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Naming new paperdolls


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#41 crimson_prophet

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Posted 07 May 2022 - 11:55 AM


Thanks for prompt answer!

Would you be so kind and produce a paperdoll for me based on "irenicus robed" avatar? Just in case Sam. is no longer present on these forums (or is just busy) - maybe somebody else could assist too?

By the time you scale it up big enough to work for a paperdoll, it's going to look really terrible.


Really? :( Define what do you mean by "terrible" please. Maybe it does not need to be big, some paperdolls are quite small (like below):
 
 Gn16p9v.jpg
 
 

3. Tried similar thing with female drow avatar (from Underdark) - After some initial tests, there is just no way (that I know of ofc) to give dynamic coloring to its paperdoll. Either it's the dreadful effect like below or you make the avatar blurred/broken.

Use the Palette Generator to set the colors to look like a drow first.


Looks a bit intimidating, but I'll give it a shot. Thanks! :)
 
 

4. I've found these great images on the web. The author is silent for years now and people constantly asking him to re-upload paperdolls - to no avail. Do you think you could make anything out of this?

u3rhUku.jpg

These are really cool. This was saved as a jpeg (a lossy format), there is something up with the coloring/gamma (it's too light), and at one point this image was resized. Because of this, it doesn't match the in-game paperdoll background, which makes them very hard to extract. I tried and failed. I don't suppose there is a higher quality image around somewhere?
 
 


*Sigh* Shame... Nope, this is the only trace of them that I've found.

Edited by crimson_prophet, 07 May 2022 - 12:02 PM.


#42 crimson_prophet

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Posted 08 May 2022 - 07:49 AM

Palette Generator - would you be so kind and explain how to implement this into the game itself? Readme does not help much sadly.

 

I exported the image into bmp and saved it in override folder and it does not work. Should this be converted to bam file? Or these are totally different things?

 

Any help would be much appreciated. My test looks like this:

 

 

xn12B25.png

 

Thanks!



#43 Sam.

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Posted 08 May 2022 - 04:21 PM

Boot up Palette Generator.  Under "Select MPALETTE.bmp:", pick the one appropriate for your game.  I picked BG2EE.  Below that and to the left of the Zoom slider, pick which palette you want to start with.  I picked CEFC4INV which is Character>Elf>Female>Cleric>Armor level 4.  See the list.  After that, pick the colors on the left.  The mouse scroll wheel is your friend, or you can look up a particular character using NearInfinity (like Viconia or Beamdog's drows) to see what they are using, and start with that.  After you are happy with it, click the "Export Repaletted Bitmap" button, and same what you have created.  Next we'll want to add a weapon.  1pp has some cool flails, so go to where you extracted and ran the Palette Generator, and go to <.\PaletteGenerator\res\paperdolls> and extract 1ppv4_inv.rar to this folder (you should probably backup all the original images in the folder first, tho).  Restart the program and select the correct MPALETTE for your game as before.  Select the weapon you want.  Filenames start with WP for weapon, followed by the size character it fits (we want L for large), followed by unique designation and an additional O for offhand.  I like the flail, so I picked WPLF1INV.  Once a gain choose your colors, or you can select the same ones as before by clicking the "Import Palette" button and selecting the bitmap you just saved.  When you are happy with your selection, export it as before.  You can select repeat for an offhand weapon, shield, helmet, whatever you like.  Now we need to combine them into a single frame.

