Cossacks in the Caribbean?

[Pieter Boelen]

I'd hope so, since it came from a Google Image search for "Cossack".

HA!
I'm surprised how well the colours match up with the character model.

Like this?

YUP!

I have my own set of frames with faded edges, then I just use Photoshop to put the picture under the frame so that the edges are suitably darkened. If I remember correctly, I didn't know about the official ones so, when I was creating Sharpe's interface photos, I clipped the frames from some existing interface photos and added the fading, then saved the results for future use. Then I used them to create the interface shots for the "Ardent" characters.

That should be fine too.
You should've asked about those frames though! They've been floating around the FTP for years.

 

[Grey Roger]

HA!
I'm surprised how well the colours match up with the character model.

That would be because Google turned up a lot of images and I looked through them to find one which looked sort of vaguely like the model.

Anyone with the traditional furry Cossack hat was right out. The hat would keep the man's head nice and warm in cold Russia, and would probably boil his head in the Caribbean. About the first thing Kaverin Aleskeevich would do upon arrival in the Caribbean would be to remove the hat.

You should've asked about those frames though! They've been floating around the FTP for years.

I've got them now. Looking at them, the ones with the blue backgrounds will be useful for generic blue-background portraits but not so useful for the sort of things I've been doing for photo-based portraits. The plain frame ones are pretty much what I got after cutting out the picture from an existing portrait but they're BMP and don't have the fading.

Now look at my "Ardent" zip:
http://piratesahoy.bowengames.com/potc/Grey Roger/ardent.zip
In the "256", "128" and "64" portrait folders, you'll find "face_blank.psd". Those are my Photoshop frames. Clip and size the picture of your choice to 256x256, 128x128 or 64x64, copy and paste it into the appropriate "face_blank" under the frame layer, then flatten the image and save as .tga. Then use ConvertorTX. Job done.

 

[Grey Roger]

Great work guys! (I guess Kaverin is the family name and Aleskeevich the Patronym?)

I thought it was the other way round. There's a wonderful site, Fantasy Name Generator, which doesn't just generate fantasy names - it has a section for real names, among them Russian, so I used it. It's a bit simplistic, all male last names end in "-vich". So at least you're never going to randomly get "Tchaikovsky" as a character name.

Which of the files should I save where? Don't want to do anything wrong

First, if you downloaded the zip file before I posted the update about the portraits, download it again. That way you'll get the portraits.

Copy folders "PROGRAM" and "RESOURCE" straight into the top level of your game installation folder. Windows should detect that you're trying to copy them into a folder which already contains "PROGRAM" and "RESOURCE" and try to merge them. I've arranged the sub-folder structure to match that of the game installation so the files should find their way to where they need to be automatically.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

That would be because Google turned up a lot of images and I looked through them to find one which looked sort of vaguely like the model.

Nicely done.

Anyone with the traditional furry Cossack hat was right out. The hat would keep the man's head nice and warm in cold Russia, and would probably boil his head in the Caribbean. About the first thing Kaverin Aleskeevich would do upon arrival in the Caribbean would be to remove the hat.

I thought it was the other way round. There's a wonderful site, Fantasy Name Generator, which doesn't just generate fantasy names - it has a section for real names, among them Russian, so I used it. It's a bit simplistic, all male last names end in "-vich". So at least you're never going to randomly get "Tchaikovsky" as a character name.

So his name is a random one?
Then I suppose if @Javrimir knows a more meaningful name for a "Cossack in the Caribbean", perhaps that could be put to use instead?

 

[Grey Roger]

It would need all the model files renamed to match, but yes, it could be done.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

It would need all the model files renamed to match, but yes, it could be done.

Name is only for display, right? Should be a quick fix.
Depends on whether he's got any better suggestions or not. I'm fine with this one.

 

[Grey Roger]

Remember, whatever "model.id" is set to, that's what dictates the name of the model and head .gm files that the character uses. I suppose you could change the character name but leave "model.id" set to "aleskeevich", but it might be nicer to have them consistent.

 

[ANSEL]

If I had a hat or something else to take of right now, it will be so nice. There is 30 Celsius in my house
right now, and my head is boiling.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

I suppose you could change the character name but leave "model.id" set to "aleskeevich"

That's what I was thinking.

it might be nicer to have them consistent.

True.
Now that it isn't in the main mod yet, changing that name is still easy.
It gets more annoying once it IS in the main mod, because then the old-name files would need to be removed again by the installation process.

