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| Q&A about portrait .sti files; portraits[message #353226]
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Thu, 19 April 2018 13:43 
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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Answers are probably somewhere on the board, and i did not find it,
so pardon me for asking again:
1) For a universal portrait set which covers any option to use it as a JA2 creatures portrait,
will the following picture sizes and characteristics cover all required pictures, or did i miss something?
Also, in case pls tell me what;)
PC portraits
\faces: 48x43 [anim]
\bigfaces: 106x122 [background]
\33face: 15x14, [anim]
\65face: 31x27, [anim]
NPC portraits
\faces: 90x100 [anim]
\65face: 58x65 [anim]
\33face: 29x33 [anim]
2) should i avoid transparency in specific portaits respectively all
or any specific color values for 1st, 2nd and last palettte slot?
(as some of those conditions can cause graphic glitch in wiz 8)
3) The archive in 2nd link below contains 2 different .sti portraits at 90x100, afaik for NPC,
if you test these in game, pls give merciless feedback whether the quaility is sufficient at all
and in case which one of the two NPC portrait variations looks better to you.
Attention! Use potraits in 2nd link as those in 1st may cause freeze!
1st link to bad portraits, only left here for the record:
https://sabercathost.com/5cq9/npc_test_portraits.zip
2nd link to archive with working portraits:
https://sabercathost.com/5csZ/PC_90x100_test_portraits.zip
(one was created by scaling down a bigger pic and adding manually edited frames for mouth&eye movement,
the other(..72_to100..) is an unscaled and already animated wiz8 portrait adjusted to JA2 size, so the head appears smaller in the pic)
2 pc portraits of 1st human male, same as in the .stis linked above, and preview on the 2nd,
again feedback is highly appreciated;)
[Updated on: Tue, 19 June 2018 02:25] Report message to a moderator
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Master Sergeant
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| Re: Questions about portrait .sti files; test portrait[message #353232 is a reply to message #353230]
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Thu, 19 April 2018 22:29 
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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Jolly_Reaper wrote on Thu, 19 April 2018 16:38Khal Drogo! Awesome.
Silliness aside, those pictures look great, although the camera position on the middle one is too high. It gives me the impression that the middle 'Khal' is of rather short stature.
Thanks for your feedback! cam position for 2nd potrait was intended despite realizing the "flaw",
as i did not want to have the shirt with string in the picture,
it may fit to Wizardry 8s fantasy theme but looks rather weird for y2k guy,
last not least i wanted to have decent amount of sky in the background
and the leaves not covering main parts of the face.
Optional explanation: music is so loud in pic 1, literally forces him to stand straight,
while athmosphere in pic 2 is quite ... relaxing :D
besides i did not have Khal Drogo as reference in mind at all in the process,
but the person on pic may fit that character well.
edmortimer wrote on Thu, 19 April 2018 20:35You should avoid using the first 2 and last 2 colors of the palette. Ideally, the first two should be full black and full white, and the last two should be full green and full red -- as these colors are used by the code for item transparencies and such (not used in portraits).
For creature portraits for auto-resolve I have no experience, but would guess you don't need PC or NPC portraits.
Would you consider doing portraits for for the Ryder Twins and Max Payne? I have been trying to get them done without success. I am not a graphic artist, and I have run into troubles converting them to STIs. The Ryder Twins need the PC portraits, and Max needs both NPC & PC portraits.
Thanks for the info, will try to stay at least close to that
(white at fixed position is rather bad for my low_effort_workflow;)
Creature portraits for autoresolve should all be contained in \inteface\smFaces.sti,
and portraits of PCs for the left side of auto resolve windows are probably taken from \65face folder.
Looking at the pics you linked, not the best soure for my limited skills/Gimp_expertise to get good results.
in her face there are too much light near_white sections while the other side has shadow
and partial darkening results in more colors than darkening whole pic(and palette rtrictions are the worst for me)
and his face has the reflection spot, last not least the pattern of blue dots on the skull,
last not least reflections on both faes are metallic blue, definitely ScFi style.
I.e. dont you have other pics? Note a frontal view is best, else especially mouth movement is much harder to do.
I guess they are igame screenshots as i didnt find the same faces with search term "ryder twins"
perhaps you could take some at plae with indirect light?
Best pic of maxs face to scale down is probably face2,
but the tilted head will make transformations harder with gimp tool,
and how about fitting face gear? So thats imo best used for static 106x122 PC portrait only,
face would be my 1st choice for animated portraits, heads top cut off is probably no issue
(nobody will recognize the "happy accidents" once its scaled down;)
Note they will not get priority over the portraits from wiz8 and 2 other rl persons,
but go into the whole batch, workflow is to create all portraits for specific size, than change to next size,
until all portraits are present in all sizes, sorry.