 

Open all the files you exported with Microsoft Paint or whatever simple image editor of your choice.  Go to the file with the first weapon, select all and copy.  In the windows with the main character, click on the "Color picker" tool, right click on the green background, next click the down arrow on the "Select" button, and under the additional options click "Transparent selection".  Now click "Paste".  I shouldn't have needed to move it around to get the flail properly placed in the character's hand, but I did.  I guess it's a disconnect between 1pp and oBG1.  Anyway, your character should now be equipped with a weapon.  Repeat for any other equipment.  Save this as a PNG or 24-bit bitmap (MS Paint is terrible at converting to 256 colors).  You now need to divide this into two halves, top and bottom, both 125x80 px.  Easy enough.  Save the top half as "MFDRINV_Sequence_0000_Frame_0000.bmp".  Make as second copy of the top half named "MFDRINV_Sequence_0000_Frame_0001.bmp".  Save the bottom half as "MFDRINV_Sequence_0000_Frame_0002.bmp".  Now we need to make a BAM out of these.  It should have only one sequence with three frames, in the order specified.  For this I use PS BAM because it handles all the details automatically.  I create a windows batch script (a text file with the .BAT extension) in the same folder as my specially named top and bottom frames with these contents:

Spoiler

You'll need to change "D:\AutoHotkey Scripts\PS BAM\PS BAM.ahk" on the first line to wherever you extracted PS BAM.  I recommend using the 64-bit EXE if possible.  There's no need to tough the other lines for now.  Right click on the BAT file and run it.  PS BAM spits your your new paperdoll BAM.  Throw it in the override folder and you'd got yourself a new female drow paperdoll.  Repeat to your heart's content.

 

Baldr001.png

Attached File  MFDRINV.bam   2.89K   102 downloads


"Ok, I've just about had my FILL of riddle asking, quest assigning, insult throwing, pun hurling, hostage taking, iron mongering, smart-arsed fools, freaks, and felons that continually test my will, mettle, strength, intelligence, and most of all, patience! If you've got a straight answer ANYWHERE in that bent little head of yours, I want to hear it pretty damn quick or I'm going to take a large blunt object roughly the size of Elminster AND his hat, and stuff it lengthwise into a crevice of your being so seldom seen that even the denizens of the nine hells themselves wouldn't touch it with a twenty-foot rusty halberd! Have I MADE myself perfectly CLEAR?!"

--<CHARNAME> to Portalbendarwinden

--------------------

post-10485-0-15080600-1348188745.jpg
___________Old pen and paper modules of the 70s and 80s.___________

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#44 crimson_prophet

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Posted 08 May 2022 - 04:33 PM

@Sam. Thx a lot for your time, effort and detailed explanation! 

 

I'll give it a go and let you know! ;)



#45 Sam.

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Posted 08 May 2022 - 04:35 PM

Thanks for prompt answer!

 

Would you be so kind and produce a paperdoll for me based on "irenicus robed" avatar? Just in case Sam. is no longer present on these forums (or is just busy) - maybe somebody else could assist too?

By the time you scale it up big enough to work for a paperdoll, it's going to look really terrible.
 

 

Really? :( Define what do you mean by "terrible" please. Maybe it does not need to be big, some paperdolls are quite small (like below):

The best I got: Well, the shadow color is messed up on this one.  I'll have another try when I get a chance.

Baldr002.png

Attached File  NIROINV.bam   3.17K   195 downloads


Edited by Sam., 08 May 2022 - 04:38 PM.

"Ok, I've just about had my FILL of riddle asking, quest assigning, insult throwing, pun hurling, hostage taking, iron mongering, smart-arsed fools, freaks, and felons that continually test my will, mettle, strength, intelligence, and most of all, patience! If you've got a straight answer ANYWHERE in that bent little head of yours, I want to hear it pretty damn quick or I'm going to take a large blunt object roughly the size of Elminster AND his hat, and stuff it lengthwise into a crevice of your being so seldom seen that even the denizens of the nine hells themselves wouldn't touch it with a twenty-foot rusty halberd! Have I MADE myself perfectly CLEAR?!"

--<CHARNAME> to Portalbendarwinden

--------------------

post-10485-0-15080600-1348188745.jpg
___________Old pen and paper modules of the 70s and 80s.___________

CA Forums CA Homepage


#46 crimson_prophet

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Posted 09 May 2022 - 04:53 AM

The best I got: Well, the shadow color is messed up on this one.  I'll have another try when I get a chance.

attachicon.gifBaldr002.png

attachicon.gifNIROINV.bam

 

Still, looks good to me. :) Great job! Maybe if you use different sequence the image would be more centered though? 

