[DONE][Suggestion] Changing Craft Skin

[bulletdesigner]

Is there any way to make the skin of a craft change in the equip craft screen, instead of the having dozens of different crafts , having only one that player can change the MCD ingame
i Provide screen exemple.

[Meridian]

Possible to do I guess... but why would I want that (as a player)?

Just to paint one craft red and another blue?
Or is there something else?

[bulletdesigner]

well tbh honest is just astethic, but it´s kind of kool to customize your craft adding camuflage and crazy shit, since somethimes i want to give several skins to craft´s but only can use one

[ohartenstein23]

Possible to do I guess... but why would I want that (as a player)?

Just to paint one craft red and another blue?
Or is there something else?

It has some application in 40k, where we have different playable "factions" and in some cases have copies of the same craft, just with different MCDs and sprites.

[Meridian]

It has some application in 40k, where we have different playable "factions" and in some cases have copies of the same craft, just with different MCDs and sprites.

You know very well that "it has some applications" tells me exactly nothing
Please elaborate.

So far, I understand that there are clones of craft, which differ only cosmetically and the player would be able to change between them without any restriction or guidance.
Is this the same idea as "soldier avatar", which has zero functionality behind it?

Or would it be something else... e.g. something tied to different "factions" you mentioned (whatever those are).
Does the modder get limited/full control over these clones?
And if yes, how does the player control fit into this?

[bulletdesigner]

Well in my point was just a reskin no effect in game except the changed mcd, but gives us a chance to take it one step further and by swanping the mcd changed the door position per ex, making the deployment a bit different

[Rubber Cannonball]

Is there any way to make the skin of a craft change in the equip craft screen, instead of the having dozens of different crafts , having only one that player can change the MCD ingame
i Provide screen exemple.

What is the issue with dozens of different crafts for the player to choose from?

It has some application in 40k, where we have different playable "factions" and in some cases have copies of the same craft, just with different MCDs and sprites.

Is the issue about the amount of data the modder has to develop and maintain?  For example, lets say there are 12 faction color schemes and 15 craft shapes/types.  With all combinations allowed 180 crafts need to be modded up.  This is the kind of thing database tools are made for.  Ideally a modder would design the 15 craft types and the 12 faction color schemes and let the database tool generate the 180 faction colored craft.  If the next mod revision increases the color schemes to 16, the modder would only have to create the 4 new color schemes and let the database tool generate the 60 new faction colored craft.  For small mods, the additional overhead of dealing with a database tool wouldn't be worth the effort.  But for some of the huge megamods that end up with large amounts of repeated data and with data that depends on combinations of other data in the mod, using a database to manage all that would seem well worth the effort.  Instead of modifying OXCE, it might be better to develop forms, tables, and reports in some off the shelf database to help modders accomplish more with less effort and tedium.  Let the database output the data in the format OXC/OXCE demands instead of modders having to do it manually.

I know this is easier said than done like most things suggested in this forum,  but I certainly feel it is worth thinking about.

[Ethereal]

well tbh honest is just astethic, but it´s kind of kool to customize your craft adding camuflage and crazy shit, since somethimes i want to give several skins to craft´s but only can use one

A good idea. You can create a universal ship that can not only land for a mission, but also drop paratroopers. Yes, and generally promising.

[Meridian]

Added.

From user's perspective: the skin can be changed by clicking on the craft icon in the Craft Info UI.

From modder's perspective:
The "mapDataSets" don't need to be defined manually, they will be derived automatically.
All except BLANKS will get a suffix "_N" based on the skin index (N).

Code: [Select]

crafts:
  - type: STR_AVENGER
    maxSkinIndex: 3              # default 0
    skinSprites: [202,203,204]   # default empty, contains all sprites except for the first (index zero)

Sprites need to be defined 3x for each skin, just like for default skin.

Code: [Select]

extraSprites:
  - type: BASEBITS.PCK
    files:
      235: Resources/Planes/VenturaBase2.gif
      236: Resources/Planes/VenturaBase3.gif
      237: Resources/Planes/VenturaBase4.gif
  - type: INTICON.PCK
    files:
      202: Resources/Planes/VenturaMinimised.gif
      203: Resources/Planes/VenturaMinimised.gif
      204: Resources/Planes/VenturaMinimised.gif
      213: Resources/Planes/VenturaDogfight.gif
      214: Resources/Planes/VenturaDogfight.gif
      215: Resources/Planes/VenturaDogfight.gif

Attached a working xcom1 mod, which adds three new skins to the Avenger (red, blue and green).
Sprites and MCDs were ripped from X-PirateZ.

[efrenespartano]

A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one!

A little question, mate: How do I define the skin index? Something like this?

Code: [Select]

crafts:
  - type: STR_AVENGER
    maxSkinIndex: 3              # default 0
    skinSprites: [202,203,204]   # default empty, contains all sprites except for the first (index zero)
  - type: STR_LIGHTNING
    maxSkinIndex: 6             # default 0
    skinSprites: [205,206,207]
  - type: STR_SKYRANGER
    maxSkinIndex: 8              # default 0
    skinSprites: [208,209]

Or something like this?

Code: [Select]

crafts:
  - type: STR_AVENGER
    maxSkinIndex: 3              # default 0
    skinSprites: [202,203,204]   # default empty, contains all sprites except for the first (index zero)
  - type: STR_LIGHTNING
    maxSkinIndex: 3            # default 0
    skinSprites: [205,206,207]
  - type: STR_SKYRANGER
    maxSkinIndex: 2              # default 0
    skinSprites: [208,209]

Also, the different skins for the Battlescape need to be defined consecutively (like on the first example)?

Like

Code: [Select]

AVENGER_1
AVENGER_2
AVENGER_3
LIGHTNING_4
LIGHTNING_5
LIGHTNING_6
SKYRANGER_7
SKYRANGER_8
Or can I have

Like

Code: [Select]

AVENGER_1
AVENGER_2
AVENGER_3
LIGHTNING_1
LIGHTNING_2
LIGHTNING_3
SKYRANGER_1
SKYRANGER_2

[bulletdesigner]

can this be tested now? or de we need a new version of oxce?

[Meridian]

can this be tested now? or de we need a new version of oxce?

Test build: https://lxnt.wtf/oxem/builds//Extended/Extended-6.7.3-c6d14e2c1-2020-11-01-win64.7z