Besides, anything looking familiar in 3rd portrait above? ;)
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Master Sergeant
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| Re: Questions about portrait .sti files; test portrait[message #353236 is a reply to message #353232]
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Thu, 19 April 2018 23:13
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| Flugente |
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Messages:3507
Registered:April 2009
Location: Germany |
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Although PC 33face and 65face are animated for vanilla faces, they don't seem to be in many other new faces that have been added, and I don't ever recall them being used animated, so I think you can skip animations on those two. Wizardry8 handled the animation offsets differently in the animation .sti - they use no offset but rather use mouth and eyes in the same position with a transparency overlay, that might make things easier to figure out, not sure. As edmortimer said, avoid the transparency colours for the pic itself.
I know now that it could never work between us, as much as we wanted to, it could never be! Not because you're a rabbit, but because you're black.
If you want, you can donate to me. This will not affect how and what I code, and I will not code specific features in return. I will be thankful though.Report message to a moderator
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| Re: Questions about portrait .sti files; test portrait[message #353241 is a reply to message #353236]
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Fri, 20 April 2018 01:37
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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Flugente wrote on Thu, 19 April 2018 23:13Although PC 33face and 65face are animated for vanilla faces, they don't seem to be in many other new faces that have been added, and I don't ever recall them being used animated, so I think you can skip animations on those two. Thats pretty much exactly what i suspected and hoped to get confirmed;), thank you!
Quote:Wizardry8 handled the animation offsets differently in the animation .sti - they use no offset but rather use mouth and eyes in the same position with a transparency overlay, that might make things easier to figure out, not sure. As edmortimer said, avoid the transparency colours for the pic itself.
Similar for wiz8 regarding transpareny issues, from where i am somewhat used to take 1st and 2nd slot into account,
also there was something about the last, only 2nd last causing issue was new to me.
Regarding eye&mouth as full size pic with transparent frame, & reference to thread Clarifications regarding to new anims
that way offset correction is part of picture creation and easier than in sti-Edit
(assuming Blender setup & export produces all pics at full size with aims at correct coords)
Import of .bmp sequence with Bimbos sti-edit(or) v1.3.3.13(aka project1.exe -> kermis ftp site, else on my hdds)
If a single keyframe is present, e.g. because base sti has it or its hacked, sti-Edit allows to set them freely.
Frame offset is one byte for X/Y each, close by some bytes vary when editing a keyframe, all separated from pixel data at file end,
This covers 1 - 2a and refutes 2b. Regarding 3, not me, main work is blender stuff with which i am not familiar,
also health prevents to work on bigger projects at what fit people consider decent speed.
@edmortimer
Rather elaborate result of the 1st approach for a 48x43 max payne pic,
imo not really promising because low contrast&dark after color suppression6scaling
and it must also serve as base for eye&mouth pics, let me know what you think of it.
Different approaches when/how to edit pic during scaling may give better(or worse;) results.
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Master Sergeant
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| Re: Questions about portrait .sti files; test portrait[message #353242 is a reply to message #353241]
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Fri, 20 April 2018 01:46
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 Hawkeye |
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Messages:2433
Registered:October 2005
Location: Australia |
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There's some more tech info in this thread regarding faces. http://thepit.ja-galaxy-forum.com/index.php?t=msg&th=14861&prevloaded=1&&start=80
Generally the first colour of your palette will be the mask colour, whether it's red, blue or black. True 0,0,0 black will mask out regardless though I'm not sure if pure red and blue have the same issue, though blue is used for shadows, so that might be the case. I generally use a neon green for masks rather than red so they are more easy to spot if they have bled or have stray pixels.
Facegear (currently gas mask, NVG, sungoggles, and SWAT helmet) reside in their own sti files and basically overlay on top of your portrait pics. Mercs don't have individual facegear files rather you will have one large NVG sti for example that has a frame for each merc.
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| Re: Questions about portrait .sti files; test portrait[message #353245 is a reply to message #353243]
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Fri, 20 April 2018 17:17
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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Hawkeye wrote on Fri, 20 April 2018 01:46There's some more tech info in this thread regarding faces. http://thepit.ja-galaxy-forum.com/index.php?t=msg&th=14861&prevloaded=1&&start=80 Very helpful, thanks a lot, good info in message 267404 and keywords to drill deeper,
made me check my potraits ingame asap to watch the flaws;)
Note the 1st attempt was made from scratch with empty sti file.
Fortunately the game does not appear to care about specific size for eye&mouth pics,
else it would have required me to redo much.
