Registered: Feb 2003
Location: USA
Posts: 74

quote:

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Originally posted by Mr. Fury
I am a month late, so sue me.

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No problem, better late than never.

So things aren`t going as planned, I also get that alot, so I know where your comming form.. Hang in there and thanks for the update Mr Fury.

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How do get the vids in top left corner of screen to work properly when messages are sent. Ive tried a few different ani files eg. b5 command & starfury pilot but nothing comes up in mission.

Anyone any ideas?

Last edited by madaboutgames on 05-07-2004 at 12:49 AM

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Assuming TBP installed correctly, try typing the following in manually:

b5-commanda.ani
b5-pilota.ani
b5-logo_stellarcom.ani
b5-pilota.ani

Some key things to note about getting the comm .anis to show up is that you MUST have the .ani file extension with the filename when defining the message in the Events Editor. Also, some .anis such as those for EA Command, the EA pilot, the Stellarcom logo, and the fuzzy static death animation need to have the the letter "a", "b", or "c" ammended to the end of the filename, just before the file extension. For instance, "b5-pilota.ani" will give you the same comm animation as "b5-pilotb.ani." Simply inputting "b5-pilot.ani" without the extra letter will get you nothing. Similarly, typing "b5-pilota" as opposed to "b5-pilota.ani" will also show nothing in game.

For further help, you might try opening up the missions that came with Release 2. Use VPVIEW to open up the .vp files and extract the missions somewhere so you can examine them in FRED2. The following is a list of other comm animations that you should be able to access:

capcomm_1_MINBARI.ani --- Minbari, warrior caste (?)
capcomm_2_MINBARI.ani --- another Minbari dude
capcomm_CENTAURI.ani --- Centauri minister
capcomm_Corwin.ani --- Corwin from B5
capcomm_Delenn.ani --- duh
capcomm_DRAKH.ani --- nasty Drakh dude
capcomm_EA.ani --- Cpt. Pierce of EAS Hyperion
capcomm_Garibaldi.ani --- duh
capcomm_Hague.ani --- Gen. Hague in dress uniform
capcomm_Hall.ani --- angry looking Cpt. Hall of EAS Heracles
capcomm_Hiroshi.ani --- Cpt. Hiroshi of EAS Churchill
capcomm_Ivanova.ani --- Ivanova in post-Severed Dreams uniform
capcomm_James.ani --- Cpt. James of EAS Agamemememnon
capcomm_Lefcourt.ani --- Gen. Lefcourt, same as command ani
capcomm_MacDougan.ani --- Cpt. MacDougan of EAS Vesta
capcomm_MacDougan_2.ani --- same, except he's not speaking (!)
capcomm_Mollari.ani --- everyone's favorite ambassador
capcomm_Morden.ani --- bad guy
capcomm_NARN.ani --- Narn dude
capcomm_Ryan.ani --- Maj. Ryan of EAS Alexander
capcomm_Sheridan.ani --- Sheridan in Whitestar captain seat
capcomm_VORLON.ani --- don't look! You'll turn into stone!

logo_babcom.ani --- BABCOM comm logo
logo_CENTAURI.ani --- Centauri Republic logo
logo_ISN.ani --- ISN logo
logo_Narn.ani --- Narn regieme logo


pilot_CENTAURI.ani --- Centauri dude (relative of Londo's?)
pilot_DRAZI.ani --- Drazi guy, looks like the guy that helped Marcus
pilot_EA.ani --- EA pilot in AURORA cockpit
pilot_EA_2.ani --- different EA pilot in AURORA cockpit
pilot_EAservicecraft.ani --- not helmeted pilot from Thirdspace
pilot_EAservicecraft_dying.ani --- same dude buying the farm
pilot_Garibaldi.ani --- Garibaldi in AURORA cockpit
pilot_GKar.ani --- G'kar piloting some ship
pilot_MINBARI.ani --- Lennier in Nial fighter
pilot_NARN.ani - Narn pilot in Narn fighter
pilot_RAIDERS.ani --- pirate guy from Thirdspace



I omitted a few that were redundant like the EA logo and the Stellarcom logo. You should be able to type these in (just copy and paste if you want) and they should work, barring a typo on my part. Also, once you've typed them in the first time and pressed "OK" on the Events Editor, the comm ani is saved in the mission file. You won't have to retype it again after that whenever you go back to edit that mission.


