6. Continue
to extract images from the roof file by using the Go To function
and selecting the data between the next offsets, 1F E0, the start
of the image data for the interior of first roof pair and 3F C0,
the start of the image data for the roof of the second roof pair;
pasting it in a new doc. Do your x and y calculations (interior
image files in the same roof pair will use the identical new header
as the roof image did in step 5c. above so you can copy and paste
that header from the finished roof image file).
DOWN
AND DIRTY ROOF### FILE 'BUILDING'
1. In your graphics
editor, copy a roof from any bgmap.tga, cropping it as closely as
possible, leaving as little exterior 'landscape' around the roof
as you can. 'Square' bldgs (those not angled in respect to the map
edges) are best for this. Paste the roof onto your new map where
you want it.
2. Do any necessary
graphics work to the exterior landscape surrounding the pasted roof
image NOW (all roof and interior images sliced out of a roof file
will have landscape matching the map they came from, bordering the
bldg in the image) When pasting bldgs into a map youll find it necessary
to 'blend' the pasted image in with the landscape surrounding its
new position. Remember - any graphic changes done within the boundary
of the roof image you copy in the step below, after you copy this
roof image, will not displayed when the game 'patches' in the roof
and interior images during play.
3. Copy the
roof image from its new location including as little landscape as
possible. !!!NOTE THE TWO CORNER COORDINATES!!! using the ruler
set to measure in pixels. The marquee box the selection tool places
around the section of the graphic to be copied makes determining
the corners fairly easy. Make a copy of this copy (giving you two
identical images, one you name roofx.tga and the other, interiorx.tga)
To make the interior, 'hollow out' the roof (basically paint in
a suitably colored floor or paste in a nice texture) and add something
resembling walls (I find 2 pixel wide lines work well for these
even tho the terrain elements in map### are all 10 pix wide) and
white rectangles in the walls to represent doors and windows. Stay
within the boundaries of the roof portion of the image itself when
you do this.
4. Then use
Texture Maker to convert the roof and interior .tga images (naming
them txtr000.tga and txtr001.tga) and using the fromtga.bat file
to create txtr000 and txtr 001 (again please note this step in Texture
Maker refers to v.1 of that fine tool)
5. In HexEdit
delete the 16 byte header from the converted file for the roof image
you want to use and paste the remaining data into a new document.
!!!NOTE!!! the offset address of the last line in this data (add
blank bytes -'20' values to fill in any missing bytes to create
a full 16 byte last line) The offset for the interior is going to
be the next line. !!!IMPORTANT!!! to keep track of this as you'll
need to input this offset value in the header you will create for
this roofpair (the offset address for the roof image data in the
first roofpair ia always 00 00 00 00).
6. Then delete
the 16 byte header from the converted file for the interior image
and paste the remaining data into the new document on the line following
the roof image data.
7. To create
the header for this roof pair its hex calculator time again. If
you had noted the pixel coordinates of the roof image when you pasted
it onto your new map as 700 (x1), 840 (y1) for the upper left and
780 (x2), 900 (y2) for the lower right - these decimal values would
translate (using HexEdits base conversion tool, Bconv32.exe or a
character table) as:
700 (= 02 BC in hex) for x1.
780 (= 03 0C in hex) for x2.
840 (= 03 48 in hex) for y1.
900 (= 03 84 in hex) for y2.
8. The first
8 bytes (specifying the roof images corner coordinates on your map)
of the new header are going to be:
02 BC 03 0C 03 48 03 84
9. The next
4 bytes (the offset for the roof image data) will be 00 00 00 00
so the new header is now:
02 BC 03 0C 03 48 03 84 00 00 00 00
10. The last
4 bytes are the offset you'd noted for the beginning of the interior
image data. Lets assume this as:
00 00 1D C0 The finished bldg header is now: 02 BC 03 0C 03 48 03
84 00 00 00 00 00 00 1D C0
11. Insert this
at the beginning of your new roof pair data in line 1. Then insert
a CC2 header (52 4F 4F 46 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00) at
the beginning of your new roof pair data in line 1 (which pushes
the building header down to line 2). Save as roofxxx in the ABTF/Graphics/Maps
folder and play.