Quote:Facegear (currently gas mask, NVG, sungoggles, and SWAT helmet) reside in their own sti files and basically overlay on top of your portrait pics. Mercs don't have individual facegear files rather you will have one large NVG sti for example that has a frame for each merc. "how about fitting facegear" was mostly related to tilted head, where it requires more than changing coordiates.
Since the portraits are not intended to be slot specific,
each modder/player has to take care of at least .sti slot placement himself,
Perhaps an additional .sti for each portrait, with facegear placed correctly,
may be helpful to copy them into the right slot of specific .sti.
edmortimer wrote on Fri, 20 April 2018 08:11Here are all the pics I have of the Ryder Twins, including my in-process versions (in case you find them helpful). The time stamps should tell you what the latest ones are, and they are probably the best ones to work with. Thanks!Quote:These portraits are for Flugente's Ryder Twins/Max Payne mod so he's the one who should critique them. No reason to hold back, else use a JA2 quote and only post the filename, e.g. from Buns modified voice :D
next attempt on Max in 48x43, now scaled down in one step after eye edit
brightness cranked up:
update:
1st is ok on my cad certified panel but 2nd may fit better to most screens in these times,
that is, unless user likes dazzling colors piercing the eyes;)
[Updated on: Fri, 20 April 2018 19:06] Report message to a moderator
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Master Sergeant
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| Re: Questions about portrait .sti files; test portrait[message #353283 is a reply to message #353249]
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Mon, 23 April 2018 01:27
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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More questions:
1)According to Flugentes Add new character tutorial
the coordinates of eye&mouth pictures for animated portraits
also must be set in MercProfiles.xml as usEyes & usMouth X/Y
but i saw no changes in game after changing an eye coordinate of the test .sti for for Manuel by 10.
Note the test sti had the coordinates correctly adjusted from ingame tests before i changed the eye pictures coordinate in xml.
Setup was a save in B2 before i had spoken to Manuel at all,
could it be that the values from .xml were already stored in save
and that i either must start the test before having entered B2 at all,
or even start a new game every time i want to check a new sti portrait?
1b) Is the Y/X offset the distance from upper left corner of frame_0 pic to upper left corner of frame_x pic?
(didnt check in game, if so the value for same size fame 1+ pics should be identical and ease conversion)
2)Which is the fastest way, with respect to reply on 1st question, to test portraits in game,
or is Manuel already the easiest one?
2a) how do i get to see the portraits which are not 31x27, 48x43, 90x100 and 106x122,
i.e. 15x14 in \33face for PCs, and for NPCs 29x33 in \33face and 58x65 in \65face?
(latter may be for pop up window of NPC comment when we dont speak to him/her directly?)
3) How much influence has the .GAP file on face animation. i.e. can it trigger a distinct frame of the sti reliably?
That would allow to create a portrait with drastic face change for spcl purpose,
e.g. Deidranna turning into a vampire, NPC turning into zombie to introduce the zompie epidemic to player, ...
After a lot of smearing the ryder twins, along with another guy:Toggle Spoiler
Usually i stay away from rl portraits as i think it may be bad for immersion,
because the personal view of look and expression of rl person is always different to the image on screen,
with possible bad effect as humans are optimized to notice differences.
dld link to portrait .stis & raw material incl some fake and one real bandit for smFaces.sti,
not complete sets but at least the pics in the .sti files should be glitch free in game.
https://sabercathost.com/5cvn/ryder_max_che.zip
Note the animated PC portraits contain pics for face gear,
which are intended to be copied to their approriate slot in \data\facesgear\*.sti.
The game may crash if you use these portraits without deleting the last pictures of the facegear!
Obviously portraits have not been tested, except of all 3 versions of max_p in 48x43 pixel and NPC humm1 in 90x100.
@edmortimer & Flugente
Not much space left for substancial improvement on ryder twins and max p portrait,
however pls tell what you think.
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Master Sergeant
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| Re: Questions about portrait .sti files; test portrait[message #353285 is a reply to message #353283]
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Mon, 23 April 2018 01:57
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| edmortimer |
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Messages:1533
Registered:January 2015
Location: Home Free |
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Quote:but i saw no changes in game after changing an eye coordinate of the test .sti
Unfortunately, a new game has to be started in order to see any changes. I know - it makes the work very tedious.
Quote: Is the Y/X offset the distance from upper left corner of frame_0 pic to upper left corner of frame_x pic?
(didnt check in game, if so the value for same size fame 1+ pics should be identical and ease conversion)
Not exactly sure what you are asking. I use Faces Viewer (located in your Tools folder) to align mouth and eyes, then test, and then adjust.
Quote:Which is the fastest way, with respect to reply on 1st question, to test portraits in game,
I test by making them IMP portraits, and then create a throwaway IMP (because you have to have a new game each time).
