Iran PAK priority map

[Sherlock]

I've been working on the PAK priority map for Iran theater but I need help with a problem I am having. No matter how I save the images:

1. PAK_REGION_OVERLAY.tga
2. KOREA_256.tga
3. PAK_OUTLINE_OVERLAY.tga

This is the pciture that I get:



I cannot get the more "retail" type look that is in the ODS, Korea and Balkans theaters. Nothing but the damn pink comes up.

How do I get the more natural one appearing like this one in ODS?:

[Snake Man]

I assume you used the tutorial for it? Perhaps the tutorial image values are not working for F4AF?

Could you test the PAK files in your RV installation, same pink comes up in there?

[Sherlock]

I assume you used the tutorial for it? Perhaps the tutorial image values are not working for F4AF?

Could you test the PAK files in your RV installation, same pink comes up in there?

I've done my best to duplicate what the ODS ones appear to be (which do work in AF) but no dice. Going back to check things again...will let you know.

[Sherlock]

Ok, I think I've figured out what the problem was. I was using the intel.irc file from Allied Force to repack the new graphics and it wasn't working. I used the intel.irc from the ODS Intel.rsc unpacking because it was different. Here are the two for comparison:

Allied Force intel.irc file:

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[LOADIMAGE] CAMP_SH_TOP "CAMP_SH_TOP.tga" 0 0
[LOADTRANSIMAGE] SH_ARROW "SH_ARROW.tga" 0 0
[LOADTRANSIMAGE] JSTARS_MAP "JSTARS_MAP.tga" 0 0
[LOADTRANSIMAGE] KOREA_256 "KOREA_256.tga" 0 0
[LOADIMAGE] PAK_REGION_OVERLAY "PAK_REGION_OVERLAY.tga" 0 0
[LOADIMAGE] PAK_OUTLINE_OVERLAY "PAK_OUTLINE_OVERLAY.tga" 0 0
[LOADIMAGE] PRIORITY_RANGE_BAR "PRIORITY_RANGE_BAR.tga" 0 0
[LOADTRANSIMAGE] BID_3FLY_DOWN "BID_3FLY_DOWN.tga" 344 344
[LOADTRANSIMAGE] BID_3FLY_DIS "BID_3FLY_DIS.tga" 0 0
[LOADTRANSIMAGE] IA_MAP_TGA "IA_MAP_TGA.tga" 0 0

ODS intel.irc file (from SP4):

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[LOADIMAGE] CAMP_SH_TOP "CAMP_SH_TOP.tga" 0 0
[LOADIMAGE] SH_ARROW "SH_ARROW.tga" 0 0
[LOADIMAGE] JSTARS_MAP "JSTARS_MAP.tga" 0 0
[LOADIMAGE] KOREA_256 "KOREA_256.tga" 0 0
[LOADTRANSIMAGE] PAK_REGION_OVERLAY "PAK_REGION_OVERLAY.tga" 0 0
[LOADTRANSIMAGE] PAK_OUTLINE_OVERLAY "PAK_OUTLINE_OVERLAY.tga" 0 0
[LOADIMAGE] PRIORITY_RANGE_BAR "PRIORITY_RANGE_BAR.tga" 0 0
[LOADTRANSIMAGE] BID_3FLY_DIS "BID_3FLY_DIS.tga" 0 0
[LOADTRANSIMAGE] IA_MAP_TGAWN "IA_MAP_TGAWN.tga" 0 0
[LOADTRANSIMAGE] BID_3FLY_DOWN "BID_3FLY_DOWN.tga" 0 0

The differences are obvious in this comparison.

Here's the new look:



Oh, and yes...it works and is "clickable".

[Khronik]

NJ looks sweet..

[Sherlock]

@ Snake Man,
zipped file sent of all my pak UI updates, new Iran.pak file (cleaned it up so it looks professional) and my resized mission planning UI so that the event map is proper size and the event "dots" show up in the correct place (Thanks Malc! ). Also, this includes my "green" maps so you can take a look at them up close and personal

Let me know what you think and let's start thinking about V0.3!

[Snake Man]

PAK map looks good. Can you please break it down for me what ART file controls the PAK (P button) map view?

News intel map is semi ok, I dont know if you designed it like that, but the bottom part is missing some map area. Also its my opinion that the intel news blip map is stupid in ODS v0.512 theme as it takes more space than the actual campaign map where user interacts all the time. At least I can live with just the news TEXT instead of the blip showing to me where in the world is Kuwait.

