Kraellin
06-01-2001, 13:14
i've been doing a little study re .bif files and some other things and i believe you can alter the colors of units.
from what i can tell so far there are 2, possibly 3 files that are involved in each unit type. there is an .lbm file, a .bif file and a .txt file. the .lbm file is a base graphic file for all units of that type. since there are different armies using different colors they didnt make 8 different cav files, they just made one base cav file with all the different looks that a cav unit might have, its different facings and so on. then, when you pick your color and your enemies pick their colors the base unit is loaded in and colored for each person's army color. this is done with either the .bif or the .txt. i believe it's the .bif and i believe the .txt file is for telling the .lbm file which mini-graphic to display for which situation.
ok, this is just speculation and i've not played with it at all, but apparently a .bif file is a 'raw' file. it has no 'header' like a normal graphic file; it's just raw data. a header is that part of a graphic file that has information about the file itself and isnt part of the picture, it's the parameters like size and shape and so on, sort of a 'this is what this file is all about'.
if you pull up the .lbm in a paint program you'll see that it is a composite pic of lots of smaller images. there is a .lbm file for each unit type and each of these files for the units has many different looks of that unit: it's facing forward, backwards, sideways and so on. but they are all colored with the same colors and not the different banner colors. so, somehow the program has to be told to change certain colors so that it fits your army's color scheme.
now, a bif file actually has 2 parts, the raw data file and a text file. they are not in the same file and the text file is actually the header for the raw data file. therefore, it's my belief that that's how they are entering the color changes to units, with the .bif and possibly the .txt file.
these files are found in totalwar\textures\men\(diff units).
if anyone feels so inclined to modify these please be warned: i am NOT claiming this is the way this works for certain. i could well be wrong, but it appears that it might be something like what i've stated above.
also, you can modify the .lbm graphic file and thus change the look of the base unit, but there are possible drawbacks to this and i'd recommend being very careful if you do. before doing any of this make a backup of any file you may plan to alter, cause it could all blow up. also, and i'm really not sure about this one, but there appear to be in the .lbm files certain areas of the mini-images that are 'blanked out'....possibly, and speculation says that this could be a sort of 'reserved' area of the image. also, if you do alter the .lbm file, remember, this is a base image(s) and other colors are added to specific locations within that image and if you change how the image looks the color is probably going to still be added to those specific locations and end up looking like crap....possibly.
the .txt file may also be the location data of where the base image gets colored. i'm not sure.
so, do this at your own risk. i'm not claiming i have this right here and if you do this, you do it on your own. you come crying to me that i wrecked your machine or your game or your files and i'll just kinda shake my head and roll my eyes at you ;)
K.
from what i can tell so far there are 2, possibly 3 files that are involved in each unit type. there is an .lbm file, a .bif file and a .txt file. the .lbm file is a base graphic file for all units of that type. since there are different armies using different colors they didnt make 8 different cav files, they just made one base cav file with all the different looks that a cav unit might have, its different facings and so on. then, when you pick your color and your enemies pick their colors the base unit is loaded in and colored for each person's army color. this is done with either the .bif or the .txt. i believe it's the .bif and i believe the .txt file is for telling the .lbm file which mini-graphic to display for which situation.
ok, this is just speculation and i've not played with it at all, but apparently a .bif file is a 'raw' file. it has no 'header' like a normal graphic file; it's just raw data. a header is that part of a graphic file that has information about the file itself and isnt part of the picture, it's the parameters like size and shape and so on, sort of a 'this is what this file is all about'.
if you pull up the .lbm in a paint program you'll see that it is a composite pic of lots of smaller images. there is a .lbm file for each unit type and each of these files for the units has many different looks of that unit: it's facing forward, backwards, sideways and so on. but they are all colored with the same colors and not the different banner colors. so, somehow the program has to be told to change certain colors so that it fits your army's color scheme.
now, a bif file actually has 2 parts, the raw data file and a text file. they are not in the same file and the text file is actually the header for the raw data file. therefore, it's my belief that that's how they are entering the color changes to units, with the .bif and possibly the .txt file.
these files are found in totalwar\textures\men\(diff units).
if anyone feels so inclined to modify these please be warned: i am NOT claiming this is the way this works for certain. i could well be wrong, but it appears that it might be something like what i've stated above.
also, you can modify the .lbm graphic file and thus change the look of the base unit, but there are possible drawbacks to this and i'd recommend being very careful if you do. before doing any of this make a backup of any file you may plan to alter, cause it could all blow up. also, and i'm really not sure about this one, but there appear to be in the .lbm files certain areas of the mini-images that are 'blanked out'....possibly, and speculation says that this could be a sort of 'reserved' area of the image. also, if you do alter the .lbm file, remember, this is a base image(s) and other colors are added to specific locations within that image and if you change how the image looks the color is probably going to still be added to those specific locations and end up looking like crap....possibly.
the .txt file may also be the location data of where the base image gets colored. i'm not sure.
so, do this at your own risk. i'm not claiming i have this right here and if you do this, you do it on your own. you come crying to me that i wrecked your machine or your game or your files and i'll just kinda shake my head and roll my eyes at you ;)
K.