Quote:how do i get to see the portraits which are not 31x27, 48x43, 90x100 and 106x122,
i.e. 15x14 in \33face for PCs, and for NPCs 29x33 in \33face and 58x65 in \65face?
If you make the smaller ones from a good 48x43 then there is no need to see them in-game - they'll be OK as long as you did not make them animated (invisible pixel instead of animations). Otherwise, I have no idea how to do so in a timely manner.
Quote:How much influence has the .GAP file on face animation
Not nearly as much as you want.
Quote:After a lot of smearing the ryder twins, along with another guy:
They are better than anything I made! I also do not like rl portraits because the break the immersion -- however, if "smeared" enough to get all the way to JA2 style a rl person can be used without breaking the immersion. For me, it's more the photo-realistic aspect that breaks the immersion.
[Updated on: Mon, 23 April 2018 01:59] Report message to a moderator
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| Re: Questions about portrait .sti files; test portrait[message #353288 is a reply to message #353284]
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Mon, 23 April 2018 04:27
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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Thanks for the hints, some clarifications/comments:
"Is the Y/X offset the distance from upper left corner of frame_0 pic to upper left corner of frame_x pic?"
Lets say our frame 0 pic is 40x40 pixel, pics for eyes and mouth both 20x10 each.
Eye pic is at correct position at 10 px distance from upper(=Y) and left border(=X) of frame 0 pic,
while mouth is placed correct at 25 from upper and 10 from left.
If we have correct coordinates for this or any other relation of frame0 pic to rest in .sti,
we can calculate offset values for any other dimensions of frame0 pic
or the dimensions of other pics in same .sti file for face anim.
So its probably best to keep the upper left corner of frame1+ pics at the same spot in all portrait pics of same dimension,
and use equal eye%mouth values in .xml for at least the new entries
either use always the same.
Quote:...
...however, if "smeared" enough to get all the way to JA2 style a rl person can be used without breaking the immersion. For me, it's more the photo-realistic aspect that breaks the immersion.
There are a couple of tools in the Gimp(and probably most other pic editors)
which allow to do at least the general work faster like blur&unsharp mask, random pixel distortions ...
Quote:Unfortunately, a new game has to be started in order to see any changes. I know - it makes the work very tedious.
Is there any reason to store the offset a 2nd time and that even in a .xml which requires to start a new game,
although the entry in .sti appears to be sufficient
and comes into effect when loading a saved game after adjusting the eye&mouth coordinates in .sti?
I refuse to do such stupid tests, will probably provide X/Y coords from .xml entry of test creature.
/end of rant ;)
OT question: Anybody knows where the 106x122 "photos" in this thread were taken?
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Master Sergeant
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| Re: Questions about portrait .sti files; test portrait[message #353289 is a reply to message #353288]
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Mon, 23 April 2018 05:03
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| edmortimer |
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Messages:1533
Registered:January 2015
Location: Home Free |
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Quote:Lets say our frame 0 pic is 40x40 pixel, pics for eyes and mouth both 20x10 each.
Eye pic is at correct position at 10 px distance from upper(=Y) and left border(=X) of frame 0 pic,
while mouth is placed correct at 25 from upper and 10 from left.
If we have correct coordinates for this or any other relation of frame0 pic to rest in .sti,
we can calculate offset values for any other dimensions of frame0 pic
or the dimensions of other pics in same .sti file for face anim.
So its probably best to keep the upper left corner of frame1+ pics at the same spot in all portrait pics of same dimension,
and use equal eye%mouth values in .xml for at least the new entries
either use always the same.
Are you using different size mouth and eyes sections? Is that why you have come to this question? There is only one set of coordinates, and only one animated portrait (two coordinates and portraits if an recruitable NPC). All eyes sections have to be the same size and fit in the same place, likewise for the mouth sections.
Of course, you could make the eyes and mouths each a half-portrait . . . to make it easier for coordinates.
Quote:There are a couple of tools in the Gimp(and probably most other pic editors)
which allow to do at least the general work faster like blur&unsharp mask, random pixel distortions ...
Yes, I use those tools but my results usually leave a lot to be desired. I need more practice.
Quote:OT question: Anybody knows where the 106x122 "photos" in this thread were taken?
The Ryder Twins are a screenshot from Flugente's Mass Effect game. Max came from elsewhere, I forget.
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| Re: Questions about portrait .sti files; test portrait[message #353290 is a reply to message #353289]
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Mon, 23 April 2018 05:57
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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edmortimer wrote on Mon, 23 April 2018 05:03Quote:Lets say our frame 0 pic is 40x40 pixel, pics for eyes and mouth both 20x10 each.
