Tutorial: Placing Palms on the Battlemap

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Placing Palms on the Battlemap

This minimod was created to add palm trees to the battlemap as vanilla RTW currently has none. The trees are placed in the semi-arid climate type. This minimod is made to work with vanilla RTW and any other mod.

Text editting/testing: Teleklos Archelaou
Models/textures: Shifty157

If anyone is looking for more information on how to alter these files, make sure to look at Duke John's tutorial on creating new vegetation, which is the point from which I started messing around with these files. I surely wouldn't have been able to get this far without it, and it has been a big aid in understanding what needs altering. I began a thread here trying to find help to remedy this situation (the lack of palms on the battlemap), and got a very mixed response, but little direct aid. I asked for help and expressed my frustration on the public EB board and shifty started helping figure out things from the modelling point-of-view, thank goodness. Here is the result. If anyone has further tips to make the palms or ground surfaces look more realistic, please feel free to submit them below. Otherwise enjoy the palms! Getting them in is pretty easy!

Download the .zip file with .cas files and textures now on the .org website:
http://www.totalwar.org/Downloads/Rt...d/palms_v3.zip

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Step 0. Backup the files we are altering here as we go!!!!

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Step 1. Before we do editing of text files, we need to get the new .cas and .dds files in place. There is one texture file and a number of .cas files that we are providing here. All were vanilla versions at first - we did not create them from scratch - , but they are models which shifty has caused to reference a single texture file and which he has altered a little for better results on the battle map.

Step 1a: In the zip file you will find 8 .cas files. All of these need to be placed into the data/models_vegetation/ folder.
Step 1b: You will also find a tga.dds file named ##palms_all.tga.dds. This file needs to be placed in the data/vegetation/textures/ folder.
Step 1c: You need to copy the palm_layout.tga file into the data/battlefield/vegetation/ folder . All this does is make palm forests more dense - since they are taller and thinner and aren't spaced out as much as regular trees are.
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Step 2. Now we will alter the file that will pull these palms up in the game on the battlemap.

Step 2a: Open up descr_vegetation.txt - in your data folder. Search down to the end of the Models section (right before "Vegetation Types" begins), and insert (these did not exist before here) this new code that will reference these models:

model sa_tree_01
{
    level models_vegetation/palm_1.CAS
}

model sa_tree_02
{
    level models_vegetation/palm_2.CAS
}

model sa_tree_03
{
    level models_vegetation/palm_3.CAS
}

model sa_tree_04
{
    level models_vegetation/palm_4.CAS
}

model sa_tree_05
{
    level models_vegetation/palm_5.CAS
}

model sa_tree_06
{
    level models_vegetation/palm_6.CAS
}

model sa_tree_07
{
    level models_vegetation/palm_swamp_shrub.CAS
}

model sa_tree_08
{
    level models_vegetation/palm_shrub.CAS
}

For your reference, here are screenshots of those 8 palms so you can decide easily which ones you want:


Step 2b: Now we need to tell the semi-arid climate to use those models. Search further down this same file (descr_vegetation.txt) till you find this entry:

; Semi Arid
vegetation semi_arid_dense_forest modifies default_forest
{
}

We will expand that. Here is the new "base" entry for this semiarid climate type. Paste this one over the old entry:

; Semi Arid
vegetation semi_arid_dense_forest
;vegetation semi_arid_dense_forest modifies default_forest
{
    layout 320 palm_layout.tga
    radius 1
    height_range 1.1 1.5
    aspect_range 0.7 1.3
    lod trees
;    model sa_tree_01
    model sa_tree_02
    model sa_tree_03
    model sa_tree_04
    model sa_tree_05
;    model sa_tree_06
;    model sa_tree_07
;    model sa_tree_08
}

You will see the 8 types - but I have four commented out. You can only have four of these at a time, but we have it set up here where you can easily change which four you will choose to have. Just make sure only four are in use at any one time.
-------------------------------------------
Step 3. You now need to delete a file - descr_vegetation.db - this is in your data folder. Once you delete this file, the next time you start up the game, a new one will regenerate. You will need to do this any time you change which 4 of the 8 palms you are going to use also. When you start up, it will definitely slow down the initial loading of the game. But don't worry, this just happens one time, and once it recreates the descr_vegetation.db file, you won't have this problem any longer.

-------------------------------------------
Step 4. Fixing sprites to work even faster in game.

Step 4a: Open up the data\vegetation\sprites\ folder and find the new sprites the game has created for you automatically (when you started a game up and the descr_vegetation.db file regenerated itself). They would be called variants of semi_arid_dense_forest_0.tga (0-3). In the data\vegetation\textures\ file you also will find two files (one is semi_arid_dense_forest_canopy.tga, and the other is semi_arid_dense_forest_edging.tga) that can be altered to speed things up.

