Report, edit, etc...Posted by zcz_team on 2007-01-14 at 15:44:47
Well i was just picking up some conversions around the web and played them. Then i noticed they looked different in some mods. And i saw Lord_Agamemnon(MM) avatar and i was wondering how to do that.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by DT_Battlekruser on 2007-01-14 at 16:15:25
Pinned tutorial, Chapter VI.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by SubFocus on 2007-01-14 at 18:42:25
At least look at the two stickied tutorials before asking...
Here, I'll post links for you, in case you're supremely lazy like me. Though right now I'm a bit active.
Here's a tutorial written by the big man DTBattle Kruser himself. It goes most aspects of modding, but you might wanna just skip to the .grp part.
http://www.staredit.net/index.php?showtopic=15413
Here's a tutorial that Nivanajung made. His English is a little bit rusty so it's tricky to understand, but it's good when it comes to advanced stuff.
http://www.staredit.net/index.php?showtopic=27808
By the way BattleKruser, I think you should change the thread name of your tutorial.. It's a bit misleading. When I was new here, I thought it was about some good ways to write a storyline or something to a mod. Just a suggestion.
Here, I'll post links for you, in case you're supremely lazy like me. Though right now I'm a bit active.
Here's a tutorial written by the big man DTBattle Kruser himself. It goes most aspects of modding, but you might wanna just skip to the .grp part.
http://www.staredit.net/index.php?showtopic=15413
Here's a tutorial that Nivanajung made. His English is a little bit rusty so it's tricky to understand, but it's good when it comes to advanced stuff.
http://www.staredit.net/index.php?showtopic=27808
By the way BattleKruser, I think you should change the thread name of your tutorial.. It's a bit misleading. When I was new here, I thought it was about some good ways to write a storyline or something to a mod. Just a suggestion.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by nirvanajung on 2007-01-14 at 19:39:42
when i have free of time enough
i'd correct my phrasing which used in that tutorials hehe~!
i'd correct my phrasing which used in that tutorials hehe~!
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Corbo(MM) on 2007-01-14 at 21:58:40
You basically edit GRP files (that contains the unit's graphics) to w/E you want (following the unit pallete), when done you just add the grp you made to a mod and that's all.
OR
You can use iscript or basic datediting to make units load overlays from other units that way your unit will look different.
If you really need a tutorial let us know
OR
You can use iscript or basic datediting to make units load overlays from other units that way your unit will look different.
If you really need a tutorial let us know
Report, edit, etc...Posted by zcz_team on 2007-01-15 at 17:27:38
[QUOTE]If you really need a tutorial let us know
Yes i do O_o it would be great.
Yes i do O_o it would be great.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by Corbo(MM) on 2007-01-15 at 17:45:00
Ok, Here's a mini tutorial on what you have to do (I always recommend to read the pinned tutorial also)
===The tools you need===
Retro GRP
WinMPQ
MPQDraft
Image Editor (any, Even paint is useful)
===Tutorial===
-Open Stardat.mpq (on your starcraft folder) and find the desired GRP file
[Unit graphics come in files called GRPs and you can find all the unit grps under unit\race\grpname.grp. Ex: unit\terran\vulture.grp]
-Extract the grp file to anywhere you want but make sure you remember the directory
-Open up Retro GRP and you will see several boxes one of them says "Load External file" Press the button and find the GRP you extracted in the previous step.
-In the next box "Set output directory" You select the path where the frames will be saved. After you do it press the button that says "Write BMPs"
[By doing this retro grp will save all the unit frames that the grp contains as bmp images you can edit. Always remember to check the loaded file and the saving directory]
-Go to the directory you selected in the previous step and you'll see several bmp files according to the grp you decompiled (17 if you did the vulture)
-You can freely edit the bmp files according to the 256 color unit pallete that sc follows
-When done open retro grp and select "Compile to GRP". If you noticed with the bmp files there was a .ral file. Retro GRP is now asking you to select that .ral file. Find it and retro grp will compile the GRP for you.
-When retro grp finishes compiling you will have a grp in your output directory,. Now open WinMPQ and make a new MPQ archieve Add your new GRP as unit\race\
-Now rename the grp you added if it has an "x_" just take it out and if it doesn't have a grpname (as the ones already in the listfile) rename it to the desired unit.
-Open mpqdraft and load a new mpq patch, find your mpq and run it.
===The tools you need===
Retro GRP
WinMPQ
MPQDraft
Image Editor (any, Even paint is useful)
===Tutorial===
-Open Stardat.mpq (on your starcraft folder) and find the desired GRP file
[Unit graphics come in files called GRPs and you can find all the unit grps under unit\race\grpname.grp. Ex: unit\terran\vulture.grp]
-Extract the grp file to anywhere you want but make sure you remember the directory
-Open up Retro GRP and you will see several boxes one of them says "Load External file" Press the button and find the GRP you extracted in the previous step.
-In the next box "Set output directory" You select the path where the frames will be saved. After you do it press the button that says "Write BMPs"
[By doing this retro grp will save all the unit frames that the grp contains as bmp images you can edit. Always remember to check the loaded file and the saving directory]
-Go to the directory you selected in the previous step and you'll see several bmp files according to the grp you decompiled (17 if you did the vulture)
-You can freely edit the bmp files according to the 256 color unit pallete that sc follows
-When done open retro grp and select "Compile to GRP". If you noticed with the bmp files there was a .ral file. Retro GRP is now asking you to select that .ral file. Find it and retro grp will compile the GRP for you.
-When retro grp finishes compiling you will have a grp in your output directory,. Now open WinMPQ and make a new MPQ archieve Add your new GRP as unit\race\
-Now rename the grp you added if it has an "x_" just take it out and if it doesn't have a grpname (as the ones already in the listfile) rename it to the desired unit.
