Getting rid of the health bar!

[Mercator]

I found out a little more about all the peculiarities...

The static.spr didn't work at first with Multiverse. But after some testing it appeared that the static.spr WAS being used for the units that also had a unit animation sprite file (unitNN.spr).

But then I saved the scenario again in a new folder, and lo and behold, it used the static.spr. That folder did not have a units.bmp in it, and unit animations must be turned off.

Another thing. If a unit sprite icon is higher than 512 pixels it will disappear from the maximum zoom. The higher you make it, the more zoom levels it will disappear from. When a sprite is higher than 1024 pixels, it will also disappear from the standard zoom (it will still be visible if you zoom out more).

The only problem there is, at 512 pixels high (using the standard screen layout and a screen resolution of 1024x768), the unit key is still visible. That is, for a unit at the very bottom of the screen, the unit key will appear at about 2 squares from the top.
So there isn't really a way to make the unit key invisible at standard zoom and still have a visible unit icon at maximum zoom...

[Boco]

Thanks for doing all that testing. When I have a chance, I'll save the scen in a new folder without a Units.bmp (and no UnitXX.spr's either). ToT has an eccentric memory!

(Thanks to the Scouse Gits for the smilie)

[Alinestra Covelia]

This sounds really good! I'll have to try this out and also give a BIG THANKS to Mercator!

[Mercator]

Here's a new version... You now have several options as to what unit height you want.

I updated the previous attachment, here's a link to it.

[Boco]

Many thanks. I'll try to give it a whirl soon, but RL may intervene a little.

[fairline]

Fantastic work Mercator. When Civ Sprite originally came out I toyed with idea of making some sprites up, but it was far too much like hard work. Now the 5 angles without animation in the staticsprite file look much more manageable. mmm.... *reaches for PSP*

BTW do you know of any way of changing the code that reverses the 2nd, 3rd and 4th frames and allows you to use 8 individual frames for static sprite? I'm thinking the reversed unit flag effect, here.

[Mercator]

Nope, there's no way to change that...

I'm not sure what happens if you remove both the units.bmp and static.spr from your scenario directory though.

It would then likely use the standard Original graphics, but just maybe it uses the Idle animation graphic. The animations do have 8 different angles.

[Boco]

Still an idiot

But then I saved the scenario again in a new folder, and lo and behold, it used the static.spr. That folder did not have a units.bmp in it, and unit animations must be turned off.

I tried to do this and it didn't work for me. It's getting me more than a little p1ssed off. Trying it when I'm tired and impatient doesn't help, but it shouldn't be so hard to make ToT recognize the new file.

Can someone who has gotten this to work write an idiot's guide, an explicit list of things to do? What is in your scenario folder? What is missing? Is there a particular sequence to follow when you start with an existing scenario containing no static.spr file? What settings do you use for the following?

(1) Game|Graphic Options|Animated Units
(2) Cheat|Scenario Parameters|Edit Special Rules|Unit Animation Lockout
(3) Cheat|Scenario Parameters|Edit Special Rules|.SPR Override

Can I assume that the ToT and Original folders have no spr files?

[Mercator]

Just a few quick "hints" first. I'll re-try the whole thing again later, I played around with the options so much last time, so I'm not sure what exactly did it...

Animated units must be turned OFF (this turns off the use of the unitXX.spr files).

The lockout options in the cheat menu do only one thing. They disable the related menu item in the game menu (and consequently, it fixes that setting for the scenario to whatever it was when you locked it out).

So ideally, you turn off unit animation in the game menu and then set the unit animation lockout to 1. That way unit animation will always be off for the scenario, even for people who usually have the animation on.

The sprite override must be OFF (zero), since this option disables the use of all sprite files.

In my ToT, there are no spr files in the main ToT folder. I didn't move around any sprite files, so those in the Original folder are still there.

[Boco]

D**n. Did all these things and ToT still used the Units.bmp of the \Original directory. That ToT art is hideous against a backdrop of current SL art.

Would it help if I sent you the scenario?

[Mercator]

Still didn't look any further...

Yes you could send it. I don't know if my return will be very speedy... But in principle you'd only need the graphics when you release the scenario... right?

[Boco]

Hmm...Time to show more ignorance. I'm assuming that the SpriteGenerated Static.spr (SGSS) is fine. I'll test later by putting the scifi static.spr in my scenario test directory.

If the SGSS is okay, then something with ToT is interfering. In my simple mind, this bulldogged insistence to use the \original\units.bmp could arise from (1) something embedded in the SCN file, (2) a ToT config file somewhere, or (3) particular spr/bmp files present/missing in specific directories. I'll send you the link, and perhaps you could give me an idiots guide to making El Aurens use Static.spr.

If the SGSS is not okay, then I'll experiment a little later with CivSprite. I'd like to experiment with icons that are 10% higher than the standard ones anyway, as well as placing masks in locations just above the unit key (e.g. in the blue region of this icon).

[Mercator]

Originally posted by Boco
Hmm...Time to show more ignorance. I'm assuming that the SpriteGenerated Static.spr (SGSS) is fine. I'll test later by putting the scifi static.spr in my scenario test directory.

Isn't it better to test it by putting your SGSS into the Original directory and see if the original game uses it properly?

If the SGSS is okay, then something with ToT is interfering. In my simple mind, this bulldogged insistence to use the \original\units.bmp could arise from (1) something embedded in the SCN file, (2) a ToT config file somewhere, or (3) particular spr/bmp files present/missing in specific directories. I'll send you the link, and perhaps you could give me an idiots guide to making El Aurens use Static.spr.

I think (1) must be the case, and possibly (3). I don't think ToT really has any config files... And yes, please send a link (I don't think my Hotmail account can handle any more large attachments... I have to rearrange/download some).

If the SGSS is not okay, then I'll experiment a little later with CivSprite. I'd like to experiment with icons that are 10% higher than the standard ones anyway, as well as placing masks in locations just above the unit key (e.g. in the blue region of this icon).

You have to be careful with the unit key graphic, though... I just remembered another use. It gets a blue/green border when a unit can transport/build a transporter... Do you know how that is affected when the entire key is made invisible? That's only an issue in games with multiple maps, though.

[Mercator]

Have you come any further?

Or had you mailed me? If you did, I didn't receive it.

[Boco]

Mea culpa! I haven't checked it yet. PM on the way.