[edit]Some idiot pressed "Submit" while he was still typing.[/edit]

Last edited by Slasher on 05-07-2004 at 06:12 AM

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Nice one slasher, all sorted now. I`ve just implemented them into my new mission Last man standing check it out http://www.b5heatemup.co.uk

Is there software to record gameplay into an mpeg, avi or divx format. Like on the trailers, or do i have to record it to video then stream it back to my pc (this would loose considerable quality)??

Shaun

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Do a google search for FRAPS.

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Looking good...

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Got ani files sorted! How do I use my custom made ani. files for the command briefing?? and what resolution & colour mode must they be?

One more question - On the new Fs2_open_r you can now put in custom screens as loading screens. Everytime I do this it doesnt work. Do I need to make up a specially named folder within fs2/date ??

Cheers for any help

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Command Briefing animations should go in the data/intelanims directory. In FRED2, go up to the Editors menu and choose Command Briefing. You'll get a little window, and at the bottom of it there will be a place to put in the filename of the desired command briefing animation.

Size and color can vary. I think I'll let someone more qualified with .anis elaborate here.

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Cheers slasher, does anyone know the resolution and colour mode of the required ani. file for briefings?

Does anyone know how to use custom pictures as loading screens?

Cheers

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A safe resolution for the command briefings is 440x200, which is what the ones for TBP and vanilla FS2 are set for. Theoretically you could make them larger, but I'm not sure how well they would work for people playing the game in 640x480. With the .anis set at 440x200 people can see them just fine regardless of what standard resolution (1024x768 or 640x480) they're using.

I can't remember if there's any specific color settings for the .anis. Hopefully someone else can come along and fill in where I can't.

As for custom pictures as loading screens, I was never able to get that to work either. Have you made sure that the .pcx file you're trying to use is in the correct color range and uses the proper resolution?

As you can see, things have been a little slow around here lately. You might try asking the people at HLP for more informative answers. I know we've got people on this forum that can help, but they seem to be out on a fiesta or something.

Last edited by Slasher on 05-14-2004 at 05:47 AM

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It's been a while since I put together an ani but I did a few for MindGames so lets see what I can dredge up.

I think slasher is correct about the sizes. As for colours. The pics you build the ani out of have to be 8-bit PCX files as you might have expected.
however an ani has to use the same palette for all the pictures. I did this using Bright but whatever image processor you've got will probably be able to do it too.

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Last edited by karajorma on 05-14-2004 at 10:09 AM

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Cheers everyone, ill give it a whirl.

Ive saved my pics as a pcx with the right reolution (1024x768) ill have to check the colour mode. If its 8 bit does it have to be the same colour range as the anim files (for briefings) Which folder within fs2/date does these pics go in?

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Does anyone know any software which can convert avi to ani ??

Cheers

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CBAnims strangely enough go in the CBanims folder

The colour range doesn't have to correspond with the range of anything else on the interface but it does have to be consistant across the entire ani.

As for converting avi to ani. AFAIK there is no way except via the intervening PCX files.

__________________
Questions about FS3? Questions about Fred? Questions about missions? Questions about adding new ships to your games?

[URL=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/karajorma/freespace/intro.html]Karajorma's Freespace FAQ [/URL] (now with added GE goodness)

Supreme Overlord of The Mercury Affair Campaign.

FREDder, Modder, Story design and general busybody for [URL=http://www.3dap.com/hlp/hosted/mindgames/Background.html] Mind Games[/URL]

Last edited by karajorma on 05-14-2004 at 01:31 PM

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