 

KsqVAm4.jpg

 

 

 

 For this I use PS BAM because it handles all the details automatically.  I create a windows batch script (a text file with the .BAT extension) in the same folder as my specially named top and bottom frames with these contents:

Spoiler

You'll need to change "D:\AutoHotkey Scripts\PS BAM\PS BAM.ahk" on the first line to wherever you extracted PS BAM.  I recommend using the 64-bit EXE if possible.  There's no need to tough the other lines for now.  Right click on the BAT file and run it.  PS BAM spits your your new paperdoll BAM.  Throw it in the override folder and you'd got yourself a new female drow paperdoll.  Repeat to your heart's content.

 

I've hit a wall here  :/ 

 

1. Ps Bam_x64.exe - should something happen when I click this? Nothing happens.

 

2. I've run your spript with .bat file and I get an error - "No application is associated with the specified file for this operation". Any idea how to tackle this?

 

ncKz464.jpg


Edited by crimson_prophet, 09 May 2022 - 05:07 AM.


#47 Sam.

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Posted 09 May 2022 - 07:02 AM

You clearly missed it when I said:

You'll need to change "D:\AutoHotkey Scripts\PS BAM\PS BAM.ahk" on the first line to wherever you extracted PS BAM.

More explicitly, when you get the latest release of PS BAM from GitHub, you need to extract the entire contents of the archive, and you need to maintain the file structure. You probably shouldn't put it in the directory where you are working with your image files.  Instead, put it somewhere like <D:\Program Files\Infinity Engine Modding Tools\PS BAM\> and then don't move it.  Running the EXE won't do anything.  It is a command-line tool not a GUI, and you have to tell it what files you want it to process and what you want it to do.  This is what the BAT file is for.  As I said before, you'll need to change "D:\AutoHotkey Scripts\PS BAM\PS BAM.ahk" at the top of the BAT file to wherever you put PS BAM.  In out example, it would be "D:\Program Files\Infinity Engine Modding Tools\PS BAM\PS BAM_x64.exe", but you use the correct path for you.  Towards the end of the BAT it's using a wildcard to look for the first bitmap (*_Sequence_0000_Frame_0000.bmp) in each sequence (it'll find all the others automatically).  If you used another file format like PNG, you'll need to change the file extension here too.


"Ok, I've just about had my FILL of riddle asking, quest assigning, insult throwing, pun hurling, hostage taking, iron mongering, smart-arsed fools, freaks, and felons that continually test my will, mettle, strength, intelligence, and most of all, patience! If you've got a straight answer ANYWHERE in that bent little head of yours, I want to hear it pretty damn quick or I'm going to take a large blunt object roughly the size of Elminster AND his hat, and stuff it lengthwise into a crevice of your being so seldom seen that even the denizens of the nine hells themselves wouldn't touch it with a twenty-foot rusty halberd! Have I MADE myself perfectly CLEAR?!"

--<CHARNAME> to Portalbendarwinden

--------------------

post-10485-0-15080600-1348188745.jpg
___________Old pen and paper modules of the 70s and 80s.___________

CA Forums CA Homepage


#48 crimson_prophet

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Posted 09 May 2022 - 07:41 AM

You clearly missed it when I said:
You'll need to change "D:\AutoHotkey Scripts\PS BAM\PS BAM.ahk" on the first line to wherever you extracted PS BAM.

