Don't know how to do something

I am making a little Nova plug-in and it adds a few new ships. What I do not know how to do and have been wondering how to do for a long time is give the ship it's graphics.

I am using Mission Computer.

Maybe you'll have more luck in the Dev corner.

If the question is how to import graphics into Mission Computer, I don't know - maybe there's an option in the menu or something.

If the question is how to associate the imported pictures with the shďp resource, that's something I can answer. The pictures which show the ship flying around in space are set by using the shän resource - that lets you set the images for the ship, including weapon glows, running lights, extra frames for banking, etc etc, a well as the positions of the gun ports. For any given shďp resource, the associated shän resource is that with the same ID number. For example, the shuttle is shďp ID 128, and the Shuttle's shän also has ID 128.

For the target pict, the ID is the same as the index number of the shďp resource, plus 3000. To get from an ID number to an index number, simply subtract 128 from the ID number - ID numbers start at 128, while index numbers start at 0. Thus the shuttle's index number is 0, and its target pict ID is 3000. The shipyard pict ID is the ship's index number plus 5000. For the two dëscs, the shipyard dësc ID is the index number plus 13000, and the escort dësc ID is the index number plus 14000.

To illustrate with another example, let's have a look at the Kestrel. The Kestrel has shďp ID 378.

shän ID = shďp ID = 378
target pict ID = shďp ID - 128 +3000 = 3250
shipyard pict ID = shďp ID - 128 +5000 = 5250
shipyard dësc ID = shďp ID - 128 +13000 = 13250
escort dësc ID = shďp ID - 128 +14000 = 14250

So, if I duplicated the shän resource of say the mod starbridge and made it the same resource # of the new shďp it would work? Okay, thanks Belthazar.

This post has been edited by poofy107 : 25 February 2005 - 06:12 PM

Yes, it would. If you, however, want to have your ship use your own graphics, you should probably use NovaTools. You can use PICTs, bt Nova does not like those. It's better to use RLEs. You can grab EnRle/DeRle here, and you need to run a grid of sprites with a spin or shan through it. You can then use the outputted RLEs for your shan. This is a pared-down version, though - if you don't understand what I just said, I'll be glad to give you the more detailed version.

In the future, keep questions like this on The EV Developer's Corner. I assume Slagblah or Dave will move this there sometime soon.

Not interested in adding my own graphics.. Just want to modify some ships and change the names. How do I duplicate the resources from the shän?

Yes, you'd probably receive more replies to this topic on the Developers Corner. I'll shift it there now...

Dave @ ATMOS

NOTE: I am not an expert with Mission Computer (I usually use NovaTools), but I do have a copy on my computer.

Duplictating resources in Mission Computer is a rather unusual proccess (NOTE: it may be possible to use the "Copy" and "Paste" commands in the Edit menu, but trying that gave me an error message).

To do it, you must first not have the plugin you are copying to open.
Next, go to "Resource Copier" inthe Utilities menu.
Then, click the "choose" button on the left, and open the appropriate source file (in this case, the Nova Ships file that contains the shän you want. The basic starbridge is in Nova Ships 1, the Mod Starbridge is in Nova Ships 4).
Then, click the "Choose" button on the right, and select the plugin that you want to copy to.

Now, select the resource type you want to copy from the pop-up menu on the left (it should currently read "rlë8", select "shän" instead).
Now, select the resource you want to copy from the list on the left, and click the "> Copy >" button. The resource has now been copied.

Now, you need to change the RID of the copied resource. This is easily done by closing the "Resource Copier" window, opening your plug, getting info on the appropriate resource, and changing the ID in the window that comes up.

After all that, it may just be my copy of Mission Computer that has a problem with pasting, so you should probably try that first.

EDIT: Just to be sure that you're aware, the ship's name is defined in the shďp resource.

As a final note, if you are running OS9, or have Classic installed, I would reccomend getting ResEdit and NovaTools (I don't have the link right now, but I know you can find the link in Zacha Pedro's signature). That combination is a VERY good editor.

PS. Thank you, pipeline. I was typing my reply when you moved this, and the forum gave me a nasty error message when I tried to post . Just so that everyone is aware that this rather unusual combination of events causes problems .

This post has been edited by Edwards : 25 February 2005 - 10:43 PM

poofy107, on Feb 25 2005, 04:19 PM, said:

ship it's graphics.

I am using Mission Computer.
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Falta de gramática. You must say "ship its graphics."

I happen to be very good at using Mission Computer. If all you want to do is modify a ship, first you must find the file that contains the ship in question. Next, you must open the file, and select the ship. You can modify any and all features to the ship. WARNING, DON'T MODIFY THE ORIGINAL EVN FILES!!!!! I did this once without making copies, and I really, really, really messed things up. Don't touch the things unless you know what you are doing. Oh, one more warning, becareful which ship you modify. There is the computer run one, the one you can buy, and the upgraded version of it (if there is one). Make sure you select the right one. A good plugin to work with is the Pirate Mod-Starbridge. This one has all three ships, and it looks really cool. Sorry I couldn't make a link to it, you'll have to find it yourselves.

Someone asked for my sig?

Zacha Pedro, on Feb 27 2005, 06:33 AM, said:

Someone asked for my sig?
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Umm...if it was you who made the Pirate Mod-Starbridge, then yes. And, if it is you, love the plug.

I would recommend NovaTools over Mission Computer. It is more graphical which I find easier. And it is more stable and much less restrictive about resource copying.
Try this classic from a year and day ago, it will help with graphics importing. Ah, I'm getting all sentimental about the old boards. Those were the days.

lights_out, on Mar 9 2005, 11:07 PM, said:

Umm...if it was you who made the Pirate Mod-Starbridge, then yes. And, if it is you, love the plug.
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I think the reference was to NovaTools.
But these seem to have been called for. They are about 305 kb.
Mod Pirate Starbridge for Macs
Mod Pirate Starbridge for PC