Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate This Thread
Hop To
#4620167 - 02/06/23 11:46 PM Comanche Gold unified file Modding  
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 24
FatCatProject Offline
Junior Member
FatCatProject  Offline
Junior Member

Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 24
Hi there ! 

Just a small post to give news from my attempts to a new Commanche Gold modding tool.
First, the need for this tool comes from an observation :
  • The legacy mission editor offer limited mission creation options
    • limited choice of maps
    • limited choice of AI objects (mission unit types)
    • limited options for objects behaviour
    • simple diplomacy options (camp red vs blue)
    • totally unavailable triggers for complex scenarios
    • sky, wind and music edition ?
    • maps are represented in 2D
    • no «cancel» or «redo» option
    • ....
  • Saved mission project files and mission exported files are written in different formats
  • The interface is very small and uneasy to use
  • Map import/creation tool unavailable
  • Object import tool unavailable (doable manually)


Current workarounds require:
  • To extract files from PFF or MRF with FwO Raven's Pff Utility in order to edit missions (post edition with map swap, triggers insertion, AI objects swap), and to hope that everything works fine the first time.
  • To use the «objedit» editor from DavidC99 on those exported missions in post edition
  • To do some hexadecimal editing by hands to achieve some other special mods?
  • To mod the Hexadecimal content of the editor in order to access new maps in pre-edition. Maps names are hardcoded.


I intend to unify those operations to make mission editing easier. This will require a lot of reverse engineering operations and I hope I’ll be able to have a beta of something usable one day.
I don’t intend to work on game modding... I mean : resolution, performances, multiplayer - I don’t have the knowledge (yet?) for that.
So here, I will mostly focus on the creation of contents for the game, via file edition.

Requirements
  • The program should be a portable .exe file or a small folder.
  • ...

Last edited by FatCatProject; 02/07/23 02:20 PM.
Inline advert (2nd and 3rd post)

#4620168 - 02/06/23 11:49 PM Re: Comanche Gold unified file Modding [Re: FatCatProject]  
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 24
FatCatProject Offline
Junior Member
FatCatProject  Offline
Junior Member

Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 24
Current state :
- PFF and MRF editing.
I just noticed the «file entry segment» has five null char before the file entry segment model described by https://codertao.com/blog/?cat=18 . Also, there is no footer.
Second issue I’m facing is the file entry segments in CGold.pff and Resource.pff being slightly smaller than expected with respect to the fileCount and segmentSize.

Once this is fixed and understood, I’ll be able to improve the GUI operation on pff (file insertion, file order swap, file removal) and then concentrate on map reverse engineering attempts.

Edit: Fixed. Since I had patched the MRF edition, I added 5 null bytes to the filelistentry. It’s not the case for Pff files. In both cases, there is no footer in these PFF2 files.

Status update - fixed. Currently having a look on maps. I hope that they are not compressed format otherwise I'll have some trouble !

Status update - fixed. Almost cracked Grey maps, I hope color maps will look the same (but palette must me more complicated). .PCX files use RLE (Run Length Encoding), but with a modified version, not compatible with today picture editors. Coding this should not be too complicated, there is only one byte that is totally unknown to me (maybe a timestamp), and a 256 byte field that I suspect to be the bin count. I hope it won’t take too long, but I’ll have few time in the following days. <See Modded map file viewed from file editor in second attached picture. In this modded map file, the base level and top level are interverted>

Status update 13/02/23 - Okay, the encoding used is not exactly run length encoding. I scratched my hair the whole day long, now I’m making a break !

Attached Files tmp.pngtmp.png
Last edited by FatCatProject; 02/13/23 04:09 PM.
#4620293 - 02/08/23 11:56 AM Re: Comanche Gold unified file Modding [Re: FatCatProject]  
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 353
ufolev Offline
Member
ufolev  Offline
Member

Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 353
Hi FatCatProject ,

Very good idea. I will follow this topic and I will wait to test your Comanche Gold modding tool.

SUCCSESS!

Regards

ufo :-)

#4620644 - 02/12/23 11:47 PM Re: Comanche Gold unified file Modding [Re: FatCatProject]  
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 24
FatCatProject Offline
Junior Member
FatCatProject  Offline
Junior Member

Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 24
Okay,

Tonight I’m glad to say (cf the new image in my edited message just above) that I’m just one step away from an efficient map creator tool.
I mean that at least, the conversion from grayscale and color images look like it’s within reach, so anybody could create his own irrealistic but functional map from paint. I hope I can do that this week.

Next step will be realizing the graphic interface so that editing depth and color at the same time is possible (I suspect that color is maybe coded from a custom palette that is ruled by the green / snow / desert setting)

Then the next big step will be placing and moving items on those maps, and exporting a mission.

Final steps will be either reading automatically the resources.pff to extend automatically the editor’s ability, either listing down on a resources.csv the data for every object of the game so that the editor gives every options are available.

#4620660 - 02/13/23 07:56 AM Re: Comanche Gold unified file Modding [Re: FatCatProject]  
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 353
ufolev Offline
Member
ufolev  Offline
Member

Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 353
Hello, FatCatProject,
This is an amazing plan. Now I have no doubt that You will
going on it step by step. I am on standby for any news here :-)

All best
ufo

#4620718 - 02/13/23 04:32 PM Re: Comanche Gold unified file Modding [Re: FatCatProject]  
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 24
FatCatProject Offline
Junior Member
FatCatProject  Offline
Junior Member

Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 24
Finally, I’ve been fooled !

The compression algorithm used is not Run Length Encoding, at least not the version documented on the internet. Figures don’t match, I can mod it but in a random way.
I make a little break and I will try to find out what compression algorithm is used.

