Devlin Opera for the 65742th time

[Grey Roger]

Would that even be possible?

It should be. 'GetCharacterEquipByGroup(PChar, BLADE_ITEM_TYPE)' finds out which blade you're carrying; replace "PChar" with someone else to find out what that character is carrying. So:

           NPChar = characterFromID("Blaze Devlin");
           if(GetCharacterEquipByGroup(NPChar, BLADE_ITEM_TYPE) != "")
           {
               GiveItem2Character(Pchar, GetCharacterEquipByGroup(NPChar, BLADE_ITEM_TYPE));
               EquipCharacterByItem(Pchar, GetCharacterEquipByGroup(NPChar, BLADE_ITEM_TYPE));
           }
           else
           {
               GiveItem2Character(Pchar, "blade21");
               EquipCharacterByItem(Pchar, "blade21");
           }

... should find out what Blaze is carrying and give you the same; if it can't find a blade in use by Blaze, default to the original "blade21". Something similar, using 'GetCharacterEquipByGroup(NPChar, GUN_ITEM_TYPE)', should work for a gun. Bonnie's code will be slightly different in that it only needs to assign you a gun if Bonnie is carrying one, otherwise don't default to anything because she doesn't have a gun unless you give it to her.

I remember clipping and sizing it and then putting it through the various TX and TG and whatever converters and ending up with the correct sizes and all is exactly where I failed. So it's not really a question of screenshot or the other portrait, but a question of the rest of the process. I intended the image in the appendix as portrait for BeatriceB.

Look in "RESOURCE\Textures\INTERFACES\PORTRAITS\256", where you should find "face_blank.psd". Sized 256x256, this is a Photoshop file with the frame as a layer. Crop, don't resize, the picture to a square. Then resize the square to 248x248 (8 pixels smaller than 256 to allow for the frame). Copy the whole picture and pasted it as a layer onto "face_blank.psd" below the frame. Flatten, save as a .tga, then use TX Convertor to convert it to tga.tx - you won't need an alpha channel so "R5G6B5" is a good setting to use. If you don't have Photoshop, GIMP is a free picture-editing program which can read Photoshop files, otherwise use anything else you have which can read them. You should also find versions of "face_blank.psd" in the other "PORTRAITS" subfolders to help create the other portraits.

No, no. BeatriceA (Bonnie) and her retextured BeatriceB now work just fine as talking heads. Only Blaze (the model Devlin or in this case h_Devlin) is the problem. What I meant is that I had this same problem with h_BeatriceB as you can see in my screenshot in the other thread. Then we fixed that somehow. But I still have the same problem with h_Devlin.

I'll have another look when I test my latest version of "quests_reaction.c", and I'll also check that "BeatriceB" is working. But last time I looked, "h_Devlin" seemed to be fine.

I hope those are all the files you need.

Yes, that's got "BeatriceB" working in "Animation View". Now to add an entry into "initModels.c" - or if you already have a version with "BeatriceB", perhaps you could upload it, then I can merge it with what I already have and also get the correct model description for her.

Meanwhile, here are some portrait pictures for "BeatriceB" based on your picture. The .tga files are also included but won't need to go into the update for general release. They're numbered 602 because everything up to 601 is already taken for other character models.

 

[Grey Roger]

It should be. 'GetCharacterEquipByGroup(PChar, BLADE_ITEM_TYPE)' finds out which blade you're carrying; replace "PChar" with someone else to find out what that character is carrying.

And indeed, it does. The attached "quests_reaction.c" uses it at both "Switch_to_Bonnie" and "Switch_to_Blaze". I'd previously given both of them some new weapons, so when I played their respective paths through Martinica, I got those weapons.

Meanwhile, I've got "BeatriceB" working:

The profile picture shows her with a white top whereas the character has a black top. The definition in "initModels.c" is just a placeholder until you provide the correct one - at the moment it's a straight copy of the definition for "BeatriceA" with a different description line. The talking head appears to work properly. (And I played Blaze's adventure, as well as reloading back to a savegame just before arriving at Guadeloupe to meet Blaze so that Beatrice gets the full version of the "Yo Ho Ho and a shipment of rum" questbook. Blaze's talking head did not show any weirdness.)

 

[BathtubPirate]

Meanwhile, I've got "BeatriceB" working:

Great! I've tried to do the same yesterday with your TX files. It mostly worked except for 1) there was no picture when browsing through models in the free play start interface, but it was in the interface when I chose the model and b) the model didn't appear at all in the "change model" interface during the game.