-Open mpqdraft and load a new mpq patch, find your mpq and run it.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by zcz_team on 2007-01-15 at 19:50:22
So how would i combine 2 units though like a tank turret that was replaced with battle cruiser wings?
Report, edit, etc...Posted by SubFocus on 2007-01-16 at 11:35:22
QUOTE(zcz_team @ Jan 15 2007, 08:50 PM)
So how would i combine 2 units though like a tank turret that was replaced with battle cruiser wings?
[right][snapback]614269[/snapback][/right]
[right][snapback]614269[/snapback][/right]
Well, you'd have to do that in an image editting program, like MSPaint for example. Just cut and paste peices of the BC wings together, and voila.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by CommmanderMoo19 on 2007-01-16 at 20:02:09
Ya but when i did that to my units you cant make them look totally diffrent.The only it changed was the color not the actual unit.Like i was thinking about combining units like a goliath and vulture.If you can give me a tutorial on that i would be really happy.Lol.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by zcz_team on 2007-01-16 at 20:37:54
Hey commandermoo ill PM you the way, to do that i just figured that out right now
by the way to see your PMs click messages under your account name on the top right corner of any page.
by the way to see your PMs click messages under your account name on the top right corner of any page.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by CommmanderMoo19 on 2007-01-16 at 21:01:03
Your pm helped me understand how but the real thing is can i do it 
lol.
lol.Report, edit, etc...Posted by 00cnr on 2007-01-16 at 21:18:35
Do you mean you can't do it, or can. Because, if you meant can, that smiley attempting to splatter his brains doesn't exactly make sense!
I'll assume you mean you can't, and I'll try to help you out a little bit with what I know and tried...
As Corbo said:
RetroGRP will take the .GRP file containing the unit animations and turn them into many .BMP's which you can edit in any image editor i.e. Photoshop or even MSPaint.
WinMPQ is what you will allow you to modify the .MPQ, lists of SC data files. You can play that mod using MPQDraft, which is a self-extracting patch maker.
Now that you know that...
We will use WinMPQ and open the StarDat.MPQ file in the starcraft folder on you computer, scroll down to units/.../... and find the .GRPs of the units you would like to combine. You will want to extract those .GRPs to your mod folder.
Make sure you know what parts of each unit you want to combine and which .GRP the final project will be substituted for.
Open RetroGRP where it says "Load External File", find where ever you put the extracted .GRP and double-click it. Where it says "Set Output Directory", you want to put the folder or location you want the .BMPs to go. Once you have all of those, click "Write out BMPs" and then, in the pop-up click "All BMPs".
The program will turn the animated GRP into a series of BMPs which can be edited. Be warned though, may of the .GRPs will contain over hundereds of BMPs which each have to be seperatly edited.
Do the same process for the other .GRP(s) that you want to combine with the first.
After all that is done, combine the specific parts of each into each .BMP, open the .BMP of the unit you want to have the image substitute for first so when you hit save, the edited filed stays in it's original spot.
After you have edited the image, open up RetroGRP again. This time we will be combining the .BMPs into a .GRP which can be put into a mod. Set the output directory to the folder where your mod is and click "Compile to GRP". Then, select the .RAL file of your edited unts. RetroGRP will do the rest.
Put that file into WinMPQ and make sure to remove the "X_" part of the file name. Run the mod in MPQDraft and viola! A combined unit image.
I'll assume you mean you can't, and I'll try to help you out a little bit with what I know and tried...
As Corbo said:
QUOTE
===The tools you need===
Retro GRP
WinMPQ
MPQDraft
Image Editor (any, Even paint is useful)
Retro GRP
WinMPQ
MPQDraft
Image Editor (any, Even paint is useful)
RetroGRP will take the .GRP file containing the unit animations and turn them into many .BMP's which you can edit in any image editor i.e. Photoshop or even MSPaint.
WinMPQ is what you will allow you to modify the .MPQ, lists of SC data files. You can play that mod using MPQDraft, which is a self-extracting patch maker.
Now that you know that...
We will use WinMPQ and open the StarDat.MPQ file in the starcraft folder on you computer, scroll down to units/.../... and find the .GRPs of the units you would like to combine. You will want to extract those .GRPs to your mod folder.
Make sure you know what parts of each unit you want to combine and which .GRP the final project will be substituted for.
Open RetroGRP where it says "Load External File", find where ever you put the extracted .GRP and double-click it. Where it says "Set Output Directory", you want to put the folder or location you want the .BMPs to go. Once you have all of those, click "Write out BMPs" and then, in the pop-up click "All BMPs".
The program will turn the animated GRP into a series of BMPs which can be edited. Be warned though, may of the .GRPs will contain over hundereds of BMPs which each have to be seperatly edited.
Do the same process for the other .GRP(s) that you want to combine with the first.
After all that is done, combine the specific parts of each into each .BMP, open the .BMP of the unit you want to have the image substitute for first so when you hit save, the edited filed stays in it's original spot.
After you have edited the image, open up RetroGRP again. This time we will be combining the .BMPs into a .GRP which can be put into a mod. Set the output directory to the folder where your mod is and click "Compile to GRP". Then, select the .RAL file of your edited unts. RetroGRP will do the rest.
Put that file into WinMPQ and make sure to remove the "X_" part of the file name. Run the mod in MPQDraft and viola! A combined unit image.
Report, edit, etc...Posted by CommmanderMoo19 on 2007-01-16 at 21:29:40
i did it and i pm d you a question^^
Report, edit, etc...Posted by 00cnr on 2007-01-16 at 21:50:37
So... You got the combination image working and you sent me a PM?
Report, edit, etc...Posted by CommmanderMoo19 on 2007-01-16 at 21:54:17
yep,and i sent you one about the .ral.