Starting a mod i wil name Red Alert - Tiberium Origins. Could use help....

[kanecvr]

Hello everyone.

 

I'm trying to make a mod about how tiberium first came to earth, with a full campaing. I've been waiting for a cross-over between red alert and tiberium dawn for quite some time, and EA, the current IP holders did not deliver, so I was thinking of tanking matters into my own hands.

 

Now inserting TD units into red alert is quite easy, but doing stuff like adding 4 sides (allies, soviet, GDI, NOD) is proving quite difficult.

 

My idea is to have the campaign start with standard RA units and buildings, and have the 2 sides evolve into GDI and NOD. Allies into the GDI, and the Soviet remnants (after stalin's death) slowly coalece into the Brotherhood of NOD under Kane's command.

 

For example the first allied mission would be a proving ground for the new GDI Mammoth Tank. It will take place in an old Soviet development and testing center, captured by the allies. The GDI mammoth will use the Tiberium Dawn SHP with the white launchers, while the Soviet Mammoth will remain unchanged. The objectives will be to use a GDI mammoth tank agains several units and buildings to test it, and finally against a Soviet Mammoth. I plan to make the GDI mammoth slightly tougher and a little faster (hitpoints=700 instead of hitpoints=600 and speed=6 instead of speed=5). When the player is done testing, he will discover an old soviet base, run by NOD, witch he will have to take out).

 

At this point, the only unit difference will be GDI Mammoh for the Allies, Nod Buggy and Recon Bike for the Soviets. Soviet barracks will be the Hand of NOD and the Allies tent will be a GDI barracks.

 

The part I need help with is:

 

- is it possible to have 2 construction yard buildings in the Red Alert engine? Classic C&C c-yard for GDI and NOD, and RA c-yard for allies and soviet in multiplayer or skirmish? Can this work for war factories and barracks? How may I accomplish this?

- i remember you could modify units for a certain scenario / mission by including a small portion of the rules.ini file in the scenario file. Is this true? Can I specify image=TDfact (name of the tiberium dawn cyard will be TD fact) inside the scenario so that only for that mission, the c-yard will look like the TD one?

- what mission editor is powerful enough to let me make immersible single player maps?

- is there any .SHP editor available other than OS SHP editor witch will not save my files? (crashes - access violation)

 

Can I use the RA1 engine for this porject or will I be forced to use Tiberium Sun's engine?

 

I would appreciate any help from you guys.

[Chimas]

I almost "die" to recolor of a grenadier (256 frames). Then, you have all the other units you intend to modify.

The problem of modding is that you have plenty of boring activities to make alone.

 

By the time you start balancing the first mission you'll be exausted and willing to make a demo or some sort of release.

People will have few patience, if you release 15 missions easier than a guy that spends 3 or 4 months doing a good hard mission.

 

1

Consult (via PM) guys like White, Kilkakon Allen and MattAttack before a first real move. (There are others ...)

 

2

"Recruit" by offering positions for specific tasks. If you set a team of 3-4 guys and a cloud solution so everyone in the team can access the evolution, than you'll be motivated.

But you'll have to bear different tastes and consequent solutions for every problem you delegate. There's no slavery and a lot of egos in modding to deal with.

The problem of recruiting is gaining respect before the job starts, hence a first complete mission.

If you visit my links, you'll find a lot of SP missions for TD 80% complete (they are not mine, btw). And that's just 1 mission per guy, no modding.

 

3

People will send you messages like this one, don't be offended.

Who doesn't want a new MOD, after all.

We just want it complete and to be worth of playing.

 

[Allen262]

2 construction yard can't be done. Your stuck with the buildings RA1 has.

 

Small portions of the rules.ini file in can be put in the scenario file (mission). I don't think Image= works but it has been along time since I've tried to see what keys/tags work when used in a scenario file (mission).

 

C&C-RAED is the mission editor for RA1. It will do single player mission just fine.

 

With OS SHP editor you have to save your .SHP as TS .SHP than use XCC Mixer to convert it back to TD/RA. Other than OS SHP editor all you can do is use XCC Mixer to convert a .SHP to an editable format that "Paintshops" can use.

 

You can download my Red Dawn mod that has almost all of the C&C95 units and building converted for use in RA1.

 

http://cnc-comm.com/community/index.php?topic=1588.0

 

Feel free to take any thing you need from it.

 

The TD engine is less flexable than RA1. TD has no rules.ini

 

Notify me of replies is ON.

[kanecvr]

I almost "die" to recolor of a grenadier (256 frames). Then, you have all the other units you intend to modify.

The problem of modding is that you have plenty of boring activities to make alone.