Eye pic is at correct position at 10 px distance from upper(=Y) and left border(=X) of frame 0 pic,
while mouth is placed correct at 25 from upper and 10 from left.
If we have correct coordinates for this or any other relation of frame0 pic to rest in .sti,
we can calculate offset values for any other dimensions of frame0 pic
or the dimensions of other pics in same .sti file for face anim.
So its probably best to keep the upper left corner of frame1+ pics at the same spot in all portrait pics of same dimension,
and use equal eye%mouth values in .xml for at least the new entries
either use always the same.
Are you using different size mouth and eyes sections? Is that why you have come to this question? There is only one set of coordinates, and only one animated portrait (two coordinates and portraits if an recruitable NPC). All eyes sections have to be the same size and fit in the same place, likewise for the mouth sections.
It was about reference, as long as upper left corner of small pics have same X/Y distances
to upper left corner of big pic, it does not matter if small pics in any other .sti
differ in size from small pics in the current .sti, they need the same X/Y values.
(given both pics have also same x/y values in xml, all assuming i understand it correct;)
However are you sure the game cant handle pics of different size for e.g. eyes, all in one .sti?
The animations also have pics with different size within one animation sequence.
I may even have used an .sti in test with a mouth picture cut out too small,
too much test&edit on the fly to be sure.
Quote:Of course, you could make the eyes and mouths each a half-portrait . . . to make it easier for coordinates.
The devs probably didnt do that to prevent thousands of bloated frames unnecessarily occupying ram,
and as someone who remembers to have only 170k floppies as storage, i will keep it that way.
Quote:The Ryder Twins are a screenshot from Flugente's Mass Effect game. Max came from elsewhere, I forget.
Its about the stuff everybody sees but many dont notice,
i.e. the backgrounds i placed behind those portraits.
I think you even have a small advantage for a specific one :D
[Updated on: Mon, 23 April 2018 05:59] Report message to a moderator
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Master Sergeant
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| Re: Questions about portrait .sti files; test portrait[message #353292 is a reply to message #353290]
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Mon, 23 April 2018 06:13
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| edmortimer |
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Messages:1533
Registered:January 2015
Location: Home Free |
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Quote:It was about reference, as long as upper left corner of small pics have same X/Y distances
to upper left corner of big pic, it does not matter if small pics in any other .sti
differ in size from small pics in the current .sti, they need the same X/Y values.
(given both pics have also same x/y values in xml, all assuming i understand it correct;)
OK, I understand now. Yes, if you can manage that then it'll work.
Quote:However are you sure the game cant handle pics of different size for e.g. eyes, all in one .sti?
If it can I don't know how.
Quote:i.e. the backgrounds i placed behind those portraits. I think you even have a small advantage for a specific one 
Well, I see a couple of cannabis plants in one background - but you must mean the farm background in the other one because where I am there's lots of farming, and lots of people in jail (  ) for cannabis (though that may change soon - 'cause I gotta get out of this place! ).
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| Re: Questions about portrait .sti files; test portrait[message #353298 is a reply to message #353292]
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Mon, 23 April 2018 17:17
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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edmortimer wrote on Mon, 23 April 2018 06:13...
... you must mean the farm background in the other one because where I am there's lots of farming, ...
The farm is somewhere in Danubia, i.e. background was taken from a UC loading screen,
which should also be helpful for the Baldie portrait with the targets of the shooting range,
as the LS pic is from your mod ;)
However i am surprised that the imo iconic background in the very 1st portrait does not ring a bell.
TT:
Confirmed that different size of the eye pictures in the assigned 90x100 .sti NPC portrait
causes the game to freeze/lock, as soon as Ira spoke to Manuel(who still had his "???")
As expected the sums of specific X/Y coordinates for eye/mouth pics in .sti and mercProfile.xml
are equal to the distance of eye/mouth pictures(=frames 1 - 4) from the upper left corner of full picture(=frame 0)
It would make sense to set all eye/mouth animation offsets in mercProfiles.xml to zero,
so correct placement is doable on the fly in .sti, without having to take values in .xml into acount,
that also makes the animated portrait .sti files interchangeable.
Perhaps pull the values from .xml and e.g. use as parameter in batch file to work on all files in one go
if there is a program which allows incremental increase of the x/y offsets stored in the .sti files,
optionally pull x/y from sti & xml, then write sums as absolute value into sti.
Or findsomeone who is willing to do that manually. :)
[Updated on: Mon, 23 April 2018 17:19] Report message to a moderator
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Master Sergeant
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| Re: Questions about portrait .sti files; test portrait[message #353308 is a reply to message #353303]
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Mon, 23 April 2018 19:29
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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Quote:...