However for tutorial purposes, could you also break it down for me which ART file controls the intel news blip map and what resolution it has to be so the blip will be in correct location?

[Sherlock]

PAK map looks good. Can you please break it down for me what ART file controls the PAK (P button) map view?

Sure. The resource file that controls the look of the PAK priority map is the intel.rsc/intel.idx pair. Inside this resource file are around 10 files but we are only concerned with the following three files:

1. KOREA_256.tga
2. PAK_OUTLINE_OVERLAY.tga
3. PAK_REGION_OVERLAY.tga

The fourth file to be interested in is the <theater>.pak (e.g., iran.pak) file created by TacEdit and located in the \campaign directory along with the SaveX.cam files, etc. Depending on the size of the theater this .pak file can be opened and edited to clean it up after it is created by TacEdit. The graphic file format is .raw. For a 64x64 segment theater use a 256x256 pixel raw format to open it (it is a greyscale image and will have a many shades of gray as there are zones on the pak map). For a 128x128 segment image, the pak map will be a 512x512 pixel raw format image. When you save it after editing it, be sure to save it at the same size.

The UI file that controls the position/display of the pak map is the strategy.scf file.

News intel map is semi ok, I dont know if you designed it like that, but the bottom part is missing some map area.

Yes, you are right. I had noticed that before and had planned to fix it but then got sick and forgot about it. It just requires either changing the name of the image in the UI file or changing the size of the UI specified image file to get it all shown in the available window space. Not a big problem.

Also its my opinion that the intel news blip map is stupid in ODS v0.512 theme as it takes more space than the actual campaign map where user interacts all the time. At least I can live with just the news TEXT instead of the blip showing to me where in the world is Kuwait.

heh...actually I thought the exact opposite.

I was thinking it was silly to not see the dots appear in the proper location or not appear at all on the events map when an event was presented to the screen. My over-riding goal in the Iran theater is to make it as much like the retail theaters (Balkans, Koreas) as humanly possible since it will "blend" into the Allied Force user interface more cleanly IMHO. Putting the events map in the UI like that, I believe, achieves that since the event dots are then accurately represented just like in the Korea or Balkans theaters. As to the size of the campaign map versus the news event map, the campaign map can always be expanded using the full screen option. I think this is a viable trade-off, but this is my opinion. I would like to hear what others think of this to see what the overall trend might be......?

However for tutorial purposes, could you also break it down for me which ART file controls the intel news blip map and what resolution it has to be so the blip will be in correct location?

It's been a while since I did this so I will need to take some time to relearn what I did. I'll post later when I've had time to do this.

[Snake Man]

It's been a while since I did this so I will need to take some time to relearn what I did. I'll post later when I've had time to do this.

Okay, but I asked because making working intel-128 map is not covered in the tutorials yet. Could you try to think it through so we could update the tutorial?

[Sherlock]

It's been a while since I did this so I will need to take some time to relearn what I did. I'll post later when I've had time to do this.

Okay, but I asked because making working intel-128 map is not covered in the tutorials yet. Could you try to think it through so we could update the tutorial?

No problem. I'm just a little busy with a job change and annual taxes right now (yuck!). But things should calm down in about a week and I should have more time.

[Sherlock]

Ok, I took a break from doing taxes to work through the modifications of the resource files and the UI files to create the UI presentation for 128 segment theaters.

The UI file that must be edited is the cp_sua.scf file that is located in the /art/art/campaign folder.

Here are the pertinent sections for a 64 segment (default size) theater:

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[WINDOW]
[SETUP] CP_SUA C_TYPE_NORMAL 314 229
[RANGES] 0 0 1024 768 314 229
[XY] 671 15
[CLIENTAREA] 5 50 125 170 0
[CLIENTAREA] 135 30 172 172 1
[GROUP] 200
[FONT] OCR_EXT_12
[FLAGBITON] C_BIT_TRANSLUCENT
[FLAGBITON] C_BIT_CANTMOVE

