Calling turgotZ

Did that, now i can build space monsters! Thanksthanksmanythanksthankyou! LOL

Right now i've overwritten the original monsters-file (saved it before i did that) and am testing what happens regarding the other monster-events in the game (the anomaly, the space-zoo, etc.).

If all works well i'll release the mod someday next week.

I'm busy downloading the other ship graphics on your page right now. Is it ok if i take them for personal use (no postings since those are your tiles, except the monster-mod [including a note where i got the file and support of course])?

Again thank you very much. The self-bred monster was actually the first mod i wanted to create after i obtained GCWriter, so it was nagging me very much that i could not get it running.

~SDC~

Cool, glad you got everything up and running. If you overwrote the original file, there should be no problems with any other function in the game. I just added to the existing file, so everything the game needs is still there.

As for the ships i have create, yeah enjoy them. i certainly didnt make them all for myself. they are(were) for a star trek conversion mod http://www.cdgroup.org/forums/tbs/gc/index.php?h=1&pf=98 i was helping make with Mr. Squatty (hut101) and others. It has since come to a stand still. Hopefully it will all come together again.

Just had a few test runs with the new coloured monster models you provided me.

Again you did a great job, but unforunately the following problem appeared:

The Altarian and the minor races' monsters are "invisible", meaning you can see them in the minimap and you can click them (if you know where they are), but you can't see them.

The only other points left are more of cosmetic nature, as the Yor monster somehow seems to be a bit "pixely-thicker" than the other ones. I personally would also prefer a slightly darker colour shade as the current one seems a bit pinkish.

Further the models in the "Ships in Orbit" screen appear to be a bit slim, but as i've said this and the Yor monster are rather cosmetic points and do not make me unhappy.

I just want to add again that i am very grateful for your help, and that the above is not in any form a statement of me being unsatisfied or criticism or something like that. As i've already said i'm very grateful for the interest, support and time you spend on this.
~SDC~
[Message Edited]

constructive criticism is something that i appreciate ,and that is what is have received.
As for your observations:

Altarian and the minor races' monsters are "invisible": nolonger the case. re-encoded both, they seems to be working now.

Yor monster somehow seems to be a bit "pixely-thicker": redid alpha channel they have slimmed down a bit.

Yor monster pink: made less pink. must have been late when i made that one.

"Ships in Orbit" screen appear to be a bit slim: bulked them up.

the file is on my web site.
give them a try, and tell me if you find anything amiss.


[Message Edited]

Thanks again, i do very much appreciate your fast response. Got the file today.

Unfortunately i won't be at home very often for the next two weeks, so it'll take some time until i can work on the mod again, but you'll be the first i check with once i got it running.

~SDC~

Did some late-night tests before my two-weeks exile, everything's working and looking as it should now!

Posted the updated version right this night (currently 03.10 in the morning), hope i didn't make some last lack-of-sleep errors (but couldn't find any sleep until i took a look at it anyway).

Again i wish to thank you for your superb work and support! This is much appreciated.


~SDC~

your welcome. i hope to have some time to play a entire game with the monster mod, to see how it has all come together.

nothing like modding a game in the earily hours of the morning, something i'm all to acquainted with.

hope you find some enjoyment out of your exile.
[Message Edited]

Back again for few days (if my boss doesn't come up with anything new that is)...

Took a closer in-game look at your StarTrek vessels yesterday. As i've already said, i ike them very much. One thing i noticed was the look of the colony ship, though. I'm not that deep in StarTrek but there are colony ships and constructors in "Birth of the Federation" that look different. This does not mean that i dislike the current version or something.

How can i add the ships to the game instead of replacing the standard ships? Tried to rename the *.ship files, but that wasn't the key.

With the MonstrousMod everything seems to work very well on the technical side (at least i didn't get any negative feedback). Myself i'm not satisfied with the placement/availability and cost of the monsters and their techs yet. The smaller version comes too late in the game and the big one does not get built by the AI. Think i will revise this a few times...

I have also downloaded both of your starfield mods and the planet mod. I have not tried them in-game yet, but what i see on your pages sure looks great. By the way, what is your main page? Right now i'm usually following the links to the different subsections.