The talking head (BeatriceB) has always been working for me since JRH fixed it for me in the "Adding New Beatrice" thread last year.

I noticed the different colours too, but that was just a picture I found while googling AoP artwork and I thought it sort of suits and would be unique, even if it's not 100% accurate. But neither are all the character models in the Mod and their respective portraits.

Weird thing about the blaze head, for me he has always this slightly "wiggly" talking animation when I intiate dialogue.

I haven't really done anything the last few days, I'd like to wait for the update so I don't have to compare and merge too many things. I'm assuming you'll add the latest version of all your improvements like the current state of quest_reactions to the update, so if I have that I can continue from there.

 

[Grey Roger]

Great! I've tried to do the same yesterday with your TX files. It mostly worked except for 1) there was no picture when browsing through models in the free play start interface, but it was in the interface when I chose the model and b) the model didn't appear at all in the "change model" interface during the game.

Whenever you add portrait pictures, you need to edit "RESOURCE\INI\INTERFACES\pictures.ini". Find the other face pictures, e.g. "[FACE128_600]", go to the end to see the last picture already in use, then add a section for your new portrait. Attached is a version with the section for "FACE128_602".

I noticed the different colours too, but that was just a picture I found while googling AoP artwork and I thought it sort of suits and would be unique, even if it's not 100% accurate. But neither are all the character models in the Mod and their respective portraits.

Mine are, because they're based on screenshots of the character in question. If you like, I can do the same for "BeatriceB" - just give me some idea of what sort of background you want, e.g. a port, a town, on a ship, in a building, on a beach...

Weird thing about the blaze head, for me he has always this slightly "wiggly" talking animation when I intiate dialogue.

He shuffles about, if that's what you mean. He doesn't distort, though.

I haven't really done anything the last few days, I'd like to wait for the update so I don't have to compare and merge too many things. I'm assuming you'll add the latest version of all your improvements like the current state of quest_reactions to the update, so if I have that I can continue from there.

Fair enough, though I'd still like your version of "initModels.c" with your definition for "BeatriceB", unless you're happy with this:

Spoiler

   model.description   =  "Beatrice Devlin. Darker hair, darker clothes.";
   model.id       =  "BeatriceB";
   model.FaceId       =  602;
   model.nation       =  SPAIN;
   model.price       =  1000;
   model.assigned       =  true;
   model.height       =  1.7;
   model.sex       =  "woman";
   model.ani       =  "woman_sit";
   model.name        =  "Bonnie";
   model.lastname        =  "Devlin";
   model.playertype   = PLAYER_TYPE_EXPLORER;
   model.difficulty   = DIFFICULTY_MARINER;
   model.Flags.Pirate   = 11;
   model.Flags.Personal   = 4;
   model.ship       = "PO_CaravelR";
   model.shipname       = "Quicksilver";
   model.date.day       = 1;
   model.date.month   = 4;
   model.date.year       = 1576;
   AddCharacterModel(model);

And yes, I'll add all your new stuff plus my tweaks, along with a note in the documentation crediting you with developing the story.

 

[BathtubPirate]

Mine are, because they're based on screenshots of the character in question. If you like, I can do the same for "BeatriceB" - just give me some idea of what sort of background you want, e.g. a port, a town, on a ship, in a building, on a beach...

Sure, I meant those who have a historical painting as a portrait or a photo as in "Hornblower". They rarely look completely accurate.

The current picture sort of fits in with the other Devlins, but is not entirely accurate, vice versa for a screenshot. You know what - surprise me if you'd prefer a screenshot and feel like doing one, sure. If so, I think in front of a ship would be neat. The galleon I put as a starting ship (simply because it looked good to me) probably.

He shuffles about, if that's what you mean. He doesn't distort, though.

That sounds about right, not sure how to properly describe it. It doesn't look completely terrible, but it does stand out a bit. Also he doesn't move his mouth.

I'd still like your version of "initModels.c" with your definition for "BeatriceB"

Here it is, I changed some of the pre-settings to get them more in line with the story or just because I like the flags. E.g. they changed from spanish to personal, according to their names I never imagined the Devlins to be spanish anyway, rather english people in a spanish world.

And yes, I'll add all your new stuff plus my tweaks, along with a note in the documentation crediting you with developing the story.

Can you tell approximately when the update will arrive?