 

By the time you start balancing the first mission you'll be exausted and willing to make a demo or some sort of release.

People will have few patience, if you release 15 missions easier than a guy that spends 3 or 4 months doing a good hard mission.

 

1

Consult (via PM) guys like White, Kilkakon Allen and MattAttack before a first real move. (There are others ...)

 

2

"Recruit" by offering positions for specific tasks. If you set a team of 3-4 guys and a cloud solution so everyone in the team can access the evolution, than you'll be motivated.

But you'll have to bear different tastes and consequent solutions for every problem you delegate. There's no slavery and a lot of egos in modding to deal with.

The problem of recruiting is gaining respect before the job starts, hence a first complete mission.

If you visit my links, you'll find a lot of SP missions for TD 80% complete (they are not mine, btw). And that's just 1 mission per guy, no modding.

 

3

People will send you messages like this one, don't be offended.

Who doesn't want a new MOD, after all.

We just want it complete and to be worth of playing.

 

10x for the imput.

 

 

2 construction yard can't be done. Your stuck with the buildings RA1 has.

 

 

that's just too bad... I guess I could work with the TS engine, witch, from what I can remember supports multiple c-yards... or just forgo multiplayer and use the rules.ini in scenario option. The IMAGE= string works as far as I can remember.. i've used it in one of the counterstrike addon missions to change the appearance of the tesla tank.

 

 

Small portions of the rules.ini file in can be put in the scenario file (mission). I don't think Image= works but it has been along time since I've tried to see what keys/tags work when used in a scenario file (mission).

 

C&C-RAED is the mission editor for RA1. It will do single player mission just fine.

 

With OS SHP editor you have to save your .SHP as TS .SHP than use XCC Mixer to convert it back to TD/RA. Other than OS SHP editor all you can do is use XCC Mixer to convert a .SHP to an editable format that "Paintshops" can use.

 

 

The problem is SHP editor won't work properly for me. Maybe I don't know how to set it up... It loads .shp files just fine, but when I save and try to reopen them it gives me an "access violation" error over and over again. It's extremly buggy.

 

You can download my Red Dawn mod that has almost all of the C&C95 units and building converted for use in RA1.

 

http://cnc-comm.com/community/index.php?topic=1588.0

 

Feel free to take any thing you need from it.

 

The TD engine is less flexable than RA1. TD has no rules.ini

 

Notify me of replies is ON.

 

thanks. I allready have your mod, it's brilliant. It's actually what game me the "boost" to create my own mod.

[Allen262]

TS and multiple c-yards have it own issuse...

 

When you reopen a shp and it gives me an "access violation" That is do to the fromat. Somthing is wrong with the OS SHP editor SHP (TD) save format. You have to go to File, Save as. Than below "File name:" is "Save as type:" Change it to SHP (TS) than save. When saved as SHP (TS)  you can reopen and edit it just fine.

 

You will have to use XCC Mixer to convert it back to TD/RA shp format for RA1 to be able to use. I only use  OS SHP editor when I have to deal with large numbers for frames like infantry.

[kanecvr]

TS and multiple c-yards have it own issuse...

 

When you reopen a shp and it gives me an "access violation" That is do to the format. Somthing is wrong with the OS SHP editor SHP (TD) save format. You have to go to File, Save as. Than below "File name:" is "Save as type:" Change it to SHP (TS) than save. When saved as SHP (TS)  you can reopen and edit it just fine.

 

You will have to use XCC Mixer to convert it back to TD/RA shp format for RA1 to be able to use. I only use  OS SHP editor when I have to deal with large numbers for frames like infantry.

 

10x a lot! just could not figure out what was wrong!!

 

I've decided to stick with the RA1 engine + ARDA. I'll use the IMAGE= string in the scenario files, and use a dummy vehicle (does nothing) first time the GDI/NOD MCV appears in the campaign (most likely I will change the stats and image of a convoy truck for the duration of the mission). It will be a mission where the player has to protect a GDI MCV while it makes it's way trought a map full of enemy units and structures. After that mission, the MCV will have IMAGE=GMCV and FACT will have IMAGE=GFACT, so on and so forth. TD power plants will be available earlier in the campaign.

 

********************************************************************

Quick question: what do I have to change to get the allies color from blue to GDI gold?

 

********************************************************************

 

Here is an image of progress so far:

 

[kanecvr]

How do I convert the TS .shp file to TD format using XCC? All I can see is the mixer, .mix editor, video player and audio player...

[Allen262]

You know how to take a .shp and make it into a editable format (TGA, PNG, PCX, etc)?