The process is just saving these files (example: semi_arid_dense_forest_edging.tga) as .dds files. This is familiar for anyone who has skinned - but if you haven't it won't hurt if you don't take this step, it's just that your performance won't be quite as good. So I would save semi_arid_dense_forest_edging.tga (as an example) as semi_arid_dense_forest_edging.tga.dds (using the NVIDIA plug in for your paint program). Do this for all of these files and save the new versions in the same files as the old .tga versions. That's all.

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This should work now, and make these palms appear in the battle map like these screenshots (but note that you may have to alter the extent of your semi-arid climate now - as you may not want palms to appear in all of the places the tga map files reference):



==========================

Terms of use: Not much here really - anyone is free to use these files in their builds or mods. A thanks would be appreciated though. And I would personally add that since this effort was exerted to get palms into EB primarily, that it would be nice if the thanks was extended to EB as well (Stormy and others have been continually helpful with example photos and motivation that palms *were* needed), but if anyone has a problem with that and doesn't think it appropriate, then no one is going to come around twisting arms or anything.

==========================

Finally, please let me know if there are problems with these instructions - I have gotten them in my build, but there's a chance a modded file or problem might exist in other builds in these files (or was present in mine). I've not written a tutorial yet, but am submitting things in a similar method I submit new changes to EB. Posting photos of different palm combinations might also be helpful if folks get them into their games and want to play around with it. We are still trying to fine tune ours, so advice, clarification, other examples, etc. will all be helpful to us and others. Getting some undergrowth to go along with it would also be nice - especially if it was not using one of our 4 tree slots, so if anyone can do that we would love to see examples and hear how.

I also am now (in my build) opening the palm layout.tga file and adding more white pixels, so that the palms are denser and more realistic as forests, but I've done this since I zipped the files and uploaded them.

[Lusted]

Woot! Thank you TA this is a great tutorial that will help improve the variety of battle fields in a lot of mods. Off now to see if its worked will post back here if it has. And expect a very big thank you to EB and shifty in the readme of the next version of my mod if this does work.

EDIT: yes! it works! Now can anyone provide me with information about what colour in map_climates.tga dictates where palms are on the camapign map, and where they should be on the map, im using the mundus magna if that helps.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Ok, well, folks should hang on a bit here. Foot has told me this happened to him too. It will just take some more testing, but I'll get it figured out. Gotta run teach soon though, so it will be tonight before I can do some serious tests. Don't know how it could be affecting the ground or how units appear - that is certainly not what I'm seeing in my build or what would be expected by me from these changes.

[Lusted]

Dont worry i fixed it, see my edit, was just putting textures in the wrong place. But this is what i get on the battle map:



A distinct lack of palms. Now i selected the co-ords for that map based on where palm tress are on the campaign map, surely this is the type of climate they are meant to show up in. I map this custom battle map just to test this, and whilst my previous problem is fixed this is a bit stranger.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

May be another file I made an edit in then to 'trigger' them. I can find the problem - it may take using a merge program to check where I made changes, but I'll get it on here.

I'm just giddy though seeing what prometheus has done with the grass and flowers for Res Gestae right now by the way.

[Lusted]

Oh same here, he's already given me advanced perission to use thme in his mod, and im sure he will let EB use them as well, the screenshots with the new grass/lowers in are truly amazing.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Now can anyone provide me with information about what colour in map_climates.tga dictates where palms are on the camapign map, and where they should be on the map, im using the mundus magna if that helps.

I can go ahead and answer this question: This should be anywhere the blue color in your map_climates.tga file overlaps with forest vegetation - like the medium green and sometimes some other ground cover types on your map_ground_types.tga file overlap. The blue climate is semi-arid, and so where it overlaps with trees (forests) it will now have palms. So most folks might wind up restricting their semi-arid climates a little more than they currently have to restrict palm occurrences.

[Lusted]

Thats no problem for me, the mundus magna already restricts quite heavily where palms appear so that shouldn't be a problem, i may even expand where palms appear to add that bit more variety. Could you perhaps post a mpa showing where EB has palsm, im sure i saw one in the EB subforum but can no longer find it.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

We're in the process of figuring this out (placement of palms - where on the map), and it sort of depends on whether or not we get a desert oasis like we want. If that works, then our stands of palms in semi-arid climates can be more like palm forests instead of desert stands. So it might vary some still.

I can still try to put together a map showing where they would currently show up in EB given what we have now.

[Dol Guldur]

Thanks for your tutorial (and honoring your word) Teleklos.