Currently I am just planning some things in my head. I wonder - it's awesome you made the location check so the story works the same when moored at Martinique beach, but would it make sense or be neccessary to repeat that with a similarly structured part in Santiago De Cuba? I feel like with several beaches, longer distances and also in the logic of the story, this time I'd rather "force" the player to properly moor at the port.

 

[Grey Roger]

Sure, I meant those who have a historical painting as a portrait or a photo as in "Hornblower". They rarely look completely accurate.

That's because it's hard to get an accurate depiction of a realistic face onto a PoTC character model. It's also not that easy to make the character texture match the character's clothes. (And Hornblower in his Commander's outfit doesn't look like the portrait picture because that's Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N. He now has a captain's outfit which looks a bit more like the picture, complete with black cravat.)

The current picture sort of fits in with the other Devlins, but is not entirely accurate, vice versa for a screenshot. You know what - surprise me if you'd prefer a screenshot and feel like doing one, sure. If so, I think in front of a ship would be neat. The galleon I put as a starting ship (simply because it looked good to me) probably.

It's not a matter of what I prefer, as she's your character. I won't have time to draw up a new profile before I release the current one as part of the update, but I might have something ready early next week.

That sounds about right, not sure how to properly describe it. It doesn't look completely terrible, but it does stand out a bit. Also he doesn't move his mouth.

We're lucky there's a talking head at all! The "Devlin" model - and, for that matter, the "Beatrice" models - are imports from AoP, which has no talking heads. I'm amazed that Beatrice's talking head works because it's set to use "h_towngirl5.an", which is for a completely different model.

Here it is, I changed some of the pre-settings to get them more in line with the story or just because I like the flags. E.g. they changed from spanish to personal, according to their names I never imagined the Devlins to be spanish anyway, rather english people in a spanish world.

Are you sure you want to change to Personal? One effect of the model's "nation" attribute is that tailors of that nation can sell the outfit; if you set it to Personal, you can't buy the outfit unless you capture a town with a tailor's shop for yourself. You could change it to England, then the outfit will be available from the English tailor on Tortuga.

Can you tell approximately when the update will arrive?

Later today. Depending on when you read this, it might even already be up...
Edit: it's up!

Currently I am just planning some things in my head. I wonder - it's awesome you made the location check so the story works the same when moored at Martinique beach, but would it make sense or be neccessary to repeat that with a similarly structured part in Santiago De Cuba? I feel like with several beaches, longer distances and also in the logic of the story, this time I'd rather "force" the player to properly moor at the port.

Fair enough, if story logic requires the action to take place in the port then that's where the player needs to be. It would certainly be a bit more complicated to allow for mooring at the port or either of two beaches, though it should be possible in theory. You might want to explain in the questbook that the player must go to the port itself this time. (A compromise solution might be to allow the player to moor at one specific beach if hostile to Spain. Have a look at case "animists_drown_complete_2" in "PROGRAM\QUESTS\quests_side.c" to see how the "Strange Things Going On" sidequest sends you to either Bridgetown port or the lighthouse depending on whether Bridgetown likes you.)

 

[BathtubPirate]

Another thought - perhaps move the reload definition for "Door_4", alias "Storyteller_house", out of "Redmond.c" and into "StartStoryline.c"? That's how I set up the reload for "Door_14", alias "House of Gilbert Downing". It means the location is free for anyone else to use in a different storyline - including you, if you want! That one is the house next to the dungeon in Port Royale, and the fact that the dungeon is next door is used for part of the story.

Have you done anything with that? I'm looking into Devlin Opera first time since the update and the jumpstart house is suddenly locked. I'm trying to figure out why now.

 

[Grey Roger]

Yes, I did move the definition into "StartStoryline.c". I have not changed either "Redmond.c" or "StartStoryline.c" since 2nd July, and as a test of my fixed update, I started a "Devlin Opera" game, followed the messenger, went into the storyteller's house and took the jumpstart to Martinica. Of course, if you then copied a different version of "StartStoryline.c" into place without the link to "Door4", it won't open.

Meanwhile, how do you like this new interface picture for "BeatriceB"?

 

[BathtubPirate]

Yes, I did move the definition into "StartStoryline.c". I have not changed either "Redmond.c" or "StartStoryline.c" since 2nd July, and as a test of my fixed update, I started a "Devlin Opera" game, followed the messenger, went into the storyteller's house and took the jumpstart to Martinica. Of course, if you then copied a different version of "StartStoryline.c" into place without the link to "Door4", it won't open.