[Nyerguds]

XCC Mixer can do pretty much any conversion you can think of.

[kanecvr]

when I right-click the .shp file the convert to shp and convert to shp (TS) options are grayed out (inactive)..... should I convert it to PNG first and then try to convert it back to shp - EDITED -yea, it works.

 

Problem is XCC is giving me a hard time. I converted it once, then after relaunching XCC ( I made a few modifications to the file) , XCC shows it as black again. It convers it into black frames.

 

Reinstalled XCC and cleaned registry, worked again.

 

Now it won't work anymore. Could the problem be that I'm using the TFD version of TSUN as a file source? I'll try extracting TSUN.mix.....

[Allen262]

Yes you have to convert the SHP (TS) to editable format (TGA, PNG, PCX, etc) Say your shp is dome.shp. When you convert dome.shp to editable format (TGA, PNG, PCX, etc) you will see in this case 3 files (dome 000.png dome 001.png and dome 002.png) These are the 3 frame that the Radar Dome uses 3 (Normal, Damaged and Destroyed *used right before it goses boom*)

 

Right click on dome 000.png and use Copy as SHP. Now a shp in TD/RA format should be made ready for paciking into a mix.

 

Also make sure the right color palette with SHP Builder and XCC Mixer. For SHP Builder you need to go to palette then Red Alert. Use snow.pal or Temperate.pal you need to set the color palette with ever .shp you open. XCC Mixer you need to go to View than Palet, find Red Alet now find redalet.mix- local.mix- snow.pal or redalet.mix- local.mix- temperate.pal

[kanecvr]

Figured I had to convert to PCX or PNG, so did that and it worked. Thing is, XCC refuses to show .shp previews. The directories are setup properly.

[Allen262]

Did you set the palette? If no Palette is set the the side preview will show black boxes. Can you take a screen shot of XCC Mixer not showing a preview?

[kanecvr]

XCC will show previews for files inside RA and C&C, but not of TSUN .shp file (witch I make with OS SHP). It will however, convert them just fine.

 

Here is a pic of my first unit - made by me, from the ingame MGG truck + added SAM site turret... took quite some work, but feels great. Cameo for the unit is also made from MGG cameo + SAM cameo. You can see it under the MLRS in the build bar.

 

*Will post screenshot of XCC...

[Nyerguds]

You need to press ctrl+p to set a colour palette. SHP format doesn't contain colours; it NEEDS an external palette. If the game you need a palette from isn't there, go to View -> Directories, set the correct folder, and restart xcc mixer to make it scan those folders for known files (like palettes).

[kanecvr]

I kept setting directories, but after restarting it would show the old paths. Uninstalled XCC, cleaned all XCC related values out of registry (manually), resinstalled XCC 1.47 - works now, 10x.

 

@Nyerguds I wanted to ask you, will you be releasing a version of your c&c patch that supports the units.ini file on your site?

 

P.S. thanks for your work on C&C. Your patches make the game so much more enjoyable. Thanks for making my favorite game even better.  :beer:

 

 

Here is a link of progress so far... as it stands, you can play the RA campaign as GDI instead of the allies, with all of the GDI units and some structures. Skirmish works.

 

GDI MLRS (MSAM) looks like it did in C&C, a stand-by mode (turret) and the elevated attacking turret.

Added a unit I made for fun - the Soviet Katyusha Launcher. MGAP body with SAM site turret.

 

GDI gets all C&C units except for the MCV and Harvester.

Soviets keep Mammoth and Heavy tanks (for now) and get BIKE, FTANK and STANK.

 

At this point I'm exploring the engine's (and ARDA's) limitations....

 

 

LINK for mod:  http://www.filesend.net/download.php?f=20179d913882283a78c97f1b9d5ade96  (DONT CLICK THE LARGE GREEN DOWNLOAD BUTTON!! IT WILL DOWNLOAD ILIVID ADWARE CRAP!!! - wait for the countdown at the bottom left of the page to finish, and press the small orange download button that will appear.

 

You will need ARDA by AlexB http://www.stuffhost.de/files/redalert/arda.html

[Nyerguds]

@Nyerguds I wanted to ask you, will you be releasing a version of your c&c patch that supports the units.ini file on your site?

Probably, eventually... no idea when I'll get on that though.

P.S. thanks for your work on C&C. Your patches make the game so much more enjoyable. Thanks for making my favorite game even better.  :beer:

Glad I can help

[kanecvr]

Since ARDA is taking longer than expected to implement features like adding new units/building, I decided to try my hand at modding Tiberian Sun, using The Dawn of Tiberium Age 1.9 as a base. Problem is, I can't seem to add new .shp files to the mod.

