'Character' details in new maps

[CajNatalie]

Hi,

I've been playing all the Single Player DF1 missions... in Delta Force 2. XD

I converted the terrains, even taking into account the half in maximum terrain height, so the missions are almost identical except for a few altered/omitted items, slightly different AI, double explosive ammo, and having the Master Key and Delay Grenades available (and for me, it also means getting those damn Satchels and Claymores to work :3 ).

However, all of the terrains are almost as smooth as Land Warrior terrains... the '*_m.pcx' files are just blank, so there's no grass, sand, snow, etcetera...
I tried experimenting a little using DF1's *_m.pcx files, but it always results in disaster.

So, I was wondering if anybody could help shed a little light on how I can add in character details manually.

[Chrispy]

_m .pcx files are material files. In DF games they define what the ground acts like.

So if I e.g. added full cyan colour into my materials map in let's just say, DFX, then when I step on the ground, it'll sound like snow.

You need an app like Photoshop or Paint Shop to do it. Open a stock _m, and then edit it.

[CajNatalie]

I'm afraid with Delta Force 2, it's nowhere near that simple.
If you paint the map a 'solid color,' you actually get a convoluted scattering of the wrong characters.

For just one map, there are characters for grass, desert, grass bordering desert, grass bordering desert at another angle, and another angle, and another angle, desert bordering cement at hundreds of angles. There are even multiple characters for the same thing, so for grass there's about 6 to 10 different characters that the same map uses.

So somehow, whoever made the stock maps for DF2, must've really needed to know what they were doing... I mean, if you open one up you'll see that rock faces are the most confusing, because they aren't even a single color, but more like a static confusion of red, green, and blue tones.

Just putting in some simple grass doesn't look too difficult, since the stock grass in the _m.pcx files just looks like a spraypaint effect of blue, but after that...
@_@

Edit: I just tried using the spraypainted blue effect (using the dropper tool to get the exact same blue), and somehow I get a map full of solid concrete.
That shows just how complicated this is.
<_<

[Chrispy]

I believe you get the scattered colours and that if you .pcx is at indexed colour. You get greyscale, then indexed, then RGB (red green blue).

Maybe this will help (although it's for BHD/JO/DFX I believe):

http://www.dfreload.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=1345

[CajNatalie]

^That doesn't apply to DF2, which is full of blue (for grass in its g-maps) that's apparently 'not used.'
Plus, like I said, it's nowhere near as simple as just picking a color and putting it in... there's some other stuff at play that decides what puts characters where.

For example, in the map where I tested putting some grass in, and had concrete everywhere, the conrete really was -everywhere-, even where I'd left blank.
There were a few random square meters of no concrete, but they seemed just that: random.

So... what I'm saying is I understand perfectly how to make _m.pcx maps for Land Warrior onwards, and I'm sure a lot of people here do too.
The problem is Delta Force 2's maps, which are a HUGELY different thing beyond comparison.

[Bustin]

There are 3 files that you need to alter to make your own character detail on a terrain for DF2.

-The Detail Map (indexed color sheet which makes no sense at first glance)
-Detail Color (image strip that colors each pixel a certain texture)
-Detail Elev (greyscale strip that gives height to each color texture tile)

If you open the detail map you will find each color on the palette has an index number. That number corresponds to the tile on the color and elev strips.

DF1 terrains have these files, however they do not use the elev strip, which is what the Terranova team used in the DF1 expansion to produce grass.

If you have any questions produce images that you want to use and I will explain what tile goes where.

[CajNatalie]

Ah wait... now that helps.
Thank you. :3