Yes, that would make portrait-making a LOT easier, but it means first someone would have to re-make all animations for every portrait in the game -- which is a LOT of tedious and (to me) difficult work (not to mention thankless work).
The only point i can see, which is not covered by an automated process, is getting the X/Y offsets from the sti,
e.g. with a program that works at command line.
If all steps are automated, its a matter of minutes to hours instead of days:
Get list of stis from [Dir > filenames.txt] command, change from .txt to .bat,
add commnad line for program to read offsets in %n.sti and write them into individual %n.txt files(=named after source .sti)
Consilidate all values in the generated .txt files in one file, import to e.g. Open Office calc.
(or let OO read directly from each .txt file and write in sheet)
MercProfiles.xml goes into another OO sheet
either isolate the desired entries for eye&mouth x/y offset values or clear from obsolete stuff,
now add each value to the offset values we retrieved from .sti files and stored in the 1st sheet,
there add the filenames we got from [DIR > ...] command as last part of the required command for sticom.exe,
which appears to be able to write offset values into .sti, acording to this message.
Export from OO as .txt and run as .bat, finally export merc profiles xml from OO with offsets set to zero.
p.s.:
found the sticom thread by author Bio and his program on Kermis ftp site,
but get: the process entry point "lots_of_scrambled_text" was not found in msvcp90.dll message
on attempt to execute list command, or 1st example for use of sticom as provided by author Bio in linked thread.
?
[Updated on: Mon, 23 April 2018 21:33] Report message to a moderator
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Master Sergeant
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| Re: Q&A about portrait .sti files, portraits; etc[message #353596 is a reply to message #353312]
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Sun, 27 May 2018 18:33
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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In delayed celebration of the JIT report, the related terrain element from best fitting free pic found:
Also some portraits, together with pardon me that it took so long:
https://sabercathost.com/5dqr/ryder_twins&lawrence_portraits.rar
Archive contains a readme explaining why all animated portraits come 2 times each.
Let me know if link does not work for you, or portraits have any flaws, i will try to fix whatever it is.
Also if you think i should post them in another thread like e.g. pic collection/database.
p.s.
funny how well the comma fits to the pic below,
dont think i ever got it so perfect as here, which was unintended
------
/edit: updated archive (scott ryder's 48x43 portrait with unmodified eye/mouth offsets was mising, sorry)
link to updated archive:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/hj40bhvr28hb1r3/ryder_twins%26lawrence_portraits.7z/file
106x122 and 48x43 preview:
[Updated on: Sun, 12 August 2018 22:54] Report message to a moderator
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Master Sergeant
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| Re: Q&A about portrait .sti files, portraits; etc[message #353606 is a reply to message #353602]
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Sun, 27 May 2018 22:48
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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edmortimer wrote on Sun, 27 May 2018 21:26Sabercat sent me round and round and round and round and back again to the beginning. I am now boycotting Sabercat.
Sorry Ed for frustrating link, it worked fine for me when checking preview and also now,
L-click on link instantly opens file browser here to select the save location,
but since still logged in at sabercat, i started a "clean" browser, not logged in at any site,
and had to realize that they apparently add a delay for not logged in users,
big Sorry for that again,
looped 2 times through the 15sec delay until capcha hurdle popped up,
surprisingly managed that instantly and at least got the file after some delay.
However still in "clean" browser(fox) i was able to circumvent any delay or even loop and the bot protection thingie
with R-click on the link above and "save linked content/file as..."(should be valid for opera&fox, maybe not for chrome),
so perhaps you could make a boycot exception to check whether the reason for it can be circumvented?
Optionally pls tell me which other filehoster you would like,
preferably no registration required, but those accepting trashmail accounts are also ok.
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Master Sergeant
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| Re: Q&A about portrait .sti files, portraits; etc[message #353611 is a reply to message #353610]
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Mon, 28 May 2018 03:43
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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Hawkeye wrote on Mon, 28 May 2018 02:45
I hope that's just a promo shot, as the angle is not exactly following the orthographic view JA uses, though other modders in the past have just gone along with what they can find off the net.
Yes only quick work skipping the rotation as i did not really expect anybody to use it,
angle for objects and shadows appears to be 26.5 deg respectively the diagonal of a 2:1 rectangle
while the upper edge of this carrier is at 20.5 degree/100x36 rectangle
But it does not look that bad on the just updated new map of P3 :D
p.s.
also, the rotation to 26.5 deg would have prevented
the perfect alignment of comma and the whatever it may be thingie of the vehicle.
