Topics

1

Tools / Globe Editor

« on: November 21, 2021, 05:11:06 pm »

A tool to edit the Globe rules.

Supports:

• Polygons
• Textures
• Areas
• MissionZones
• Countries
• Borders
• Loading background image

So far the polygon editing is just barebones, you can create triangles and that's pretty much it.
I have included some simple tools like splitting a triangle and Delaunay optimization to make the process a little less painful, but it's still not great.
I have found that creating the inside with big triangles and then making a triangle strip on the coastline works best. You can then split the inside into smaller triangles and optimize.
Also be aware that editing around the prime meridian is sometimes a little funny.

Controls not documented anywhere in the program:
Arrows, Mouse middle button: Scroll around
Numpad +, Numpad -, Mouse wheel : Zoom

As far as saving and loading the globe file, I strongly recommend creating a file just for the globe data.
All in all:

BACKUP YOUR FILES!

I'm welcoming any suggestions for new features and improvements and also the inevitable bug reports.

The program is in VB.net in the ol' windows forms

Sources: https://github.com/bohemond-of-antioch/OpenXcom-GlobeEditor
Releases: https://github.com/bohemond-of-antioch/OpenXcom-GlobeEditor/releases

I'm releasing this under Creative Commons Zero.

2

Tools / UnitSprite Studio

« on: March 10, 2021, 09:26:21 pm »

The tool eases editing of unit spritesheets.

As Finnik suggested some time ago, it takes the normal spritesheet and presents it in the way it is shown in the game. You can view how it looks and make changes.

I have made the UI look and operate like MCDEdit as it is in many ways similar and I think it fits quite nicely.

I have also added some automation tools that I needed to make some sprites.

This is still very much a work in progress, so expect crashes and bugs all over the place.

BACKUP YOUR FILES!

The basic features:
 - PNG and GIF files so far
 - Paint in palettes from both EU and TFTD
 - Copy & Paste from outside to inside and vice versa
 - Recolorize (Like in MCDEdit)
 - Highlight the part you're working on (Left arm, Legs, etc.)
 - Most of the possible frame combinations can be selected (Depends on the drawing routine)
 - Batch frame cloning including mirroring, flipping and so on
 - Animation shifter
 - Shader tool
 - Pixel operations
 - Item preview & edit

Supported Drawing routines:
0 - Soldier, Sectoid
1 - Floater
2 - XCom HWP
4 - Civilian, Ethereal
5 - Sectopod, Reaper
6 - Snakeman
7 - Chryssalid
8 - Silacoid
9 - Celatid
10 - Muton
Single frame

Frame cloning:
Can be used to create mirrored frames, it exchanges the parts that are mirrored correctly. (Left arm<->Right arm, etc.)
The exact functionality depends on the drawing routine.

Animation shifter:
You can set a fixed point in the animation and it will shift all frames to match it. It's a little hard to explain, snapshot in one of the attachements.
I used it for example to fix a wobbly walking animation, but it can also be used to offset the whole animation or just one frame.

Pixel operations:
Can be used to re-color the whole sprite. i.e. make the snakeman blue.

Item preview:
You can preview the unit holding an item. The item can be loaded from a file or from HandOb maker.

Item edit:
You can edit the item directly in the studio. Use either 0 - Soldier or 1 - Floater unit, load up an item file. If you select the proper frames and layer (Right item), you can edit the item with the normal drawing tools and then save it back to the file.

This time it's in C# and WPF, I hope that will help compatibility with linux systems.

Sources: https://github.com/bohemond-of-antioch/OpenXcom-UnitSpriteStudio
Releases: https://github.com/bohemond-of-antioch/OpenXcom-UnitSpriteStudio/releases

I'm releasing this under Creative Commons Zero.

3

Tools / TechTree Viewer

« on: March 04, 2021, 11:27:26 pm »

As the name suggests this tool can be used to view/check the techtree. It directly parses the rule files, so if there is a missing/superfluous dependency or something, you can see it there. You just go to File->Import->OpenXCom Research and select the game's folder.

It is based on a normal graph-making tool that is still fully functional and can be used to build all sorts of graphs.

The source is on GitHub: https://github.com/bohemond-of-antioch/OpenXcom-TechTreeViewer
A compiled version for windows is attached.

It's VB.NET again, I apologize to the linux users in advance.

I made the configuration file a yaml as that's a format everyone here should be familliar with. A few things can be configured there, mostly colors.

I'm releasing this under Creative Commons Zero.

4

Tools / HandOb maker

« on: May 02, 2020, 05:39:05 pm »

I recently made a tool for myself to make creating HandObs easier. It creates HandOb sprites and a FloorOb sprite based on a BigOb. It also positions the sprite correctly, which always takes me a long time. Well, that's why I made the tool. It exports in the single-file format, because that was just simpler to make.

A few pictures so you can see how it looks are included.

I tested it on a few random sprites I found on the forum and on a fire axe I made. That fire axe was actually what started it all.

As far as I can tell, it positions the HandObs correctly for both single-handed and two-handed weapons. There is a lot of options you can play around with to make it look reasonable.

It can export in 32bits, UFO palette and TFTD palette. The exported sprite will probably need some work.

It's VB.NET, and the code is a mess of course.

GitHub repository: https://github.com/bohemond-of-antioch/HandObMaker
Releases: https://github.com/bohemond-of-antioch/HandObMaker/releases
Documentation: https://github.com/bohemond-of-antioch/HandObMaker/wiki

It will probably require some .NET framework stuff to run. 4.5 or thereabouts, as far as installing that, you're on your own. If you encounter any other problems with running the program, I will try to help.


I'm releasing this under Creative Commons 0 license.