Not sure I understand, if I changed or replaced "StartStoryline.c" then only through the update and that should be one that opens Door4... What's the definition? Not the full entry for the location, that one would still be in "Redmond.c". Or is it?

I think I upload those files quickly at noontime.

Meanwhile, how do you like this new interface picture for "BeatriceB"?

To quote Howard Pyle when he sees the view from a tower: "Very nice!"

 

[Grey Roger]

Not sure I understand, if I changed or replaced "StartStoryline.c" then only through the update and that should be one that opens Door4... What's the definition? Not the full entry for the location, that one would still be in "Redmond.c". Or is it?

The normal full definition for "REDMOND_PORT" should indeed be in "Redmond.c" and is not changed in the update - in fact, it isn't included in the update at all, so the whole definition of Port Royale is from the 25th May installer.

The definition for "Door4" should be in "StartStoryline.c" and should look like this:

   Locations[FindLocation("Redmond_port")].reload.l7.name = "Door_4";
   Locations[FindLocation("Redmond_port")].reload.l7.go = "Storyteller_house";
   Locations[FindLocation("Redmond_port")].reload.l7.emerge = "reload1";
   Locations[FindLocation("Redmond_port")].reload.l7.autoreload = "0";
   Locations[FindLocation("Redmond_port")].reload.l7.label = "House.";

Attached is the version of "StartStoryline.c" which is included in the update, with that code included.

I'm glad you like the new interface picture because I included it in the 5th July update. While using the original version as a reference, trying to get the angle on Bonnie and the ship as close to the original as possible, I noticed another problem with the original - the ship is evidently a pirate and so is the woman, judging by the skull and crossbones on both the sail and her hairband. Bonnie is not, at least not unless I'm playing her on the way to San Salvador.

Another suggestion - perhaps add a text scroll to "Quest_DevlinOpera.tga.tx"? Other storyline loading screens have the title of the story in a scroll near the bottom. (And also a frame with "Pirates Ahoy!, Pirates of the Caribbean, New Horizons" near the top. But that would end up on top of Bonnie's face unless it's shifted to the left or unless you extend the picture to have some more background sky at the top.) With the text scroll and without the top frame, it would look like this:

 

[BathtubPirate]

Thanks, I'm going to look at the StartStoryline again tonight.

Today's new update differs from last week's only in the corrected intiModels.c and the new BeatriceB interface picture, right?

Another suggestion - perhaps add a text scroll to "Quest_DevlinOpera.tga.tx"? Other storyline loading screens have the title of the story in a scroll near the bottom. (And also a frame with "Pirates Ahoy!, Pirates of the Caribbean, New Horizons" near the top.
View attachment 38985

I think I have:
[...]
- An unfinished loading screen

This has to be finished or replaced some time. I noticed too that the PotC - NH at the top wouldn't be ideal. Luckily AoP has quite a few good artworks and wallpapers, so I might end up with something else entirely.

The current image looks quite compressed in your post. It looks normal on my computer, maybe because I have a different screen resolution (I still play PotC with slight black bars left and right and am actually quite happy with that.).

 

[Grey Roger]

The image file is 1024x1024. The game resizes it to fit the screen. The image I posted isn't compressed, it's stretched - or more correctly, the image you see on screen is compressed vertically.

If you have black bars to the side then you're probably playing with a resolution of 4:3 aspect ratio, e.g. 1024x768, while your normal desktop has 16:9 aspect ratio, e.g. 1920x1080. (Ever watched an old film on TV? Modern TV's have 16:9 screens. If the TV is not set to automatically resize to fit what it's receiving, or you don't set the screen size manually, wheels look oval and people look fat. If the screen is resized to show the old film correctly in 4:3 ratio then you'll see the same black bars on the sides.)

 

[BathtubPirate]

Right, I remember now that the loading screens are uncompressed. I made mine last year. If I have your text scroll and the top frame I could make a definitive one next.

I actually play all my older games in their old aspect ratio, I just never changed the settings and then get used to it.

And actually my TV and player manage to mess up old 1.37:1 films (that includes everything pre 1952) even without stretching it, but by enlargening the image so it fills the screen and cuts off the top and bottom. I gave up finding the correct settings and just watch those on my laptop connected to the TV now instead of the player.

 

[Grey Roger]

Right, I remember now that the loading screens are uncompressed. I made mine last year. If I have your text scroll and the top frame I could make a definitive one next.

