Unit Request

[Oleg153]

Hmm... Let's try to reflect. Grenadiers (IMHO) - aren't tactical units itself - they was included into regiments for attack fire support (small artillery). This means that grenadier unit can receive bonus to attack fortified unit but not more than that. Change Is this game for the better?
May be is better to use different soldier skins for regiments with different morale and tactical training (for example - 48 and 50 regiments) and from one of them make "Shock Trooper".

In addition, in the case of the cavalry, and yet grenadier my stops need to change the 3D model. When I would be able to import units in 3DMax, it will be possible to talk about it, but as soon as possible to better focus on what can be done at the soldier and dragoon from the game.

So in the next plan - to finish the series for the Indian Wars (New Jersey provincial regiment, French artillery) and find out what I can do with the Revolutionary War (rebuilt Continental dragoon, paint a French soldier and possibly French Hussar)

 

[Oleg153]

younflancy

You can get me example?

 

[younflancy]

Please take a look at these pics.
I tried to use the cavalry unit here :http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=5364

And in civ4 it works well.

But in Colonization it is like:

 

[GeoModder]

Younflancy, try using the [unitname]_fx.nif version in your xml if included with these units.

 

[i_diavolorosso]

Please take a look at these pics.
I tried to use the cavalry unit here :http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=5364

And in civ4 it works well.

But in Colonization it is like:

OMG!!!
Now i know why do you feel so annoyed

 

[Oleg153]

And I have two hours unsuccessfully experimented but did not find what is your "cavalry asian" from similar "Cavalry_Eng" from "11 Industrial" set Units

 

[younflancy]

Younflancy, try using the [unitname]_fx.nif version in your xml if included with these units.

Thanks. I knew this before.
But the cavalry units I wanted to use have no such _fx file.

The original units in standard BTS can be used well.
Unfortunately many user-made units dont provide _fx nif file.
And what is worse, some units perform bad even if they are using _fx NIF.

 

[younflancy]

And I have two hours unsuccessfully experimented but did not find what is your "cavalry asian" from similar "Cavalry_Eng" from "11 Industrial" set Units

I have tried the Chinese cavalry in "11 industrial" set too. That is a good cavalry unit, which works well in Colonization.

But this cavalry is not of TRADITIONAL CHINESE STYLE. Actually it is from Qing Dynasty, which shows the MANCHURIAN STYLE.

I would like to use the chinese cavalry posted above. It is with a Chokonu's uniform, looking good. This unit can be found in "Diversica" or some other big MOD.

The problem is, it has no _fx NIF file, and could not be used in COL.

 

[Oleg153]

Cavalry_Eng also don't provide _fx nif file () although he is listed in the NIF file - but work without any problem.

 

[younflancy]

i_diavolorosso :
Yes I have stuck on this problem for long, sometimes depressed.

If this problem could not be fixed, maybe I need to make some compromise, to use the units that can be used in COL, but not very flavoured and accurate.

 

[younflancy]

Cavalry_Eng also don't provide _fx nif file () although he is listed in the NIF file - but work without any problem.

Yes. That is a nice Unit set. Maybe it actually provides the NIF files as _fx formation, but without explicit name.

And I've no idea what the difference is between XXX.nif and XXX_fx.nif.

 

[Oleg153]

Let's go search for ideas (very many letters)

http://www.fxforce.com/Tutorials.html

 

[Wonderblunder]

May be is better to use different soldier skins for regiments with different morale and tactical training (for example - 48 and 50 regiments) and from one of them make "Shock Trooper".

Yeah,your idea is better,maybe for the reskins,the less experienced soldiers could resemble something like Militia,while the "elite" soldiers could resemble something similiar to the King's guard,or maybe just have a better uniform with more supplies,another possibility is that they could look like officers.
As for the Grenadier,I was planning to use the it as an offensive unit who gets a bonus attacking cities.

About the cannon,when you release it,could you include a nif file and kfm file from the original cannon file?For some reason,there are no nif,kfm,or ka files in the original unit files.

 

[Wonderblunder]

Please take a look at these pics.
I tried to use the cavalry unit here :http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=5364

And in civ4 it works well.

But in Colonization it is like:

I hate that bug! Hopefully Firaxis will release a patch that fixes that bug.

 

[Belizan]

I don't think it's a "bug". Or rather, not a bug with Firaxis' code. It looks to me like something changed in the engine which didn't effect the artwork created by Firaxis because they were creating their artwork against a stricter set of adherence guidelines which they actually knew about. We in the community though, discovered our own guidelines which turned out to be insufficient when whatever this side effect is was introduced. So now, a lot of community work is "bugged". It's not a Firaxis bug, it's a bug on our side. We just need to figure out what the Firaxis artwork is doing that our artwork isn't, and then update the various models to compensate.

For instance, not being an art guy, let me take a first pass guess at what might be going on. The _fx version of the artwork is the high-res version (so I've been told . Maybe the loader now defaults to loading only the high res version of a texture, and the default "I didn't find the texture" texture is TeamColour? If the units were repacked with high-res textures (even the same texture just resaved in a higher resolution), they might render properly? Just putting forth a theory .

 

[Oleg153]

Belizan - Thank you for a hint, but, alas, off the target (although now is clear as default is realized in the .nif XML) Simple horse texture changing to high resolution dds not lead to needed result.
I think that need (perhaps) to look somewhere between _fx.nif files to .kfm, but I now I know too little to say for sure.

 

[Oleg153]

Belizan - Thank you for a hint, but, alas, off the target (although now is clear as default is realized in the .nif XML) Simple horse texture changing to high resolution dds not lead to needed result.
I think that need (perhaps) to look somewhere between _fx.nif files to .kfm, but I now I know too little to say for sure.

 

[younflancy]

Guys, I can't believe this, but I found where the problem is, and solved it!

The xxx_fx.nif means an NIF file with a shader(which can show more realistic scenes with shadows), and xxx.nif means the identical unit without a shader.
Civ4 program can take both types of NIF, and choose one of them to use, according to the performance of the computer.
But Colonization only use _fx files, simply because they look better.

The units we used, which caused problems with color, were with no shader.
For instance, the Chinese Cavalry unit I posted above, was using a Chinese Spearman's body, and a normal cavalry's horse. Both parts are no_shader ones.
Fortunately I found the Chinese Spearman's unit file in "Diversica", and what is better, I found the corresponding _fx file for the body! I just copy the body branch and replaced the no_shader one in Chinese Cavalry. The horse is replaced with the _fx in original Cavalry unit too.
Then IT WORKS!

 

[younflancy]

This article really helped me. Thanks a lot.
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=5339402#post5339402

I've been waiting for an answer for long time. Today I forced myself to look into this from the scratch with little knowledge about unit art, and finally got a result. OMG, maybe it's like the Civ4 says,
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

 

[Wonderblunder]

Alright,the only problem I'm having with my FIWS(French and Indian War Scenario) is the xml.It seems that something s wrong with the Civ4ArtDefines_Unit file.I will get this message when I'm loading the mod/scenario.


This is the only problem I'm having at the time.