[Religion and Revolution]: Achievements

[thadian]

Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\civilization iv colonization\Assets\Art\Units has many subfolders containing .kf - .dds - bethesda art files. now i need to find the .nif files - i downloaded nifskope from niftools (didnt know if that was the right one, google auto-type corrected nifscope into nifskope).

 

[Schmiddie]

Yes, nifskope is right. I always say "nifscope", but nifskope is the right diction.

Go to the folder/subfolders, where you find the mod (I think the path above is the one of the vanilla game?).

This is the path where I have filed the mod:
D:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\NAME\Eigene Dateien\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization IV Colonization\MODS\Religion_and_Revolution\Assets\Art\units\...

Go into the subfolder of the unit you want to use for your picture and open the .nif-file. Very often there is only ONE nif-file which contains a or the unit itself. In general the name of this file is a short one without an annex (e.g. _freeze1021 or _md_idle_die).

 

[thadian]

im starting to get it, at first i was not understanding that all my .nif files are showing as "bethesda art files", i just needed to change the default program to nifscope.

Now i can open a "unit", so i just move the camera to the "angle" i want, printscreen, paste in a viewer and crop out? or is that the "dumb" way? I never knew objects would be floating around - is there a way to pop that gun into the hands of the unit? Afraid to poke around too much and mess something up! But once i get my first one done, it will be easy street from there.

Edit: I finally got one screenshot, and im getting the hang of this. It sure takes more talent than i thought it would, and i have a whole new respect for the difficulty of art for this. However, it is only bound to get better.

Spoiler :

Our brand of cigars is becoming quite popular and this increase of production will satisfy the growing demand. As resources are produced in greater quantities, demand will increase with availibility. Will our brand spread far across the world?

As you trade greater numbers of resources, prices will begin to decline as the market saturates itself with a flood of goods. Parhaps it would be wise to invest some of these profits in the next business venture?

 

[raystuttgart]

I finally got one screenshot, ...

Beautiful !

 

[thadian]

Im getting better already - paint.net is comfortable to use despite a few shortcomings - ive figured out i can zoom in a square and put units around it and move them in from different directions to have them face different directions. then i can cut-paste them and move them into a spot that doesn't have captain obvious clipmarks and blur tool with a colormatched texture. now that i got one done, i need to increase the quality and find a nice sky to use

 

[Schmiddie]

Alright, you should cut around the units a little bit...

 

[thadian]

yes, im learning that - there is no "real" way to hide it - at least that sticks out. Ive been playing with textures because with the right combo of texture + color + oil paint mode, a lot can happen. I looked at all the ones we already have and can only appreciate how long it must have taken!

 

[thadian]

A far cry from perfect - im figuring out where im stuck. So far i have taken a black-sky terrain and turned it into this.

Spoiler :

I use bucket fill to hunt for a color. However, i am unable to find one that isn't in use - when i bucket-fill neon pink and send pink to alpha channel, this happens.

Spoiler :

I had to struggle to get it to look like the first picture, but i still have the unit to add. I loaded the unit in Nifskope and crop it.

Spoiler :

Now, i need to bucket-fill the black - however im having a heck of a time getting rid of the axis-lines. If i could get rid of that and the black background, i could save a few copies of each unit for screenshots and achievement screens.

Whew... now, i need to keep looking at the unit and figure out what to do with it. I can screenshot it from Nifskope and paste to paint.net/gimp and crop the unit out of the shot - but neither program likes to bucket or color over the axis lines.

Spoiler :

I know if i can get the background of the unit neon pink, i should be able to send everything neon pink to alpha channel - thats what im struggling with atm, and the tutorials are of little help.

 

[raystuttgart]

A far cry from perfect - im figuring out where im stuck. So far i have taken a black-sky terrain and turned it into this.

Looks great.

 

[thadian]

i will be flying through them once i can figure out how to make the red-green-yellow axis lines go away - i figured out i need to mask layer opacity on the primary image and cut-paste the "outline" of the unit into gimp. i have about 12 tabs open in firefox, paint.net, gimp, nifskope, civ5 modbuddy, civ 5, and rar open all at once...