[Updated on: Mon, 28 May 2018 03:51] Report message to a moderator
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Master Sergeant
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| Portraits[message #353833 is a reply to message #353611]
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Tue, 19 June 2018 01:22
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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Portrait sets (NPC/RPC/IMP) of Wiz8 rogue Myles and Ahmad Shah Massoud:
/edit: Old link became invalid because file was deleted after 100 days according to policy of tinyupload,
sorry for any inconveniences, new valid link:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/0rte82spa8u78rg/JA2_portraits_Massoud%26Myles.7z/file
s000.tinyupload[dot]com/index.php?file_id=51123658532158584630
(invalid old link not deleted for reasons of documentation)
These are not ready to use, you must rename the desired files.
As always merciless feedback on even small details is appreciated to help improve quality.
Besides, point me to a really fitting background for the Lion and i will gladly deliver replacement soon.
[Updated on: Sun, 09 September 2018 14:22] Report message to a moderator
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Master Sergeant
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| Re: Portraits[message #353841 is a reply to message #353840]
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Tue, 19 June 2018 23:21
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| Flugente |
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Messages:3507
Registered:April 2009
Location: Germany |
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Well, when you put it like that... I think 7, 8 and 13 are the most promising. 1 would make for a very good scandinavian (Valkyrie, the norwegian merc? Wielding a sturdy... riotshield, and her trusted warhammer crowbar).
I know now that it could never work between us, as much as we wanted to, it could never be! Not because you're a rabbit, but because you're black.
If you want, you can donate to me. This will not affect how and what I code, and I will not code specific features in return. I will be thankful though.Report message to a moderator
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| Re: Q&A about portrait .sti files, portraits; etc[message #353857 is a reply to message #353610]
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Wed, 20 June 2018 23:41
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| Jahh |
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Messages:56
Registered:March 2017 |
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Quote:the angle is not exactly following the orthographic view JA uses,
But it does a good job of matching some cartographic view its supposed to symbolize.
[Updated on: Wed, 20 June 2018 23:45] Report message to a moderator
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Corporal
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| Re: Portraits[message #353858 is a reply to message #353856]
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Thu, 21 June 2018 00:50
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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Flugente wrote on Wed, 20 June 2018 23:30Some are a bit too on the nose, so I'd say 4, 8, 15.
i feel forced to use a mutilated quote from Carlos: "Do you think this is wise Miguel?"
8 and 15 share the same background, which imo does not look well if both portraits appear on laptop page.
Just got the idea to search for "philippies & war zone" pics,
got many andrealized why so many mercs die there,
vast najority is killed by collapsing ruins, not bullets.
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Master Sergeant
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| Re: Portraits[message #353860 is a reply to message #353859]
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Thu, 21 June 2018 20:05
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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Thinking about it, 8 might have been the better choice (not seriously!),
as some work would already be done if i run into the same issue with 9 as with 15;)
Long story:
Ran into the usual palette related issue that pics get mutilated on import in stiEditor
and decided to share info in case other people fall into same pit.
(dotNet may work better but it requires stuff installed)
If a color gradient is in little steps the editor will "stretch" these steps for the gradient,
then add some other colors to the palette,
effectively turning the gradient into bigger lakes/areas with visible borders, the usual effect when reducing color depth.
That can be avoided for Wiz8 portraits as they already come as .sti with appropriate palette,
but the new backgrounds for 106x122 force to modify palette, so i posterized to 254 colors & indexed,
put frame with desired gradients around original, or used only gradients, all unsatisfying,
finally decided to go brute force which worked like a charm:
According to STI-format-description],
single frame 8 bit .STI appears to be quite similar to 16bit R5G6B5 .BMP files,
with different header of 40h (64) byte for .sti and 46h (70) byte for bmp,
followed by 0300h (768) byte for 256 palette slots with 3 bytes each for color values (and iirc pixel data is reversed)
Since the base .sti from wiz8 had no flaws and ~ 50 unused palette slots filled with gradient of >0 to ++,
i created a 50 color & indexed pic based on background in 15,
reduced pic to one pixel and saved as indexed 16bR5G6B5 .bmp,
imported .bmp palette and the pic to sti and saved (probably obsolete step)
copied 96h (150) bytes from new .sti, starting at offeset 40h (96)
and pasted them into the last slots of the wiz8 .sti source file at 02a2h -0337h,
pasted 15 into that sti, no more flaws on forehead and background looks fine.
