Modding Campaign Map Peices ..

[barocca]

bif files are the "held" files, they dont have shadows,
buf files have shadows,
you NEED BOTH

i extract my source files from bifs and bufs (bifreader extracts them as bmp's),

choose a BIF sourced bmp, in photoshop i change canvas size to be larger than i need, this is my "master file"

make multiple copies of my "master" file

edit/add/mod my campmap piece as i desire,

COPY the shadow from the bmp that came from a BUF file
into my new files that i want to become BUF's (adjusting the shadow as needed)

convert the files from 256 colour bmp's into 256 colour lbm's using GDS

Drop the lbm files into CA's purpgrab 1 at a time
(which gives me all bif output files)

THEN those files that have shadows and need to beBUF's i then drop into CA's buffy (1 at a time)

CHECK the files by dropping them into CA's bifview
- if you made a major boo-boo here's where you will spot it.

rename the files as needed and put them where needed and test them in game.

Cheers
B.

[dimitrios the samian]

Many thanks Barocca ! .....

[barocca]

Now a lot of things can be done with just the basic pallettes and files above,

using bif reader i edited out the Pagan Leader,

tidied up the flag by using adjacent index colours so the levels stay correct as the unit stack fills up,

then exported as a bmp, opened in photoshop and imported Joan of Arc bmp's (Joan of Arc is in the agent folder) into the file,

(there are lots of blues in the Pagan Leader bif file pallette)

saved as BMP and remade into bif files!!

Voila


the trick is do NOT copy the flag/banner around anywhere,
you have to use the one in the file to keep it counting men in stack correctly.
(you can , however , change the colour range the flag uses)

now in this one if you were worried about Jon "inheriting" some blues that are used for faction colours on the base, then you would simply change the colour range of the faction colours - say to Bright Yellow, and then adjust Joan to remove any Yellow.

cheers
B.

[dimitrios the samian]

Hello Barocca ,, Im figuring fortifications use the same principals you have outlined above for movable peices ,, But !! Is it possible for fortification to be faction specific ? so various empires look different on the campaign map ?

[Belisario]

I think it is possible, BKB's mod Age of Warlords uses a different type of campmap's fortification for the eskimo and indian factions.

[dimitrios the samian]

Great news Belisario !!! ... Do you have the mod installed ? Can you capture some screen shots of some of the new Castles alongside some of the older original ones ? this is awesome news ....

[Belisario]

Have a look at this Age of Warlords' thread:

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...t=50767&page=3

I uninstalled my copy of Age of Warlords due to its frustrating CTDs.