Getting autons to *look* like something else

[dosbox-gamer]

Autons Extended v1.8 27ct is stable and works, but all of the custom and alien autons look the same (like the battle auton). I tried substituting some enemy ships into the code, and now the autons show up on launch as their enemy titles. (They also stopped being accessible in the individual 'C'all list.) For example:

<!-- Auton, Thor's Wondrous Devices Custom -->

<ItemType UNID="&itCustomAutonWondrous;"
name= "Wondrous Devices custom auton"
level= "5"
value= "11000"
mass= "4000"
frequency= "rare"
unknownType= "&itUnknownAuton;"
modifiers= "Auton; MinorItem"

description= "Spec-built by Wondrous Devices, this custom auton has heavy ceralloy armor, laser-absorbing Solon shielding, and its own xiphon arc swivel cannon."
>

<Image imageID="&rsItems1;" imageX="96" imageY="288" imageWidth="96" imageHeight="96"/>

<Invoke key="A">
(block (auton)
; Create the auton
(setq auton
(sysCreateShip
&scDwargRaider; <== what I changed
(objGetPos gSource)
&svFriendlyAuton;
"auton"
)
)

; Escort ship
(shpOrderEscort auton gSource)

; Identify the item
(itmSetKnown gItem)

; Welcome message
(objSendMessage gSource Nil "Wondrous series online [v1.2a]")

; Remove the item from the player's list
(objRemoveItem gSource gItem 1)
)
</Invoke>

</ItemType>


Any ideas? My brain shuts off after 3AM...

[dvlenk6]

(sysCreateShip
&scDwargRaider; <== what I changed*
(objGetPos gSource)

* I would try making up xml for a new ship class, something like:
&scDwargRaiderAuton;
then use that in place of the &scDwargRaider; from your auton xml.
Then use the image for the Dwarg Raider as the image for the newly created auton ship class.

I think right now that you are just creating a Dwarg Raider, instead of an auton that is simply using the Dwarg Raider graphic.

[dosbox-gamer]

Thanks, dvlenk6, I will try that. BTW, love the images on your site, they've given me a bunch of new ideas

[dosbox-gamer]

No, that didn't work, but I still fixed it...

[dosbox-gamer]

FWIW, the fix is in the <Image imageID="&"> -- NOT for the "&it" 1st part (the item being created - that always shows up in your inventory as an [auton]), but for the "&sc" 2nd part, where you choose the [auton's] specs:

<Image imageID="&rsMediumShips1;" imageX="288" imageY="0" imageWidth="48" imageHeight="48" rotationOffset="-10" imageFrameCount="0" imageTicksPerFrame="0"/>

In this case, the above creates an [auton] that looks like a Corsair! The "&rsMediumShips1;" part is an image list (sprites, I think they're called). Correct me if I'm wrong, but the 'imageX / imageY' part tells the game where in the image list to find the image to create. Now if there were only master list image(s) for all the ships!

Hope this helps

[Mutos]

Hi dosbox-gamer, hi all,


Nearly that ! The "imageX / imageY" part are coordinates in pixel. They tells the game where to find the right image for the ship/station/item/whatever among many sprites that are packed together in a single image resource. The image resource itself ("&rsMediumShips1;") is made up of one JPG file for the image and one BMP file for the transparency map.

[dvlenk6]

...Now if there were only master list image(s) for all the ships!...

I'll make one up later this week. I've got some time off coming to me after today ...

[digdug]

Splitted dvlenk6 post, now the ship list is in the Extension Reference
Good job Dvlenk6 !

Here for the link to the new post:
http://www.neurohack.com/transcendence/ ... php?t=2098



The splitted post was:

dvlenk6
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:54 pm
http://dvlenk6.blackraven3d.com/examples/shiplist.txt
15k text file