You can find some template screens here:
http://piratesahoy.bowengames.com/potc/OFFICIAL/Template_Loading_Screens.zip
I used "+ TEMPLATE Loading Screen.psd", resized it to 1024x1024, and copied in the image from "Quest_DevlinOpera.tga" directly above "Layer 6", which is the image used in the template. Then I deleted the "Roy Cross" text layer and edited text layer "Start New Game..." to "Devlin Opera...". You'll need the Dolphin font installed to be able to edit text; if you don't already have it, an internet search should soon turn up a free one.

I actually play all my older games in their old aspect ratio, I just never changed the settings and then get used to it.

Good idea - they'll look best in their original aspect ratio.

And actually my TV and player manage to mess up old 1.37:1 films (that includes everything pre 1952) even without stretching it, but by enlargening the image so it fills the screen and cuts off the top and bottom. I gave up finding the correct settings and just watch those on my laptop connected to the TV now instead of the player.

There are only two worthwhile settings, 16:9 and 4:3. Everything else is the TV maker's attempt at a compromise, either stretching the picture to fill the screen, clipping top and bottom, or a bit of both. Some sets can automatically detect the aspect ratio of the received picture and set the display to match, and some can't. Mine can't, so I manually switch it to 4:3 when watching an old film.

 

[BathtubPirate]

Alright, I've opened the jumpstart house again. I still had the door locator assigned to it in the normal Redmond location file, I removed that now so all goes via StartStoryline.c

I've added some more starting money so the player will maybe feel less "obliged" to go ship hunting immediately (although obviously you're still allowed to do that).

No I could try to do a decent loading screen. EDIT: Gimp is driving me absolutely crazy with the resizing.

 

[Grey Roger]

By default it probably tries to keep the aspect ratio the same, and so does Photoshop. "+ TEMPLATE Location Screen.psd" is 2048x1536; when you change the 2048 to 1024, it probably then wants to change 1536 to 768.

If you can't figure out how to make GIMP change width and height separately, or if it's causing other problems with resizing, perhaps you could upload the revised background picture without the scrolls. Then I can add them using Photoshop.

 

[BathtubPirate]

Yes, that would probably be faster. Problem is I never used Gimp, I haven't used Photoshop in over a year and don't have it right now and even back then I was more comfortable with Illustrator. Yesterday I barely managed to cobble anything together, and then it goes through TX converter which I'm also not that familiar with. I've used it for item pictures that already have the correct size and format but other than that, I haven't.

So this would be the same picture but with enough headroom to make a screen that includes both scrolls without obscuring the character.

 

[BathtubPirate]

Another one: How can I open island models with Tool?

 

[Grey Roger]

From "LoadingScreen.zip", "Unbenannt.jpg" has a white line down the right side, possibly the result of trying to move the image vertically and accidentally moving one pixel to the left at the same time. Otherwise it seems to be the same as "loadscr1.jpg" cropped to square format. I tried using "loadscr1.jpg" and there's still not quite enough room for the "Pirates of the Caribbean" frame. Here's how it would look on a 1024x768 screen:


"loadscr1.jpg" looks correct, but probably needs to be stretched the same way as the 1024x1024 image in post #170. (And, for preference, the base image should be 1024 pixels wide rather than 693 - it can be resized up to 1024 but still won't look as good as the 1024 size current version.)

As for islands: look in "RESOURCE\MODELS\Islands". Some of them might not open in TOOL, and some other models such as ships and weapons also won't open. Also, what are you trying to do to the islands? If you alter the island model, it might not work and it will certainly not look right because all the lighting (.col) files will now be wrong - I found that when I was trying to make versions of Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Curacao and Antigua without visible towns for "Early Explorers". I got away with retexturing them using new invisible texture files for the town parts, except Curacao which didn't even tolerate that - if I approached the modified version in game, the ship was liable to materialise inside a big rock just north of the harbour.

 

[BathtubPirate]

From my tragic experiments I think it should be doable to allow for more headroom if the image is supposed to be square, but perhaps I'm wrong... Otherwise I think your result here isn't that bad.

Don't worry about the islands, this here is what I want to do:

Yes, you'll find them if you open an island model with TOOL and look at its locators.

(Post #76)

To quickly find sea locators. And it might be useful in general to be able to look at stuff in there, but I've never used the tool before, so in this case I don't really know how "open an island model with TOOL and look at its locators" works.