10+ non hex attempts > 25 minutes, brute force ~ 5 min.
p.s.
if you dot have a source .sti, use one from the game which makes yout main object look good,
i.e. shares many colors with it, and has some slots with unused colors to paste new data.
edit: syntax error
[Updated on: Tue, 26 June 2018 13:44] Report message to a moderator
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Master Sergeant
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| More portraits[message #353881 is a reply to message #353860]
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Mon, 25 June 2018 06:51
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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Portrait set of 4, 7, 8 and 15 (aka humf4, humfm, humfn and humm4,
together with 2 big portraits of carl and a crude attempt on Ruiz in 48x43.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/o5masawnfuvsf4j/portraits_humf4_humfm_humfn_humm4_etc.7z
Pls note that none of these portraits was tested in game,
and M/E offsets were calculated on the fly from not always absolute cursor postion in Gimp,
however tried to triple confirm there are no bugs like wrong size or offset of eye/mouth pic,
but cant promise to have eate them all, there were many ;)
Well, at least the hex editor confirmed that all .stis have [00 00 00] as base color :D
Preview on Carl, humf4 and Ruiz:
Toggle Spoiler
Backgrounds from left to right Toggle Spoiler
Arulcan mine aka JA2 loading screen, close to reactor 4, the Philipines, Al Hoceima
Toggle Spoiler
Locations for Backgrounds of 4, 9 and 15: Gaza Strip, Dallas, Nairobi
[Updated on: Mon, 25 June 2018 07:03] Report message to a moderator
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Master Sergeant
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 Portraits[message #353956 is a reply to message #353881]
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Thu, 05 July 2018 14:24
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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Thought i should bump this thread ;)
Due to the tremendous success of my AV 1.10 Tuareg merc in accelerating the squad to extremely fast(OP?) travel,
some hopefully appropriate and decent portraits, as usual not tested in game:
Updated JA2 male and female Tuareg portrait pack,
now containing the previously missing wood camo portrait for the female, sorry for inconvenience!
https://www.mediafire.com/file/12mssro8n51orsv/JA2_m%26f_Tua_portraits_updated.7z/file
Now with full previews, as usual click on pics to enlarge
Old preview:
Toggle Spoiler
Incl new goggles for her as she simply deserved it, and the old one for him is cut off where it disappears under the cloth.
Goggles and gas masks are already at imo correct position in the .bmp files,
to be pasted directly into the desired slot of appropriate .sti file in data\facesgear.
Have fun!
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Besides, (and outdated) pls give feedback on the animation of the Ruiz portrait so i can improve it. Or drop it.
I.e. in case: more or less up/down movement of the cigarette, and what do you think about the change of its pivot point?
(it moves one pixel out of the corner, note that the .gif in spoiler section of last message does not really represent the anim in .sti!)
OT:
still 0kb max upload size for local pic uploads!?
(quote=Deidranna:... is this some kind of joke..., ... i hack it, i don't hack it ...) :p
[Updated on: Sun, 27 October 2019 03:27] Report message to a moderator
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Master Sergeant
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| Re: Portraits[message #354166 is a reply to message #353956]
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Fri, 27 July 2018 15:03
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| townltu |
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Messages:384
Registered:December 2017
Location: here |
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Since Flugente added Chaos Buns, i thought she should get a different portrait,
but my brush skills are not sufficient to put some frenzy on her face,
so I only pulled down the corners of her mouth to remove any indication of a smile, and gave her new glasses.
Attention! The file faceSunGoggles.sti has its number of frames increased from 255 to 313.
Although other sti files contain more frames and work fine,
the game may not be able to handle more than 255 goggles etc for portraits.
Aka: as usual none of the files in archive have been tested in game. (and even if so you would use them on your own risk anyway;)
http://www.mediafire.com/file/aob1bsdqv1s7gt9/chaos_Buns_portrait_%26_speech_065.7z
The archive contains new portraits for chaotic Buns only in size 106x122 and 48x43_no_camo,
all other portraits are clones of all her original files, renamed to 309 as required, camo portraits may be delived on request.
New sun goggles are based on the model used by the female Tuareg, with different light reflexion.
(goggles ofc instantly reveal her chaos condition before the speech does it)
Last not least a replacement for her "all enemies defeated in sector" comment, incl .txt file for quick .edt edit.
(listen before you use it, should you really really still want to use it, backup the existing 215_065.ogg in case the new one becomes annoying;)
Install info can also be found in Readme.txt
To assign the portraits to chaotic Buns, open merc profiles.xml and change <ubFaceIndex> of character ID# 215 from 17 to 309. etc
Face_sunGoggles.sti comes from sci 8555, so you should check whether your actual face_sunGoggles.sti is newer
and in case paste frame ID#309 from this file into the same frame of the newer version.
(probably requires to add frames, again the warning that more than 255 frames may perhaps crash the game!)
Chaotic Buns in 48x43 with goggles:
[Updated on: Fri, 27 July 2018 15:03] Report message to a moderator
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Master Sergeant
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