More explicitly, when you get the latest release of PS BAM from GitHub, you need to extract the entire contents of the archive, and you need to maintain the file structure. You probably shouldn't put it in the directory where you are working with your image files.  Instead, put it somewhere like <D:\Program Files\Infinity Engine Modding Tools\PS BAM\> and then don't move it.  Running the EXE won't do anything.  It is a command-line tool not a GUI, and you have to tell it what files you want it to process and what you want it to do.  This is what the BAT file is for.  As I said before, you'll need to change "D:\AutoHotkey Scripts\PS BAM\PS BAM.ahk" at the top of the BAT file to wherever you put PS BAM.  In out example, it would be "D:\Program Files\Infinity Engine Modding Tools\PS BAM\PS BAM_x64.exe", but you use the correct path for you.  Towards the end of the BAT it's using a wildcard to look for the first bitmap (*_Sequence_0000_Frame_0000.bmp) in each sequence (it'll find all the others automatically).  If you used another file format like PNG, you'll need to change the file extension here too.

 

I had read your instructions but comprehension is a different matter it seems  ;) - thanks again for your support. It works! :)

 

 

d1FQVEP.png

 

 

Out of curiosity (and pardon my ignorance) - is this conversion a complex process? In the summary it says this operation took 14.5 seconds.


Edited by crimson_prophet, 09 May 2022 - 07:57 AM.


#49 Sam.

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Posted 09 May 2022 - 08:46 AM

Out of curiosity (and pardon my ignorance) - is this conversion a complex process? In the summary it says this operation took 14.5 seconds.

The BAT I provided enables optimal compression of the BAM file, and are the minimum settings I recommend for final product paperdolls. If you need it to run faster for guess-and-check level of development, you can turn compression levels down or turn compression off entirely.  You could turn the CPU intensive part of the compression down by changing

 

--zopfliIterations 5000 ^

down to a lower number, like

--zopfliIterations 50 ^

You could entirely disable compression by changing

--OrderOfOperations "PCE" ^

to

--OrderOfOperations "PE" ^

 

but I don't recommend it as some of the compression routines do beneficial things like ensuring the special colors in the palette are the proper color and in the proper place.

 

 

Here's a couple more tries at Robed Irenicus

Attached File  NIROINV_try2.bam   4.9K   204 downloads

Attached File  NIROINV_try3.bam   4K   206 downloads


"Ok, I've just about had my FILL of riddle asking, quest assigning, insult throwing, pun hurling, hostage taking, iron mongering, smart-arsed fools, freaks, and felons that continually test my will, mettle, strength, intelligence, and most of all, patience! If you've got a straight answer ANYWHERE in that bent little head of yours, I want to hear it pretty damn quick or I'm going to take a large blunt object roughly the size of Elminster AND his hat, and stuff it lengthwise into a crevice of your being so seldom seen that even the denizens of the nine hells themselves wouldn't touch it with a twenty-foot rusty halberd! Have I MADE myself perfectly CLEAR?!"

--<CHARNAME> to Portalbendarwinden

--------------------

post-10485-0-15080600-1348188745.jpg
___________Old pen and paper modules of the 70s and 80s.___________

CA Forums CA Homepage


#50 crimson_prophet

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Posted 09 May 2022 - 09:59 AM

Out of curiosity (and pardon my ignorance) - is this conversion a complex process? In the summary it says this operation took 14.5 seconds.

The BAT I provided enables optimal compression of the BAM file, and are the minimum settings I recommend for final product paperdolls. If you need it to run faster for guess-and-check level of development, you can turn compression levels down or turn compression off entirely.  You could turn the CPU intensive part of the compression down by changing

 

--zopfliIterations 5000 ^

down to a lower number, like

--zopfliIterations 50 ^

You could entirely disable compression by changing

--OrderOfOperations "PCE" ^

to

--OrderOfOperations "PE" ^

 

but I don't recommend it as some of the compression routines do beneficial things like ensuring the special colors in the palette are the proper color and in the proper place.

 

Once again, thank you for explaining.

 

Here's a couple more tries at Robed Irenicus

attachicon.gifNIROINV_try2.bam

attachicon.gifNIROINV_try3.bam

 

Ok, I now see that your proposition nb 1 was probably the best. If you could cut the staff's shadow the image would probably center itself - what do you think? (I don't think weapons cast shadows on other paperdolls)



#51 Sam.