Update:
Okay, it’s very, very hard to understand for me. While the compression is not that efficient (1 bytes encodes 1.37 pixels on average on my test map), it is not written in RLE since the change of one byte at some area of the code changes a whole pattern. In addition, I’ve seen that upper and lower nibble of the same byte play different roles in the map rendering.
I will give up on this point for the moment. As previously said, there already exists many maps from the other Novalogic games. I wanted to read the maps so that my editor would easily load them with a graphic interface and allow objects positionning inside it. But there is a workaround, I will simply mod the legacy editor and save .PNGs from screenshots. That’s a lot, at least 4 screenshots, image edition and export times the number of maps, but it’s a good way to patch the issue.

I contacted some former members of the team... who knows tomcat

Last edited by FatCatProject; 02/15/23 02:24 PM.
#4621511 - 02/26/23 09:52 AM Re: Comanche Gold unified file Modding [Re: FatCatProject]  
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 353
ufolev Offline
Member
ufolev  Offline
Member

Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 353
Hi FatCatProject,

As you know I am a big fan of the advanced mission creating - /map and action/

We already have many maps - near 140 original maps
and Their Sky, Sun, Moon, Stars, Day/Night, Clouds, Тopography shape, intro info and camouflage can be additionally modified
If we can load maps and their attributions in the mission editor beforehand this is enough good solution for this part of the mission making.

The heart of the mission is in the good story and the action on it.
Until now in order to make a such complex mission we have learned to do manually these operations:

set Group IDs.
set Team/Side.
manipulate AI objects behavior with triggers ( if/than, points - time, position, event)
add 3D objects
add. speech, text, sounds

If some of these operations can be added in the mission editor this will be enough good solution for the other part of the mission making

Best Regards

ufo :-)

#4635159 - 09/08/23 11:03 AM Re: Comanche Gold unified file Modding [Re: FatCatProject]  
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 24
FatCatProject Offline
Junior Member
FatCatProject  Offline
Junior Member

Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 24
Hi Ufolev,
Thanks for this good review of what is already doable by hand and potentially needed in the mission editor wink I'll keep them in mind.

On the map topic, I've had a small feedback from two of the developpers of the game.
Apparently, it's not really PCX files with RL Encoding, it's rather LZP encoding ! Thus, the tag "LZP1" that appears on those files.
I should have googled it ! But I had no clue i had to add the "compression" word just behind in the prompt to start finding the answers.

Hmm. Maybe I should start a convo with ChatGPT to help me with my research biggrin
If anyone of you has ressources on the TIFF format reading with LZP compression, i'll be glad to read that.
https://hugi.scene.org/online/coding/hugi%2012%20-%20colzp.htm

Last edited by FatCatProject; 09/08/23 11:04 AM.
#4635169 - 09/08/23 12:45 PM Re: Comanche Gold unified file Modding [Re: FatCatProject]  
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 353
ufolev Offline
Member
ufolev  Offline
Member

Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 353
Hi FunCatProject,
You made a new step in the unknown territory!
Keep moving and enjoy the exploration!
Good Luck!

ufo :-)

#4636994 - 10/13/23 08:11 PM Re: Comanche Gold unified file Modding [Re: FatCatProject]  
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 353
ufolev Offline
Member
ufolev  Offline
Member

Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 353
IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT

Hello FatCatProject ,

I discovered a Comanche fan in YouTube with nickname : ch66remake who have have idea to rebuild Comanche3
https://www.youtube.com/@ch66remake/videos

https://www.youtube.com/@ch66remake/about
Description
This channel was created to share my dream project, a Comanche 3-like clone. It will be a completely free accessible game for anyone. I don't aim to get any kind of credit with it (this is not even legally allowed). I do this in Unity, which gives me the opportunity to supplement or even further develop the basic game. So it's not a mod, it's a completely new app. I would like to note that my aim is not to completely copy the elements of the game, but at the same time I want the original game to become recognizable in it.

Links
Tools I used to extract assets
https://github.com/hanatos/sioux
Terrain Rendering Algorithm
https://github.com/s-macke/VoxelSpace
Interactive Web Demo of the Voxel Space Engine
https://s-macke.github.io/VoxelSpace/VoxelSpace.html


VIDEOS
https://www.youtube.com/@ch66remake/videos

VoxelSpace - Comanche Gold Demo Level


Comanche flight model test in VoxelSpace


Raymarching - VoxelSpace - PBR rendering


Raymarching -VoxelSpace - Water rendering


Assets from Comanche Gold - VoxelSpace



Please make a contact to share info and combine your efforts!

Regards
ufo



Last edited by ufolev; 10/13/23 08:26 PM.

Moderated by  RacerGT 

Quick Search
Recent Articles
Support SimHQ

If you shop on Amazon use this Amazon link to support SimHQ
.
Social


Recent Topics
Carnival Cruise Ship Fire....... Again
by F4UDash4. 03/26/24 05:58 PM
Baltimore Bridge Collapse
by F4UDash4. 03/26/24 05:51 PM
The Oldest WWII Veterans
by F4UDash4. 03/24/24 09:21 PM
They got fired after this.
by Wigean. 03/20/24 08:19 PM
Grown ups joke time
by NoFlyBoy. 03/18/24 10:34 PM
Anyone Heard from Nimits?
by F4UDash4. 03/18/24 10:01 PM
RIP Gemini/Apollo astronaut Tom Stafford
by semmern. 03/18/24 02:14 PM
10 years after 3/8/2014
by NoFlyBoy. 03/17/24 10:25 AM
Copyright 1997-2016, SimHQ Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.6.0