 

[Schmiddie]

i will be flying through them once i can figure out how to make the red-green-yellow axis lines go away

click "Render" and remove the checkmark in front of "Draw Axes"

 

[thadian]

Your my hero, Schmiddie! Seriously, i appreciate your help. Thanks to everyone for helping me, i am able to make better progress, here is my next effort...

Spoiler :

I think im starting to get better at this.

Last one, your background is pink in nifscope, how?


Edit! Sweet!

Spoiler :

Wonderful news, governor! The church has appointed a holy Bishop from our citizens. Religous influence is growing, for we have legitimized our great faith. Will we someday hold the same influence as the church in Europe?

Bishops are the strongest religous unit. Have them spread your faith in a Grand Cathedral for best results.Bishop Alonso Manso (1460 - September 27, 1539) was a Spanish bishop born in Becerril de Campos, Spain On August 8, 1511, Pope Julius II created three dioceses in the New World.

Two in Hipaniola, (Santo Domingo and Concepción de la Vega), and one in Puerto Rico.In 1519, at the request of Bishop Manso, the diocese of Puerto Rico was expanded to cover all the Leeward Islands and two years later he directed the construction of the Cathedral of San Juan. (Source, Wikipedia)

oil

Spoiler :

Should i make this bishop a little bit transparent or oil painting conversion maybe?

 

[Writing Bull]

Last one, your background is pink in nifscope, how?

--> Render --> Settings --> Color

 

[thadian]

Spoiler :

First Bishop has arrived.

You have found 5 treasures.

You have built a palace to govern from.

Your merchants have three wagons.

20 Horses per turn.

These natives don't look friendly, fellas...

My GF calls it "cute".

U mad bro?

whew, i figured out most of what i need to do - the struggle is over but the work has begun. Luckily, this is getting easier for me so once i finish achievement screenshots (as many as i can) for release 1, i will be able to take up more text or art as i am getting better.

This whole experience is very enlightening, i never knew i actually have the ability to learn how to do this. Pretty tough to start, but im trying.

I think since i have gotten 3, i will start by taking 20-50 pictures of the land, and units for easier arrangement. I also like the "no smoking pic", probably my favorite so far. Hopefully i can find a nice mean king-face to do something fun with.


Do you want me to upload screenshots into the transfer folder? I still don't know how to take one of these shots and "apply" it to the achievement itself. Also, uploading them to that folder would allow someone more talented than myself to "final touch" the pics. So far, each one i made has .dds, .xcf, and .png formats.

 

[raystuttgart]

The graphics look fantastic.

Do you want me to upload screenshots into the transfer folder ?

If you got XML, texts and graphic finished, you could directly upload the complete Achievement.
(Only for the achievements you have completed please. )

I still don't know how to take one of these shots and "apply" it to the achievement itself.

That is not difficult.

1. Put the graphic (.dds) into:

...\Religion_and_Revolution\Assets\Art\achievements

Let us call it MyGreatAchievementGraphic.dds
(That is just an example of course. Name it so it does make sense considering the content.)

2. In CIV4AchieveInfos.xml you reference the picture with this tag in the Achievement you created it for:

<PictureFileName>Art/achievements/MyGreatAchievementGraphic.dds</PictureFileName>

That is it.

 

[thadian]

cool - im going to take a few days to go camping, birthday on the 9th - gf's birthday on the 8th. pretty nice, eh?

once i get back from another trek into nature, i will approach with a clear mind. i have about 60 pink-background units, and about 20 "scenes" and a good gamesave ive been building just to take screenshots with. updating post #21 with another shot XD

 

[raystuttgart]

cool - im going to take a few days to go camping, birthday on the 9th - gf's birthday on the 8th. pretty nice, eh?

Have a nice time.

 

[Writing Bull]

thadian, great progress! Your training curve is impressive.

 

[thadian]

when your 32 (33 in 2 days) you learn how to learn XD <off to camping trip!>

 

[raystuttgart]

@thadian:

You don't need to bother creating achievements for these Units:
(They will probably be removed in Release 2. see here)

• Expert Goldminer
• Expert Gemstoneminer
• Expert Saltminer