 

i tried adding the files to the game, using the .mix files the author said to mofify ( DTAmod01.mix and MCache01.mix), and even went so far as to add the .shp's to conquer.mix and dcache.mix. They still do not show ingame. I'm pretty sure I modified rules and art.ini corectly... here is the code:

 

ATI.ini :

 

[RMCV]

Image=RMCV ;RMCV.shp

Cameo=MCVICON

Remapable=yes

Voxel=no

Facings=32

 

Rules.ini :

 

54=RMCV

 

[RMCV]

Name=RA Mobile Construction Vehicle

Image=RMCV

Prerequisite=FACTORY

Strength=600

Category=Support

Armor=light

DeploysInto=RFACT

TechLevel=7

Sight=4

Speed=4

Owner=GDI,Nod

CrateGoodie=yes

Cost=50

Points=60

ROT=5

Crewed=yes

Crusher=yes

Explosion=VEH-HIT1

VoiceSelect=V2AWAIT,V2READY,V2REPORT,V2UNITRP

VoiceMove=V2MOVOUT,V2ACKNO,V2AFFIRM,V2RAWAY,V2YESSIR

VoiceAttack=V2ACKNO,V2AFFIRM,V2NOPROB,V2RAWAY,V2YESSIR

VoiceFeedback=

MaxDebris=0

Locomotor={4A582741-9839-11d1-B709-00A024DDAFD1}

Weight=3.5

MovementZone=Normal

ThreatPosed=0 ; This value MUST be 0 for all building addons

DamageParticleSystems=SparkSys,SmallGreySSys

SpecialThreatValue=1

Accelerates=false

ZFudgeColumn=12

ZFudgeTunnel=15

DeployTime=2.0

Trainable=no

 

The unit is present ingame and works, but has NO GRAPHICS.....

 

It's very frustrating...

 

 

[kanecvr]

Multiplay part is almost dome.... 4 sides playable, GDI, NOD, ALLIES, SOVIET. In Skirmish and MP, all sides have C&C MCV and C-Yard. In the campaign, you get RA MCV and C-Yard.

 

 

Ukraine is now NOD. Also called NOD in the multiplayer/skirmish menu. They get:

 

-Light tank

-APC

-Nod Buggy (bugged, replaced the Supply Truck and it won't attack properly)

-SSM Launcher - with correct turret showing how many missiles it has loaded.

-MLRS (Missile launcher) - with correct attack and stand-by working turrets.

-Stealth Tank

-Flame Tank

 

- C&C Commando with correct voice yay!

 

-Obelisk of light (a little weird - laser effect isn't showing, but the weapon works fine. Charging=true does not work, makes the building unable to attack, so i disabled it and it will attack without the delay or charging sound...)

 

 

Greece is now GDI. Also called GDI in the multiplayer/skirmish menu. They get:

- GDI Mammoth Tank (C&C .shp with white missile pods/antennae - also slightly stronger than soviet counterpart, and more expensive)

- GDI Medium Tank (C&C 36x36 .shp, slightly stornger than allied counterpart, and more expensive)

- APC

- Humm-Vee

- MLRS

- Orca (replaced Longbow, only 3 helicopters ingame, so no room to add the orca and keep longbow )

 

- Advanced Guard Tower

- Guard Tower (sans icon file, forgot to add it so it has the pillbox cameo)

 

- C&C Commando with correct voice yay

 

 

URSS is the RA soviet faction in the multiplayer/skirmish menu. They get:

- Heavy Tank

- SSM (for now, had to replace V2RL)

- APC

- Tesla Tank

- MAD Tank

- Mammoth Tank (RA version with black pods/antennae)

 

- Flame Turret

- Tesla Tower

 

 

England, Germany, Spain, France are the RA allied faction in the multiplayer/skirmish menu. They get:

- Medium tank (RA version)

- Light Tank (C&C version - not enough ingame units to use both RA and C&C versions )

- APC

- HummVee (C&C Hummer - same case as LTNK, no room to ad the JEEP too - hope AlexB releases a new version of ARDA soon)

- MLRS (replaced ARTY, no room for it )

- Crono Tank

- Phase Transport

- Orca

 

 

You need ARDA on top of RA 3.03 (preferably Nyerguds) to play.

 

 

Get the mod here: http://www.filesend.net/download.php?f=90f1127cf29661c0df0594c50855ef1f

Just extract it into your RA folder.

[Allen262]

Have you made use of the Ants yet? They are unit just like any other. I use them in Red Dawn (Recon Bike, Flame Tank and Stealth Tank are "Ants"). Also you can use Aftermath unit. I can tell you how to force the game to use them even during non-Aftermath mission (Also done in Red Dawn).

