Unit.txt

[Baron von Alvincy]

A little question about the text files from the units:
When you open textures-men-for instance MSHelm-Arbalester_S.txt, you can see only the number "4".
What does that mean?


Thanks

Baron von Alvincy

[cegorach]

_S means it is to define which shield is used by the model. Number means which folder is used in Items folder - in this case number 4.

_W defines weaponry (if such is defined separately to the main soldier model) in the same way.


If a model doesn't have a txt file to define its weaponry and shield it will not have such on the battlefiled.

Sometimes it is not necessary - when the model doesn't use attached weaponry/shield.


I suggest to check what means what and what is it for - you will quickly realise that you can easily add several weapons/shileds if you need this or different weapons for different actions e.g. a musket for shooting and reloading and a sword for melee.
In such cases _W file would have more than one number.

Try to experiment and test the results, but keep backup files in case something goes wrong.

[macsen rufus]

I'll add a few other notes:

In each texture sub-directory (eg Textures/Men/MSHelm - we'll stick with your example, as it's a useful one ) you will also see two files called weapons.txt and shields.txt which define the position of the weapons and shields in the Texture.BIF file as x-y coordinates. The shields are defined as top-left, bottom-right co-ordinates; the weapons also have two extra numbers relating to the scaling.

If you want to add a new shield design to a BIF you can so long as you make sure of a few things:

1) there must be room for it
2) it must go in all 12 frames in exactly the same place
3) its co-ordinates must be added to the shields.txt file as a new line. If you have one shield defined so far, this will make it shield 2 (unusually for MTW the numbering of shields and weapons does actually start at 1 instead of 0 this time)
4) for a unit to use this new shield you need a file: Textures/Men/MSHelm/newunit_s.txt whose sole content is the number 2
5) you also need a new subfolder: Textures/Men/Items/Shield2/Newunit - which defines the positioning of the shield for various actions - easiest to copy the files from another unit with the same animation and same size shield

If, in error, you put your new files in say the Shield1 folder, all that will happen is your units will not display shields in battle. If anything CTDs, it won't be this....

The big difference between weapons and shields as far as the engine is concerned is how they look. Weapons are defined as one-dimensional, and are defined as a line between two points on the animation (technically known as the "blunt end" and the "pointy end" )

Shields however are two-dimensional and are defined by four corners. This way you get perspective effects from different angles. This is why CROSSBOWS ARE SHIELDS, not weapons - purely so they can be drawn with perspective, and why pavise crossbows appear to have two shields.

I really suggest a good read of the "Unit animations" thread for the full story on this, but that should be enough for you to try out some new shields. And, yes, always make back ups

[caravel]

It's easy really when you get used to it, just gets confusing navigating all of the folder and trying to remember where you've put everything and whether you've already done something or not.

Then your Byzantine Psiloi come running out into battle holding their swords by the points and you realise that you might have made just a little error somewhere...



Edit: The one thing I wanted to do was have cavalry that charged with lanced and fought in melee with swords or maces, but I've never gotten around to it. It's purely cosmetic anyway.

[macsen rufus]

Edit: The one thing I wanted to do was have cavalry that charged with lanced and fought in melee with swords or maces, but I've never gotten around to it. It's purely cosmetic anyway.

I think it should be doable - just declare the two weapons in your "CaravelsNewCav_w.txt" file, then the lance can be used when standing, running, walking and charging, and the other weapon for fighting (and probably dieing ), with the appropriate weapons divided between the two relevant folders in Items ...