[BOX]
[SETUP] NID,0
[XYWH] 42 5 265 19
[COLOR] 230 230 230 GREEN
[FLAGBITON] C_BIT_ABSOLUTE

and

Code: Select all

[LISTBOX] 
[SETUP] ACCELERATION 0
[XYWH] 241 6 60 18
[FLAGBITON] C_BIT_ABSOLUTE
[NORMCOLOR] 230 230 230
[SELCOLOR] 255 255 0
[FONT] OCR_EXT_16
[DROPDOWN] GRN_DROP_DOWN
[ADDITEM] ACCEL_0 C_TYPE_ITEM   TXT_STOP 
[ADDITEM] 1  C_TYPE_ITEM  TXT_X1   
[ADDITEM] 2  C_TYPE_ITEM  TXT_X2   
[ADDITEM] 4  C_TYPE_ITEM  TXT_X4   
[ADDITEM] 8  C_TYPE_ITEM  TXT_X8   
[ADDITEM] 16 C_TYPE_ITEM  TXT_X16  
[ADDITEM] 32 C_TYPE_ITEM  TXT_X32  
[ADDITEM] 64 C_TYPE_ITEM  TXT_X64  
[VALUE] ACCEL_1
[CURSOR] CRSR_LIST_F16
[SOUNDBITE] SND_MENU C_STATE_DOWN
[HELPTEXT] HELP_TIME_ACCELERATE 

and

Code: Select all

[BITMAP]
[SETUP] NID  0  IA_MAP_TGA
[CLIENT] 1

Here are the changes for a 128 segment theater:

Code: Select all

[WINDOW]
[SETUP] CP_SUA C_TYPE_NORMAL 544 345		# default [SETUP] CP_SUA C_TYPE_NORMAL 314 229
[RANGES] 0 0 1024 768 544 345			# default [RANGES] 0 0 1024 768 314 229
[XY] 480 15					# default [XY] 671 15
[CLIENTAREA] 5 50 125 170 0				#
[CLIENTAREA] 155 26 330 315 1                   #169 30 330 315 1          # default [CLIENTAREA] 135 30 172 172 1
[GROUP] 200
[FONT] OCR_EXT_12
[FLAGBITON] C_BIT_TRANSLUCENT
[FLAGBITON] C_BIT_CANTMOVE

[BOX]
[SETUP] NID,0
[XYWH] 233 5 265 19				# default [XYWH] 42 5 265 19
[COLOR] 230 230 230 GREEN
[FLAGBITON] C_BIT_ABSOLUTE

and

Code: Select all

[LISTBOX] 
[SETUP] ACCELERATION 0
[XYWH] 432 6 60 18		# 241 6 60 18
[FLAGBITON] C_BIT_ABSOLUTE
[NORMCOLOR] 230 230 230
[SELCOLOR] 255 255 0
[FONT] OCR_EXT_16
[DROPDOWN] GRN_DROP_DOWN
[ADDITEM] ACCEL_0 C_TYPE_ITEM   TXT_STOP 
[ADDITEM] 1  C_TYPE_ITEM  TXT_X1   
[ADDITEM] 2  C_TYPE_ITEM  TXT_X2   
[ADDITEM] 4  C_TYPE_ITEM  TXT_X4   
[ADDITEM] 8  C_TYPE_ITEM  TXT_X8   
[ADDITEM] 16 C_TYPE_ITEM  TXT_X16  
[ADDITEM] 32 C_TYPE_ITEM  TXT_X32  
[ADDITEM] 64 C_TYPE_ITEM  TXT_X64  
[VALUE] ACCEL_1
[CURSOR] CRSR_LIST_F16
[SOUNDBITE] SND_MENU C_STATE_DOWN
[HELPTEXT] HELP_TIME_ACCELERATE

and

Code: Select all

[BITMAP]
[SETUP] NID  0  BID_3FLY_DOWN
[CLIENT] 1

Remember that the BID_3FLY_DOWN.tga as well as the original IA_MAP_TGA.tga are both located in the intel.rsc/intel.idx resource file along with 8 other files (including the PAK files). Also, note that I use the BID_3FLY_DOWN.tga graphic in both the main start campaign map and for the intel event map. This is because the IA_MAP_TGA.tga graphic is just too small to use for the intel event map (the dots will appear outside the graphics and below it). The BID_3FLY_DOWN.tga graphic is 344 x 344 pixels and fits the spot pretty closely. There is a little cut off the bottom of the image but the events do appear in pretty close proximity to their correct locations on the event map.

Here's what these changes look like in sim:

[Sherlock]

Did a little more testing on the new pak map tonight using 32x and 64x time compression only.

Pak map appears to be working based on just observing blue aircraft heading over to areas in central and eastern Iran that they don't fly normally when the pak map is set on default settings.

It probably needs more testing but it is definitely looking promising:

Here were the settings I started the campaign with:


and here is an in progress shot showing aircraft distribution:

[bigstone]

How do you install the Iran campaign into AF?

