[GF5] Sprite size possible to change?

[alhoon]

Is it possible to change the sprite size in GF5 for some of the Creations? In GF2-3 there are scripts in the game about how big the sprite would be. In GF5 I don't remember them working.

I would like to change the sprite of Drakons and battle alphas to make them bigger, but I would prefer to do it with changing a few parameters in a txt instead of going through all the sprites and manually changing them sprite by sprite, i.e. making the image of the creature for each step, fight-stance and death stance bigger inside the boxes.

 

I have tried changing gf5floorster.txt but for some reason it didn't work.

 

It has entries like this:

begindefinetemplate 73;
 //tmp_name = "batalpha";
 tmp_num_icons 0 = 6;
 tmp_num_icons 1 = 10;
 tmp_num_icons 2 = 10;
 tmp_num_icons 3 = 6;
 tmp_num_icons 4 = 6;
 tmp_icon_width = 77;
 tmp_icon_height = 78; 
 tmp_horiz_offset = 1;
 tmp_invertible_lr = 1;

 

but changing width and height didn't work.

Edited July 24, 2018 by alhoon

[alhoon]

Nevermind, figured it.

 

 

 

[Vinlie]

Is that a test room?

 

[alhoon]

Yeap, from the Arena mod.  I use that to test stuff. 

However, that bigger Alpha is not in the mod. I am trying now to make different entries, so that I can make battle Betas larger than Alphas.

 

The problem with the Alphas and the Betas though is... they're not worth their essence cost in the actual GF game. They are too... bland. Punch and get punched. The Battle Gammas have that area attack but they're not Creatable by the player and for a good reason.

 

Regardless, it is possible to add new sprites and it is possible to make the existing ones bigger. 

 

You increase these: 

tmp_icon_width = 77; 
 tmp_icon_height = 78;

 

taking care that when it says 77 it is 77 + 2 pixels for the black lines and accordingly you magnify the sprite image taking care to not lose transparency.

 

Edited July 25, 2018 by alhoon

[Vinlie]

Dude you know what would be sick? A mod that adds a third tier to creations. Like you could create Battle Alphas, then Betas, then Gammas. Roamer, Unstable Roamer, Guardian Roamer. Drakon, Ur-Drakon, Unbound. Holy hell someone needs to get on that lol

[alhoon]

I cannot do that. Not sure it's possible since I think parts of that are hardcoded. If someone can add a second upgrade to creations I would be very much interested in it.

 

Don't be fooled by the two big mods I've done my friend; my modding skills are not too great. It is just that you can do great things with just not that much modding skills. Adding quests requires a bit of scripting and dialogue. You can try it.

Edited July 25, 2018 by alhoon

[Vinlie]

How can one get started on modding Geneforge? I'm really interested in learning how to mod.

[alhoon]

You check theKian's modding tutorial and you make a thread so we can help you if it seems difficult.
I've made posts and threads about modding too but they're a bit more advanced and quite chaotic.

 You'll see that in my Warrior mod I have incorporated the Artifact Batons mod from the Gamerman. Unless I recall wrong, he delved into modding after he saw how easy it was. Basic stuff after you grow over your initial reluctance is very easy. You want Battle alphas to have 10 more levels? You go to the proper txt and increase their level by 10. Then you test in game.

 

As long as you adhere to The GOLDEN RULE of modding you'll be fine.

 

The GOLDEN RULE of modding:
Backup the file you're working on. If you mess up, you put a previous, working version on and you've just lost a little time.

Edited July 25, 2018 by alhoon

[fractalnavel]

Re "golden rule", have you ever worked with source control systems?  If you haven't, they're worth looking into.

[alhoon]

I don't even know what source control systems are.

[fractalnavel]

Ignorance is bliss :-)

 

Try here for starters: https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Getting-Started-About-Version-Control.  While that is from an online book associated with a particular tool, it's a nice brief intro.

 

For what you're doing, it's a way to keep track of your changes, and backing them out if you need to.  Of course, it can do a lot more.  If you're into programming of any sort, this is an essential part of it.

[alhoon]

Oh, we do have  similar stuff and Dropbox does this automatically I think. Thanks.

[PerishedFraud]

I'm curious as to why you want bigger sprites. Are you making a mech? :]

[alhoon]

I wanted the drakons to be much bigger, like they were in GF2-4. Then ... I ended up making plated clawbugs the PC makes bigger on a whim to see if I can do it. Now that I know I can do it, In quests I make in the future, I may put specific boss enemies as bigger variants. Like a Clawbug queen that isn't just another color or has just a different name, but is visibly bigger.

That kind of thing.