 

If you haven't used the Ants yet here is the RA1 Jeep and Arty in the format need to replace 2 of the 3 ants. I had them around for some other things already. The Ant die sound and death shp can be replaced. The are found in the EXPAND.mix and EXPAND2.mix along with the other Ant shps.

RA_Jeep_and_Arty_for_use_in_place_of_Ants.zip

[kanecvr]

 

I took your advice and use files from your Red Dawn mod (many 10x by the way). The ants conversion was comfortable.

 

Here is the unit conversion list:

 

V2RL=SSM

1TNK=MTNK GDI Medium

2TNK=HTNK GDI Mammoth (Might remove it, sharing 4TNK for URSS and GDI to save unit count...)

3TNK=3TNK

4TNK=4TNK

MNLY=2TNK Allied Medium Tank (not a good move on my part using the mine layer I know, but it works well ingame)

MRJ=LTNK/1TNK

MGG=KATY (My katyusha launcher witch I might remove to make room for a legacy unit)

ARTY=MSAM

JEEP=HUMM (hummvee)

APC=APC

TRUK=BGGY (this one doesn't work well.... attack script is all wonky, the unit will not turn to attack, just attacks units in front of it... .shp works fine. If I go Turret=yes, the attack bug is gone, but I have to make turret graphics)

ANT1 = BIKE

ANT2 = FTNK

ANT3 = STNK

 

[GNRL]=RMBO

 

[HELI]=ORCA

 

LAR1=AGT (Advanced guard tower)

LAR2=OBEL (Obelisk of Light) - theese 2 I'm having issues with... they will not get team colored. Whatever color you choose, they will always render gold. Must be a preprety of LAR1 and LAR2.

 

Other Aftermath units are unchanged.

 

 

 

[Allen262]

You can't put a Turret on a unit if it dosn't alreay have one stock. (ARDA may have changed this... IDK) The only way for a unit like TRUK to work is to add Tracked=yes to it. With out Tracked=yes it turn to attack any units like you already said.

 

LAR1 and LAR2 don't have remap(Change color) The Queen Ant building will chage color... Also Skirmish AI can't be made to build any other building than it already dose.

[kanecvr]

You can't put a Turret on a unit if it dosn't alreay have one stock. (ARDA may have changed this... IDK) The only way for a unit like TRUK to work is to add Tracked=yes to it. With out Tracked=yes it turn to attack any units like you already said.

 

LAR1 and LAR2 don't have remap(Change color) The Queen Ant building will chage color... Also Skirmish AI can't be made to build any other building than it already dose.

 

ARDA allows the adding of turrets. Also, it has some clever switches witch allow a unit to use multiple turret times, like the lowered stand by turret and raised attack turret for the MSAM like in C&C. Alo displays the 3 turret sets of the SSM with AmmoTurretCount=3. It also allows you to configure the turrets in depth, like the Y placement for raised turrets, TurretOnBack for MLRS/MSAM, TurretRotates=no for units like the MGG, etc.

 

I'll add tracked=yes to the truck and crusher=no, see if it will attack properly, thanks for the tip.

 

I figured about LAR1 and LAR2, they are just temporary, I'll replace something else.

 

Found some bug while playing some skirmish. Will correct them. Most notebly, the Obelisk only costs 15 to build (was debugging and forgot to change mplayer.ini and rules.ini) and NOD can build the Tesla Coil. Ftank is too fast and does very little damage to buildings.

 

 

Here is a pic of a NOD base in Skirmish

[Nyerguds]

...why are the Obelisks yellow instead of red?

[kanecvr]

Because I replaced LAR1 and LAR2 with the Oblelisk and Advanced Guard Tower. As Allen said, LAR1 and LAR2 won't get team colors. They just stay yellow... any solutions? ideeas?

 

Tried replacing the gap generator, and it won't fire. Tried repacing the AAgun, no attack cursor....

 

I could replace the fakes, since arda allows me to remove the fake pip and resize the building's foundation, but I don't understand how the foundation logic works... maybe you guys know?

 

C&C style power plant has this foundation code:

 

Foundation.Cell0=0,0

Foundation.Cell1=0,1

Foundation.Cell2=1,1

Foundation.Update0=1,0

 

Resulting in

 

  X

XX

XX

                                                      X

For the AGT and OBEL I need X or  X  foundation

 

By my logic, my towers should be:

 

Foundation.Cell0=0,0

Foundation.Cell1=0,1

Foundation.Update0=0,1?? I never know what to do with this....