Be creative
folks. I did a camouflaged pillbox using a haystack graphic for
the roof and a custom interior for the bunker. And a camo trench
with a hedge for a roof and the trench as the interior. Let only
your imagination limit you.
OVMAP
AND MMMAP FILES
Ovmap (overview
map) and mmmap (map monitor map) are two maps which CC2 uses for
displays in the interface (the mmmap seen on the Command screen
and on the Map Monitor during the game) and the BattleMaker edit
screen. The pixel dimensions of the ovmap and mmmap are important.
You cannot use the original ovmap### and mmmap### headers if your
new files are different in size (pixel H x pixel W x 2). The data
in the middle of the header is byte width x byte height (last data
set in the header) x 2. You will need a hex calculator to determine
this.
Mmmap example
1) You resize
a copy of your new bgmap tga to 144x106 in preparation to make an
mmmap file. (144x106 is not a fixed number but keep in mind the
Map Monitor window, into which the graphic must fit, is only slightly
bigger than that, especially in the horizontal.)
2) You then
run the 144x106 .TGA thru Tin's Texture maker and convert it to
CC2 format.
3) Rename the
txtr000 file it creates as mmmap### (### being the # of the original
map you want to substitute your new one for)
4) Open this
file in a hex editor and the header appears as-
74 78 74 66 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 90 00 00 00 6A
Change the first 6 bytes to read as 00 00 00 00 00 00.
5) Now use a
hex calculator (or hex to decimal conversion table) to multiply
the values in bytes 12 and 16 (In this case, 90 x 6A in hex or 144
x 106 in decimal. Different dimensions will naturally produce different
values in bytes 12 & 16) times 2. The result, 77 40 in hex (30528
in decimal) is placed in bytes 7 and 8.
6) The finished
mmmap header will read -
00 00 00 00 00 00 77 40 00 00 00 90 00 00 00 6A
7) Save in the
ABTF/Graphics/Maps folder.
Ovmap example
CC2 uses 904x646
as the ovmap image size for 1600x1200 maps. I've found there's a
bit of leeway here if bgmap size is different (646 pixels may be
a vertical limit though and 1142 pixels is the largest std horizontal
size). This example assumes the reduction of a bgmap###.TGA from
1800x1320 (16x11 in deployment tiles) to an 881x646 .TGA in preparation
to make an ovmap file. Keep in mind the values in bytes 11&12
and 15&16 of the header will vary depending on the actual dimensions
of the reduction you choose to work with.
1) Use Tin's
Texture Maker to convert your 881x646 ovmap###.TGA to CC2 format.
The header in your hex editor will read - 74 78 74 66 00 01 00 00
00 00 03 71 00 00 02 86
2) The first
5 bytes are changed to 00.
3) Bytes 11
& 12 (03 71 or 881 in decimal) are multiplied by bytes 15 &
16 (02 86 or 646 in decimal) then the result is multiplied by 2.
4) The final
product (11 5E 4C or 1138252 in decimal) is plugged into bytes 6,
7 & 8 producing a finished header that reads - 00 00 00 00 00
11 5E 4C 00 00 03 71 00 00 02 86
5) Save in the
ABTF/Graphics/Maps folder
MAKING
A FREE DEPLOY BATTLEMAKER TEMPLATE FOR A NEW MAP
Open your new
map in the BM edit screen and remove all victory locatins and all
but the mandatory 3-5 deployment tiles on the left and right edges
of the map. Set the force levels for each side as 0. Save this as
your new map name/Free Deploy.
Open this file
in Excel. In the map matrix that constitutes the bulk of the file
change all values, except for the row at the top and the column
on the left, to 0. Save as tab delimited text.
