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How to create custom PREFAB characters for Fallout Tactics
By Armaani - armaankhan@hotmail.com
Introduction
The Fallout Tactics editing tools include some fairly comprehensive
documentation contained within the "EDITOR_README.txt" file.
It covers most aspects of campaign creation with enough detail that
an intrepid user can no doubt craft the adventures of his dream. However,
once this is done, you might want to create some custom prefab characters
to include with your campaign. Part of the process is touched upon in
the "EDITOR_README.txt" file, but in order to properly create
prefab characters, much more must be done. That is why I have written
this tutorial.
In this tutorial, I assume several things:
You have installed the Fallout Tactics 1.27
patch.
You have unpacked all the "*.bos"
files and have already created your custom campaign, including levels.
All you have left is creating custom prefab characters. This means
that you have read "EDITOR_README.txt" at least once; you
know how to use the Level and Campaign editors; and you are fairly
comfortable rooting around in and modifying copies of the "campaign.txt"
file.
You are keeping your custom campaign in a
separate folder within the Fallout Tactics directory, and using the
"-path" command line option to modify and play it. In this
document, I use the folder "MyPath".
You have Photoshop, or some other image editing
program that can save ".PNG" files, and know how to use
it.
Step 1: Before you Begin
As a campaign/level designer, you already know that good planning is
paramount to getting any project off the ground. Before you begin, you
should have an idea of what type of character you will make, what his
(or her) personality is like, and what statistics, tag skills, and traits
he has. You should also have an image to use as a character portrait,
and a small descriptive blurb about him, which will appear on the character
selection screen.
Step 2: Prepare the Directory Tree
I assume you are already keeping all your campaign files in a separate
folder in your Fallout Tactics directory, and are using the "-path"
command line option to access them.
Assuming your campaign folder is called "MyPath",
you will need the following subdirectories:
This follows the exact directory tree that is
found under the "core" folder in the Fallout Tactics deirectoy.
Keeping the same directory tree is important, as some files are required
to be in specific locations.
Once the directories are created, you need to
copy the "characters.txt" file from "core/locale/game"
to "MyPath/locale/game". We will be editing this
file later.
Step 3: Prepare Character Portraits
Once the directory tree is in place, you need to prepare a couple of
images to use as character portraits.
Start Photoshop, and open the image you intend
to use as your character portrait. If the image is in colour, it needs
to be converted into black and white. Do this by clicking "Image>Mode>Grayscale"
then clicking "Image>Mode>RGB Colour".
Once the image is in black and white, it needs
to be cropped to the right size. Select the "Crop" tool (Press
"C" on the keyboard). In the "Options" window for
the "Crop" tool, select "Fixed Target Size" and
set the "Width" and "Height" fields to 300 and 300
respectively. Draw a bounding box around your character's face, and
press the "Enter" key to crop it. Save the resulting image
as a PNG in the folder "MyPath/gui/char/big". I named my file
"MaxImage.PNG". This file will be the large picture that you
see on the Character Select screen when you start a new Fallout Tactics
campaign, and must be in the "MyPath/gui/char/big" folder
in order to display properly.
Now, select the "Crop" tool again,
and change the "Width" to 75 and "Height" 100. Again,
draw a bounding box and press "Enter". This image will be
the small portrait that you see pretty much everywhere else in the game.
Save the image as a PNG in the folder "MyPath/gui/char". Be
sure to give it the EXACT SAME name as you did the last file (I named
mine "MaxImage.PNG"). You will end up with two files with
the same name, one located in "MyPath/gui/char" and one in
"MyPath/gui/char/big". This means I have two files named "MaxImage.PNG".
The final step is to convert the two PNG files
to ZAR file. Start up the Fallout Tactics editor, and select Convert
PNG to ZAR. Find the two PNGs you just saved, one at a time, and convert
them to ZAR format. The ZARs will have the same name, but a different
extension. My files are now called "MaxImage.ZAR".
Step 4: Create the Character Entity
It is now time to create the entity that will go represent the character.
Start up the Entity Editor, and click on "File>New". Select
"Actor" from the top of the list, and click "OK".
Now click "Make" at the top of the screen. Create your character
just as you would normally, allocating a name, statistics, tag skills,
and optional traits. You will notice that you can't select an image;
this is normal, so don't worry since we'll be assigning an image in
a bit. Once the character is ready, click "OK" to
return to the entity editor. You can level up your character if you
want by clicking "Level" at the top of the screen.
Now that the chracter is created, we need to
assign him his image. On the left side of the screen, under "~Actor~",
you will see a button labeled "Name". Click on it, and a number
of fields will drop down. The first field is labeled "Display Name".
In this field, type in the name of the ZAR image you converted in Step
3 above, without the extension. Thus, I have typed "MaxImage"
in the field. If you want to see the portrait, you can click "Edit>Edit
Character Stats/Trait..".
Beneath "Display Name", there is a
field labeled "customName". In this field, you will see the
name you assigned your character when you first made it. Delete this
name, so that the field is empty. Don't worry, your character WILL get
assigned a name, just not here. If there is anything in the "customName"
field, you won't be able to assign your prefab character a story.
All that's left is to save the entity. Click
"File>Save As", and save your entity into the "MyPath/entities/special/prefab"
folder. I saved my character as "Max.ENT".
Step 5: Edit "campaign.txt" and "characters.txt"
A few more steps left. Exit the editor and find your custom campaign's
"campaign.txt" file. Since you've already created your campaign,
I assume you know how this file works, and how it ties into your campaign.
Open it up in any text editor, and scroll down to the very bottom, where
you will see the section for listing prefab characters. Add your new
entity into the list by following the format of the others. If you don't
want the default prefabs to be available, you can delete those lines.
You should have something like this:
prefabs={"entities/special/prefab/Max.ent",}
Save campaign.txt, and go into "MyPath/locale/game".
In here you will find the copy of the "characters.txt" file
you made in Step 2. Open it and scroll down a little until you find
the section named "PREFABS - STARTING CHARACTERS". You will
see the five default prefabs (Mick, Snake, Peter, Betty, Wilma) listed
there. Add your character to the list by following the format of the
others:
Where "DisplayName" is replaced by
the text you typed into the 'Display Name" field in the entity
editor. Thus I would type:
name_MaxImage= {Max}
desc_MaxImage= {Max's story}
Remember that you have limited space for your
character's story, so be brief. It is extremely important that the word
after "name_" and "desc_" be exactly the same as
that you entered in the "Display Name" field of the entity.
Otherwise, the process will not work properly.
Also remember to leave the default prefab characters
alone. If you delete them, it can produce strange results in the default
campaign, but only if you start the default campaign while using the
"-path" command line option. If you don't want the default
prefabs to appear in your custom campaign, delete their references from
the "campaign.txt" file as explained above. Don't worry about
your character appearing in the default campaign; he won't, unless to
specifically import him into "bos.cam" using the campaign
editor.
Step 6: Update your campaign
The final step is to bring your prefab character into your campaign.
Start up the Fallout Tactics editor once more and go into the campaign
editor. Open your custom campaign, and click "Tools>Import Prefabs".
Find your "campaign.txt" file, and click "Open".
Once this is done, save your campaign.
You have now sucessfully created a custom prefab
character, complete with large and small portraits and backstory. If
you followed all the directions exactly, when next you start your custom
campaign anew, you will see your prefab character appear in the character
select screen.
I hope this helps. If anything is unclear, or
you run into problems, feel free to email
me.