[Sherlock]

How do you install the Iran campaign into AF?

When you start the installer it should ask you if you are installing for AF, RV or OF. Select AF and it should run all the way through automatically.

[Snake Man]

bigstone this topic is no place to ask how to install the theater. Please discuss generic Iran stuff in the Iran Theater v0.2 topic. Thank you.

Sherlock, thanks for the info on the scf files, I have written them down to the intel news blip map tutorial draft. I think it needs alot more work but its a start. Thanks, appreciated.

[Sherlock]

There were some unexpected problems with a couple of the number settings in the first posted section above on the cp_sua.scf file so I have made some changes and updated the post above to be correct and up to date.

[Snake Man]

Apparently the intel news blips map is not cutting off only on the bottom, but the right side edge too, I'm assuming it just starts to draw the picture on top-left and the image window is just too small.

Could you please fix this small cutoff on right/bottom of the image window?

[Sherlock]

Apparently the intel news blips map is not cutting off only on the bottom, but the right side edge too, I'm assuming it just starts to draw the picture on top-left and the image window is just too small.

Could you please fix this small cutoff on right/bottom of the image window?

Why do you say this? Can you show me a picture of the symptom? (no offense, just trying to understand what motivated your post since I haven't seen this problem running the files.... )

[Snake Man]

Eh? Why do I say? well you said it yourself

There is a little cut off the bottom of the image but the events do appear in pretty close proximity to their correct locations on the event map.

And just look at the intel news blips map and you'll see it. Iran is so new theater to me that I didn't recognize the right hand side edge of the map missing a landscape, but in other theater it was more obvious. You can see the (bottom) cutoff at your own image here

[Sherlock]

Eh? Why do I say? well you said it yourself

There is a little cut off the bottom of the image but the events do appear in pretty close proximity to their correct locations on the event map.

And just look at the intel news blips map and you'll see it. Iran is so new theater to me that I didn't recognize the right hand side edge of the map missing a landscape, but in other theater it was more obvious. You can see the (bottom) cutoff at your own image here

I think we are going to have to live with it the way it is. It's going to have to be "good enough" because I tried to move the bottom and the right side out further and I was "clipping" (from the mission planning UI screen) whenever I opened up the large map display over it. It doesn't affect the performance of the campaign and ***most*** of the events do occur in their proper location on the event map.

[Snake Man]

Is the image/window size limited to some specific numbers or how does it work? I just cant understand that if you can make the original korea intel win size so much larger to (almost) fit the 128 theaters... why is it that you cant make it completely at full size?

[Sherlock]

Is the image/window size limited to some specific numbers or how does it work? I just cant understand that if you can make the original korea intel win size so much larger to (almost) fit the 128 theaters... why is it that you cant make it completely at full size?

One reason is that it will reduce the lower, right planning map height even more than it is already (I would have to make that lower right planning map client window smaller in height to get the full size event image into the upper right corner). Remember that the images in the rsc files are a particular sizes (WxH), I haven't tried decreasing them in pixel size to see if they will still work (i.e., program will run and display will be correct).

[Snake Man]

Eh, well that was my argument before; why to have the stupid intel map so HUGE and the real beef which is the campmap to be so small, hehe!

Maybe its me, but it feels strange like this as there is missing piece of that window now. Why to englargen it in the first place if not make it fit completely... dunno, but thats how I see it. I am absolutely sure that someone will post a bug report about it when they see it.

[Sherlock]

Eh, well that was my argument before; why to have the stupid intel map so HUGE and the real beef which is the campmap to be so small, hehe!

Maybe its me, but it feels strange like this as there is missing piece of that window now. Why to englargen it in the first place if not make it fit completely... dunno, but thats how I see it. I am absolutely sure that someone will post a bug report about it when they see it.

Well, we've already seen bug reports on the events window not accurately reporting (or reporting at all) event updates that are reported via text besides it when the event graphic is 64x64 theater size. I think what Malc and I did with the window sizes is a COMPROMISE for the 128x128 theater situation. No, it's not a perfect solution and I will be the first to admit that. But it does accomplish getting MOST of the events occurring on the events image AND the planning map is still usable below it (i.e., still large enough to provide some degree of situational awareness when zoomed back in it). Of course, this is my opinion but I think the majority of folks will agree with me

I doubt (heck, I would place money on that bet! ) if we will please everyone on everything... But because the F4 code will only do certain things we have to compromise on things; I see this as one of those things requiring compromise.