In other words: If @Javrimir knows a better name, please say so as soon as possible!

If he does suggest an alternate name, Grey Roger doesn't need to worry about it.
I can do that renaming at the same time that I add the files to my own game. That's not a problem.

 

[Javrimir]

Ah better Cossack/Russian Name? Let me think about it...
Jury is a common Russian given name.
But typical cossack given names are Jermak, Jemeljan or Bohdan. The family name shouldnt be that common like Smirnov or Kutikov. But many cossacks have typical Russian family names. Maybe Voronov? It's a cool name, voron means raven. And then we need a Patronym: for example his fathers name was Ivan.
So what about the name Bohdan Ivanovich Voronov?

 

[ANSEL]

Yes Voronov is a great name, I like that bird, the raven. Reminds me of the Vikings to

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Or just call him Taras Bulba!

Anyone seen that movie? I want to, but haven't yet.
It is about Cossacks though.

Anyway, that's just a joke of mine.

 

[Grey Roger]

Ah better Cossack/Russian Name? Let me think about it...
Jury is a common Russian given name.
But typical cossack given names are Jermak, Jemeljan or Bohdan. The family name shouldnt be that common like Smirnov or Kutikov. But many cossacks have typical Russian family names. Maybe Voronov? It's a cool name, voron means raven. And then we need a Patronym: for example his fathers name was Ivan.
So what about the name Bohdan Ivanovich Voronov?

I'd prefer to keep "Aleskeevich" in the name somewhere because then all the model filenames still make sense and don't need to be changed. So, how about Bohdan Aleskeevich Voronov?

Meanwhile, the portraits are working:

 

[Grey Roger]

Or just call him Taras Bulba!

I'd need to change the model for that. As I recall, Taras Bulba's hairstyle is rather different from Nathaniel Hawk's.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

"From Russia with sword"? Seriously???

I'd need to change the model for that. As I recall, Taras Bulba's hairstyle is rather different from Nathaniel Hawk's.

Uhm... let's not. I was only joking. What you have now seems fine to me.

 

[Grey Roger]

As you may have noticed, I'm not averse to dropping the odd joke or two into the game. If "Taras Bulba" had been suggested before I started, it might have happened.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

If "Taras Bulba" had been suggested before I started, it might have happened.

Apologies; it only occurred to me afterwards.

As you may have noticed, I'm not averse to dropping the odd joke or two into the game.

STAR WARS! Everything is Star Wars!!!

I like having plenty of jokes and Easter Eggs in the game. Have added some myself as well.
But really, the original game developers did a good job at it too!
Ever heard the stock game tavern sound clip of "My sloop once made the Kessel Strom run in less than 12 hours"?
Fits right in with that joke of yours!

 

[Grey Roger]

Yes, I've heard that one. The only one I've never been able to make out is "Do you know what a <something> is? Let me show you!". I'd like him to show me so I can pass the wisdom on to other people.

 

[Jack Rackham]

But really, the original game developers did a good job at it too!

Indeed. I like the misspelling of BadRoom. POTEHO seems to like it too as they kept it.

 

[Grey Roger]

Meanwhile, back to the Cossack, and here's "initModels.c" which should change the name to Bohdan Aleskeevich Voronov. Here's the section:

   model.description = "From Russia with sword.";
   model.id    = "aleskeevich";
   model.FaceId   = 268;
   model.nation    =  PERSONAL_NATION;
   model.price    =  300;
   model.assigned   =  true;
   model.storytitle = "The Cossack in the Caribbean";
   model.storytext = "A Cossack under the the great Stenka Rasin, you have escaped after his death and come to the Caribbean seeking your fortune.";
   model.playertype  = PLAYER_TYPE_SWORD_MASTER;
   model.name = "Bohdan";
     model.middlename = "Aleskeevich";
   model.lastname = "Voronov";
   model.ship = "Polacca";
   model.shipname = "Babushka";
   model.Flags.Pirate = 12;
   model.Flags.Personal = 6;
   model.date.year = 1681;
   AddCharacterModel(model);

@Javrimir: if you want to change the name, edit the "model.name", "model.middlename" and "model.lastname". You can also change the default ship name by editing the "model.shipname" line if you like. But don't touch the "model.id" line as that's the one which tells the character which model files to use; if that changes, you'd need to track down and change those filenames too.