Hello all, for months I have been working with MDL files and .cp files to see how they tick and in a way discover secrets to help us make custom Baddies, and townsfolk....... Well many have tried to alter .cp files , and (included myself) tried to alter MDL files.... As we all know they break easily, making testing slow and painful, so many give up, NOT ME.... NOT EVEN CLOSE... So Todd asked me to keep my findings quiet till I had some more data, I have enough, now to maybe get thoses who could help to do so, and is fun info for newbies, so enjoy my findings......... 1 SoM being primative is a good thing, Almost every action in som is seperated, like a node based system, that being said, I know beyond a showdow of a doubt , WHAT .CP FILES ARE, and what they do..... .CP files are detailed movement and timing details for the MDL Files to work with, they also have Shadow output... the MDL file it's self has the models basic movement paterened in the hex file, simular to the CP file, but is station to the model only .... NO MODEL in SoM can move without a .CP that being said you can make anything move with clever hex editing, not too tough in fact, only problem I have is not being to isolate to shadow detail of the file YET.... 2........CP switching is a great way to to raise your creatures or NPC's speed or attack paterns, no more zombies that move faster than knights, this works on NPC's as well, just rename any OTHER .CP to match the one you want to alter(Make a back up of course duh) until you get the desired speed and pattern , have to turn shadows off though, till I find how to swap them correctly:) 3....Lastly with simple .CP AND PRF hex editing you can make enemys with other enemies attacks, and npc's that turn on you and become enemies, pretty nifty stuff HUH? well over the next few I will post more pics of my work and give more details , but for now I must rest, ...... I leave you with the catapillar that moves super fast and has the tripple fire ball attack, Not mist like default:).....More to Come, Happy modeling.............ML
Very nice man...eventually I would like to outline the .cp file fully in hex so instead of copying one hex to another to get a certain function working, we can simply modify a section of the model's own cp file to get the desired results.
It would be funny to see a mutant mushroom that could fly around really fast and spit out moonlight sword magic at you! The moonlight mushroom! Ahhhhhh!
Please make a wizard with bad ass ice magics for Todd to use for his boss in DD (hint: his "ice magus" has no ice spells )
EDITED: I can dig out the thread that details the magic files and piece together the what's what for those (mostly which slots have spells and which don't... if you can find a way to change enemy spells into player spells and vice versa that would make a big diff too)
We should probably provide authors with wizards for each element. I kinda wish there were ones that looked more monster like. Not sure why precisely, but killing things that look like NPCs/people feels a little more graphic. I'm guessing killing people gets your game a Mature rating??
EDITED: Of course undead people do not count...
PS: Actually I think the reason monstrous versions would be nice is they'd probably be more usable as generic horde monsters that way. Looking like an NPC the wizards really only work as a boss (though I suppose the wizard could always have conjured up many duplicates of himself!!)
Here it Tiz...... One evil Ice Wizard...... I call him VanillaWiz, I put some Video so you guys can see him in action, and tell me if he's deadly enough:) I think he is, took a little longer than I thought, but I tweaked him out a little, and now he moves very quickly , and with human like movements.... Hell this little guy impressed myself........ Heres the skivvy on him, Som thinks he's a blue salamander so he turn with the quickness and has his best magic the dreaded homing 5 ice shot.... His Cp is that of the kobalt, so his aim is superb and he can walk swiftly ........ Since the origanal wiz only had 1 melee attack and 1 magic, unfortunatly even though in the editor it says you can give him Ice bird, and another close melee , you can't:( It will default to the right attack with salamder sounds, and the homing 5 ice shot:) his sounds I altered myself in the final prf, his walk is a normal human sound, but as stated before his swing and death are that of the blue salamander:) I felt him more evil and boss like that way...... I spent a lot of thought, and this time it was worth all effort, this little guy will open tons of doors...... While he might not a new model per say , this is a new way to make new enemies and killer bosses:)...ps.... Todd it's almost 3:00 I will mail him to when I wake..but as stated here's a pic and video for everyone to see.....Please watch these in windows media player:) PSS I will take request for simular customs if anyone wants one, I find it enjoyable, and it adds to my research:) Happy modeling......ML
How does he die like the Salamander? Does he shrink into the ground (can't quire remember??) ...I actually suggested Todd make him teleport around the room either with the warp event or by a dying->spawning->dying setup. Shrinking might be pretty cool if that's how it works (even though he wouldn't spawn in reverse, or do Salamanders do that??)
If a particular animation is truly based on the geometry/skeleton it wouldn't be very compatible with other/dissimilar models.
FYI: The two vids are functionally identical
PS: I figured you'd have done this by just changing the spell fx assignment for the magic attacks to whatever the Salamander has. The wizard will not be able to move also if based on the salamander... though that might be ok for a warping wizard, most wizards would want to walk about. As a monster the model might work well as a brownie to compliment the archer faeries.
Death animations are held in the mdl files...swapping out the CP file of a salamander wont give the wizard his death animations.
There is a trigger in the cp file that says "when enemy dies run mdl animation X" which then just has the enemy go through the predefined animation sequence for its own death.
The CP file holds the information to trigger animations, and animation speeds and nothing more.
In the case of modifying the spells, it is simply saying "enemy mdl do spell attack animation X" and then "apply spell effect #5". That is just an example. If the enemy mdl had multiple spell attack animations it may call for animation Y or Z...but still apply the spell effect animation #5. Its all seperated by the individual models. Last but not least it also says "enemy mdl do spell attack animation X at xxx speed", since the CP file also instructs the mdl how quickly to play its animation sequence.
So this is all there really is to the CP file. Once I get some free time to fully map it out with a hex editor I will make a section of the tutorial for this.
Things you should be able to do in the future with CP hex editing:
-Modify the spell effects an enemy uses
-Modify the speed an enemy walks
-Cause an enemy to have 'flying' capabilities
-Modify the speed of the enemies animations and reaction attacks
-Turn an enemy into an npc or vice versa without screwed up animations
First off, HE MOVES , HE WALKS.......with style , second off if you look closly at the two the second shows his swing...................... Third I never said he dies like the salamander...... re-read my post , and I mean READ it don't skim read......I SAID I altered his SOUNDS in the final PRF...... so he sounds like the slamander when when swings at you , and when he dies, Todd is right all animations of MDL like walking swinging or dieing are in the MDL , everything todd said that can be mapped is what you can do....... I am mapping the .cp files more all the time... and lastly... no I did NOT just swap magic assignments ...... I took the PRF from the blue salamander and changed the model reference to e119.mdl (the wizard) that way all the salamanders attacks , and magic are now part of the Wiz... I then took the colbalt .cp data and saved it to match the .cp 119... SO HE MOVES AND WALKS.... I then took the final PRF and added the walking sound to the salamanders prf, as you know the salamander don't move....... Here you think I am full of it.... heres the parts test him your self.......... HE works
NEW STUFF SINCE LAST POST...... as stated before the wizard only has 1 melee and one magic so YOU CAN change them but once you save him he is final and cannot be switched, so when you set him up DO NOT use ICEBIRD as his magic...... it works but with his altered movment the bird fly verticle....... so use the homing 5 ice shot that works and would be the magic of choice for a boss anyway........... Once I isolate more of BOTH the cp. files and MDL I will one day be able to make animated Model.... save it as an x file ...Save that as an MDO.... insert the data in to an existing mdl file with simular skeleton points.... and with cp mods and PRF mods we should one day have NEW customs, but till then this is a good start:)............
)