Open .ship files with a text editor if you want to have a better idea of how to create new ships. Renaming them won't do much since they contain multiple ships.

Dark Rain, thanks for your answer. I've done a few ships already, but the problem i have with turgotZ's ships is that they are intended to replace the standard game ships. They use their own *.mdl, and have the same *.ship filenames as the original ships. The "model" entries in those *.ship files also use the same names as the original ships. Unfortunately i do not know how to chance the model-names or edit the *.mdl files.

~SDC~

There's a MLD editor among other in this software package : http://graphix.galciv.org/

The model refer to a sprite file inside a MDL file. So you need to create a new sprite file to do it.

You have a bit of work ahead of you if you want to include those ship along with the originals. I think the confusion here, is the difference between the ship name and the model name(spirit). Though the ship names are the same the models do differ.

Scout*************0TNGscoutF
Survey Ship*******0TNGsurveyF
Star Fighter******0TNGfighterF
Defender**********0TNGdefenderF
Corvette**********0TNGcorvetteF
BattleAxe*********0TNGaxeF
Battle Cruiser****0TNGbattlecF
Battle Hammer*****0TNGhammerF
Frigate***********0TNGfrigateF
Star Hawk*********0TNGstarF
Battleship********0TNGbattleF
Dreadnought*******0TNGdreadF
Phoenix***********0TNGphoenixF
Ranger************0TNGrangerF
Avatar************0TNGavatarF
Overlord**********0TNGoverlordF
Slip Streamer*****0TNGslipF
Death Knight******none yet
Excalibur*********0TNGexcaliburF
Sensor Drone******none
Freighter*********0TNGfreighterF
Constructor*******0TNGconstF
Colony Ship*******0TNGcolonyF
Anti-Matter Missile***none
Transport*********0TNGtransF
Combat Transport**0TNGCtransF


one way to do this in galwriter is to simply copy each ship entries as a new ship then rename: name and title, and model entry from the above list. save those new ships to a file of your chosing and run the game. should be about it.

Dark Rain any plans on includin the 16 bit support for your spirit editor? all the ships i made were created with the original ship encoder not with mutil, so i cant edit them with yours. No big deal just thought i'd ask.
[Message Edited]

Again thanks to both of you for your answers.

~SDC~

Yeah, I'll look into it when I can. I'm kind of surprised but I've had much, much more free time during my last university semester than this summer .

It works! Again thanks for your help. Do you plan to make a Death Knight, or do you have other ship models available? I'm also interested in any standard sci-fi ships or GalCiv-look-a-like vessels that can add further variation to the game.

Perhaps you should post your ships to the library. They are truly perfect work and you've said the StarTek total conversion is lying low for some time. I think there'd be a lot of players who would be more than glad if they could already use the ships you have made until the full conversion is out. You've already stated that the ships are free to use, but i don't know how many players know how and where to get them.
In my opinion there are no better ship models available right now and i think many other players will confirm this.

Glad you got everything worked out.

before i could post them to the library i have to fix some small things: add mini icons for the frieghters, i think a couple ships are missing different icons and such, and make a death knight replacement. so there is still some work to be done with them. I was talking with a couple people that are involved with the star trek mod and there is some renewed interest in finishing it. so i think i will wait to see how that all works out before posting to the library. i think its only fair.
[Message Edited]

This is true. I forgot that there are more people involved in this.

~SDC~

In the meantime anyone can use them from my site. The more beta testers the better.

TurgotZ, man you know your stuff.. We need to extract that information from your head and put it into our NeoTech Encyclopedia.. When you get time will you update it? LOL Kidding of course but at some point and time we will be making an encyclopedia available for anyone who wants to Mod. Be easier to use an encyclopedia that is searchable. I am not able to think of any other use for it, comes with my website software.

TurgotZ, man you know your stuff.. We need to extract that information from your head and put it into our NeoTech Encyclopedia.. When you get time will you update it? LOL Kidding of course but at some point and time we will be making an encyclopedia available for anyone who wants to Mod. Be easier to use an encyclopedia that is searchable. I am not able to think of any other use for it, comes with my website software.