Thanks from the Fourth Age! - it is working in BI:
https://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e.../palmtrees.jpg

You'll be in the credits!

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Lusted, are you putting it in on a -mod mod? That was what Foot was doing when he got those same results. But it's strange that Dol Guldur got it working for FATW.

-----
edit: it seems as though it's hard to get a -mod mod to generate its own descr_vegetation.db. You have to mod the original files.

[shifty157]

Good to see people enjoying the mod.

New releases should be on their way once we figure more stuff out.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

I have put it on another RTW build - there doesn't seem to be any problems with it. People should feel good about trying it out now, unless they are trying to put it on a -mod mod. I have been trying, but have not figured out how to make it work on a -mod mod. Does anyone have advice on how to do that?

[Dol Guldur]

I've never used -mod mymod due to its apparent (though hopefully not real) limitations, but would not the same principle apply to BI (in which the palms do work)? It can only draw off from the main data folder. It is strange it does not work.

You do need to delete all the map.rwms, which is something you might want to put in the tutorial.

[Duke John]

We are using -mod for NTW2 as it completely puts our mod in a seperate directory, unaffecting original R:TW, except for the sky textures.

I use a R:TW install to generate the vegetation files and then just copy them to the NTW2 folder. A bit unconvenient for the modder but convenient for the customer

[Dol Guldur]

NTW2 is using -mod mymod, eh? Well, that must say something good for it. Does it work (or is it intended to work) with the BI. exe though?

Back to the thread...

BI draws off the DB file from the main RTW folder. But I have a question: does the db file generate when you first play BI (assuming you have installed the expansion to a never-played RTW) or is it there in the RTW data folder from the beginning?

If it is there from the beginning then it must be deleted (or included in the mod files). And what of the sprite files?

This really is an area I do not know much about (climates/vegetation).

[Duke John]

We use the rometw.exe so I have ignored/forgotten anything related to BI.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

We are using -mod for NTW2 as it completely puts our mod in a seperate directory, unaffecting original R:TW, except for the sky textures.

I use a R:TW install to generate the vegetation files and then just copy them to the NTW2 folder. A bit unconvenient for the modder but convenient for the customer

Ah. That was exactly what I was going to try this evening. Good to hear it works for NTW2 at least.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Do only the edited files need to be placed in the -mod files? And the copied over descr_vegetation.db file? Or do many other ones have to be brought over also? I'm having no luck just putting the edited ones in the -mod files, it still looks like vanilla.

[Lusted]

Finally got it working, but can someone post their sprites for the palms as mine are all black.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Are you using the same 4 palms that it is defaulting to? If that is the case I can upload the sprites I have for semi-arid.

Also, were you using -mod? If so, what files did you change to get it to work with -mod?

[Dol Guldur]

My sprites are black too, well they are various white horizontal or vertical bars (in preview) of varying widths but black when opened.

I did not change the original commenting for the trees selected.

[Duke John]

Then you've got the wrong settings. Try 16-bit and anti-aliasing off.

*checking*
Yes, you really should read my tutorial

[Dol Guldur]

Thank you.

I *will* read that tutorial properly at some point soon. Promise.

Is it possible to limit where palm trees occur in the semi-arid climate by the use of ground types?

[Lusted]

Yeah im using the default 4 palms, and could you also send me the canopy and edging textures, now that i've got it owrking, and given the problems ive had i don't really want to do things again with the right preferences to make the sprites generate properly.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Yeah, can't get to it immediately, but I'll get them in a rar file and posted by some time tomorrow. (for the four on default).

I still can't get the blasted things to work in a -mod mod though, even with the .db file created in another build placed into it.

[Dol Guldur]

Teleklos,

Is there a descr_climates_lookup.txt and descr_climates.txt in your mymod folder? Probably, but it's the only thing I can think of that links a submod folder or BI to the main data folder.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

This is the silliest thing... I can get palms to show up in a vanilla version of a game, then (with no terrain changes or vegetation db or txt files or anything like that) in a -mod mod, they aren't showing up. I can't imagine where it's getting its trees from, as the vanilla txt and db vegetation files are changed. Is this something really simple?

As I said earlier, I would appreciate (as would others it seems) anyone who has succeeded in getting them into the game in a -mod mod to explain if they did anything different. That would be the optimal way of fixing things for mods in -mod switch mode.

[Lusted]

Hey Ta, you got those sprites ready?

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Yeah, I do. I have had them done a few days (rar file dated to the 24th) - crap, looks like I just forgot to upload them one night. Thanks for reminding me.

http://www.totalwar.org/Downloads/Rt...and_edging.rar

I mimicked the directory tree structure, so it should be easy to drop them in place.