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Posted 09 May 2022 - 10:43 AM

Here's a couple more tries at Robed Irenicus
attachicon.gifNIROINV_try2.bam
attachicon.gifNIROINV_try3.bam

 
Ok, I now see that your proposition nb 1 was probably the best. If you could cut the staff's shadow the image would probably center itself - what do you think? (I don't think weapons cast shadows on other paperdolls)

I'm not happy with any of them, but I suggested from the beginning the results wouldn't be very good.  Feel free to tweak them if you're still not satisfied.

Attached File  NIROINV_try4.bam   3.19K   108 downloads

Attached File  NIROINV_try5.bam   3.12K   104 downloads

Attached File  NIROINV_try6.bam   3.12K   106 downloads


"Ok, I've just about had my FILL of riddle asking, quest assigning, insult throwing, pun hurling, hostage taking, iron mongering, smart-arsed fools, freaks, and felons that continually test my will, mettle, strength, intelligence, and most of all, patience! If you've got a straight answer ANYWHERE in that bent little head of yours, I want to hear it pretty damn quick or I'm going to take a large blunt object roughly the size of Elminster AND his hat, and stuff it lengthwise into a crevice of your being so seldom seen that even the denizens of the nine hells themselves wouldn't touch it with a twenty-foot rusty halberd! Have I MADE myself perfectly CLEAR?!"

--<CHARNAME> to Portalbendarwinden

--------------------

post-10485-0-15080600-1348188745.jpg
___________Old pen and paper modules of the 70s and 80s.___________

CA Forums CA Homepage


#52 crimson_prophet

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Posted 09 May 2022 - 11:12 AM

I really appreciate your efforts, thank you! :)



#53 crimson_prophet

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Posted 09 May 2022 - 02:37 PM

One last question, is Drizzt avatar hardcoded to show only 1 weapon on a custom paperdoll? (like below - scimitar appear either in left or right hand, never in both)


0V5eAUD.jpg
 
Settings (ini file in override folder):
 
// UDRZ drizzt
 
[general]
animation_type=6000
move_scale=9
ellipse=16
color_blood=47
color_chunks=0
sound_freq=4
personal_space=3
cast_frame=4
 
[character_old]
armor_max_code=1
can_lie_down=1
detected_by_infravision=1
double_blit=1
equip_helmet=1
false_color=1
height_code=WPM
height_code_helmet=WPM
resref=UDRZ
hide_weapons=0        // here changed "1" to "0"//
 
[sounds]



#54 Sam.

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Posted 09 May 2022 - 05:59 PM

No idea how the U* animation types have been affected by the EEs.  That's probably a question for someone like Bubb over at G3, tho it's possible Argent77 might also have some insight from his research into creature animations.


"Ok, I've just about had my FILL of riddle asking, quest assigning, insult throwing, pun hurling, hostage taking, iron mongering, smart-arsed fools, freaks, and felons that continually test my will, mettle, strength, intelligence, and most of all, patience! If you've got a straight answer ANYWHERE in that bent little head of yours, I want to hear it pretty damn quick or I'm going to take a large blunt object roughly the size of Elminster AND his hat, and stuff it lengthwise into a crevice of your being so seldom seen that even the denizens of the nine hells themselves wouldn't touch it with a twenty-foot rusty halberd! Have I MADE myself perfectly CLEAR?!"

--<CHARNAME> to Portalbendarwinden

--------------------

post-10485-0-15080600-1348188745.jpg
___________Old pen and paper modules of the 70s and 80s.___________

CA Forums CA Homepage


#55 crimson_prophet

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Posted 10 May 2022 - 04:32 AM

OK, thx again for your guidance and have a great day! ;)


Edited by crimson_prophet, 10 May 2022 - 04:33 AM.