I would just have one quick question, what is the Cameo Size these Days?
No idea. Look up the ones in the game with OS Big Editor and find out?
As I'm only making a simple Cameo addon, would I really need to go to the extent of making a DLL file (since the units themselves already exist, just need Cameo's).
No, as I said, that's all defined in those xml files.
@GENERALZOOL wrote:
So you're saying I need make a DLL file even though the only bit of code that might need looking at is Cameo/Image listed under units ANT1/ANT2/ANT3.
What part of "no" don't you understand? I said the exact opposite! All you need are the xml files for that stuff!
As for the MEG files, I'm not sure tbh. Just look around a bit?
Once opened, right click in the tree and select "collapse all", so you can more easily browse the folders inside without getting overwhelmed.
@GENERALZOOL wrote:
I haven't actually found the Cameos in the MEG files yet, any idea where they would be. Anyone found them yet, I haven't (got a little lost looking for them).
I don't know, but maybe I'm looking in the wrong place, but the MEG files I've looked at have not mentioned ANT1/ANT2/ANT3, only the ANT Missions.
Uh. I thought the whole issue was that ants don't have them in the first place... so looking for the ant cameos seems rather useless 🤨
Anyway, seems cameos in the original remaster archives are not separate files; they're inside a megatexture TGA file inside "TEXTURES_SRGB.MEG".
The file inside is DATA\ART\TEXTURES\SRGB\MT_COMMANDBAR_COMMON.TGA
The actual cameo images in there seem to be 343x258 in size.
But there are already examples out there of how to mod in your own cameos; check out the example nuke tank mod or the Funpark mod for TD.
For those interested in tracking my MOD Progress.
https://www.moddb.com/mods/it-came-from-red-alert-red-alert-ants-mod
My MOD is now starting to take some shape, though still got more stuff to work out.
Any idea on how to make units Amphibious?
I intend to add one new type of Ant (I might as well), and that is a Cryo Ant. The Cryo Ant would be able to walk on Water or Land without restriction.
Would I need to invent some new Movement type all together, or is there something I could use?
In C&C1, "Locomotion type" is just one of the options of units, but in RA, with boats simply split off to their own type, this is no longer in there.
In addition; the C&C1 SPEED_HOVER type has been completely replaced by SPEED_FLOAT for boats, in Red Alert, so there is no amphibious type in it at all.
So I'm afraid that might be a lot more work than you bargained for, especially with the difference in cell sizes for water based units. (Nevermind, that's in Warcraft II, not RA)
@GENERALZOOL
I was going to say, you're mad, but you might actually have a method of pulling it off. LUNATIC!
Moving around using Wheeled movement as the Amphibious Movement would be a lot easier to code in though, all be it long-winded. Since you'd need to change every Wheeled Unit, and every Water and Shore piece most likely.
Though I will say: "You're insane" - Quoting Lizbeth SAO
Edit: Also, wouldn't that actually speed up all Wheeled Vehicles, since if you change them to use Tracked movement, they will move as good as a Tracked unit. Since Tracked Units don't have the same penitently as Wheeled Units on Shorelines and on Ore.
@GENERALZOOL wrote:
If that wasn't possible, would forcing every single vehicle to use Tracked Movement, and then giving Wheeled Movement to anything I want o be Amphibious, then changing Water Passage so Wheeled units can move on it. Would that work properly as a work-around?
That... actually sounds plausible. In fact that should be possible just by messing with the terrain type passability types in rules.ini (the "Land Characteristics" section), without requiring coding.
And I'm guessing the "Tracked=yes" line in the unit options in rules.ini may make the difference in locomotor between the two, meaning you may be able to manage all of it through the rules.
Maybe an easy way out there is indeed to just add in a clone of Wheeled or Tracked, make an "Amphibious=yes" option for units that does the same as Tracked but switches the unit to your new type, and add a new key for the terrain type passability which you can then add to all the Land Characteristics sections to tweak it to your wishes and make water and land passable for it.
@GENERALZOOL wrote:
@Nyerguds
OK, so I've got some of my MOD done, but the game isn't reading the Cameo Files, what have I likely missed?
Sounds silly, but I've missed something somewhere.
Honestly no idea... never messed with that myself. It's something in these xml files but that's all I know. But there should be mods out there that add cameos, no? Just look into those.
@zoolex wrote:
@Nyerguds
Quick question, how do you compile a MOD into a DLL file anyway. I've seen that the few MOD's out at the minute all have a DLL file with them. Along with a 'PDB' file, a 'LIB' file and an 'EXP' file.
Is there some sort of BAT file I need like with CNC3TW?
You just compile it with a C++ compiler. The only required result file should be the dll. The pdb file contains debug symbols that should make the mod give better information to the programmer in case of a crash. I don't think that's ever shown to the end user anyway though, so just the dll should be all.
As for how to compile it, there's a TiberianDawn.vcxproj and a RedAlert.vcxproj; those are Visual Studio project files. Just opening them and compiling them should be simple. All you need is Visual Studio.