Remove the .txt
extension in Windows Explorer. The resulting BM file will now have
he mandatory 3-5 deployment tiles along the left and right edges
removed. Remember it is a template. In BM edit you will have to
add deployment tiles, victory locations and choose teams or set
forces levels as desired to play. The advantage of a Free Deploy
BM is that you can reverse sides (tho soldiers will still retreat
to the left/German or right/Allied edges as before), play top to
bottom or set up with one side surrounded. Depending on the amount
of 'reversal' you impose on any new setup you may find POW captures
increase but theses routing cowards werent gonna be of any more
use to your side in the battle anyway.
A CLARIFICATION
I've been ploughing
through the MAP FAQ over the last few days in an effort to work
out how to do the roof files. Well, I think I've finally cracked
it (sort of). As a test on my new map
(chateau), I've managed to successfully do three roofs. There will
be about 18 in all.
The problem I'm encountering is that the offset pointing to the
roof and interior data is out (and more so for each roofset). Rather
than pointing to where the data begins (as you would
think should be the case), I've found that I have to have the offset
a number of lines before the data for that roofset begins. And with
each roofset I'm adding, I find that I have to point
the offset even more lines before the data begins (ie it's compounding).
While it's not a real problem with a few roofs, with 18 its going
get more complicated (but not impossible to do
however - it's simply not very neat). What's the reason for this?
Or is this normal?
Thanks,
Andrew (The Naked Foot) Glenn
///// What youre
encountering sounds suspiciously like the probs we had before Tin
made Texture Maker when we had to insert blank bytes to force a
reversal in the TGA file's byte order. Assuming youre using TM then
my best guess is that when you are building the image portion of
the roof file you may either be adding each roof header to the top
of the file as you go or not deleting the 16 byte txtr headers from
the image data before pasting it in.
Keep a header
file open (in your case- one with the CC2 header [52 4F 4F 46 00
00 00 1C 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00; 1C in byte 8 = 28] followed by
28x16 byte lines of blanks ['20's]). Then open another file for
the image data. Tile the header & image files horizontally in
your Hex editor window. Paste in the image data for roof#1 (AFTER!!!removing
the 16 byte txtr header). If the last line of the roof1 image data
is incomplete (ie not a full 16 byte line; this happens occasionally)
fill it in with blanks ('20's) to create a full 16 byte line. Then
add another blank to start a new line. Reason for the extra blank
byte is - HexEdit needs any line other than the very first to already
be started so you can paste new data in.
Note the offset
where the interior#1 image data will go and input that offset into
the corresponding last 4 bytes of the roofpair#1 line in the header
file.
Open interior#1,
remove the header, copy the data and paste it into the last line
of the image file. Add blanks to fill the new last line then add
the extra blank (youll add 2 blanks if you had to fill in an incomplete
line) to start another line. Note the offset of this line and input
that offset address into bytes 9-12 of the roofpair#2 line in your
header file.
Use the GoTo
function to jump to the starting offset for interior#1 and remove
the blank. This shifts all the data for interior#1 into its correct
position, leaving 1 blank to start the offset where the roof#2 data
will go. Repeat the process. Open roof#2, remove the header, copy
the data, paste into image file, add an extra blank, note offset
in header file (interior#20), jump to roof#2 start offset and remove
the blank.
When youve finished
pasting in all 28 sets roof pair image data THEN you can copy all
29 lines in the header file (the cc2 header + 28 roof pair headers)
and paste them into the beginning of your image file. Thus the start
of the roof#1 image data gets shifted to line 1E (=30).
Use the hex-to-decimal
converter to translate all the corner coordinates you noted when
you cut the roof images from the map. Again the first 2 bytes of
each roof pair header get the x1 coordinate (upper left horizontal),
bytes 3&4 get the x2 coordinate (lower right horizontal), bytes
5&6 get the y1 coord (upper left vertical) and bytes 7&8
get y2 (lower right vertical).
Hope this solves
you prob. If so I prolly coulda just said - dont add the headers
to the image file until after youve finished pasting in all the
image data but better a little extra verbiage :) to make the point
clear. Dont hesitate if ya need to follow up with any questions.
lotsa luck,
mick
(xe5)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
