Custom Loading Screens HowToVideo (FAQ)

[[RDH]Zerted]

Here is a swf video that goes through the 9 steps of adding a custom loading screen to your map. If you are looking for the program that adds the loading screen for you, checkout this thread.


Video Resolution: 1000x720. There is no readme. Release: July, 9th 2006.

7z Download (9.45MB):
http://zerted.the.cat/swbf2/res/SWBF2%2 ... 20HowTo.7z
MediaFire

http://zerted.the.cat/swbf2.xhtml

Note: I do not check mirrors to see if they are hosting the exact same files
Note: Load Screen program update: v1 of the GUI is finished

The video is broken into two parts (Wink kept running out of memory and crashing ). To view the videos, double-click on the swf files. If you don't have a flash player installed, the two webpages will run the videos if your computer supports it.

Things seem to go faster than they should because I cut some munging and loading screens out. That way, you wouldn't have to sit and watch my computer load.

(7z is more compressed than the Zip. Get an extraction program here: http://www.7-zip.org/ )
(I used Wink to make the videos: http://www.debugmode.com/wink/ )


"Video Script" Steps:
1. Create a map.
( make sure you munge Common before step 6 )
By default, Visual Munge does nothing when munging Load. This needs to be changed.

2. Enable Load munging. Open data_XXX/_BUILD/Load/munge.bat and remove all of the @ characters

3. Create the load folder.
We want to replace the standard load image with our own. The standard image is stored in the game's Load\common.lvl.
The name of the load image inside common.lvl is "loadscreen".

4. Create your load image. It must be a power of 2! (The game's default image is 1024x1024)

5. Create the load's req file.

• 1) Create data_XXX/Load/common.req
  2) Add:

  Code: Select all

  ucft
  {
      REQN
      {
          "texture"
          "loadscreen"
      }
  }

**Break**

6. Munge Load.
By default, Visual Munge does not copy the Load files over to the map's addon folder. We must do this.

7. Copy the load's munged common.lvl into the map's addon folder.
( make sure to keep the directory structure consistent with the game's )
Now we need to tell SWBF2 to read our custom Load common.lvl when our map starts.

8. Open up the map's script files and read in our new data file: common.lvl.

• Under

  Code: Select all

  function ScriptInit()

  Add

  Code: Select all

  --tell the game to load our loading image
  ReadDataFile("dc:Load\\common.lvl")
  

  ( make sure to save the scripts )

9. Munge Common.

10. Have fun.

Note: There are many ways to get a custom screen loaded. The modders ask you to please do it this way.

[-_-]

Okay, thanks.

EDIT- 1024x1024.. wouldnt that be a square..?

[Penguin]

nice, but i have a question, how would you make it to display random images? like the standard maps do? would you just create more images and put them under the "texture" in your .req?



EDIT: okay, after testing the map, the load screen is all streched to fit my screens resolution which is 1024 x 768 EDIT = never mind this, has to be 1024 x 1024


EDIT 2:

to add on to your turorial, your should place what you want shown of your image in the middle of your picture which should be the size 1024 x 1024

you should leave 120 pixels of space at the top and the bottom of the image for loading bar and the map info at the top.

if your going to add any wrighting to the image ((i have added a created by penguin and a vist my website thing ont he top and bottom))

make the text 40 pixels and place it just on top/under the pixture of your map so that theres space for the loading bar and the map info.

EDIT 3, lol, 3rd one: fixed


EDIT 4: forgot this one, so heres EDIT 4, lol

[xwingguy]

So it must be be 1024x1024?

I guess so since I got this error and the loading screen didnt work:

ERROR[PC_texturemunge loadscreen.tga.tga]:TextureMunge(loadscreen.tga:1024x768x1): Must have power of two dimensions!
ERROR[PC_texturemunge loadscreen.tga.tga]:TextureMunge(loadscreen.tga:1024x768x1): Must have power of two dimensions!
[continuing]
2 Errors 0 Warnings

but the error doesn't make sense.

[Penguin]

hmmmmm lol, guess it has to be 1024, i forgot about the 2 dimension thing, lol


EDIT 5, lol again: okay, i have a idea, make your image 1024 x 768, then when its finished, strech the image to 1024 x 1024, then when in game it will shrink it back down to 1024 x 768 becouse of your screens resolution!


EDIT 6, up to 6 already:

tested it and it works nicely, have a look!

[[RDH]Zerted]

I'm not going to explain how to have more than one picture per map. It is possible, but you will have to figure it out for yourselves. Some people will go crazy and add 50+ pics, which would make their map too large. I really don't see a need for more than one picture. I would recommend an overhead picture so people can plan their attacks while the map is loading, but thats just me. You can do whatever you want to.

ERROR[PC_texturemunge loadscreen.tga.tga]:TextureMunge(loadscreen.tga:1024x768x1): Must have power of two dimensions!
but the error doesn't make sense.

"power of two". That means 2^?.
2^1 = 2, 2^2 = 4, 2^3 = 8, 2^10 = 1024. There is no 2^[integer] = 768.

What happened to edit 4?

[Penguin]

lol, woops, could you PM me how to add more then one screenshot? my map is a massive city and for an overhead shot you need to be really high. and most of the streets get blocked out by the perspective of the camera and the tall skyscrapers

[Schizo]

Thanks Zerted. I've been waiting for someone to figure out how to make custom loading screens. Works like a charm:

http://img335.imageshack.us/img335/9110 ... een3du.png


I have to say, it definitely improves the appearence of the map... makes it more "professional" looking.

[Teancum]

AWESOME Zerted!!! Glad you were able to crack it. I knew if anyone could, you would.

And for those of you wondering if it must be 1024x1024, the answer is yes. But that's what the black bars on top and bottom are for. The screen you would used is 1024x768, so you just center it on a 1024x1024 and you're golden

[Penguin]

lol, but if you do it that way the picture still shrinks, my way is better

[Vyse]

Sweeeet! This is going to be so cool. The video format tutorial was very awesome aswell.

Great Job to everyone who got this working!!!

[pinioncorp]

Hidden/Spoiler:

[img]removed[/img]

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VIST? VIST arcanepenguin.tripod.com/index.html?

Great to see you got it working Zerted, especially knowing it doesn't have to be kept in a customised core.lvl.

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[Penguin]

lol, woops, misspelt it lol

[Linus]

[RDH]Zerted, can you release steps.txt..? It's kinda hard to see the blurry movie...

[RC-1290]

blur??what blur?... try to open it with Firefox or Internet Eplorer (whatever you use). No blur when viewed in Mozilla Firefox.

[edit] Oh, well, I see it allready was released, first post.

[Hebes24]

Can someone convert this picture

http://s55.photobucket.com/albums/g159/ ... h=imgAnch1

into a 1024X1024 TGA file? For some reason, it doesn't work when I do it.

[RC-1290]

here ya go.
Loading screen 1024 * 1024 .TGA 32bit

It's on Rapid Share becouse ImageShack does not support Targa Files.


RC-1290'Dreadnought'

[Thire]

Any way that anyone could figure out how to change the loading screen for the levels already in the game?

[Teancum]

I have the ability, but I don't see the point. It involved scripting and it's a little over most guys' heads.

[Thire]

Oh well, I was just wondering.