcEdit are both Good programs and we are all lucky to have them. That said, they do have "quirks" for lack of another word but these programs work quite well if we understand how to avoid those "quirks". Many times I have used both programs, such as generating a storyboard with Civ3FlcEdit then using that Storyboard in Flcster.

 

[beboy]

@Vuldacon: I look at your modifications; those are great improvements to the original unit!! Much Thanks!!
I tested it in-game and everything works fine!! No more glitch between the the attack and the default! (Just be careful with the file you posted in post 14: the name of the fortify sound is not right, it is PistalPrincessFortify with an "a" instead of a "o", while it's with an "o" in the ini file.)

Thanks again!!

To all: redownload the updated file here